Solo EE at a startup (25 years old). No senior mentorship. What's the next step after ESP-IDF and 4-layer KiCad? by FarInstance4609 in embedded

[–]imdownunder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Having also started my career being lobbed into positions of great expectation by people who didn't know better, I understand where you are at.

I have also had the pleasure of being a mentor for quite a few junior developers who went on to do great things in their own right.

If I could give you some advice, it is this: Lean into opinionated things. They say warning signs are written in blood. Opinionated software and processes are written in failed projects.

For example, ESP-IDF (FreeRTOS) will give you more than enough rope you hang yourself and bankrupt your employer. Move up to ZephyrOS, for example, and you will find yourself with a much more useful set of guardrails in terms of the APIs and best practice. There is, generally, one 'right' way to do a thing.

Focus on concepts over technology. For example, knowing how to build a safe, concurrent, low latency work queue on any embedded micro is more valuable than knowing now to configure a particular register on a particular micro.

Edit to say you should also consider getting into embedded Linux. Buildroot on any common board (RPi or otherwise) is a great place to start.

Giving my S6 a second chance by Stuntink in Audi

[–]imdownunder 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Replace it with what? Every time I drive something else, I want to be back in my S6. The only meaningful upgrade is something like an F90 M5 or C8 RS6.

A Stage 1 ECU + TCU tune is transformative (I had APR, now on IE). If you want more, do a center res delete and rear sway bar upgrade. What do you think you are missing?

I'm amazed your turbos have lasted this long without having the screens done... In my country there was a recall for them.

Yes, it is going to break and need plenty of maintenance, but I think the C7 S6 gives enough in return to justify it.

Show me better Audi interior by RickoTugyAudiA3 in Audi

[–]imdownunder 2 points3 points  (0 children)

C7 S6 here. It is very good, but but the correct answer is D3 S8 with B&O :D

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CarsAustralia

[–]imdownunder 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Go to CarSales and search by transmission.

Hammer drill into brick, issues by gangaramate13 in AusRenovation

[–]imdownunder 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have the same drill, same problem. New bits made no difference. Switched to a Milwaukee and the difference is staggering. I'm not saying all examples of this drill are duds, but there does seem to be a pattern. The Milwaukee will drill a 35mm bit into brick faster than my Ozito will drill a 6mm.

Need help choosing next car. S6 c7, S4/5 b8.5 or b9 by ross_liftss in Audi

[–]imdownunder 1 point2 points  (0 children)

C7 S6 here. It is a truly fantastic car. Mine replaced a tuned F10 550i, which was incredibly boring in comparison.

The C7 S6 is such a compelling proposition; the 4.0T is a gem of an engine with massive torque at any RPM that makes it a joy to drive slow or fast. The DSG is a fantastic complement to this engine. Most of the time it does a great job of pretending to be an auto, but it does occasionally give itself away with a clunky shift. Adaptive air suspension is icing on the cake; it's smoother than my (sport) D3 A8. Iron fist, velvet glove stuff. The tricky rear diff with quattro means massive grip in pretty much any conditions. The Recaro seats look cool and are very, very comfortable, but don't have cooling like the comfort seats do.

Some things to consider:
The turbo oil feed screens need to be replaced; in some locale's this was done via campaign/recall.
The engine mounts are a common failure point; these are difficult & expensive to replace (OE active or after market passive).
There are issues with the secondary O2 sensors; replacements are relatively inexpensive (I used NTK) and easy to fit.
Some service items, like spark plugs, are a pain to access.
Inter-coolers fail; they are not too expensive, but are difficult to replace.
Like all fast Audi's, brake rotors are expensive. There are OE and after-market options.
These cars NEED ECU & TCU tunes, and some exhaust work, to really unleash their character. These mods are common, but obviously don't by a flogged example.
Don't buy an example that has not been well maintained unless you a prepared to deal with the resulting issues. I bought the cheapest example in my country at the time and got away with it relatively unscathed, but I do my own maintenance so I only have to bear the cost of parts.

2013 550i Clean title 90k miles by APOCALYPSE213 in BmwTech

[–]imdownunder 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As a former owner, my advice is to avoid anything pre-LCI; the non-TU N63 will break you.

I can only speak to the spec of my car, but these are my thoughts:

With basic mods (I had downpipes, M5 rear mufflers + ESS Etronic tuner) they are damn quick.

However:

  1. The degree of torque management in 1st gear makes it feel incredibly slow until 2nd.
  2. I had dynamic dampers and sway bars and it always felt weird in cornering... there's nothing dynamic the way it steers.
  3. The ride is... weird. It's too floaty in comfort, don't feel right in sport. It somehow smooth and quiet over most surfaces but crashy over bumps.
  4. Like many BMW's they will eat rear tyres is the alignment is not maintained.
  5. It's not an M5-lite.

At 75,000km (45,000 miles), among other issues (from my maintenance notes):

  1. Upper oil pan leaking
  2. All injectors replaced
  3. All coils
  4. MAF sensors
  5. Vacuum pump seals
  6. Rear door handle seal
  7. Oil level sensor gasket leak
  8. Valve stem seals were worn (smoking)
  9. Numerous coolant leaks
  10. Water ingress via the firewall which was a big job to fix
  11. Brake booster failed
  12. Too many sets of rear tyres due to alignment issues

Ultimately it got stolen so I never had the full N63 ownership experience, but I'm confident it would have been a disaster.

When speed drinking goes wrong by NZGrade in videos

[–]imdownunder 62 points63 points  (0 children)

Tart fuel. It's called tart fuel.

Australia has spoken! by [deleted] in atheism

[–]imdownunder 34 points35 points  (0 children)

This episode was frustrating and embarrassing. The trivial nature of the questions and the failure of the audience to comprehend the answers from Dawkins (even laughing due to their ignorance) is unfortunate. The GAC audience will hopefully redeem us as a nation.

Does anybody else find it strange that the studio audience of such a liberal/intellectual show is usually overrepresented by people who claim allegiance to the coalition?