I am afraid I cannot agree with you. It is true that CC is much more focussed on practical articles and it does cater to a wide variety of readers, some of whom include DIY tinkerer. There are also many practicing engineers who read it as well as some well known authors who contribute including Jan Axelson, Fred Eady, Ed Nisely, Ingo Cyliax, Jack Ganssle, and of course Steve Ciarcia. Some of their books are in fact direct spin offs of published articles in the pages of Circuit Cellar. The articles I have written have been drawn directly from my experience. One is used as an application note for both NKK and Cypress- . Another of mine became a book (Excel by Example) that seems to have enjoyed a positive response from some well known engineers in the industry. I certainly don't feel that I am any different to any of the other authors.



I agree that sometimes articles are at a beginner's level- we all have to start somewhere. I can tell you that if any one of the young engineers that I have ever interviewed would have mentioned any (and only one) magazine from Nuts & Volts through to EDN etc they would have got the job instantly. There are many other articles are at a more advanced level. I must admit that there are times I second guess the editorial decisions that have been made in CC (including some of the edits in my articles), but then I do not run a successful magazine!

Have you looked at the level of some of the design ideas in EDN- some are simply rehashes of ideas that have been around for ages, one simply explained how to use an ADC. Try looking for "garden hose" in the ideas section. I feel that some of these cheapen the design ideas that I have submitted. All magazines try to cater to a range of readers.

I don't know where inspiration comes from. I believe that reading widely helps significantly. The concept could come from an article, advertisement, editorial, application notes and other in house publications, data sheets, blogs, seminar notes- anywhere, and even from multiple places. The brain is a funny organ in the way it connects paths.

If I only get one idea from a year's worth of any magazine I regard it as money well spent. I read Nuts & Volts, Elektor, Circuit Cellar, EDN, Electronic Design, EE Times, Electronics World, and Embedded Systems Design to name some. Most of the time I skim and ignore the content as either too simple, incomprehesible (to me), or boring. But every now and again something will draw my attention.

When you consider the magazines that have been and gone: Wireless World, Popular Electonics, Radio Electronics, Poptronics, Computer Design, Electronics and Byte to name but a few, the fact that Circuit Cellar (and Elektor) have grown over the same period is testament to a viable business model. From what I have seen, the number of hobbyists and DIYers has diminished significantly (whatever happened to Heathkit?) and if that is the case who is reading CC?

Sorry for the epistle- I don't know why I felt the need to defend CC or perhaps it is just self justification.

-Aubrey