Electricity and Electronics Lab

Course Description

Electricity and Electronics Lab covers practical applications of current, voltage, power and energy relationships, resistors, inductors, and capacitors, basic theorems and DC circuit analysis techniques, and circuit simulation. Students gain hands-on experience with digital and analogue instruments such as multimeters, power supplies, oscilloscopes, ammeters, voltmeters, and signal generators, together with an introduction to integrated circuits.

Within the SCNS taxonomy, EET is the Electronic Engineering Technology prefix and the L suffix marks a laboratory-only course, paired with the EET3085 lecture. Daytona State publishes it at 1 credit with a $19.00 lab fee, offered fall, spring and summer, with EET3085 as corequisite.

⚠ Daytona State also publishes a combined EET3085C at 3 credits and 60 hours. The split lecture-plus-laboratory pair and the combined course cover the same subject in different structures, and under Rule 22 they are distinct SCNS numbers — a transfer bringing one does not automatically satisfy the other. Confirm with the receiving institution.

This laboratory is where instrument competence is built, and that competence is the thing employers actually check. A technologist who cannot drive an oscilloscope confidently is limited in every subsequent role, and no amount of theory substitutes for hours with the instrument.

Daytona State publishes no contact hours for its L-suffixed EET laboratories, and there is no live EET laboratory to anchor against. The figure used here follows the institution's consistent one-credit laboratory convention of 30 contact hours — CET1114L, CET3198L, PHT2211L and PHT2214L are all published at 1 credit and 30 hours. It is also consistent internally: the combined EET3085C is published at 3 credits and 60 hours, which a 2-credit lecture at the 15-hour convention plus a 1-credit laboratory at 30 reproduces exactly. ⚠ This is a derived figure rather than a published one — confirm with the programme.

Learning Outcomes

Required Outcomes

• Use a digital multimeter to measure voltage, current, and resistance accurately.
• Describe meter loading and its effect on a measurement.
• Use a regulated power supply, including current limiting.
• Use a signal generator to produce required waveforms.
• Operate an oscilloscope and obtain a stable trace.
• Set timebase, vertical scale, coupling, and triggering appropriately.
• Measure amplitude, period, frequency, and phase on an oscilloscope.
• Describe probe compensation and perform it.
• Apply oscilloscope grounding precautions safely.
• Build circuits on a breadboard neatly and reliably.
• Verify circuit construction against a schematic before applying power.
• Measure and verify Ohm's law relationships experimentally.
• Measure power and relate it to energy consumption.
• Analyse and verify series and parallel resistive circuits.
• Verify Kirchhoff's voltage and current laws experimentally.
• Apply and verify Thevenin and Norton equivalents.
• Apply superposition and verify it experimentally.
• Observe and measure capacitor charging and discharging.
• Observe and measure inductor behaviour.
• Measure time constants and relate them to component values.
• Simulate a circuit and compare simulation with measurement.
• Explain discrepancies between theory, simulation, and measurement.
• Troubleshoot a non-working circuit systematically.
• Record measurements and write a laboratory report.

Optional Outcomes

• Describe operational amplifier basics.
• Measure frequency response.
• Use a function generator for more complex waveforms.
• Describe measurement uncertainty and error analysis.
• Use automated data capture.
• Describe instrument calibration.

Major Topics

Required Topics

• Digital multimeter measurement
• Meter loading
• Regulated power supplies and current limiting
• Signal generators
• Oscilloscope operation
• Timebase, scale, coupling, and triggering
• Amplitude, period, frequency, and phase measurement
• Probe compensation
• Oscilloscope grounding safety
• Breadboard construction
• Verifying before powering
• Ohm's law verification
• Power and energy measurement
• Series and parallel circuits
• Kirchhoff's laws
• Thevenin and Norton equivalents
• Superposition
• Capacitor charge and discharge
• Inductor behaviour
• Time constants
• Circuit simulation
• Reconciling theory, simulation, and measurement
• Systematic troubleshooting
• Laboratory reporting

Optional Topics

• Operational amplifier basics
• Frequency response measurement
• Complex waveform generation
• Measurement uncertainty
• Automated data capture
• Instrument calibration

Resources & Tools

• The programme's laboratory and its instruments — the reason to take these courses in person. Oscilloscope competence in particular is built only by using one.
• LTspice, Multisim, or Falstad's circuit simulator — LTspice and Falstad are free; simulate before you build and after it fails.
• The Art of Electronics (Horowitz & Hill) — the reference practising engineers keep, and unusually readable.
• Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory (Boylestad & Nashelsky) — the standard course text.
• Manufacturer datasheets and application notes — free, and the primary source; learning to read a datasheet properly is a genuine professional skill.
• IPC standards (ipc.org) — the electronics assembly and soldering standards industry actually works to; IPC certification is recognised by employers.
• BICSI (bicsi.org) — structured cabling standards and installer credentials.
• A decent multimeter of your own — and know its limitations; a cheap meter lies confidently.
• ABET (abet.org) — free accreditation lookup; check which commission a programme is accredited under.

Career Pathways

• Electrical and electronics engineering technologist or technician — SOC 17-3023.
• Electronics assembly and test technician — a common entry route.
• Field service and maintenance technician — instrumentation, medical devices, industrial equipment.
• Structured cabling and network infrastructure installation — a distinct and steady trade.
• Communications and RF technician — broadcast, telecommunications, and avionics.
• Controls and instrumentation technician — process industries and building systems.
• Aerospace and defence electronics — a large Florida sector on the Space Coast; ⚠ many roles require U.S. citizenship and some a security clearance.
• Test engineering and quality.
• Manufacturing engineering support.
• Continue to a bachelor's or master's — ⚠ see the note on engineering technology and professional licensure.

Special Information

⚠⚠ The oscilloscope is the instrument that separates competent technologists from the rest

• A multimeter tells you an average; an oscilloscope shows you what is actually happening, and most real faults are visible only in the time domain.
• Learn triggering properly. An unstable trace is almost always a triggering problem, not a circuit problem, and students waste enormous time on this before someone explains it.
• Understand AC and DC coupling. AC coupling removes the DC component — useful for seeing small ripple on a large supply rail, and misleading if you forget it is on.
• Compensate your probe before precise measurements; an uncompensated probe distorts edges and produces wrong readings you will trust.
• Use the 10× setting by default for lower loading, and remember it changes the scale factor.
• ⚠ The ground clip is earthed. Clipping it to a point that is not at earth potential creates a short through the instrument — this damages equipment and can be dangerous. Understand this before probing anything mains-referenced.
• Keep probe leads short for high-frequency work; long ground leads add ringing that is not in the circuit.
• Photograph or save traces for your report rather than sketching from memory.

⚠ When theory, simulation, and measurement disagree, the disagreement is the lesson

• They will disagree, routinely, and the useful question is why. Students who record the discrepancy and move on learn nothing; students who chase it learn the subject.
• Component tolerance accounts for a great deal. A five percent resistor is genuinely five percent, and several in a circuit compound.
• Instruments load the circuit they measure, and a meter's input impedance changes what you are measuring.
• Simulation assumes ideal components unless you tell it otherwise — no lead inductance, no contact resistance, perfect sources.
• Check your construction before doubting the theory. A misplaced wire on a breadboard is more likely than a failure of Kirchhoff's laws.
• Breadboards have real capacitance and resistance, and they matter at higher frequencies.
• Record what you actually measured, not what you expected. Adjusting data toward the expected answer is falsification, and it is obvious to anyone who reads carefully.
• Explain the discrepancy in your report — that explanation is usually what is actually being assessed.

⚠⚠ Electronics laboratory safety — low voltage is not no voltage

• Bench voltages can injure and kill. The assumption that electronics work is inherently safe because it is not mains voltage is wrong — and equipment on the bench is frequently mains-powered regardless.
• ⚠ Capacitors store charge after power is removed. Power supply filter capacitors in particular can hold a dangerous charge for a long time. Discharge before touching, and treat every large capacitor as charged.
• De-energise before rewiring. Build the circuit, check it, then apply power — not the reverse.
• Check polarity and voltage before switching on. Reversed electrolytic capacitors vent violently, and over-voltage destroys semiconductors instantly.
• Current-limit the supply when testing a new build; it converts a destroyed board into a puzzle to solve.
• ⚠ Oscilloscope grounds are usually earthed. Connecting a scope ground clip to a point that is not at earth potential creates a short circuit through the instrument — this destroys equipment and can be dangerous, and it is one of the most common laboratory accidents.
• Eye protection when cutting leads. Clipped component legs travel at speed.
• Soldering irons burn and they do not look hot. Return them to the stand every time and never pass one hand to hand.
• Report damaged leads, cracked cases, and equipment faults rather than working around them.

⚠⚠ Engineering technology is not engineering for licensure purposes

• This distinction matters for anyone who may want to become a licensed Professional Engineer, and students frequently discover it too late.
• An engineering technology degree and an engineering degree are different qualifications, accredited under different criteria, and state licensing boards treat them differently.
• Requirements for PE licensure vary by state, and a technology degree may mean additional experience, a different pathway, or in some states no pathway at all.
• ⚠ If professional licensure is a goal, establish the pathway before you invest years in a programme — ask the Florida Board of Professional Engineers directly, and ask about any state you might move to.
• This is not a criticism of engineering technology. It is a distinct and valuable discipline oriented to application and implementation, and most graduates never need a PE licence — but the ones who do need to have planned for it.
• ABET accredits both, under different commissions; check which one a programme holds.
• ⚠ Rule 11 applies — licensure requirements change; verify with the board rather than relying on any course guide.

How Florida course levels affect transfer

The first digit of an SCNS number denotes the year of offering, not transferability. Courses at the 1000 and 2000 levels transfer transparently between Florida public institutions, and 3000 to 4000 is unproblematic since both are upper division. The boundary that actually matters is 2000 to 3000, where lower-division credit generally cannot satisfy an upper-division requirement — and it is live in these prefixes, where Daytona State offers both associate-level and bachelor of applied science coursework.

EET3085L is 1 credit and approximately 30 contact hours with a $19.00 lab fee, offered fall, spring and summer at Daytona State, with EET3085 as corequisite — distinct SCNS numbers, both required.

⚠ The contact hours here are derived, not published — see the note above — and Daytona State also offers the combined EET3085C at 3 credits and 60 hours.