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AQA GCSE Electronics Products - Preliminary Materials

(edited 10 years ago)

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I'm doing the exam tommorow, what's this about different sections, how many parts is it split up into and what do you need to know about alarms?
Thanks

Reply 2

cwalton

Original post by Vipz26

Apparently I've got a ~C in my coursework, which is worth 60% of the entire GCSE.

Ha, I know how you feel i'm on a D for my coursework. I'll try and find you a decent power point.

As for the designing question i'm thinking some sort of circuit loop so when the loop is broken an alarm sounds (the loop is acting as a push to break)

Christ i'm nervous for tomorrow, I would happily take a C right now.

Reply 3

cwalton

Couldn't find anything on the design section but I have got some great resources. The first ppt shows you the layout of the exam and the word document is a complete list of everything you should know.

AQA+EXAM+QUESTIONS.ppt2093.6KB

Year 11 Revision topic list.doc31.7KB

specimen paper.pdf332.6KB

Reply 4

cwalton

Original post by Vipz26

or a display stand with an infra-red receiver, so that removing an item on top of the receiver allows the infra-red light sourse above to reach the receiver, triggering an alarm or something.

Yeah that's good. Alternatively you could just use an LDR built into the display/counter. So when the object (eg laptop) is lifted up there will be a change in light and the LDR will trigger the alarm

Original post by Vipz26

Oh, and has anyone else realised how poorly written the textbook is? (the Nelson Thornes one)

Really? Ours is lonsdale and it's pretty detailed.

Reply 5

schaps

what about a pressure pad, can this work?

Reply 6

cwalton

Original post by schaps

what about a pressure pad, can this work?

maybe but i'd stick with something simpler as you may need to talk about processes and components.

Or the; Input Process Output

eg LDR - PIC - Piezo Sounder/Buzzer

Reply 7

schaps

Original post by cwalton

maybe but i'd stick with something simpler as you may need to talk about processes and components.

Or the; Input Process Output

eg LDR - PIC - Piezo Sounder/Buzzer

Thanks. Do you know what last years grade boundaries were? I got 90/90 on the coursework so just wondering what I will roughly need on this exam to get an A* or A overall.

Reply 8

cwalton

Original post by schaps

Thanks. Do you know what last years grade boundaries were? I got 90/90 on the coursework so just wondering what I will roughly need on this exam to get an A* or A overall.

Bloody hell, well congrats on that for a start. I got 54/90 for pete sake!

Grade boundaries wise this is a new specification so no one knows what they will be but too give you an idea it was 312 out of 350 in the old spec.

Reply 9

aPx

My god i'm so f**ked for this exam! I got a high B i think in my coursework, anyone remember the boundaries?

But I don't know anything for the exam, any really good revision sites would be appreciated.

Reply 10

cwalton

Original post by aPx

I know how you feel. look at the documents i uploaded earlier especially the revision list, then use your text book or revision websites to learn those topics.

Good luck :smile:

Reply 11

schaps

Original post by Vipz26

Looked at a few sample pages on the internet. Lucky you, that's so much better than mine!

Assuming they keep similar boundaries to last year, you only need ~64 for an A* overall, and ~38 for an A.

Ignoring the cousework, it's 83 for A* and 70 for A on the exam.

Hi,
Thanks for that. How did you work that out though? does that account for the UMS conversion?

Reply 12

eduardo1

That stuff you posted was good but the specimen exam was 1 and a half hours long, i'm doing d&t electronics tommorow and mines two hours long

Reply 13

eduardo1

last year 83 out of 120 -this is actual marks- was an a* which converted to 144 out of 160 ums, thats 90% for an a* -in ums- so if you got full marks in the coursework, which is 60% of the whole thing, you will need another 30% of the whole thing from the exam, this being 75% of the ums from the exam. 75% of the ums will be 120 ums, which last year, was around 63/64 marks, whcih was a b. Hope that helps.

Reply 14

geditor

If anyone REALLY needs it, I can type up my research (but from the looks of things, the ideas here are way better)

Reply 15

benferno

Has anyone else got the 'Essentials' revision guide for this. Just wondering whether the section on barcodes, binary, remote-controls and infra-red is a mistake as we haven't done that at all in two years.

Reply 16

cwalton

Original post by eduardo1

That stuff you posted was good but the specimen exam was 1 and a half hours long, i'm doing d&t electronics tommorow and mines two hours long

Yeah the specimen paper was shorter for some reason. We did it as a mock a while a go.

Here is the WHOLE specimen paper plus another i just found and a mark scheme :smile:

new gcse Full Specimen.pdf332.6KB

AQA-45401-June 2010 Question Paper .pdf95.4KB

AQA-45401-June 2010 Mark Scheme.pdf64.8KB

Reply 17

Ganep001

Hi there, just a general question. I don't take electronics but rather Systems and control. Would a 555 timer Chip be a process? I was thinking about astabale pulses and so forth :smile:

Cheers, any help would be greatly appreciated :smile:

Reply 18

geditor

Original post by Ganep001

Hi there, just a general question. I don't take electronics but rather Systems and control. Would a 555 timer Chip be a process? I was thinking about astabale pulses and so forth :smile:

Cheers, any help would be greatly appreciated :smile:

ummmm.... yes. It would be. The input would simply be turning on the circuit and the output would be the pulses from the astable.