As of late I've become interested in electronics, I'd quite like to start my own projects. Which book would you recommend for learning the basics? Also I'd like to design my own circuit boards for etching, is Express PCB the best freeware program for this?
Express PCB is an easy to use program for doing your board layouts but Express PCB fabricates the boards. If you want a layout program so you can fabricate them yourself then it would be better if you use a program like Eagle (Cadsoft).
The net is great for basics.
Check out to start. There are dozens of other good sites out there. HyperPhysics Concepts
has some good more advanced (physics oriented) information on electronics and some really good descriptions and equations for some basic circuits.
Many users here use either Express PCB or Eagle for boards.
Another good piece of software to get is LTSpice, it take a while to get used to but it allows you to simulate electronics circuits without building anything, and you can then examine the function of the circuits in just about any way you want. It's free from Linear Technologies website, sometimes called Switcher Cad IV
Whoops, I really should have read the stickys first! Thanks for the links. I've downloaded FreePCB and Eagle. I'll see how I grapple with them, Eagle looked loads better but the PCB size in the freeware is too small. I'll see what's what anyway.