learning...by myself!

does anyone know of any books or dvd turorial type stuff that can help me to learn more about electronics at home. i take care of my moms so going to school is out of the question.

electronics have always interested me, i build pc's and have taught myself with help from a couple friends but ywould like to know more about as to build electronics and repair the boards themselves. Thanks in advanced _Chris

just basically to learn what each piece does, and how they interact to perform the task that the circuit was meant to perform. is what i would like to learn! not necessarily huge circuits. but smaller circuits like individual PC boards(vid cards, sound cards and what not)

Hey Chris
I'm kind of in the same boat as you. I'm trying to learn about electronics while working full time and without there being a school that teaches electronics in my town. I have learned a ton from this forum. Check it as often as you can and just read what looks of interest. When I first started visiting here about a year ago, not much made sense, not alot does, and more and more does everyday.

**broken link removed** has some good info on basics.

There are alot of books avalible too. I only really have 2 or 3 books on the subject. Both are old and spend alot of time on vacuum tubes, but are great for the basics, capacitors, resistors, ohm's law ect. Theres a ton of great info online if you use google or yahoo and search for it.

awesome. i believe tonight is gonna be a long nighti don't sleep to good while thinking . because ive been reading hear a little at a time till my head starts spinnign then i sit and think about it till i kind of understand then i come back and read a little more!! i read a lot on wikipedia and boy does that get my head spinning something quick lol!!

Thank you. i will be asking a few questions !!

Have you read the Ohm's Law thread in Electronic Theory? That is fundamental.

We all started with simple circuits like a door bell and worked up from there.

Do you have a multimeter? If not, buy a cheap one and a few resistors.

Connect a resistor across a battery and measure the voltage and current. Put 2 resistors in series across the battery and do the same. Compare the results to what you would expect from Ohm's Law calculations.

Then try 2 resistors in parallel, etc.

If you can afford to buy one or two books (look for used ones via Ebay or Abebooks.com) try and get :

Understanding Basic Electronics
-- Written in an easy-to-understand style for electronics beginners, Understanding Basic Electronics is also for those who want to brush up on electronics principles. Loaded with illustrations, the book starts with math skills and progresses to dc and ac electronics principles. It concludes with clear, simple explanations of how components like diodes, transistors and integrated circuits work.
Also available: Basic Radio - Understanding the Key Building Blocks

320 pages. First edition, seventh printing, 2006, © 1992-2006, The American Radio Relay League, Inc. (ISBN: 0-87259-398-3) #3983 -- $29.95



Electronics for Dummies
-- by Gordon McComb, Earl Boysen
Whether you’re a do-it-yourselfer, hobbyist, or student, this book will turn you on to real-world electronics. It quickly covers the essentials, and then focuses on the how-to instead of theory. It covers:


Fundamental concepts such as circuits, schematics, voltage, safety, and more
Tools of the trade, including multimeters, oscilloscopes, logic probes, and more
Common electronic components (e.g. resistors, capacitors, transistors)
Making circuits using breadboards and printed circuit boards
Microcontrollers (implementation and programming)
This book really connects with readers! With lots of photos and step-by-step explanations, this book will have you connecting electronic components in no time! In fact, it includes fun ideas for great projects you can build in 30 minutes or less. You’ll be amazed! Then you can tackle cool robot projects that will amaze your friends! (The book gives you lots to choose from.)

Students will find this a great reference and supplement to the typical dry, dull textbook. So whether you just want to bone up on electronics or want to get things hooked up, souped up, or fixed up,...whether you’re interested in ham radio, fixing old electronic equipment, understanding guitar fuzz amps, or tinkering with robots, Electronics For Dummies is your quick connection to the stuff you need to know.



I got these from this URL:
https://www.arrl.org/catalog/index.php3?category=Help+for+Beginners

Back when I was first starting out, the best support for learning electronics for those not actually learning in a school was from the Amateur Radio community. So you can get lots of stuff for beginners from people that are radio hams or from companies that sell to radio hams. There are also ham radio clubs where others are trying to do what you want to do. Maybe you can find such a club nearby and go meet the people. They will be a huge help.

The internet is incredibly useful for learning electronics. I'm not sure where you're from as there's no mention in your profile but libraries generally have a lot of good books.

i'm from La Puente CA the SGV area.

i looked actually into both of those books. i plan on getting them next paycheck.

i have a radioshack multimeter 29 range. it ran me about 40 bucks. i got it when i started messing with LED's.

the laws still sort of confuse me. i'm reading them over and over again but some how wikipedia confuses me. i'm hoping the books will clarify some things for me. because wiki seems to be WAY too wordy!

my mom used to make boards for nasa and things back in the late 70's early 80's but she has alzheimers now so i can't ask her for info.

i'm gonna get the electronics for dummies book first(because i expect it to be more english )

so far im loving this forum! learning alot! friends tell me i'm crazy cause they think i'm doing this for just Aquarium lighting but things that confuse me the most are usually things that fascinate me . women for example! haha!
I wrote an email to my pre-A+ friend to see about some reading and things she may have!

lol talk about wordy!! i'll be back in here tomorrow! TTYL and thanx! _Chris

Wiki is a bit wordy but unless you're a math major there's no easy way to decsribe electronics typically. I've learned a lot of good conceptual stuff from
http://amasci.com/amateur/transis.html
and other links on that web site which describe more about how electrical circuits actually relate to real world electron flow, without a lot of math. Between that and playing around with a simulator like LTspice, you can teach yourself quiet a bit.

Hi Sceadwian,
From the link you've posted, the first few sentences have attracted me:

First they assume that the Base current is somehow controlling the Collector current, then they try to explain how one current can affect another. These explanations always fail because Bipolar transistors, like FETs, are voltage-controlled devices. One current doesn't affect another.

Click to expand...

Is this correct? But what I know about BJT's is the collector current is controlled by the base current?

Thanks

bananasiong said:

Hi Sceadwian,
From the link you've posted, the first few sentences have attracted me:

Is this correct? But what I know about BJT's is the collector current is controlled by the base current?

Click to expand...

Most people would say it's not correct, certainly I would agree with you that a transistor provides current gain - but you obviously can't have current without voltage. Suggesting transistors are voltage operated devices just confuses everyone and doesn't help you to understand how to use them.

It's really VERY simple:

A transistor requires current into the base - it can't work without it, so it's a current operated device.

An FET doesn't require current into it's gate, just a voltage - so it's a voltage operated device.

Stick to that and it's simple to understand!.

sceadwian, i'm far from a math major. i failed out of geometry do to a lack of understanding of proofs lol. it didn't help that i was falling asleep in class the teacher was monotone.

You don't have to be a maths major, but it is helpful if you know basic algebra.

For example, Ohm's Law.

V = I R

You should be able to transpose this to the following.

I = V/R and R = V/I

And power is P = V * I. Hence V = P/I and I = P/V.

A BJT's collector emitter current is dependent upon the base emitter voltage.
A FET's source drain current is dependent upon it's gate source voltage.

JFETS do require gate current as they're not isolated. Even Mosfets require gate current, but it's described like capacitance as gate charge. It actually becomes a serious concern at higher switching frequencies.

You can't just blanket BJT's into current controlled devices and FET's into voltage controlled devices, because the reality is a lot more complicated. Yes it's simpler to think of BJT's as being current controled and FET's as being voltage controled devices for general use but it's easier to visualize things when you realize they're all really controlled by the same mechanisms, their construction is all that's different, and their users are varried because of the physical limits imposed by the various physical contructions.

I am also trying to learn electronics on my own. It seems every time I think I get something figured out I get totally confused again. I've have learned alot by just searching the internet and reading stuff till my head hurts. I've also learned a little by tearing stuff apart and tinkering with it to see how it works. There are some great sites that explain stuff in simpler terms that are easy to understand. The biggest thing I recomend is finding a site that will give some definitions of electronic terms because to me alot of them are confusing. Hope this helps you a little I just joined this forum a few minutes ago and am hoping and praying to learn alot more here.

welcome modell. we're kind of in the same boat. i don't really have anything laying around to tear apart but i guess i could mess with an old MOBO i have

sorry bout that sceadwian wiki got me on that one they talked about fet and bjt's as seperate and didn't go into much more detail.

There's nothing very useful on a motherboard - go to your local TV repair shop, they should be quite happy to let you take an TV away to strip for spares!.

cool. i just got back from RS got pots trans pnp and NPN
but they didn't have the fuses for my multi meter. that sucks but oh well

dl
ed and installed lt spice. got most of the stuff drawn but see no potentiometers. and can't seem to get it to run any!

Motherboards do have some nice connectors, and usually contain high quality surface mount voltage regulators (usually near the CPU) But other than that they're a waste of time. They're also usually 4 layer boards or possibly more. That's a lot of copper which makes them at least slightly harder to desolder that single or double layer boards.

Since you already blew the fuse on your multimeter I don't like to suggest this but you can just short it out with a piece of jumper wire to get it to work again until you get a new fuse. But if you replicate the problem that caused the fuse to blow in the first place there's a decent chance your meter will go up in smoke right in front of your face. I'd recommend using a thin piece of wire, perhaps ethernetwire as it will act as a fuse at higher currents, you could always nick it as well though you have to be careful otherwise you'll create such a high resistance you'll alter the meters readings.