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Questions from someone just getting into electronics, and DIY

Silman

Jul 17, 2012
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Hey all!

I am trying to get started in electronics and don't know how to begin. I have done some basic soldering and junk and made really basic stuff but i want to actually learn about electronics. I want to learn how a transistor amplifies current and how to design a circuit to do a task on my own. I want to do projects as a move along but the Make book on beginning electronics isn't what i am looking for, for one it is really expensive to get the pieces with it and second i also want the theory behind it not just the how to build. I hear The Art of Electronics is good but it is over 1000 pages and most of it is extremely bland! I just want a good couple hundred page book that will teach me all the basics of electronics as well as show me some neat projects to do. (also what should i buy after i master the basics?)

I also want to know how you guys got your workshops up and running. I see so many posts about people just casually saying that they took their dremmel to a sheet of plexiglass. I don't own any plexiglass and i sure as hell don't own a dremmel. I feel like there are SO many cool projects that i simply will never be able to build because it reuires a custom made wodden box, or this or that, what have you. How do most people on here think of that? Do you guys all have workshops will all these tools? How does a beginner go about not getting overwhelmed when a neat project calls for some custom made piece and thinks "well there goes that project! I will NEVER be able to make one of those! I dont have the machining experience or the tools!"?

My third question is what tools i will need to get into electronics. I have a soldering iron but i don't know what else i should get. The obvious tools are multimeter, wire cutters, wire strippers, etc. What are the best brands and where do i get these?

What do i do about components? Do you guys just have a place where you have all your components that you might need on hand and only order specific ones? For instance, should i order a bunch of transistors, capacitors, potentiometers, etc and just organize them so i have them to pull out when a project calls for it? Or should i do things on a project-by-project basis? Also how do you organize all your components? What are some good commercial organization bins and what techniques do you guys use? (preferably i want a drawer-type organization, not a bag type).

Also should i purchase and arduino? I am not new to programming (i know C, and Python) but is it the right time to purchase one as a beginner? I see all this talk about using a specific "shield" for a project and i get uncomfortable thinking that i can't do anything with just and arduino. Also i dont want to have to dismantle a project if it relies on a microcontroller but I really dont want to have to buy an arduino for each project i do! How do you reconcile this?

Sorry for so many questions but i am excited to get started
 

duke37

Jan 9, 2011
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Perhaps you are trying to run before you can walk.

The best way of learning about electronics is to build and understand kits and then to move onto repair. Repairing equipment forces one to be logical and to understand what is happening. Then, when you know your capabilities, you can devise your own projects.

I have been in the hobby for a long time so I have a lot of clobber but you do not need much for the basics. You want to know what are the best tools, it is nice to have good tools but the best will cost the earth. I have seen recommendations for expensive meters but my recommendation would be to buy a cheap one to start so that you have not lost much when you destroy it.

Good rusty tools can be found at car boot sales and just need a clean up. Surplus resistors and capacitors can be found at radio rallies and you will have learnt the colour code by time you have sorted a thousand of them.
My components are stored in cigarette packets but these seem to be rarer now that cancer is not a preferred disease. The packets are stored in drawers.

You could get all you want in a reasonably sized suit case to store under your bed.

I am not into microcomputers, I got bored with them about twenty years ago so cannot help there.

I do not find The Art of Electronics bland, it is packed with information and is ideal for a reference book.

Best wishes on your new hobby, it uses manual skills and stretches the mind.
 

Silman

Jul 17, 2012
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Jul 17, 2012
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Thanks for the reply!

don't get me wrong, i think Horrwitz and Hill did an amazing job, its just that the book seems so intimidating for a beginner.. I think kits are a good idea too but wasn't sure if that was a good way to teach myself the theory since i feel it would be a lot of "solder this to that and don't ask why" stuff.
 

CocaCola

Apr 7, 2012
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i feel it would be a lot of "solder this to that and don't ask why" stuff.

And in that case you are still learning a valuable skill, that of soldering... You can know all the numbers and theories and recall them in an instant but that won't be able to help you in the real world when you actually need to solder something... And there is nothing at the end of the day that says you can't go beyond what the included literature supplied... You can research the circuit and components used and expand your knowledge yourself... Most of the kits being offered are time proven circuits that have been published many times, if not directly out of the datasheets for the main chip, so information is out there to be found...
 

Silman

Jul 17, 2012
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Jul 17, 2012
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And in that case you are still learning a valuable skill, that of soldering... You can know all the numbers and theories and recall them in an instant but that won't be able to help you in the real world when you actually need to solder something... And there is nothing at the end of the day that says you can't go beyond what the included literature supplied... You can research the circuit and components used and expand your knowledge yourself... Most of the kits being offered are time proven circuits that have been published many times, if not directly out of the datasheets for the main chip, so information is out there to be found...

I agree, do you have any kits that your recommend or websites that your go to for projects?
 

KJ6EAD

Aug 13, 2011
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It seems like we just answered a very similar set of questions recently. Take a look at this thread: https://www.electronicspoint.com/start-t249895.html. The book by Forrest Mims should be about right, somewhere between Make: Electronics and The Art of Electronics.

You can get unspecified assortments of parts (grab bags) from Jameco Electronics or Electronic Goldmine. It's always a good idea to search out and classify all local sources of parts. If you have an electronics surplus store nearby, that will likely become your primary source. Other local possibilities include ordinary retail, university labs, electronic assembly houses and scrounging from e-waste.

Silman, your observations about Make and kits are fairly astute and indicate you're on the right track, knowing your own learning requirements and asking good questions.
 
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Silman

Jul 17, 2012
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Jul 17, 2012
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It seems like we just answered a very similar set of questions recently. Take a look at this thread: https://www.electronicspoint.com/start-t249895.html. The book by Forrest Mims should be about right, somewhere between Make: Electronics and The Art of Electronics.

You can get unspecified assortments of parts (grab bags) from Jameco Electronics or Electronic Goldmine. It's always a good idea to search out and classify all local sources of parts. If you have an electronics surplus store nearby, that will likely become you primary source. Other local possibilities include ordinary retail, university labs, electronic assembly houses and scrounging from e-waste.

Silman, your observations about Make and kits are fairly astute and indicate you're on the right track, knowing your own learning requirements and asking good questions.

I am actually about 50ish pages into Forest Mims book! I am started to get confused with the types of transistors... like i don't understand how exactly a transistor amplifies a current, how does it get power from the circuit that wasn't there before?

Also Mims book doesn't include any projects (or hasn't yet so far) but i will definiately keep reading to the end (i feel like it will go over my head very soon but i will keep trying and ask questions/google).

thanks for the advice, any more would be greatly appreciated!
 

Silman

Jul 17, 2012
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Mr. Mims has written a library full of project books so you might like some of them.

Huh, i didnt realize that, the one i am reading is the getting started in electronics book. The one that looks handwritten and has doodles in it. what are some of his project books? Any good LED projects? I happen to have found a bunch of LEDs (about 50) color changing (automatically, you dont get to choose which color). And I want to put them to use into a neat project.
 

KJ6EAD

Aug 13, 2011
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Check the link in my edited post above. The handwritten on graph paper look is used in all of the Mini Notebooks as well. It's his trademark style. Those color changing LEDs usually just want about 4 Volts and their current will vary up to =65mA.
 
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(*steve*)

¡sǝpodᴉʇuɐ ǝɥʇ ɹɐǝɥd
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Jan 21, 2010
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I don't understand how exactly a transistor amplifies a current

It doesn't actually amplify a current.

how does it get power from the circuit that wasn't there before?

And it certainly can't get power that isn't there.

It's good that you're confused about these things -- it tells me you're thinking.

A transistor allows a small current on the base to control a larger current through the collector. Using various circuits, this can result in larger current (current amplification) or larger voltage, or some other things like differing input and output impedances (which I will totally skip over)

It is sometimes helpful to think of the transistor as having a base current controlling the resistance between the collector and the emitter. If you're familiar with voltage dividers, you can quickly see how changing currents on the base can result in changing currents and voltages elsewhere in the circuit.

The reason I have stepped well back from saying that a transistor amplifies current is because some people read into that a false statement that the transistor is somehow generating a larger current from a smaller one. The best it can do is to CONTROL a larger current.

And this is where the second confusing thing should evaporate. Now that you know the larger current comes from outside the transistor (presumably from a battery or other power supply) you no longer need to worry that the transistor is violating the laws of thermodynamics -- it controls power, not creates it.

Somehow I think my infrequently used sig is reasonable here...
 

lucy2012

Jul 26, 2012
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Jul 26, 2012
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hello Silman:

Are you decide the programme yet?which direction?
how to run and manage the products?

First you need to make e recognition of the products you need to know the products and you need to knoew the market.

lucy
 
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