Art of Electronics 3rd edition, deployment

[Daniel_Reyes]

After my upcoming deployment,  I'll be going to school full time for EE. These next 6 months will be a long break from being able to work on my electronics projects. I want to stay with it and prepeare for school as much as possible in the meantime. I have my associates degree already and have been in the field as a technician for 5 years now. My question is, vague and theoretical. My question is, how well will reading and understanding the art of electronics third edition on my deployment, prepare me for undertaking EE courses.

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[tggzzz]

After my upcoming deployment,  I'll be going to school full time for EE. These next 6 months will be a long break from being able to work on my electronics projects. I want to stay with it and prepeare for school as much as possible in the meantime. I have my associates degree already and have been in the field as a technician for 5 years now. My question is, vague and theoretical. My question is, how well will reading and understanding the art of electronics third edition on my deployment, prepare me for undertaking EE courses.

It will not directly prepare you for the theoretical part of a degree. (BTW, I don't know what an ""associates degree" is).
It will give you a practical background so that you can see the importance of the theory in practice.
It will give you a sprinking of theory, but essentially it assumes that you know the theory and need to know how to apply the theory in practical suituations.
When doing a practical project, it may enable you have a better understanding of which questions should be asked and answered because the answers are important.

Summary: TAoE is a good and very useful adjunct to the degree - but it is neither necessary nor sufficient.

[Daniel_Reyes]

After my upcoming deployment,  I'll be going to school full time for EE. These next 6 months will be a long break from being able to work on my electronics projects. I want to stay with it and prepeare for school as much as possible in the meantime. I have my associates degree already and have been in the field as a technician for 5 years now. My question is, vague and theoretical. My question is, how well will reading and understanding the art of electronics third edition on my deployment, prepare me for undertaking EE courses.

It will not directly prepare you for the theoretical part of a degree. (BTW, I don't know what an ""associates degree" is).
It will give you a practical background so that you can see the importance of the theory in practice.
It will give you a sprinking of theory, but essentially it assumes that you know the theory and need to know how to apply the theory in practical suituations.
When doing a practical project, it may enable you have a better understanding of which questions should be asked and answered because the answers are important.

Summary: TAoE is a good and very useful adjunct to the degree - but it is neither necessary nor sufficient.

Associates in the states is a 2 year degree. I don't know how best to prepare for EE and maintain motivation while deployed aside from that book.

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[Kappes Buur]

Associates in the states is a 2 year degree. I don't know how best to prepare for EE and maintain motivation while deployed aside from that book.

Does that mean that you are familiar with instantaneous changes in a circuit, or is that simply for electrical DC levels.
Electrical Engineering goes heavily into math, as in calculus and later on LaPlace. You may want to be prepared for that.

To get an inkling of what is involved take a look at the videos for the MIT 6.002x course on Youtube.

[Daniel_Reyes]

Associates in the states is a 2 year degree. I don't know how best to prepare for EE and maintain motivation while deployed aside from that book.

Does that mean that you are familiar with instantaneous changes in a circuit, or is that simply for electrical DC levels.
Electrical Engineering goes heavily into math, as in calculus and later on LaPlace. You may want to be prepared for that.

To get an inkling of what is involved take a look at the videos for the MIT 6.002x course on Youtube.

If you mean time constants, then I'm familiar with that. I also have a lot of practical hands on experience and really good rf theory. I want to be prepared though. I almost wonder if i should have asked what caught people off guard in their ee program? I don't want to be caught off guard.

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[tggzzz]

Associates in the states is a 2 year degree. I don't know how best to prepare for EE and maintain motivation while deployed aside from that book.

Does that mean that you are familiar with instantaneous changes in a circuit, or is that simply for electrical DC levels.
Electrical Engineering goes heavily into math, as in calculus and later on LaPlace. You may want to be prepared for that.

To get an inkling of what is involved take a look at the videos for the MIT 6.002x course on Youtube.

If you mean time constants, then I'm familiar with that. I also have a lot of practical hands on experience and really good rf theory. I want to be prepared though. I almost wonder if i should have asked what caught people off guard in their ee program? I don't want to be caught off guard.

I suggest you look at the syllabus for your course, or at least at the vids pointed to above.

"RF theory" covers a lot of ground, e.g. propagation/channel models, characteristics of different modulation schemes, erf functions (which is the steepest curve I know!), DSP, and information theory - plus lots more. Even a PhD isn't sufficient to claim to "know" the theoretical aspects of RF.

As to what caught me out? Thinking the theory would be easy and an extension of schjool physics. Fortunately I realised my mistake after 2 weeks, so I had plenty of time to get my act together.

[Daniel_Reyes]

Associates in the states is a 2 year degree. I don't know how best to prepare for EE and maintain motivation while deployed aside from that book.

Does that mean that you are familiar with instantaneous changes in a circuit, or is that simply for electrical DC levels.
Electrical Engineering goes heavily into math, as in calculus and later on LaPlace. You may want to be prepared for that.

To get an inkling of what is involved take a look at the videos for the MIT 6.002x course on Youtube.

If you mean time constants, then I'm familiar with that. I also have a lot of practical hands on experience and really good rf theory. I want to be prepared though. I almost wonder if i should have asked what caught people off guard in their ee program? I don't want to be caught off guard.

I suggest you look at the syllabus for your course, or at least at the vids pointed to above.

"RF theory" covers a lot of ground, e.g. propagation/channel models, characteristics of different modulation schemes, erf functions (which is the steepest curve I know!), DSP, and information theory - plus lots more. Even a PhD isn't sufficient to claim to "know" the theoretical aspects of RF.

As to what caught me out? Thinking the theory would be easy and an extension of schjool physics. Fortunately I realised my mistake after 2 weeks, so I had plenty of time to get my act together.

Can't argue any of that. All true and valid points. Thank you for the info!!!

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[bitseeker]

I want to be prepared though. I almost wonder if i should have asked what caught people off guard in their ee program? I don't want to be caught off guard.

Of course, the best first step toward being prepared is finding out exactly what's covered by the courses you'll be taking. For me, EE courses, whether they were for analog, digital, or power systems, were primarily theory and math. I had to take 3, or was it 4, semesters of calculus along with EE classes. Very little was practical apart from practical-sounding homework/test questions (e.g., an electric motor has the following characteristics, compute the...) and a little bit of circuit building in a digital/microprocessor lab.

It's good to have both, theoretical and practical, in whichever order you gain the knowledge.

[Daniel_Reyes]

I want to be prepared though. I almost wonder if i should have asked what caught people off guard in their ee program? I don't want to be caught off guard.

Of course, the best first step toward being prepared is finding out exactly what's covered by the courses you'll be taking. For me, EE courses, whether they were for analog, digital, or power systems, were primarily theory and math. I had to take 3, or was it 4, semesters of calculus along with EE classes. Very little was practical apart from practical-sounding homework/test questions (e.g., an electric motor has the following characteristics, compute the...) and a little bit of circuit building in a digital/microprocessor lab.

It's good to have both, theoretical and practical, in whichever order you gain the knowledge.

Did you get to build stuff or was there long stretches of just theory? I just got my lab together and i fear, i wont be able to put it to much use during the courses.

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[bitseeker]

Lab classes were the only opportunities to build things. But even then, the builds were not extensive, just a little breadboarding for basic building block circuits. If you wanted to do some real building, you did it via extracurricular activities, such as the micromouse competitions, or by going above and beyond the standard lab projects. For example, for a lab project that where we simply wired a microprocessor to external memory and stored/read data there, I wrote a RAM tester/debugger in order to troubleshoot IC, breadboard, and wiring issues. The assembly code for the tester was an order of magnitude more extensive than that for the actual project.

My EE concentration was in computer hardware (i.e., low voltage digital), so I didn't see what the power engineers (i.e., high voltage/current analog, motors, etc.) were up to as far as lab activities.

[bitseeker]

I just got my lab together and i fear, i wont be able to put it to much use during the courses.

Sure you can. Build the stuff that you write equations for. You'll probably be one of the few who has practical experience and is able to go beyond being a textbook engineer.

[JoeB83]

When I was doing my EE it seemed like what held up people the most, at least the first two years, were Calculus and Physics courses. At least where I went to school (CU-Boulder) Calc I was actually fun, Calc II was a bitch, Calc III was fun again, Diff EQ was pretty hard, and Linear algebra was difficult. Of course if you don't understand Calc you'll have trouble understanding Physics, especially the second semester- 1st semester was mostly mechanics and so forth, 2nd was all the stuff that was most applicable to EE.

[Daniel_Reyes]

Lab classes were the only opportunities to build things. But even then, the builds were not extensive, just a little breadboarding for basic building block circuits. If you wanted to do some real building, you did it via extracurricular activities, such as the micromouse competitions, or by going above and beyond the standard lab projects. For example, for a lab project that where we simply wired a microprocessor to external memory and stored/read data there, I wrote a RAM tester/debugger in order to troubleshoot IC, breadboard, and wiring issues. The assembly code for the tester was an order of magnitude more extensive than that for the actual project.

My EE concentration was in computer hardware (i.e., low voltage digital), so I didn't see what the power engineers (i.e., high voltage/current analog, motors, etc.) were up to as far as lab activities.

This is the program.  I hope i don't lose motivation going through all that theory.

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[Daniel_Reyes]

When I was doing my EE it seemed like what held up people the most, at least the first two years, were Calculus and Physics courses. At least where I went to school (CU-Boulder) Calc I was actually fun, Calc II was a bitch, Calc III was fun again, Diff EQ was pretty hard, and Linear algebra was difficult. Of course if you don't understand Calc you'll have trouble understanding Physics, especially the second semester- 1st semester was mostly mechanics and so forth, 2nd was all the stuff that was most applicable to EE.

Was trigonometry easy for you?

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[JoeB83]

When I was doing my EE it seemed like what held up people the most, at least the first two years, were Calculus and Physics courses. At least where I went to school (CU-Boulder) Calc I was actually fun, Calc II was a bitch, Calc III was fun again, Diff EQ was pretty hard, and Linear algebra was difficult. Of course if you don't understand Calc you'll have trouble understanding Physics, especially the second semester- 1st semester was mostly mechanics and so forth, 2nd was all the stuff that was most applicable to EE.

Was trigonometry easy for you?

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Trig was fun, except for trigonometric identities. And unfortunately, trig identities are VERY important for Calc II. I also took trig in high school, so your mileage may vary if you're taking it at college.

[Daniel_Reyes]

When I was doing my EE it seemed like what held up people the most, at least the first two years, were Calculus and Physics courses. At least where I went to school (CU-Boulder) Calc I was actually fun, Calc II was a bitch, Calc III was fun again, Diff EQ was pretty hard, and Linear algebra was difficult. Of course if you don't understand Calc you'll have trouble understanding Physics, especially the second semester- 1st semester was mostly mechanics and so forth, 2nd was all the stuff that was most applicable to EE.

Was trigonometry easy for you?

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Trig was fun, except for trigonometric identities. And unfortunately, trig identities are VERY important for Calc II.

That's pretty much how I felt just finishing trig last month. Any tips? Just keep hammering away?

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[JoeB83]

When I was doing my EE it seemed like what held up people the most, at least the first two years, were Calculus and Physics courses. At least where I went to school (CU-Boulder) Calc I was actually fun, Calc II was a bitch, Calc III was fun again, Diff EQ was pretty hard, and Linear algebra was difficult. Of course if you don't understand Calc you'll have trouble understanding Physics, especially the second semester- 1st semester was mostly mechanics and so forth, 2nd was all the stuff that was most applicable to EE.

Was trigonometry easy for you?

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Trig was fun, except for trigonometric identities. And unfortunately, trig identities are VERY important for Calc II.

That's pretty much how I felt just finishing trig last month. Any tips? Just keep hammering away?

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Pretty much. You'll use a little bit in Calc I, but definitely do a major review before taking Calc II.

[Daniel_Reyes]

When I was doing my EE it seemed like what held up people the most, at least the first two years, were Calculus and Physics courses. At least where I went to school (CU-Boulder) Calc I was actually fun, Calc II was a bitch, Calc III was fun again, Diff EQ was pretty hard, and Linear algebra was difficult. Of course if you don't understand Calc you'll have trouble understanding Physics, especially the second semester- 1st semester was mostly mechanics and so forth, 2nd was all the stuff that was most applicable to EE.

Was trigonometry easy for you?

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Trig was fun, except for trigonometric identities. And unfortunately, trig identities are VERY important for Calc II.

That's pretty much how I felt just finishing trig last month. Any tips? Just keep hammering away?

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Pretty much. You'll use a little bit in Calc I, but definitely do a major review before taking Calc II.

Will do. Thanks!!

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[bitseeker]

This is the program.  I hope i don't lose motivation going through all that theory.

Looks like more labs than I recall having. That's good. The labs are the most fun. Since you have a lot of practical knowledge already, stay motivated by connecting the theory to what you already know. The theory is the "why" behind the way the practical works the way it does. That should lead to plenty of aha moments when the two come together.

I experience it the opposite way that you will since I learned the theory first. I get, "so that's what that meant" and "so that's what that's for" moments.

[Daniel_Reyes]

This is the program.  I hope i don't lose motivation going through all that theory.

Looks like more labs than I recall having. That's good. The labs are the most fun. Since you have a lot of practical knowledge already, stay motivated by connecting the theory to what you already know. The theory is the "why" behind the way the practical works the way it does. That should lead to plenty of aha moments when the two come together.

I experience it the opposite way that you will since I learned the theory first. I get, "so that's what that meant" and "so that's what that's for" moments.

This is great. I really appreciate the advice and you looking over the program for me. Thank you!!!

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[bitseeker]

This is great. I really appreciate the advice and you looking over the program for me. Thank you!!!

Sure thing. All the best on the program and your future EE endeavors.

[JoeB83]

When I was doing my EE it seemed like what held up people the most, at least the first two years, were Calculus and Physics courses. At least where I went to school (CU-Boulder) Calc I was actually fun, Calc II was a bitch, Calc III was fun again, Diff EQ was pretty hard, and Linear algebra was difficult. Of course if you don't understand Calc you'll have trouble understanding Physics, especially the second semester- 1st semester was mostly mechanics and so forth, 2nd was all the stuff that was most applicable to EE.

Was trigonometry easy for you?

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Trig was fun, except for trigonometric identities. And unfortunately, trig identities are VERY important for Calc II.

That's pretty much how I felt just finishing trig last month. Any tips? Just keep hammering away?

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Pretty much. You'll use a little bit in Calc I, but definitely do a major review before taking Calc II.

Will do. Thanks!!

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No problem, glad I could help! 

[Galaxyrise]

That's pretty much how I felt just finishing trig last month. Any tips? Just keep hammering away?

Take trig-based physics.  Same is true with Calc 1, the physics teaches it so much better than the math course does.

[LukeW]

The two sides complement each other well.

The theoretical, mathematical stuff is valuable to have some experience with, but in my experience some universities are weak when it comes to hands-on lab experience and practical skills in prototyping, research and development, design and construction with real hardware.

Maybe some people view that as work for a technician, not an engineer, and it's beneath you and a job for somebody with a smaller paycheque. I don't know.

But they're valuable skills to have.

Do practice designing and building physical real-world electronics, even if it's not exactly on the syllabus.

I've seen students who can draw the circuit of say a non-inverting opamp amplifier, but then you ask them to go and physically build it in the real world and they're completely lost.
They can't translate that drawing on paper to a real physical device and get past that layer of abstraction.

[tggzzz]

Did you get to build stuff or was there long stretches of just theory? I just got my lab together and i fear, i wont be able to put it to much use during the courses.

Blimey! My lab consisted of a multimeter and a 25W soldering iron! I still managed to build an Altair-like 6800 computer - a terrible mess, but I learned a lot and it provided good ammunition for CV and job interviews.

The course will be your best chance to gain and understand a broad range of theory; don't miss that opportunity. You can always gain practical experience later.

[tggzzz]

This is the program.  I hope i don't lose motivation going through all that theory.

That's largely up to you. Don't forget to ask questions.

An engineer wouldn't find the theory boring, because that's what enables them to advance the art. They ought to find the theory challenging - if not then they are just marking time.

A technician might find the theory boring and pointless. That's OK, because both engineers and technicians are necessary, just as both doctors and nurses are necessary. (But the technician-vs-engineer conversation has been done to death elsewhere on this forum, so please let's avoid drifting this thread!)

[tggzzz]

Various people have made points about trigonometry and calculus. Since much enginering theory is based on them you will most definitely need them.

The Euclidian trigonometry I learned when I was 11-13 was sufficient for the university course. I've never learned non-Euclidian trig.

I had exams using basic integration and differentiation when I was 15, and it was necessary for my physics courses between 16 and 18. Nowadays calculus is still necessary for that physics, but is only taught between 16 and 18; shame.

Differential equations are necessary for much engineering, but in electronics only the results are necessary. Any belief that finite element analysis (or similar) is sufficient is misguided - although FEA is necessary in the real world.

[nbritton]

After my upcoming deployment,  I'll be going to school full time for EE. These next 6 months will be a long break from being able to work on my electronics projects. I want to stay with it and prepeare for school as much as possible in the meantime. I have my associates degree already and have been in the field as a technician for 5 years now. My question is, vague and theoretical. My question is, how well will reading and understanding the art of electronics third edition on my deployment, prepare me for undertaking EE courses.

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Brush up on your math and physics, EE is heavily dependent on theory. You need to be very confident with Calculus, otherwise school will be hell for you. The great thing about math is the only equipment you need is a pencil and paper.

[Daniel_Reyes]

After my upcoming deployment,  I'll be going to school full time for EE. These next 6 months will be a long break from being able to work on my electronics projects. I want to stay with it and prepeare for school as much as possible in the meantime. I have my associates degree already and have been in the field as a technician for 5 years now. My question is, vague and theoretical. My question is, how well will reading and understanding the art of electronics third edition on my deployment, prepare me for undertaking EE courses.

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Brush up on your math and physics, EE is heavily dependent on theory. You need to be very confident with Calculus, otherwise school will be hell for you. The great thing about math is the only equipment you need is a pencil and paper.

How do you all master math? Unfortunately,  i was a poor student when i was younger so there is a lot of gaps in my knowledge and i get frustrated trying to learn from YouTube kahn academy,  etc. Trigonometry was hell for me and i barely got a B-.

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[JoeB83]

Getting a degree is very different from learning to work with them. You will need solid calculus and linear algebra background to learn more advanced courses, such as signal and systems, communication theory, electromagnetic wave, control theory, DSP and more.

When I was in college, I had almost equal amount of math credits and EE credits.

Same here-I took an extra 4 credits (Linear Algebra-highly recommended!) and earned a math minor.

[Daniel_Reyes]

Anyone else had equal parts math? I'm weak on trig and can't do well self study but that's my only option when i deploy.

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[JoeB83]

Anyone else had equal parts math? I'm weak on trig and can't do well self study but that's my only option when i deploy.

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These can be helpful: http://www.amazon.com/Schaums-Outline-Trigonometry-5th-Problems/dp/0071795359/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1444785958&sr=8-2&keywords=trigonometry+problems
http://www.amazon.com/Humongous-Book-Trigonometry-Problems/dp/1615641823/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444785958&sr=8-1&keywords=trigonometry+problems
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071635343?keywords=calculus%20problems&qid=1444785921&ref_=sr_1_2&sr=8-2

[nbritton]

After my upcoming deployment,  I'll be going to school full time for EE. These next 6 months will be a long break from being able to work on my electronics projects. I want to stay with it and prepeare for school as much as possible in the meantime. I have my associates degree already and have been in the field as a technician for 5 years now. My question is, vague and theoretical. My question is, how well will reading and understanding the art of electronics third edition on my deployment, prepare me for undertaking EE courses.

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Brush up on your math and physics, EE is heavily dependent on theory. You need to be very confident with Calculus, otherwise school will be hell for you. The great thing about math is the only equipment you need is a pencil and paper.

How do you all master math? Unfortunately,  i was a poor student when i was younger so there is a lot of gaps in my knowledge and i get frustrated trying to learn from YouTube kahn academy,  etc. Trigonometry was hell for me and i barely got a B-.

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Go back and master Algebra, it's the foundation for all advanced mathematics. Pickup a college algebra book and memorize everything in it, know it like the back of your hand. Then move on to pre-calculus. I did bad in math the first time around in school due to bad teachers. I ended up going back to the local community college and taking all of their remedial math classes. After doing that I aced math. Everything in math is built on layers of previous knowledge, so you must master the foundational topics.

Also study statistics.

[Daniel_Reyes]

After my upcoming deployment,  I'll be going to school full time for EE. These next 6 months will be a long break from being able to work on my electronics projects. I want to stay with it and prepeare for school as much as possible in the meantime. I have my associates degree already and have been in the field as a technician for 5 years now. My question is, vague and theoretical. My question is, how well will reading and understanding the art of electronics third edition on my deployment, prepare me for undertaking EE courses.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

Brush up on your math and physics, EE is heavily dependent on theory. You need to be very confident with Calculus, otherwise school will be hell for you. The great thing about math is the only equipment you need is a pencil and paper.

How do you all master math? Unfortunately,  i was a poor student when i was younger so there is a lot of gaps in my knowledge and i get frustrated trying to learn from YouTube kahn academy,  etc. Trigonometry was hell for me and i barely got a B-.

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Go back and master Algebra, it's the foundation for all advanced mathematics. Pickup a college algebra book and memorize everything in it, know it like the back of your hand.

I'll do that. I'm sure you're right. Thanks!

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[ryanralph]

That's a pretty decent lab setup you've got there, it will probably be better than any labs your uni will allow undergrads to use!

Just out of interest where are you located?

[Daniel_Reyes]

That's a pretty decent lab setup you've got there, it will probably be better than any labs your uni will allow undergrads to use!

Just out of interest where are you located?

Thanks! I'm located in Texas but I am from California

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[Daniel_Reyes]

I definitely feel blessed. I worked my butt off for these things, that's for sure. The equipment lets me learn by diving right in which is how I learn best. I'm hoping it will help me endure the theory. I've learned some hard systems that I've had to work on, enduring months of theory and actually enjoying it before but the one part that always gave me the most joy was the hands on portion.

[Daniel_Reyes]

What was it like going through your EE program?  Were you always happy, excited? Tired?  Stessed? Are you happy now?  What's your general feeling from life?

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[Daniel_Reyes]

What was it like going through your EE program?  Were you always happy, excited? Tired?  Stessed? Are you happy now?  What's your general feeling from life?

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Class time is always interest, lab time is better, but nights before tests are horrible, and nights before deadlines are worse. Overall, I am not regret being an EE.

I'm loving this insight. Thank you!

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[Daniel_Reyes]

What was it like going through your EE program?  Were you always happy, excited? Tired?  Stessed? Are you happy now?  What's your general feeling from life?

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Class time is always interest, lab time is better, but nights before tests are horrible, and nights before deadlines are worse. Overall, I am not regret being an EE.

How were your classmates? Did you get along with them? Were they passionate?

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