| Electronics > Beginners |
| I'm spoiled by Arduino and I want to learn the things I missed out on |
| (1/4) > >> |
| iamericmin:
Hi everyone, this is my first post here. Sorry if my post sounds confusing, english is not my first language. I am a teenager with a deep passion for electronics and computer science. As my hobby, I design, manufacture, and assemble PCBs. For example, this is my biggest project so far, a BLE-capable wristwatch based around an nRF52 SoC: https://iamericmin.github.io/tm4.html Of course, I also tinker around with normal perfboards, breadboards, and messy wire-wrapped hand soldered circuits. I teach myself everything so this is where my problem arises. While I am very proud of myself of the things I've done so far, I can't help but think I've been "spoiled" by Arduino and the likes. I want to learn how a 555 timer works. I want to know what the heck an op-amp is. I want to know how to build my own 8-bit computer. What the heck is a rectifier and where do I use one? I never had the need to use any of these because my projects only required a single microcontroller and some passive components. Why would I use a 555 timer when my uC can send precisely timed pulses? Why make a voltage divider when my uC has PWM? While I am somewhat comfy with microcontrollers, I have no idea about any of the nitty-gritty stuff. I merely followed instructions without learning the how and why. I recently realized this issue and looked up the hundreds of tutorials and lectures on youtube. Almost none of them made sense to me. I read online tutorials, beginners' guides, you name it. I now think I'm left with this giant "knowledge hole" of stuff I'm supposed to know by now. I am sort of lost in my passion and would love some guidance into how I can get into serious EE without having to rely on things like the Arduino ecosystem. Don't get me wrong, It's a wonderful tool that brought me to where I am now, but I feel I'm at the stage where I should stop using it. Again, sorry if this sounded confusing or unnecessarily long. I just want some guidance from y'all experts. Thanks! ^-^ |
| Psi:
Afrotechmods has a selection of videos about how various parts work and he explains them well. https://www.youtube.com/user/Afrotechmods/videos |
| rstofer:
Pick a single topic and work on it. If you want to pick them all, concurrently, all I can say is Good Luck! Dave made a video or two on op amps as did w2aew. There are other videos on YouTube but I know these two are excellent. Once you have the basics down, there are thousands of projects on the Internet. "Op Amps For Everyone" is a free download and an excellent reference. 555 timer projects are all over the place. There is a little over 3 MILLION hits on Google for '555 timer project'. Of course, you should download the datasheets for everything you use and try to figure out what all the numbers mean. Every single number in the datasheet puts a limit on what you can do with it. Every single number is important at some point in the design process. Even if just to know that a limit exists. You can always ask specific questions about values in the datasheet. Google for 'Ben Eater 8 bit' and you will turn up some information on a discrete logic implementation of an 8 bit computer. Videos and all! I suppose "The Art of Electronics" and the lab manual "Learning the Art of Electronics" ought to be on the list. |
| rstofer:
If you actually want to learn electronics, realize that it is an intense application of math. At a minimum, you need Ohm's Law, Kirchhoff's Laws, Norton's Theorem and Thevenin's Theorem. DigilentInc.com has a "Real Analog" program that tries to teach entry level electonics. Khan Academy has an EE curriculum as well as their math programs. Those 4 theorems and laws will keep you going for a while. That's good because the next step takes more serious math. Step response and AC circuits are all about math. There's plenty to learn! Khan Academy can help for all of it. |
| iamericmin:
Thanks rstofer, but one thing: I've tried almost all, if not all, of the stuff you suggested. Am I just not trying hard enough? Or am I too stupid to understand? For example, EEVblog's Fundamentals Friday on Op-amps was so hard to understand for me that I just quit before the 10-minute mark, all 5 times I've seen and tried to understand it. There were just too many words I didn't know. EDIT: I know that EE is essentially fancy hard math, but the best I've done is Calculus AB. All the equations I see have complex symbols and big constants that I don't yet know how to handle. |
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