Looking for Circuit Design Classes

[sbibat2]

Hello,

Does anyone know of any in-person circuit design classes or workshops, specifically in Illinois, that are not part of a college curriculum where you would need to pay tuition? For example building simple RC circuits, switches/MOSFETS, op-amps, etc.

My father, age 76, has always been interested in learning about circuit design but has never found a way to learn that is suitable for him. I've tried working with him on an arduino starter kit but he finds the programming and microcontroller logic to be too complicated, including uploading pre-made example programs. He wants something that is only hardware, no firmware. He also needs something in person, because when he gets stuck, he finds googling/chatgpt'ing to be too cumbersome and he would prefer in-person help.

Any recommendation would be greatly appreciated, I've been having a hard time finding anything myself.

[jpanhalt]

Why does your father want to design circuits?  That is, what does he want to do with them?  Was he involved in science, engineering, metal working as a hobby or profession/job?

In my area of Ohio, we have a community college with very reasonable costs and adult courses at the local library.  Unfortunately, the latter are all craft and cooking oriented.  I have never seen any listings for model building or electronics.  Is there a builders' space?

Lastly, does your dad want to do it or are you projecting what you think he may want to do?

[rstofer]

I have no suggestions for in-person study but I would recommend Khan Academy's Electrical Engineering course.

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/electrical-engineering

Try a few units and see how it goes...

Also at Khan Academy is a huge curriculum re: math.  Electrical Engineering is ALL math.  Hobby level work doesn't always involve so much math and beyond Khan Academy there are a large number of sites on the web.  For strictly math, at a small annual cost, CalcWorkshop is very good.

At some point,  a small lab will be required.  It will be necessary to breadboard circuits and measure/plot the results.  I am going to recommend Digilent's Analog Discovery 3 (the Pro kit) and a pair of 10x FIXED scope probes (Probe Master) to protect the gadget.  You can glue the 1x/10x switchable probes in the 10x position.

https://digilent.com/shop/analog-discovery-3/?sku=410-415


www.symbolab.com for solving math problems (includes Desmos plotting)
www.desmos.com for plotting graphs.

[watchmaker]

Hello,

Does anyone know of any in-person circuit design classes or workshops, specifically in Illinois, that are not part of a college curriculum where you would need to pay tuition? For example building simple RC circuits, switches/MOSFETS, op-amps, etc.

My father, age 76, has always been interested in learning about circuit design but has never found a way to learn that is suitable for him. I've tried working with him on an arduino starter kit but he finds the programming and microcontroller logic to be too complicated, including uploading pre-made example programs. He wants something that is only hardware, no firmware. He also needs something in person, because when he gets stuck, he finds googling/chatgpt'ing to be too cumbersome and he would prefer in-person help.

Any recommendation would be greatly appreciated, I've been having a hard time finding anything myself.

As a 72 yr old doing something very similar, I think you are a great kid!

If he is looking for circuit recipes, look at sites like Instructables.  Search for other sites by using "DIY electronic circuits". 

Also sites like https://www.learningelectronics.net/vol_6/index.html

I have looked unsuccessfully for useful electronic kits.  One very good youtube presenter is Alan at w2aew[/member]]https://www.youtube.com/@w2aew who along with education presents some easy to follow labs to make useable things.

[Solder_Junkie]

There are some superb instructional videos by Alan Wolke, W2AEW, on YouTube. Alan has a very good understanding of electronics and his presentations are second to none, I doubt any college lecturer could match him for explaining in simple terms how circuits work.

Many years ago there were electronic experimenters kits, typically with transistors mounted on a small board (1" square) that you fitted to the main board using spring clips. You added board mounted resistors and capacitors, wires, etc. and built a working project from an example in an accompanying book. I guess half a century later these things no longer are produced and any that are found on eBay are likely to be troublesome. You can buy "bread boards" where you press wires and components into the board to make a circuit without needing to solder, but they can be fiddly to use.

I guess the modern equivalent is software such as "Tina" simulation software. Which is aimed at the education market, although the lowest cost student version is more than capable of working with quite complex circuits as well as simple ones. Texas Instruments offer a "Tina TI" version for free, but it has limitations (think it only includes Texas Instruments ICs). I have used Tina for years and find it easier to work with than LTSpice (which is free to use).

I think you can use Tina for free for about 30 sessions, https://www.tina.com/tina-student-version/ The cost is $49

SJ

[lokin4areason]

this is so cool

i have a friend that is like seasoned in life ( 83 yrs young ) and needs something to do on his free time

he retired from transmission repair / building ( heavy hobby ) and needs something on the lighter side of thing(s)

[MrAl]

Hello,

Does anyone know of any in-person circuit design classes or workshops, specifically in Illinois, that are not part of a college curriculum where you would need to pay tuition? For example building simple RC circuits, switches/MOSFETS, op-amps, etc.

My father, age 76, has always been interested in learning about circuit design but has never found a way to learn that is suitable for him. I've tried working with him on an arduino starter kit but he finds the programming and microcontroller logic to be too complicated, including uploading pre-made example programs. He wants something that is only hardware, no firmware. He also needs something in person, because when he gets stuck, he finds googling/chatgpt'ing to be too cumbersome and he would prefer in-person help.

Any recommendation would be greatly appreciated, I've been having a hard time finding anything myself.

It might be hard to find in-person instructors these days.  The best bet these days is to ask on forums like this for each project.  There are a lot of forums like this you could join several.  You could act as a go-between between your dad and the forums if you have the time.

[rstofer]

Many years ago there were electronic experimenters kits, typically with transistors mounted on a small board (1" square) that you fitted to the main board using spring clips. You added board mounted resistors and capacitors, wires, etc. and built a working project from an example in an accompanying book. I guess half a century later these things no longer are produced and any that are found on eBay are likely to be troublesome. You can buy "bread boards" where you press wires and components into the board to make a circuit without needing to solder, but they can be fiddly to use.

The thing is, circuits are boring.  Sure, everybody should play with a high and low pass filter and the 3 common transistor amplifier configurations.  Maybe even experiment with resistor networks and work out the Kirchhoff equations but what are you going to do for 'show and tell'?  Who cares where the -3dB breakpoint is located?   I'm pretty sure it won't come up at the dinner table.  The fun part of electronics has motors, batteries and blinking LEDs and, these days, some kind of neural network (facial detection, facial recognition, etc.). The technology being pushed down is simply amazing.

I really like the Elegoo Starter Kits for the Arduino or the Freenove kit for the Raspberry PI (I have both).  These kits are about sensors and actuators for a future project.  All of the code is given and the explanations are excellent.  No, you don't wind up with some form of robot but you do know about all the electronics necessary to build one.   There are robot kits, of course, but this may not be a goal at the beginning.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D8KOZF4
https://www.amazon.com/FREENOVE-Ultimate-Raspberry-558-Page-Detailed/dp/B06W54L7B5

As to 'circuits', "The Art of Electronics" books are useful but may be a bit too advanced for self-study.  Volume 1 is the text, Volume 2 is the lab work and Volume X contains revisions and updates to Volumes 1 & 2.  Check out the Forrest Mims books.  "Getting Started In Electronics" is a pretty good place to start.

Either of the Starter Kits above will provide a very good introduction to electronics.  I highly recommend this approach!

[Analog Kid]

In-person instruction? Rotsa ruck with that; unless there's a local community college that has introductory electronics courses (possible, but unlikely), I don't think you're going to find anything like that these days. I might be wrong, though, so I'd at least check community colleges in your area.

At some point,  a small lab will be required.  It will be necessary to breadboard circuits and measure/plot the results.  I am going to recommend Digilent's Analog Discovery 3 (the Pro kit) and a pair of 10x FIXED scope probes (Probe Master) to protect the gadget.  You can glue the 1x/10x switchable probes in the 10x position.

https://digilent.com/shop/analog-discovery-3/?sku=410-415

I don't think so; $379? That's asking a lot of someone who wants to learn at a very basic level like the OP's dad.

Here's my suggestion: I don't know how much electronics knowledge you have yourself, but if you have any, maybe you could put together a learning kit for him. You'd need, at the minimum

• a breadboard
• some kind of power supply (9-volt batteries would get you started)
• a multimeter (or two)
• a kit of components: resistors, caps, diodes, LEDs, 555s, transistors, etc.
• wire, connectors, basic tools (dikes, wire stripper, tweezers, etc.)

Then, for the instruction part, that's where you come in:
Relying on online resources (there are gazillions of circuits posted online, some with decent explanations of circuit operation and theory), you could give your dad his assignments, then field any questions he has. For those, you could use this forum, which has a lot of very qualified people to answer such questions.
This would basically make you the go-between/teacher for your dad. You'd both probably learn a lot.

[rstofer]

In-person instruction? Rotsa ruck with that; unless there's a local community college that has introductory electronics courses (possible, but unlikely), I don't think you're going to find anything like that these days. I might be wrong, though, so I'd at least check community colleges in your area.

At some point,  a small lab will be required.  It will be necessary to breadboard circuits and measure/plot the results.  I am going to recommend Digilent's Analog Discovery 3 (the Pro kit) and a pair of 10x FIXED scope probes (Probe Master) to protect the gadget.  You can glue the 1x/10x switchable probes in the 10x position.

https://digilent.com/shop/analog-discovery-3/?sku=410-415

I don't think so; $379? That's asking a lot of someone who wants to learn at a very basic level like the OP's dad.

I liked the old price a lot better but once Covid drove up demand, the price followed.

We have seen the first question ('How to get started') so next up is
'what scope?' followed by
'what power supply?' followed by
'what signal generator?' followed by
'what logic analyzer?' ...

I'm pretty sure 'what network analyzer' will come up at some point...

Suddenly, the price doesn't look so bad.  Especially if you throw in the "Real Analog" coursework designed around the Analog Discovery

https://digilent.com/reference/learn/courses/real-analog/start

[jwet]

I "adopted" an older friend at my local ham club.  Every year or so, they would have an "introduction" night where each person stood up and introduced themselves and what they were into in the hobby.  At the time, I was in my early 50's as a working engineer but did a lot of homebrewing and circuit work.  I knew next to nothing about operation especially some of the esoteric stuff like morse code etiquette.  An older gent stood up and said he had done about everything in operating, won all the sort of awards that ham's do- worked all states/countries, etc and wanted to do some home brewing.  He was especially interested in Software Defined Radio when the softrock and similar things were in the ham press about 15 years back.  We sort of struck up a deal and we would meet weekly or so depending.  He showed me how contesting works and other ham oddities and I showed him how circuits work and we built a few gadgets- several SDR Radios, a fancy antenna switch with a microcontroller, etc.  It was a great association.  He unfortunately passed away a couple of years ago at age 83.  I think we both got a lot out of it.  We drove from NC to Dayton, Ohio once or twice and gave a couple presentations to our ham club about SDR's and some other topics.

I applaud what you're doing.  There are all kinds of people looking for lots of things.  Does you dad have a lifelong skill that he could "trade".  I have other interests and would like to meet an old tool and die maker that wanted to know a little about electronics...

Good luck to you and your dad.

[armandine2]

... I wonder what would pass for the OPs Dad as a good curriculum here?

You might want:

a good selection of circuits, at least 20+, mostly basic ones but perhaps some classics, definitely more than:
 a joule thief,
  a constant current source,
   and a 555 timer and an oscillator

So analog and digital?

simulation?

data sheets and application notes?

a project?

op-amps (definitely).

And, probably first of all, does the course hold together, have a theme - is it primarily a design course?

[MathWizard]

What old electronics does your Dad have ? Even just starting by taking some of it fully apart, cleaning it up, maybe mapping the circuit, identifying the parts.

Now I'm not saying to go poke around with mains voltage right away, but even take something like a broken 5V USB supply, that plugs into a wall.

SMD parts aside, something like that might not be that hard to unsolder all the parts, and check them, and learn a bit about what each part is /etc.

Basic PSU circuits are a good place to start too, like making some BJT voltage follower.

[Electro Fan]

It is a great thing that you are doing with your Dad.  As others have said there might be various ways you can be involved in his learning and projects that you both would enjoy.  While finding him some in person classes would be good but maybe difficult depending on his location, this forum is filled with helpful people so if he doesn’t want to directly post his questions perhaps you could do that for him.

I get that someone might not have a lot of math skills or math interest, and might not have an immediate interest in software but would still like to learn about circuits.  Truth is that circuits can go somewhat deep into math - but with just some basic math Ohm’s Law can open a pretty big vista - something to keep in mind.  Net, net:  Learning Ohm’s Law is something that should be encouraged and it can be done in a fun way with just a breadboard, wire, resistors, and LEDs, and a power supply plus a pencil and paper, calculator, or spreadsheet.

As for pure hardware learning platforms, Radio Shack used to make kits. They can be found on eBay - just need to try to find one that might still have all or nearly all the parts and a manual (or a pdf copy).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/395651610568?

As good as the RS kits were there might be an easier and possibly better intro kit:
https://www.amazon.com/Snap-Circuits-SC-300-Electronics-Exploration/dp/B0000683A4/ref=sr_1_5?

The Snap Circuits might seem kid-like but a circuit is a circuit and without the high temperatures, fumes, and safety considerations of soldering circuits these kits can be built with a power supply/battery and the snap-on components in a way that will help show the functions of passive components and some active devices in various circuits; and then with a simple multimeter your Dad can measure voltage, resistance, and current.  Such a kit plus your encouragement and guidance might get your Dad on a path where next steps might become more clear. 

Along the way if you and your Dad can just frame questions Google, Youtube, and this forum can provide answers.  Also, as suggested above W2AEW is a wonderful teacher - if he has a youtube video on a topic that interests your Dad it will be worth watching. 

Keep us posted on how it goes.  Hope your Dad is asking for an oscilloscope soon  

[Analog Kid]

Get at least 2 multimeters (DMMs) so you can see voltage and current simultaneously.

I just bought myself another one at Harbor Freight: https://www.harborfreight.com/electrical/electrician-s-tools/multimeters-testers/7-function-digital-multimeter-59434.html. Only $7 and plenty accurate enough for learning.

[rstofer]

One of my favorite videos about op-amps:

https://www.eevblog.com/2014/04/06/eevblog-600-opamps-explained

Kirchhoff's current law and virtual ground will seem like magic until it is breadboarded and the currents measured.  A simple math exercise with profound implications.

Dave also has videos on Kirchhoff's Laws.