Noob lookin' to get smarter

[cjdubea]

Hi all,

First time post.  Neat forum.

Casual spelunking around the forum for what I'm looking for has not been fruitful, so I'll ask it here:

I'm a self employed electro-mechanical engineer working in the underwater robotics (think ROV) industry for longer than I care to admit. I've got a bachelors and masters in Mechanical Engineering and took about a dozen electrical/electronics engineering courses some 20 odd years ago which at the time were leading to a Phd in Electrical Engineering.  Unfortunately, life got in the way and the job was not completed  .

I'm at a juncture in my life where slowing down in my current activities (similar to retirement, but less official ) is on the horizon and I'm thinking about the next chapter in my life.

I've come back to electronics.  Over the years I've obtained a "goodly" amount of OTJ electronics knowledge but I would like to take that a bit further.

Toward that end, I've currently got a weeks time allocated next year to enhancing my electronics skills. I'm looking for an in person classroom/hands on deep dive into the wild world of mosfets, j-fets, zener diodes, resistors, capacitors, etc.

I've fairly flexible about the where and when (within the continental US), and while cost is a concern, I've got a funds cached for this purpose.

Casual Googling around the innerwebs has not provide the guiding light. Any ideas?

My apologies if this has been answered before. 

cheers,

chris

[rstofer]

Well, you certainly have the math skills required for electronics.  First and second semester calculus come in real handy and differential equations show up with Control Systems.

I haven't seen any 'for pay' classes and college classes tend to run at their own pace - not typically one month and not necessarily covering all of your interests in a single course.

You could, of course, retire and go back to college.  I have thought about that quite a bit over the last 13 years of my retirement.  The thing is, I would be taking a seat that would otherwise belong to someone with a future, not a history!  And the kids would kick my butt in course work.  It would be awkward being older than the professor.

Have you given any consideration to the book and lab manual for The Art Of Electronics?  I have both volumes and they are on my 'to read' list but I haven't gotten to them as yet.  Nevertheless, the lab book is definitely hands on.  Experiments to build, measurements to take, calculations to make - all the real world stuff.  The text and lab manual work hand-in-hand. They are a great set of books for someone wanting to get involved with electronics while sticking to their interests.

Good luck!

[AustinTxBob]

Welcome to the forum.

Not in person but I am looking at this lab book. https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/learning-the-art-of-electronics-parts-bom It seems like it could be very informative.

I'm taking classes at the local community college but it is fairly slow paced. I just signed up for their degree program but I'm not going to actually finish it.

[Cliff Matthews]

It's possible a local troll at a makerspace (http://myidiya.com/) could turn-up answers too.

[cjdubea]

Well, you certainly have the math skills required for electronics.  First and second semester calculus come in real handy and differential equations show up with Control Systems.

I haven't seen any 'for pay' classes and college classes tend to run at their own pace - not typically one month and not necessarily covering all of your interests in a single course.

You could, of course, retire and go back to college.  I have thought about that quite a bit over the last 13 years of my retirement.  The thing is, I would be taking a seat that would otherwise belong to someone with a future, not a history!  And the kids would kick my butt in course work.  It would be awkward being older than the professor.

Have you given any consideration to the book and lab manual for The Art Of Electronics?  I have both volumes and they are on my 'to read' list but I haven't gotten to them as yet.  Nevertheless, the lab book is definitely hands on.  Experiments to build, measurements to take, calculations to make - all the real world stuff.  The text and lab manual work hand-in-hand. They are a great set of books for someone wanting to get involved with electronics while sticking to their interests.

Good luck!

Thanks.  I may very well go back to school once I "slow down" with what I'm currently doing.  I took classes in electronics, analog and digital filters, analog and digital controls, etc,.  Did very well in the classes and it always irritated the traditional EE students that the ME had the highest grades....  At this stage, I was looking for  a"refresher" find of thing.  Most of the theory I picked up many years ago has left the building. 

I've actually got copies of both the AoE and lab manual, just need to get them back from my son

In looking around and talking with other folks, there doesn't seem to be the kind of short (one week....) course that I was looking for.

Appreciate the feedback.

chris

[AustinTxBob]

PS: You might want to change your user name to not be your email address.

[cjdubea]

PS: You might want to change your user name to not be your email address.

Even if I could, and I can't, why would I want to?

chris

[CM800]

PS: You might want to change your user name to not be your email address.

Even if I could, and I can't, why would I want to?

chris

Bots crawl across websites and add your email to spam lists for money, then your inbox will suddenly get filled.

[tautech]

Do you have any Uni's close?

A good few years ago I "bumped" into a Dr. of EE and when we had a # of interests in common we became good friends. Cut a long story short, now he's retired he still eats, lives and breathes electronics and has been my backstop when further knowledge has been required.
If you get to know some staff at your local Uni they might point you to someone (maybe retired) that can help.

[ez24]

Craigslist (post a job offer)

Local schools student employment office (I am sure there are students that know enough to teach)

If you have a local maker fair, go there and ask around

And if still no luck try this forum again with a more specific title like "Wanted in xxx a private electronics tutor"  and if you are paying well put this in the title.  High $$ gets attention.

Start a Kickstarter online course that does what you want.  You would learn by preparing courses that teach what you want to learn.  I came across an author who wrote in his preface, that the only way he could learn was to write a book.

Search Youtube and if you find any good videos, share them here.  I suggest you use YT filter and start with >20 min videos.  Dave has a lot of fundamental videos.  I think YT could do what you want if you spend the time looking.  Get a down loader and download playlists to make it faster and easier.

Good luck

[w2aew]

I've got a lot of 'back to basics' type tutorials among the 200+ videos on my channel, there may be a few there that you might find helpful.

Here's a link to an index / table of contents for all of my videos:
http://www.dorkage.com/youtube/W2AEW_video_index.pdf

And a link to my channel:
https://www.youtube.com/w2aew

[Cliff Matthews]

Craigslist (post a job offer)

Local schools student employment office (I am sure there are students that know enough to teach)

If you have a local maker fair, go there and ask around

And if still no luck try this forum again with a more specific title like "Wanted in xxx a private electronics tutor"  and if you are paying well put this in the title.  High $$ gets attention.

Start a Kickstarter online course that does what you want.  You would learn by preparing courses that teach what you want to learn.  I came across an author who wrote in his preface, that the only way he could learn was to write a book.

Search Youtube and if you find any good videos, share them here.  I suggest you use YT filter and start with >20 min videos.  Dave has a lot of fundamental videos.  I think YT could do what you want if you spend the time looking.  Get a down loader and download playlists to make it faster and easier.

Good luck

I'll second that Youtube idea. Here's some channels that may be of interest (by name, sorry..)
/DRIVE   
AA Computers and Technology
Abelardo Pardo
Abom79
Afrotechmods
AintBigAintClever
Alan Garfield
AllAmericanFiveRadio
AndyDaviesByTheSea
APH Group
Applied Science
Arrow Electronics
AvE
bigclivedotcom
Blue Matter
Brek Martin
Chris Ball
Chris Gammell
ChrisFix
Craig Hollinger
CSTworld
CuriousInventor
Cypress Semiconductor
Delcopond
Derek Molloy
DextersLab2013
DIY Perks
Dr. Ray Ridley
DrPhysicsA
EdisonTechCenter
EEEnthusiast
EEVblog
EEVblog2
El Colo Tronics
ElectroBOOM
Electronics Trivia by Steve Wagner
electronicsNmore
electronupdate
ElPaso TubeAmps
Engineering Explained
Gauthier Electric Oakville
Gerry Sweeney
Grants Pass TV Repair
GreatScott!
humanHardDrive
Hydraulic Press Channel
iantube
IBM Internet of Things
iFixit Video
Jack Ganssle
Jeremy Blum
jimmydiresta
joe smith
John Gammell
John Ward
Joop Brokking
Julian Ilett
Julian's Reviews
Kevin Darrah
Keysight Oscilloscopes
Khan Academy
khanacademymedicine
Kristian_Laholm
LabVIEW
LabVIEW MakerHub
lasersaber
Learn Engineering
Lectures by Walter Lewin
Lonnie Honeycutt
Louis Rossmann
Luís R
Make:
Mega Mechatronics
mikeselectricstuff
minutephysics
misperry
MIT OpenCourseWare
mjlorton
N2CUA
Nerdwriter1
NightHawkInLight
Node7
Novaspirit Tech
Nucleus Medical Media
Onstate LED Lighting
Patrick Hood-Daniel
Peter Oakes
Physics Videos by Eugene Khutoryansky
PSoC Projects
psocapps
PSoCDesigner
Quantum Leaps, LLC
RimstarOrg
RLScience
roberhiy2
Robert Bolanos
ROBRENZ
RODALCO2007
rolinychupetin
Roman UrsuHack
Scotty Kilmer
Scullcom Hobby Electronics
SDG Electronics
ShopJimmy.com
SmarterEveryDay
State of Electronics
Steven Casagrande
Suspicious0bservers
Tampatec
Tech Explorations
Techmoan
Technology - Topic
Techquickie
TemasInteresantes
tesla500
The 8-Bit Guy
The Post Apocalyptic Inventor
The Radio Shop
The Signal Path
The Slow Mo Guys
Thunderf00t
Tim Williams
Timothy Schulz
Todd Harrison
TodoElectronica21
Veritasium
vk3ye
VoltLog
Vsauce
w2aew
wattnotions

[tautech]

Wow, great list Cliff, bookmarked by way of offering thanks. 
A significant # are members here too. 

[Cliff Matthews]

Wow, great list Cliff, bookmarked by way of offering thanks. 
A significant # are members here too. 

Apologies if a few had nothing to do with EE. Some are farm and mechanical stuff, I'll edit..
(we should have a sticky for channels with serious EE and another in the MPU & FPGA area for serious coding, but the criteria for submission could be tricky with moderators already overworked..)

[ez24]

I put a copy of Cliff's excellent list here:

....  it was moved to here :

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/other-blog-specific/dd/msg1093983/#msg1093983

[cjdubea]

Wow!

Great stuff folks.

Appreciate the feedback.

cheers,

chris