Electronics > Beginners

Reapproaching learning electronics

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rstofer:

--- Quote from: scatterandfocus on December 30, 2018, 06:06:53 pm ---Tpowell, I do understand that making recommendations is a difficult task, and I do appreciate thoughtful recommendations.  Just iterating that sentiment.

At the same time, I see on internet forums many of the same resources being recommended to beginners over and over, which I have actually checked out myself.  And the usual recommendations are not suitable for beginners and self-learners.  And I can only wonder why these same resources are repeatedly recommended to beginners.  I think that much of it must be down to hearsay.


--- End quote ---

Because we're not the ones using the materials!  None of us are looking at Art of Electronics as a beginner.  Some of the respondents have graduate degrees in EE, many have undergraduate degrees.  We don't need Art of Electronics for anything other than reference and there are many other sources.  We're not trying to 'learn' electronics, we already did that and have the scars to prove it.  Not that I remember much...

So, yes, we reiterate what is written before and hope it works out.

See how far you get with Real Analog.



rstofer:

--- Quote from: Kasper on December 30, 2018, 09:14:34 pm ---There is so much electronics info out there it is hard to pick what to study. I prefer just doing projects and learning what is needed to complete the project. It increases the chances that what you are learning is relevant, useful and easier to remember.


--- End quote ---

This is exactly the approach that beginners should use if they want to enjoy electronics as a hobby.  There doesn't need to be a boatload of math, simple arithmetic is all that is required.  There are online calculators for all of the hard problems.

So the question becomes "at what level does a beginner want to learn electronics?".

radioactive:
It might be worth looking at getting some of the older (and newer) issues of Ciarcia Circuit Cellar journal.  I learned a lot from the earlier issues.  Not sure how it is today, but there is a lot of good hand-on stuff, code, and description in those older pages for sure.

nick_d:
Firstly, I think that learning "electronics" is rather a general goal, what areas are you most interested in? For me: digital circuits (74 series logic, microprocessor and memory interfacing, etc), logic and programming (how things like state machines, CPUs and adders, multipliers, barrel shifters etc work and how to design them efficiently), audio circuits (amplifiers, mixing consoles, filters and effects), power supplies (switchmode converters, linear regulators etc), radio (balances mixers, down converters, RF amplifiers, modulation schemes, etc)... And more. Each of these topics could fill many books in its own right, so it is useful to specialize, at least initially. For instance you can work with 74 series logic with only a fairly cursory understanding of voltage and current, little understanding of capacitance and no grasp of inductance at all. I definitely feel that understanding inductance well, takes time and experience.

I'm quite skeptical of book learning, except when it comes to the mathematics (more about that later though). Learning stuff like Thevenin's and Norton's theorem, learning a whole lot of voltage current graphs and rules in terms of dV/dt or dI/dt is useless to a beginner. Those rules are helpful AFTER you already understand the basic idea of what each component does and how a current behaves in a circuit... Then when you want to calculate component values or timings then absolutely reach for your dV/dt formulae and use them, but until you have the PICTURE they're just symbols on a page... At least they were to me at the start.

So how to get the general idea? By building stuff. Just simple stuff in the beginning like torch globes in series vs parallel... Series is dimmer, why? And how much dimmer? And putting switches in. You want to build an H bridge to control a motor? Get 2 switches of 3 terminals each, etc.

For me I came to it from the software side, as my job was to program application software for cash registers, occasionally firmware for printers etc. So I learned to read circuit diagrams to understand the hardware I was to program. I also used to take a handful of parts home each night and try to hook them up... For instance I put a couple of power MOSFETs on output pins of a microcontroller and used them to drive a pinball flipper, one to activate the solenoid and one to provide holding current. I did this with no real understanding of capacitance or inductance... So I am basically making the point to start somewhere... Anywhere!

However, there are definite limits to the self taught approach. I built lots of cool stuff but my limitations frustrated me. Radio? Where to begin? It was not until I studies pure mathematics as part of my doctorate that I was given the tools to analyze circuits properly. You NEED 2nd and 3rd year uni maths: complex analysis, differential equations, Fourier and Laplace analysis. But, get as far as you can without.

cheers, Nick

xyrtek:
scatterandfocus,

Itpowell1830 and others have done really well explaining the difficulties of answering your question.

I would seriously recommend that you read the replies more carefully.


--- Quote ---Textbooks are not written for self-learning.  They are written for courses guided by instructors.  And from what I have seen, it is rare to find a textbook that stands on it's own and that would be suitable for self-learners.
--- End quote ---

Please re-read tpowell1830's reply ;)

https://youtu.be/f4-jbobSll4

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