The Art Of Electronics Lab Course.

[mjn2024]

I wanted to start learning electronics after watching many videos of some people doing some pretty impressive stuff. After googling, watching videos, and ask questions one name that was repeated over and over again was "The Art of Electronics". So I found a pdf of the lab course and started scrolling through it, out of all the resources I looked at this one seemed like the best for me. wanting to dig a litter deeper I found a page on Digi key that had all the parts needed to go through the course(https://www.digikey.com/en/resources/edu/harvard-lab-kit).To me, the price of all the components seemed a little high. Is there a better way to buy the components? and is this even a good way to learn?

[mjn2024]

After looking at the parts list I found a $40 pack of resistors as far as I can tell they are just regular resistors removing them  lowers the cost by a decent amount.

[Power-Electronics]

There are similar courses with less expensive parts kits already put together. Here's an example:

https://wiki.analog.com/university/courses/alm1k/alm_circuits_lab_outline

[ambrosia heart]

"I wanted to start learning electronics after watching many videos of some people doing some pretty impressive stuff."
In my experience,this depends on what is the purpose of learning electronics? if
(1)just for fun, it is good to read this book
(2)want to be a tech to know how to troubleshoot an electrical appliance
such as av-amp,hifi, smps, smps atx, computer motherboard, laptop , blu ray player
dvd recorder, cd player, led mon. and led tv.
I will tell you even you read this book hundred times, you will not know
how to troubleshoot an electrical appliance even a rice cooker or even a simple
switching mode power supply,smps. Sad but true.

"So I found a pdf of the lab course and started scrolling through it, out of all the resources I looked at this one seemed like the best for me. wanting to dig a litter deeper I fo. und a page on Digi key that had all the parts needed to go through the course(https://www.digikey.com/en/resources/edu/harvard-lab-kit).To me, the price of all the components seemed a little high."

After 2-3 months, I will sell some electronic learning kits in here (sell and buy area),
in order to help beginner to understand electronics. This includes
(1)hifi use power supply with very low noise due to diff amp design.
(2)linear power supply with error amp, overload protect and overvoltage protect.
(3)cowbar working principle
(4)audio amp build up with diff amp, constant current source, voltage amp, bias control
and power amp section.
(5)how traffic light work (circuit)
(6)how shift register work (circuit)
(7)practical circuit with opamp comparator and different opamps arrangement
such as adder
(8)how RC oscillation circuit work
(9)sine wave generator
(10)how D type flip flop work
(11)how a charger for battery charging work
(12)denon/yamaha/onkyo amp section parts with technical support if you want
(I repair av-amp)
(13)transistor as a switch practical circuit.
Most of these kits will detailed explanation of how it work and at very cheap price.
But soldering diy is needed.
I must buy them ALL and build them ALL to ensure they work properly.

(14)electronic parts resistors, zeners, diode at very cheap price

I will also sell analog oscilloscope , digital oscilloscope signal generator at cheap price
for students and hobbyists. (No Rigol, I do not believe its quality)
Ebay price so high that I laugh out loud.
I sell LG/EZ/GW/Kenwood/protek.

Just wait

[Old Printer]

With the price of the AOE text and the lab manual approaching $200 new, I was a bit put off as a hobbyist just wanting to learn the basics. PDF copies are available, but even if you put the moral issue aside, there is nothing like a printed book, particularly in the case of the lab manual. I went online and looked at some of the used book sellers. The second edition (silver cover) of both books are readily available at very reasonable prices. I picked up immaculate copies of both books in the second edition for a total of $35 shipped. (in the US) The basics of electronic theory has not changed that much, and if I ever work my way through both books I will worry about filling in the gaps then. Of course I am looking at this from a non-EE hobbyist view. Tools like power supplies and DMM's will need to be acquired no matter what, but you can probably work your way through half the book (Ohm's Law through Op Amps) for less than $50 worth of components.

[rstofer]

There's a sticky at the top of this forum with learning resources.

There are resources all over the Internet for learning electronics at the 'hobby' level and, of course, there are also EE resources for the serious student.  EEVblog has some really excellent "Fundamentals Friday" videos as does w2aew (Google for them).

One problem with EE type courses is that they don't really build anything of value.  Most of the exercises can be pencil whipped and that is more than sufficient.  Why?  Because electronics is a math game.  It's ALL math.  Sometimes parts are added...

Decide right up front whether this is for hobby use or something more serious.  If it's serious, there is a definite structure to the learning process.  DC Circuits -> AC Circuits -> Active Circuits -> RF Circuits and so on.  No, I don't remember the exact sequence but I do remember the problematic courses like Control Systems (Laplace Transforms) and Field Theory (Maxwell's Equations) and a few others.  Actually, I didn't really care for Motors, Rotors and Dynamos all that much either.  All I was really there for was Digital...

As part of the EE program there is a parallel list of math classes.  Remember, electronics is ALL math!  Calc I, Calc II, Differential Equations, Laplace Transforms. Fourier Analysis and the list goes on!

Khan Academy has a specific EE curriculum and Digilent has a Real Analog program.  Both are excellent.

There are many books for hobby level electronics.  Forrest Mims wrote a bunch like "Getting Started In Electronics" and a host of others.  Google for "Forrest Mims books".  Amazon has "Getting Started..." for $20.  Mims has written a LOT of books.  Many are available used at Alibris.com.

It is not universally accepted that Mims' books are the way to go.  It isn't universally accepted that "Art of Electronics" is either.  Remember, AoE was written for an undergrad college level program.  To some extent, the disparity is caused by different expectations.  Some want a book for EE level work and some want something a lot more tame.

Define "learn electronics"...

[rstofer]

Don't overlook the 3rd AoE book "The X Chapters"

https://x.artofelectronics.net/

[MathWizard]

I've seen a chapter or 2 of AoE, iirc it goes over some basics at the beginning like voltage diveders, how much more instructional concepts and math do they add in the rest of it ? Like to they go over complex numbers or ODE's ? Do they go over small signal analysis ? Or is it more application focused for each project in each chapter, and they assume you are familiar with most of the stuff ?

1 of these days I'll get a used copy.

[RoGeorge]

That kind of math is for school only, or if the OP has an academic pursue about electronics.   

For fun and hobby-level electronics there's no need of any math.

The 4 basic operations +, -, *, / are more than enough.  For anything more than that, there is always plenty of SPICE simulators, online calculators, pocket calculators, programming languages, etc.

[Old Printer]

That kind of math is for school only, or if the OP has an academic pursue about electronics.   

For fun and hobby-level electronics there's no need of any math.

The 4 basic operations +, -, *, / are more than enough.  For anything more than that, there is always plenty of SPICE simulators, online calculators, pocket calculators, programming languages, etc.

As a hobbyist who sucks at math I agree with this. I used to stress over the math and trying to remember all of the formulas. A fellow forum member advised me to put my energy into organizing online and written sources. I find that all of the math I need can be solved with calculators in the EE Toolkit app on my iPad. Most of it is on the free version and the full paid version is only something like $6. I still enjoy learning as much of the math as I can, but at 68 I don’t stress over it anymore.

[rstofer]

I find that all of the math I need can be solved with calculators in the EE Toolkit app on my iPad. Most of it is on the free version and the full paid version is only something like $6. I still enjoy learning as much of the math as I can, but at 68 I don’t stress over it anymore.

Thanks for the tip on the iPad application.  I just bought the Pro version and now I have a new toy to study.

My favorite tool is MATLAB with Simulink but I also use Octave (free), wxMaxima and ordinary Fortran.  I enjoy some types of math problems, especially those that can be modeled on an analog computer (I have 3).  Mass-Spring-Damper (similar to RLC Circuit) is much more interesting to watch on a scope.

I like the math (in most cases) but at 75+, I'm starting to slack off.

The new toy will bring a certain amount of entertainment.  I just did my favorite RC circuit (10k, 0.1 ufd) and I like that it presents all of the related equations.

[Old Printer]

I find that all of the math I need can be solved with calculators in the EE Toolkit app on my iPad. Most of it is on the free version and the full paid version is only something like $6. I still enjoy learning as much of the math as I can, but at 68 I don’t stress over it anymore.

Thanks for the tip on the iPad application.  I just bought the Pro version and now I have a new toy to study.

My favorite tool is MATLAB with Simulink but I also use Octave (free), wxMaxima and ordinary Fortran.  I enjoy some types of math problems, especially those that can be modeled on an analog computer (I have 3).  Mass-Spring-Damper (similar to RLC Circuit) is much more interesting to watch on a scope.

I like the math (in most cases) but at 75+, I'm starting to slack off.

The new toy will bring a certain amount of entertainment.  I just did my favorite RC circuit (10k, 0.1 ufd) and I like that it presents all of the related equations.

Happy to share a little info your way, you are usually helping me. It works on the iPhone as well, and between the two I always have one within reach.

[TimNJ]

For me, experimenting in LTSPICE has probably been more valuable than most breadboarding I've ever done. Obviously, there are many 'gotchas' in SPICE, for example if you leave out ESR, ESL, and/or use idealized models of op-amps, transistors, and diodes...If you are cognizant of those things, SPICE gives you a lot of neat ways to look at a circuit, and very quickly. On the bench, the same experiments would often take several hours to set up, and may require thousands of dollars of equipment. For example, the ".step param" command lets you step the value of a component over some range (and with some step size) to visualize the effect of changing that particular component value. Very useful to me at least.

Check out this huge library for LTSPICE, with many components not included by default. Quality of models is not 100%, but most seem to work well: http://bordodynov.ltwiki.org/
 

[richmit]

That kind of math is for school only, or if the OP has an academic pursue about electronics.   

For fun and hobby-level electronics there's no need of any math.

The 4 basic operations +, -, *, / are more than enough.  For anything more than that, there is always plenty of SPICE simulators, online calculators, pocket calculators, programming languages, etc.

As a hobbyist who sucks at math I agree with this. I used to stress over the math and trying to remember all of the formulas. A fellow forum member advised me to put my energy into organizing online and written sources. I find that all of the math I need can be solved with calculators in the EE Toolkit app on my iPad. Most of it is on the free version and the full paid version is only something like $6. I still enjoy learning as much of the math as I can, but at 68 I don’t stress over it anymore.

One of the great things about modern electronics is that, math or no math, there are tons of interesting things to play with.

[armandine2]

I took an introduction to electronics course, as part of a post-graduate (taught Masters) degree in Scientific Instrumentation. It followed some of the Art of Electronics book's material. We had some difficulty, as a class, with the circuit idea in Horowitz and Hill (page 305). None of us
 in practice realizing the voltage-to-frequency converter. We eventually ran out of DG403 analog switches. An item, not inexpensive, that is on the component list in the given link.

[RoGeorge]

First thing I would recommend to somebody interested in understand how electronic circuits work would be to learn how to simulate with SPICE-like programs, more precise to learn how to use LTspice.  It's not hard at all.

LTspice is free to use for learning, works on all operating systems, and is the fastest possible approach.  Never runs out of parts, no expensive lab instruments needed, and so on.  It's the ideal learning tool, IMO.  Can also be used to experiment with variation of a given circuit, to plot and compare the results, etc.

Once in a while a hands on experiment with real parts, circuits and instruments will be very beneficial.  Build some circuits in practice, too, preferably after understanding in LTspice how those circuits should work.

[pfabri]

Could you please add a link to your component kit?

[mjn2024]

https://www.digikey.com/en/resources/edu/harvard-lab-kit

[jonatasmello]

"I wanted to start learning electronics after watching many videos of some people doing some pretty impressive stuff."
In my experience,this depends on what is the purpose of learning electronics? if
(1)just for fun, it is good to read this book
(2)want to be a tech to know how to troubleshoot an electrical appliance
such as av-amp,hifi, smps, smps atx, computer motherboard, laptop , blu ray player
dvd recorder, cd player, led mon. and led tv.
I will tell you even you read this book hundred times, you will not know
how to troubleshoot an electrical appliance even a rice cooker or even a simple
switching mode power supply,smps. Sad but true.

Hi,
Do you have any suggestion on course or material for someone who wants to learn more about troubleshooting?

I like electronics since I was a teenager, know the basics but never got much far from soldering basic stuff....
(I ended up working professionally as a software developer.)

Thank you!

[abeyer]

Do you have any suggestion on course or material for someone who wants to learn more about troubleshooting?

Have you already read through the sticky thread here? https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/electronics-primers-course-material-and-books/

That's where I'd start, as there are some good links there already. If you still have a question that might be a better place to ask, too, as it sounds like you're after something totally different than what this thread was about.

[MarkT]

Hi,
Do you have any suggestion on course or material for someone who wants to learn more about troubleshooting?

I like electronics since I was a teenager, know the basics but never got much far from soldering basic stuff....
(I ended up working professionally as a software developer.)

Thank you!

There are a few good youtube channels which are all about electronics troubleshooting, from guitar amps to the most recent iPhones even (that requires more specialized equipment and a very steady hand!).  Worth checking a few out and find one that's on your wavelength.
All troubleshooting involves two things - detective work (homing in on the source of the problem), and experience of likely problems for particular equipment and circuits.  You need a systems level view of a piece of equipment for troubleshooting as well as some basic understanding of signals & electronics.  For instance with a stereo amplifier if one channel only has failed you can compare to the good channel, or swap parts with the good channel, in order to narrow down where the issue is.

(I shouldn't have to mention it, but Dave's eevblog is one such youtube channel!  Its the one with the best rants perhaps.)