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New to electronics

ThorEp

May 7, 2016
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Hi! Im new to electronics and want to learn!
In school ( many years ago ) a managed to build a digital watch with boolean algebra and circuit software. Thats about it. And mutch of that is forgotten.

Is there any good resources to learn from?
I found this on Youtube and found it interesting:

But many of the comments where on that he wasent always right in what he was teaching.

Is there any other channels that i can learn from? Im interested in programming as well.
I know i can buy an Andriuno and porgram that, but what fun to make something from the ground up.

Please share resources to learn from!:D
 

chopnhack

Apr 28, 2014
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Welcome to the forum Thor! Have a look at our resources tab at the top, we do have some good links there.

Edit: So far from the two episodes I have seen he seems to do a decent job explaining the basics. A bit of swearing, but otherwise ok. The explanation on why current goes through his and switch was good, I am sure he could have used a much higher value to practically eliminate the LED turning on, or a higher value at the LED itself, but so far so good.

What comments did you see?

Edit: Towards video 8 he seems to get confused and there was a part where he cuts away and returns with a fresh sheet of paper...
Perhaps this would be a better resource:

 
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ThorEp

May 7, 2016
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I see the book that i recommends , Digital Computer Electronics. Are there other books out there that you recommend for a beginner?
 

ThorEp

May 7, 2016
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Really liked this one:
Thanks for recomending!
But i still need resources to understand everything with restistors and so on
 

chopnhack

Apr 28, 2014
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I would suggest looking at this thread. Specifically look at the post from January 2013. I think that the first recommendation is a good general entry, not complete, but enough to get you going and keep you interested. The second is more hands on, learn via projects, I have not read, but its on my list as well. After that, to better understand some theory and get some basic level math under your belt I would recommend the Tab series, understanding basic electronics and electricity by Sloan (the title is close enough for you to find). Hope this helps you.
 

ThorEp

May 7, 2016
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Thats for great reply! Is there any good software to simulate circuits? Want some practice while im waiting for parts
 

Arouse1973

Adam
Dec 18, 2013
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chopnhack

Apr 28, 2014
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First - good general overview without getting too bogged down in details
Second - as this has a lot of hands on projects to apply what you learned from Mims book

Third - as this is going to be more theory intensive - the first 2-300 pages if I recall correctly are theory - stuff you need to know, but can get tiring of just reading that alone -

What order to buy?
I think you have found a good mixture, start with Mims and see how far you get! Good luck and welcome to the hobby :)
 

ThorEp

May 7, 2016
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Thats for reply! I have bought them on e books:)
Startet reading Practical electronics for inventors, but WOW the math. Just not there yet.
So im reading Mims now. Do Mims teach the math? How to do the calculations?
 

chopnhack

Apr 28, 2014
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Yes, to some extent. That is why I recommended Mims first. Do that to get started followed by Make for the hands on approach to reinforce or correct what you learned in Mims and then when you're ready Practical.
 

ThorEp

May 7, 2016
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Reading Mims now and its great!

Could anyone reccomend a complete parts kit? I have looked around and found many, but maybe someone here knows of a good one? A parts kit that contain most of what a beginner needs.
 

chopnhack

Apr 28, 2014
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There really is not a complete parts kits per se - it really depends on what you will be anticipating on building. I have never seen a parts kit for Mim's in particular either. Most folks will get a bunch of resistors, capacitors, diodes, general transistors, and perhaps some IC's to start with. Also good to get peripherals like buttons, switches, battery adapters, wire, solder, etc. What links have you seen with kits?
 

hevans1944

Hop - AC8NS
Jun 21, 2012
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Reading Mims now and its great!

Could anyone reccomend a complete parts kit? I have looked around and found many, but maybe someone here knows of a good one? A parts kit that contain most of what a beginner needs.
I bought a Radio Shack Electronics Learning Lab Kit for a grandchild a couple of Christmases past. I liked it so much, I bought one for myself. IIRC it sold for about US$60 then, but RS has been liquidating stuff left and right and lot a RS stores are closed, so this kit of parts is becoming hard to find.

Amazon sells them, and I still see them on the Internet, sold on eBay. Here's one, but you should Google for the latest. This kit includes two tutorial circuit books by Forest Mims, one for basic, mostly analog circuit stuff, and a second one for digital. All of the components you need to do all the experiments in both books are included in the kit. It requires six D-size cells that are mounted underneath the panel to run it. These cells mount in holders that are permanently wired in series (9 V) with taps at each cell brought out to separate power rails of the six solderless breadboard strips mounted on the front panel. So you start out with 1.5 V available from the power rail on the first (leftmost) strip and progress in 1.5 V steps up to 9 V on the power rail of the last (rightmost) strip. Very handy arrangement. I highly recommend this kit for beginners.
 

chopnhack

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Wow! Wish I had that when I was reading Mims!! LOL - Good find Hop!
 

hevans1944

Hop - AC8NS
Jun 21, 2012
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Wow! Wish I had that when I was reading Mims!! LOL - Good find Hop!
Thanks, John. I wish I had this kit sixty years ago, but most of the components (except for resistors and capacitors) didn't exist then. I really would have appreciated the solderless breadboards, but we had to make our own back then out of two brown particle-boards with a prepunched array of holes in them... the kind you use to hang tools and such from a wall in your garage.

We mounted the two boards facing each other with the holes lined up, using whatever we could find for spacers... typically some long threaded screws with jam nuts on each end. We also enlarged the holes on the bottom to allow room for a finger to press into the hole. Then we got a box of paper clips, straightened them out, and then folded them into an elongated "U" with the ends of the paper clip in the middle of one of the long sides. If you wanted to really get fancy, you tack soldered the ends together. Each end of the "U" was sized to just fit through the original hole in the board.

Then the "fun" part began: we strung heavy nylon fishing line through the paper clips on the bottom side while the other end of the paper clips protruded through the holes in the top side. We strung the nylon line in a criss-cross fashion through all the paper clips, securing one end of the line with a screw and pulling the other end tight as it was threaded through all the paper clips. Finally, the free end of the nylon line was secured to the bottom with a second screw. If everything was sized right (length of folded paper clips and spacing between the two boards) you ended up with a spiffy prototyping board.

You would push on a paper clip from the bottom to make the other end pop up above the board, insert a few component leads under the exposed loop on the end of the paper clip, then remove your finger to allow the nylon fishing line to pull the paper clip back down, securing the component wires between the paper clip and the board. Not very elegant, and sometimes the connections were problematical, but it was "gud enuf" to learn about electronics.

I spent many a late night at the Air Force Electronics Hobby Shop in Smyrna TN (my father's last duty station before he retired) under the informal tutelage of an off-duty airman who ran the hobby shop. During the day, the building with an adjacent class room was used for electronics training courses attended by on-duty airman. The hobby shop airman allowed me to "borrow" some of their paperback text books, which was a real help for the budding "electronics genius" I hoped to become. And four years or so later when I enlisted in the Air Force, this experience proved invaluable as I breezed through tech school. My only "mistake" was turning down an offer to teach basic electronics at the tech school I attended in Denver CO. Instead I went out into the field to spend three years playing with new toys at Kincheloe AFB in the upper peninsula of Michigan.
 
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