I am completely new to electronics. Well, I guess that's not entirely fair - I've had electronics kits in the past but have never really understood what was going on. I recently became more enamoured with the field (I work with a number of EE's) and I am working to really get a grasp on circuit design and repair.
I started out by getting a radio shack electronics learning lab when I was little, but I couldn't really understand it - I felt that the examples threw you in with no explanation of what was actually going on. It was basically along the lines of "Here's this cool circuit!" But it didn't explain why it worked. It didn't explain what the 555 IC was in the very first lab, it didn't explain why you were plugging into 6V instead of a 4.5V power source, or a 3V source, or even a 9V source.
The kit fell into disuse, and occasionally i'd use parts from it for other projects (soldering in modchips into gaming consoles). Then someone pointed me to a book called "There are no electrons: electronics for earthlings." This book served as a great primer for what was actually going on. Now, I'm working through a copy of "teach yourself electricity and electronics," and the Make Magazine guide to electronics. I am also following along with the free Berkely EE classes that are available.
As of yesterday I picked up the exact same electronics learning lab I had when I was a little kid - it hasn't changed at all. The books are still the same. But now I have a much better understanding of what is going on. I still don't understand a lot of the Math that's involved, which I'm hoping the Berkeley classes will help with. If anyone has any pointers for a complete newbie to the field, let me know! Glad to be here!
I started out by getting a radio shack electronics learning lab when I was little, but I couldn't really understand it - I felt that the examples threw you in with no explanation of what was actually going on. It was basically along the lines of "Here's this cool circuit!" But it didn't explain why it worked. It didn't explain what the 555 IC was in the very first lab, it didn't explain why you were plugging into 6V instead of a 4.5V power source, or a 3V source, or even a 9V source.
The kit fell into disuse, and occasionally i'd use parts from it for other projects (soldering in modchips into gaming consoles). Then someone pointed me to a book called "There are no electrons: electronics for earthlings." This book served as a great primer for what was actually going on. Now, I'm working through a copy of "teach yourself electricity and electronics," and the Make Magazine guide to electronics. I am also following along with the free Berkely EE classes that are available.
As of yesterday I picked up the exact same electronics learning lab I had when I was a little kid - it hasn't changed at all. The books are still the same. But now I have a much better understanding of what is going on. I still don't understand a lot of the Math that's involved, which I'm hoping the Berkeley classes will help with. If anyone has any pointers for a complete newbie to the field, let me know! Glad to be here!
