electronics textbook question

C

circle_k

Guest
hello,

i recently purchased a soldering station (weller wlc100) and a
breadboard (protoboard by global specialties) in hopes of learning
more about circuitry and electronics in general. My question is, what
textbook do you recommend for learning the basics, but also showing
you how to wire components to a breadboard, solder correctly, etc. I'm
looking for something that is fairly simple to understand, but also
covers a good deal of theory and applications (this might be an
"intermediate" textbook). Anyway, thanks in advance.


-ck
 
On 29 Jul 2004 16:37:07 -0700, circle_k@linuxmail.org (circle_k) wrote:

i recently purchased a soldering station (weller wlc100) and a
breadboard (protoboard by global specialties) in hopes of learning
more about circuitry and electronics in general. My question is, what
textbook do you recommend for learning the basics, but also showing
you how to wire components to a breadboard, solder correctly, etc. I'm
looking for something that is fairly simple to understand, but also
covers a good deal of theory and applications (this might be an
"intermediate" textbook). Anyway, thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Some initial recommendations, not knowing you at all:

(1) Find people around you who have similar interests. It might be a robotics
club, or an electronics class at a local community college, or it might be a
radio club. But one of the better ways to get going is to surround yourself
with others who are able to answer you or show you. Especially, show you. I
played at soldering on my own, but it wasn't until I learned soldering by
getting a job soldering at Tektronix, where they were willing to teach their
prospective (low paid) workers, that I really learned the details much better.
They could show me. And that was important.

(2) Find out what your own personal motivation is. Find your "center." If
this is just about "making some money" and there isn't some personal, driving
interest, then it's likely you won't stay the course long enough to get really
good at it. But if you have an interest area, use that interest to drive your
learning. If it's radio, build some radios. (One of my first projects was to
build a crystal radio "from scratch", getting a galena crystal from a rock hound
show and some lead to melt as a base for it, making the coil from a toilet paper
tube and some magnet wire I bought, making a capacitor from aluminum foil and
window glass, and making the earphone itself from some punched circles of metal
for the diaphragms, a cylindrical permanent magnet, magnet wire, etc. It worked
well enough to get the three or four major AM stations!) If it's rocketry,
consider making a launching pad. If it's just general electronics, you can pick
most any small project -- perhaps out of one of those project books at Radio
Shack.

You haven't really said what you have actually done or liked, so it's really
hard to judge much. You might try looking for Heathkit training manuals or else
look around for some of the military teaching books -- the ones I particularly
liked were those from the 1940's, except for the fact that I got an earful about
vacuum tubes and VR-150 voltage regulators and selenium rectifiers. But they
did cover a lot of the basics, with drawings and all.

And have you actually gone to Radio Shack and looked into one of the kits or
books they carry? If so, what did you dislike and what did you like about what
you saw? Have you tried any of them?

Jon
 
On 29 Jul 2004 16:37:07 -0700, circle_k@linuxmail.org (circle_k)
wrote:

hello,

i recently purchased a soldering station (weller wlc100) and a
breadboard (protoboard by global specialties) in hopes of learning
more about circuitry and electronics in general. My question is, what
textbook do you recommend for learning the basics, but also showing
you how to wire components to a breadboard, solder correctly, etc. I'm
looking for something that is fairly simple to understand, but also
covers a good deal of theory and applications (this might be an
"intermediate" textbook). Anyway, thanks in advance.


-ck
The later chapters in this book may be of interest to you.
Click to expand...

Principles of Electronics
ISBN:0130344060
 
circle_k@linuxmail.org (circle_k) wrote in message news:<41a14a9d.0407291537.7e1303a8@posting.google.com>...
hello,

i recently purchased a soldering station (weller wlc100) and a
breadboard (protoboard by global specialties) in hopes of learning
more about circuitry and electronics in general. My question is, what
textbook do you recommend for learning the basics, but also showing
you how to wire components to a breadboard, solder correctly, etc. I'm
looking for something that is fairly simple to understand, but also
covers a good deal of theory and applications (this might be an
"intermediate" textbook). Anyway, thanks in advance.


-ck
Click to expand...
"The Art of Electronics" by Horowitz & Hill is a comprehensive book
covering nearly all aspects of electronics. It does have a chapter on
circuit construction techniques.
However, in my opinion, soldering is an art; that is best learned from
someone else, rather than a book.

Aditya Sane
 
what
textbook do you recommend for learning the basics, but also showing
you how to wire components to a breadboard, solder correctly, etc.
Click to expand...
How about the Forrest Mims basic electronics books from Radio Shack? All the
professional engineers I know have those on their shelf along with Horowitz
"Art of Electronics"
 
bobgardner@aol.comma (BobGardner) wrote:

what
textbook do you recommend for learning the basics, but also showing
you how to wire components to a breadboard, solder correctly, etc.

How about the Forrest Mims basic electronics books from Radio Shack? All the
professional engineers I know have those on their shelf along with Horowitz
"Art of Electronics"
Click to expand...
Go on Win, beat him up.


Tim
--
Cook my sock.
 
On 24 Aug 2004 00:31:53 GMT, bobgardner@aol.comma (BobGardner) wrote:

what
textbook do you recommend for learning the basics, but also showing
you how to wire components to a breadboard, solder correctly, etc.

How about the Forrest Mims basic electronics books from Radio Shack? All the
professional engineers I know have those on their shelf along with Horowitz
"Art of Electronics"
Click to expand...
---
Costello and Abbott
Allen and Burns
Lewis and Martin
Garfunkel and Simon

Horowitz and Hill.

--
John Fields
 
"BobGardner" <bobgardner@aol.comma> wrote in message
news:20040823203153.11031.00003919@mb-m02.aol.com...
what
textbook do you recommend for learning the basics, but also showing
you how to wire components to a breadboard, solder correctly, etc.
Click to expand...
The book I am hoping to write during the next 10 years! :) :)

In the meantime, the ARRL Handbook for Radio Communicators is full of good
basic techniques (soldering, etc.) as well as theory.

If you read The Art of Electronics, which I think is a great book, you
should also get the student manual by Hayes. It tells you what to actually
do in the lab (how to use a breadboard, a power supply, etc.).
 
On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 00:06:02 -0400, "Michael A. Covington"
<look@ai.uga.edu.for.address> wrote:

If you read The Art of Electronics, which I think is a great book, you
should also get the student manual by Hayes. It tells you what to actually
do in the lab (how to use a breadboard, a power supply, etc.).
Click to expand...
It also expands upon, in important ways, what the textbook discusses. There is
material there that really should be (I think) in the textbook.

Jon
 
BobGardner wrote:
what
textbook do you recommend for learning the basics, but also showing
you how to wire components to a breadboard, solder correctly, etc.

How about the Forrest Mims basic electronics books from Radio Shack?
All the professional engineers I know have those on their shelf along
with Horowitz "Art of Electronics"
Click to expand...
Hamm.. well, I have neither, and I can honestly say that I have never
read either.

Kevin Aylward
salesEXTRACT@anasoft.co.uk
http://www.anasoft.co.uk
SuperSpice, a very affordable Mixed-Mode
Windows Simulator with Schematic Capture,
Waveform Display, FFT's and Filter Design.
 
On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 12:59:50 GMT, "Kevin Aylward"
<salesEXTRACT@anasoft.co.uk> wrote:

BobGardner wrote:
what
textbook do you recommend for learning the basics, but also showing
you how to wire components to a breadboard, solder correctly, etc.

How about the Forrest Mims basic electronics books from Radio Shack?
All the professional engineers I know have those on their shelf along
with Horowitz "Art of Electronics"

Hamm.. well, I have neither, and I can honestly say that I have never
read either.
Click to expand...
---
It shows...




Just kidding, Kevin; I couldn't resist!

--
John Fields
 
On my bookshelf ...

The Art of Electronics ... and the student manual
Electronic Communications - Robert Shrader

for history ....

Loran - MIT Radiation Lab series ... 1948
Radar - another from the 40's, but not the MIT Radiation Lab Series


On the computer ...

The NEETS [Navy Electricity and Electronics Training Series]
TINA simulation
I have had Electronics Workbench
A ton of Application notes from the net .

The Art of Electronics has been listed as a favorite when I started reading
these newsgroups a few years back.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Welcome to EDABoard.com

Sponsor

Back
Top