Re: Suggestions for aspiring hobbyist
- From: "Melodolic" <a@xxx>
- Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 01:07:31 GMT
sly.psi@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
So does anyone have any suggestions for me at all in anything I've
mentioned? I find myself wanting an expert electronics guy around to
guide me, but I don't know anyone, so I turn to internet folk. Any
material to read, sources to look up, comments regarding /The Art of
Electronics/?
My interest developed after reading various little project books that were
sold by Maplin (in the UK). I think they helped because they deal with stuff
in bite sized chunks. I already had a fairly good grounding in electrical
stuff, and some shaky electronics knowledge. If you don't have that, then
basic reading on things like Ohm's law is essential.
Get a breadboard and components sooner rather than later. You can get a
fixed-size board, or you can get several little boards that interlock
(letting you expand the board in any direction if your circuit starts
growing). A good way to get started with components is to buy multi-value
packs of basics like resistors and capacitors, along with other common bits
like LEDs, diodes, transistors. Buy the cheap things in packets of several
(some will get fried). Some little switches that fit the breadboard can be
handy, and cut-to-suit rows of turned-pin PCB header can be used as plugs
for connecting wires to sensors.
I would add a power supply - a twin-rail one will let you play around with
op-amps. You can build a basic one with no panel meters cheaply, and it's
not too hard (but you have be mindful that it deals with nasty bad mains
electricity).
If you can, get an oscilloscope. There's nothing quite like it for seeing
what's going on inside a circuit. If you're interested in audio, some sort
of signal generator will let you inject a known signal into a circuit, the
effects of which you can then view on the scope. With a twin-trace scope,
you can directly compare the input and output signals - at any two points in
the circuit (IOW, not just at the sig-gen and output socket).
In my experience as a relatively clueless n00b, I would say the scope is one
of the most essential pieces of kit. It vastly speeds the get-it-working
time and prompts learning - you have to understand the circuit to know what
you should see on the scope, so that you can tell if you've got what you
*should* have. And if you haven't, you can see what's different about it,
and start to work out what part of the circuit is causing the difference.
--
Melodolic Spielberg
.
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- From: sly . psi
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