Electronics people here?

[mopherman]

Looking back at my previous ventures, Ive realizes that Ive never implemented any electronics, ever. So I'm calling out the electronics savvy of SF, where did you learn?
Whenever i check it out on the 'net, it looks like French. My parents' apartheid-era texts are of little use either.
I just need something that an ambitious teenager, too young for formal education, can pick up and run with. Thanks

[VH_man]

I taught myself electronics when i was about 8 years old..... lol

Radioshack used to have a set of books that had circuits in them that you could use as "modules" and make other circuits. i forget what they are called though.

[TurboSuper]

This site is amazing:

http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/trancirc.htm

But realistically, I couldn't teach myself much from the internet. I only learned it because that's the course of studies of currently following. Once you get a solid foundation, everything kind of falls into place.

[daxspudder]

I took apart toys, and learned simple audio/lighting/motor circuits as a kid, I learned the most when I joined the navy, which for learning electronics is the way to go... SECF submarine electronic computer field... contains 4 jobs, FT(me!!!) ET navigation, ET communications, and STS sonar operator... all of them have months of schooling just to learn everything electronics before you ever go to a boat, I have an associates degree in solid state devices that I earned in 6 months of training... and in the future I will be certified to do every/anything electronics oriented, all paid for by the gov. How do you like them apples?

[pizlo]

Maybe I'd like em good in a pie. MMMMmm Pie.
9th grade tech course, electronics, helped me a bit.

[drex]

if you want to do something easy and at the same time very very functional i suggest you think about getting a micro controller. an easy one to start out with is a basic stamp http://parallax.com/Store/Microcontroll ... fault.aspx
its amazing what you can do with one of these.

[starman]

I taught myself electronics back in the 70s from just library books. There's vastly more resources available to the common man today than there ever was back then so it shouldn't be that difficult to get in to.

Electronics also isn't the big hobby it was back then either...so many things have moved to integrated circuitry and microprocessor control. Much of the things we used to do are now just done on the computer.

You can still fiddle around with 555 timer, comparator and logic circuits to allow you to control just about anything you want. OpAmps and transistors if your interested in linear analog circuits. There are 1000s of schematics on the net that will allow you to do just about anything you want. However, I suggest getting into a basic DC circuits course of some sort first and also start learning how to read electronic schematics.

There's a lot to it and you can take it as far as you want.

[Solar]

The book called Basic Electricity.

[Copperboy]

Whenever I find something unfamiliar, I look it up here:

http://www.howstuffworks.com/

Start of by understanding some simple components, and make sure you know a little about induction, resistance, etc.

[TwitchTheAussie]

Make a camera taser. Simplistic and cheap. The go on to a capacitor bank.

[microman171]

http://www.makershed.com/ProductDetails ... Code=MKSL1 Probably the coolest electronics kit I have ssen for beginners!

This is what I used to learn http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storef ... View/K2605

I havent ought a kit for I dont know how long now! I think I started messing around with electronics since I was around 2 - 3 years old (I would open up toys and see what was inside them) Then it progressed from there. These days I am planning to be and electrical engineer and am mainly designing projects for the PIC 16F628A (Did I mention I was 14?)

[jimmy101]

Many years ago I started with a RadioShack experimenters kit. IMO these were the greatest toys ever invented. These kits, like the "300-in-1" set, had a bunch of resistors, capacitors, relays, transistors etc all mounted on a board. Connections were made with pieces of wire forced into springs for each component. Easy to wire up a circuit then rip it back apart to try something else. It came with a nice book of circuits starting with "make a light bulb light up" all the way up to AM transmitters and receivers. I still have a 300-in-1 set and still use it on occasion, it is a very convenient way to quickly test circuit ideas without having to rummage through boxes of parts to find a 4.7K resistor and 0.033 MFD capacitor and a ...

Here is the only one I found on the RadioShack site;
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... age=search
This particular one is for sensor projects which is pretty interesting.

Heck, get you parents to pay for. It is well worth it as an educational investment.

You might be able to find an old RadioShack 200-in-1 or 300-in-1 set on Ebay.

[MaxuS the 2nd]

I took apart toys, and learned simple audio/lighting/motor circuits

This is the best way in my eyes.
Take apsrt things you've always wondered how they work. Look at the actions and figure out the functions of each individual piece of the puzzle.
Just make sure you have good practice putting them back together again!

[TurboSuper]

Yeah, unfortunately that method doesn't work as well on the more complicated stuff.

But I still say that you should absolutely learn the fundamentals of electronics before going off taking stuff apart. Get to know what resistors, capacitors, and inductors do, and how they respond in a DC/AC environment. Things make more sense that way.

[TwitchTheAussie]

Just find an online mentor. Any of these guys here would gladly help you if you have any problems. Also taking things apart is the best way to start in my opinion. You hit a snag and you ask us simple