getting started with electronics

[Rob.Wilson]

Hi ALL

I see some  very interesting project on Madmodders whitch involve electronics ,i no nothing about electronics and would like to no more on the subject ,could anyone give me some pionters on how to get started ,are there any teach yourself kits out there ?

Regards Rob

[Bluechip]

Rob

I started about half a century ago by going insane. After that everything seemed to fall into place    

There used to be a Mag called Everyday Electronics, they have a www site epemag3, I think.
One of the things they did was a 'Beginners Series' about every 2 yrs.
Maybe that still do. Gooogle the site, I think it gives the mag contents ..

http://www.epemag3.com/

Dave BC

[John Rudd]

Have a look here: http://www.talkingelectronics.com/te_interactive_index.html

[Bernd]

Here in the US there used to be two places that helped me get started into electronics. Radio Shack and The Heathkit company. There were also all sorts of electronic magazines available too.

I guess this is the wrong question to ask, but what would you like to know? Basic DC circuits, AC circuits, IC circuits?
I learned by doing. Killed a lot of electronic parts learning, but it was well worth it. 

One thing I must warn you about learning this stuff. It's tough to keep up with the technology. About the time you learn something real well it's obsolete. 

Bernd

[Krown Kustoms]

I agree, I just now feel comfortable with GE PLC's and now we are getting ready to upgrade everything to Allen Bradley (at work)
As soon as you 'get it' it changes.
-B-

[Rob.Wilson]

Thanks Lads

Dave ,, i will look into getting the Everyday Electronics mag had a look on the site looks a good place to start ,,cheers

Jhon ,,, i have book marked the site allot of good stuff there too ,thanks

B you lost me at GE PLC 


Bernd ,,,not the wrong question to ask ,,but a good one ,,i have two projects in mined first ,,i have a couple of  12v DC motors that i would like to use for power feeds on my mill/drill ,,so i would like to make some thing to control the speed of the motor

and the second is ,i have a small R/T that i would like to convert to CNC ,,so i would need a driver card for motor the on that ,,,I NO these are not newby projects but thats what i am aming for ,,so i will start with some smaller projects firts

I found this on the net last night ,EPL500 - 500 in 1 Electronic Project Lab,could you please have a look at it ,and let me no what you think  http://www.quasarelectronics.com/maxitronix/epl500-500-in-1-electronic-project-lab-mx-909.htm

Many thanks Rob

[John Rudd]

Rob,

Thats a serious amount of money to spend for what you get.....

Are there any tech colleges nearby that run basic electronic courses for beginners? That would be a good start....How about GCSE courses either in books or online?

How about Amazon or Play.com for learning resources...?

If you buy books and apply the learnings into practice you may well pick it up quickly...Besides I'm sure that between us all, we can help with any issues you have on the way....

BTW I'm self taught....but that dont make me an expert 

[andyf]

The kit seems an awful lot of money for a pile of components, most of which would cost pence each, and some instruction books. It covers a lot that you may not be interested in, like audio and radio stuff.
 
Bearing in mind your wish to build a couple of 12 volt dc motor controllers, it might be a good idea to buy a kit for one of those - the same people sell Velleman kits, and the K8004 looks like it might do the trick. You would need a cheap multimeter, small soldering iron + solder, some lightweight wire snips to trim component leads after soldering them into place, and a reasonably beefy transformer power supply. As you probably won't want to traverse both the X and the Y axes of your mill simultaneously, it should be possible to use one controller and switch it to the relevant motor.

This might be a cheaper way to get started, with the idea of producing something you are actually going to use - if you build it right. Even if you buy the kit, you will eventually need the multimeter, soldering iron etc when it comes to building something practical, rather than just experimenting by plugging components into sockets on a "breadboard".

Andy

[Bluechip]

Rob,

I agree with John. £180 is a lot to splash out IMHO. I suggest you start with some of the resistor/capacitor packs from Rapid electronics or the like, and some small Stripboard. There are many websites giving basic circuits to build, with just a few cheap ic's etc. You need a soldering iron with a small +/- 1mm tip, and a meter. For about £30 you will be away ... My own personal opinion, is, I don't like breadboards. I accept a lot of folk do, I always seem to get intermittent shorts from crossing component leads. Thus squandering my allocation of profanities.

That EPE mag has, in the past, done a 'Teach In' series. I don't know if they still do, or if one is planned. They used to appear about every 2 yrs or so, they MAY be on one of their CD's.

Despite what Bernd said, IMO that is the right question to ask. ( I'm sure it was a bit tongue in cheek   ). Without an effective grasp of the basic Ohms Law etc., nothing will make any sense. Particularly for DC stuff. The AC is more abstruse, and you can probably get way without it for an absolute beginner.

Sending a PM ..

PS You have realised that £180 is very close to 120 litres of Becks Bier from Sainsburys ....

Dave BC

EDIT Crossed post with Andy, repeated some of his observations ... Sorry ..

[Bernd]

Despite what Bernd said, IMO that is the right question to ask. ( I'm sure it was a bit tongue in cheek   ).
Dave BC

Well, ya, sort of tonge in check    , But that's me. 

Bernd

[Bernd]

Bernd ,,,not the wrong question to ask ,,but a good one ,,i have two projects in mined first ,,i have a couple of  12v DC motors that i would like to use for power feeds on my mill/drill ,,so i would like to make some thing to control the speed of the motor

Many thanks Rob

Rob,

A good place to get ideas about controlling DC motors to go "outside the box" and look at toy robotic drives. They use motors to drive the robot. They have what's called and "H" bridge to drive the motors. Consists of 4 drive transistors and the supporting circuitry. I know sounds complicated. If I could find my book on this subject I could do a C-o-C for you. But this is one place you can start.

As far as buying a kit and building that, I would instead buy a book that has some simple circuits in it and start there. Like I said before I killed a lot of electronics components learning. Intergrated chips and transistors can easily be damged.

I learned about electronics with my interest in model railroading. I built some simple circuits that were written up in the popular model magazines. Next thing I knew I was into designing circuit boards. Before I knew it I had another hobby - electronics.

Another piece of advise here is try to learn just one segment of electronics, like DC. Then go on to the next and so on. Good luck.

I'll see if I can find my book on robotic drives and help out with any questions you may have.

Bernd

[Bernd]

Rob,

I found an example of an H - bridge motor drive. Also discovered that all my electronic books are stored at a relatives attic, at least that's what the wife says.

Anyway here it is:

[John Rudd]

Rob,

EPE magazine does some 'Teach in series' stuff on cd...if thats the way you want to go...

As for the Velleman kit, I built one of them and gave it away to a very good friend of mine for his detailing sander...The kit although it is good and makes use of good electronic priciples wasnt powerful enough for my use...A controller for my wiper motor based X axis drive...( I'm having a rethink on this project  )

Shout up if you need help..

[Rob.Wilson]

Cheers Lads ,,, allot of great advice  he ,,,,i will not get the electronics lab  ,pleased i asked

John  ,, i did have a look into trying to get on some sort of couse ,but was unable to fine any local collages doing electronics and i could not fined any distace learning courses either,,they just do electrics house wiring that sort of thing


Andy,, I do have most of the kit you list ,but i will have to get a smaller end for my soldering iron and i don't have a power supply, thats some thing i will have to get ,or  modifi a comuter power supply ,into a bench one if possible


Dave  , that is allot of beer ,,you made a very good point  ,Without an effective grasp of the basic Ohms Law etc., nothing will make any sense,,I could not agree more ,i would like  to no why ,how and were ,,not becouse it just dose


Bernd ,made another good point ,,try to learn just one segment of electronics, like DC. Then go on to the next and so on.

great advise  lads ,i will start at the begining and hopefully work forward ,,no dought i will fry a good few parts on the way ,there is a local Maplins not far from were i live so i will go and have a look in there for some books and a small starter project

Many thanks Rob

[Rob.Wilson]

Hi John

Sorry cross post ,,, the motors i have are car power steering motors ,it was seeing your  X axis drive that gave me the motivation to have a go  ,are you going to make a new controller ?
Thanks i will Shout up

Regards Rob

[andyf]

Rob: I did have a look into trying to get on some sort of couse ,but was unable to fine any local collages doing electronics

The local library often has info on what's available and where. What little I can remember came from doing the course for my amateur radio licence. This goes into the basics pretty thoroughly, and you don't have to take the exam at the end, or even stay on the course once it gets to stuff like radio procedures, rules and regs etc. My course was run by a local college, but many local amateur radio societies run them - no doubt the RSGB (Radio Society of Great Britain, or Ready Steady Go Brigade if you prefer) will have lists.


Andy

PS  An ohm is an 'ouse where a volt lives  .

[Rob.Wilson]

 

PS  An ohm is an 'ouse where a volt lives  .

I will look into that Andy

Cheers Rob 

[dsquire]

Rob

Here is a site that I have found that has some information that starts from the beginning and works it way up to where ever you want to go. Check it out, the price is right. Hope it is of some help to you. 

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_1/chpt_1/1.html

There are a lot more sites around that have various level of electronic information available as well as sample projects to build to get used to working with various electronic parts. You can have a lot of fun with a handful of cheap parts and a soldering iron while learning about what some of the parts do in an electrical circuit. 

Happy New Year Rob

Cheers 

Don

[Rob.Wilson]

Hi Don

Great site ,thanks just what i need very clear ,,i  have book maked it ,i must get more printer paper  ,Have a great new year Don

I did not get to Maplins today as central heating packed in    first thing tomorrow thats were i will be heading, but i did get a late christmass pressant through the post from the kids ,The better harf must actualy pay attention ,i commented about it in model engineer mounths ago ,any way here it is a book




Just had a quick flick through looks great

Question ?  has any of you lads used any of the electronic symulation programs out there ?

Regards Rob

[Bluechip]

Rob

Good book, Bought it a couple of years ago. Beware the semiconductor type listings at the back. In my copy, maybe now corrected I hope, the table headings go out of sync.

A site worth a shufti, just found it tonight, ...

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

Nice pics and descriptions of various components, colour codes, etc..

Dave BC

[Rob.Wilson]

Hi Dave

Cheers great site  looks like i will have to brush up on my maths too , witch tables are you refering too in the book  so i can check

Thanks Rob 

[Bluechip]

Hi Rob

On my issue .. Ch.23.. P182

P182 & 183 are correct.

The tables headed 'High power MOSFETS thro' Low Current Rectifier Diodes' do list devices true to headings ... But.

on P184 under Schottky Barrier Diodes, the book repeats the devices under 'Low Current rectifier Diodes'  the tables are displaced by one ..

until the end where you see a table headed 'Regulators' none are listed. The devices under this heading are correct for the previous heading 'Signal Diodes'

If, on P185, the last entry under 'Regulators' is 'BAT49', your copy is is error like mine.

No great problem, unless .... you think it may be right  

Dave BC

EDIT Jut noticed your e-mail ... give me a few mins ... will show you  ...

[Rob.Wilson]

Hi Dave

Yep mine reads the same  as yours QUOTE  unless .... you think it may be right   i have just found out that electricity gose backwards  

Regards Rob

[Bluechip]

Rob

'Course it goes backwards, or forwards

Conventional Current goes from + to -
Electron Flow goes from - to +

Covers most eventualities eh ????

Good stuff Electronics .. answer for everything   

Dave BC

[Rob.Wilson]

Hi Dave

Just read Email ,Thanks ,i see what you mean now about the lists ,,it dose seem  comon in tec publications for things to get a bit mixed up ,,there is no way i would have spotted that , as i dont no enough/anything about the subject,cheers for pointing it out i will print off your notes and keep them with the book

I think trying to get my head around whats actualy going on in an electrical curcit will be the hard part   but it dose look fun  

Regards Rob