For those who really want to learn....

I highly recommend this book:

"Crash Course in Electronics Technology", by Louis E. Frenzel, Jr.

Picked it up at Fry's a couple of years ago or so. It covers pretty much most of the stuff that gets asked about here time and again, and rather than just asking question specific to one situation or project, this book will give you information you can use on most all your DIY projects. It is not particularly exhaustive, but it covers many topics, giving clear, easy to understand explantations, and actually manages to NOT be boring.

I believe this is a no-brainer purchase for newbies.

I just see lots of pretty basic questions being asked and once the person asking the question gets the answer, I find myself wondering if they've really added to their understanding or if they're just gonna ask the question again when they start their next project.

I've learned a lot over the last few years, but I must say that with each knew lesson I'm learning that there is even more that I do not know. Power supplies, in particular, are something I'm reading up about right now. This book is great, and I just wanted to pass it along to other people who want to become more helpful in the future.

Carry on.

JC

Thanks man :thumb:
I, for one, have a lot of catching up to do.

What is Fry's? Electronics Store I guess...
All we have around here is crappy Radio Shack

I have to recommend the book "There Are No Electrons: Electronics for Earthlings" by Kenn Amdahl.

It got me over the barrier of actually understanding and visualizing a lot of the basics instead of explaining everything as a mathematic phenomena. It's written like a story, and the basic's will stick to your brain like glue after reading it. It's dead cheap and will only take a couple of nights to read.

Regards,
hejsan

cool,

i hope i can find some of these books in sweden.

I have a couple of electronics books at home, but they are so boring i cant read them and remember anything. Plus, its only math, math math...zzzZZZZZzzz.

/J

[quote author="Jonkan"]Plus, its only math, math math...zzzZZZZZzzz.[/quote]

Man, that is so completely the wrong way of looking at electronics... If you really expect to learn anything beyond the simplest basics without math, you're in for a surprise.

Peace,
Al.

alk is right, in school i had 2 years of EE classes, i thought i'm was gonna be assembling components like legos, boy was i wrong.

it was 2 years of painful head-ache inducing math, and i hated it. at times, i had to wear a wet towel on my head to keep my brain from overheating...

it took me over 10 years just to get over that experience and start dabbling in electronics again. right now, one of the most accessible books i found yet is what someone recommended on this board: Van Valkenburgh, Nooger and Neville's Basic Electricity and Electronics from the 50/60s. They got lots of purty pictures and do not feel intimidating...

j.

well, i really want to learn,

so maybe i have to reconsider.


I studied so much math in highschool that i got totally fed up... I took the science/technology program when i probably should have studied music and arts.

but who knows, maybe i wont feel that way if i start over.

Problem is, i have forgot everything i learned.

/J

I don't really look at equations pertaining to electronics or Engineering as Math, it's actually Physics.

Here's a Math problem:
Solve for x: x^2 + 2x + 1 = 0

Here's a physics equation: V = IR
I was first introduced to Ohm's Law and basic circuits in a general physics class, before I took Circuits I as an EE.

Very big difference.

[quote author="Greg"]Here's a Math problem:
Solve for x: x^2 + 2x + 1 = 0[/quote]

x = -1

:green:

hehe...
Here's a slighly harder one: x^2+2x-1=0

Get out that quadratic equation, or just complete the square. I prefer the latter. :green:

You had to give me one that won't factor, didn't you? :wink:

I got:

x = 1 +- sqrt of 2

I don't know how to type up math symbols.

I'm now unsure I got this last one right, but at least I tried...

.414
-2.414

? :roll: :roll:

I like to complete the square:
Knowing that the roots of (x+p)^2 + q^2=0 are -p +/- q

x^2 + 2x - 1 = 0
(x^2 + 2x + 1) - 1 - 1 = 0 (I added 1 so I had to subtract 1)
(x+1)^2 - 2 = 0
(x+1)^2 - sqrt(2)^2 = 0

So the roots are:
-1 +/- sqrt(2) :green:

Or you use the stinking quadratic:
[-b +/- sqrt(b^2 - 4ac)] / 2a
[-2 +/- sqrt(4 - (4*1*-1)] / 2*1
[-2 +/- sqrt(8)] / 2
[-2 +/- 2sqrt(2)] / 2
-1 +/- sqrt(2) :green:

Same as thestudio !

Wheeeew

best thing to learn about electronics is to go to school :wink:
Practice with theory makes you a perfect electgronic geek :wink:

Holy cow, you mean I got it right?! :shock:

Your answer: 1 +/- sqrt(2)

Actual answer: -1 +/- sqrt(2)

You were close... but forgot the minus. :wink:

Oh... I wonder where I went wrong. Unfortunately, I threw that piece of paper away. :wink:

Actually, in math class, getting signs right was one of my biggest problems.