Electronics Course advice

[hallymusic]

Hi,
I want to get into building lots of DIY  outboard gear for my studio, the extent of my electronic experience so far is a few basic guitar pedals and lots of cable soldering @ the studio, so I'm a complete novice.  Can people recommend what type of online course is best to study to help give me a good grounding (pun not intended) in the theory & practicalities of the knowledge needed to take on lots of the audio gear DIY  builds.
I've had a look over @ lynda.com and there is a series of courses pertaining to Electronics Foundations listed below, would u recommend these?

Electronics Foundations: Fundamentals -
https://www.lynda.com/Development-Tools-tutorials/Electronics-Foundations-Fundamentals/197537-2.html?srchtrk=index%3a1%0alinktypeid%3a2%0aq%3aelectronics+foundations%0apage%3a1%0as%3arelevance%0asa%3atrue%0aproducttypeid%3a2

Electronics Foundations: Basic Circuits
https://www.lynda.com/Software-Development-tutorials/Electronics-Foundations-Basic-Circuits/507570-2.html?srchtrk=index%3a3%0alinktypeid%3a2%0aq%3aelectronics+foundations%0apage%3a1%0as%3arelevance%0asa%3atrue%0aproducttypeid%3a2

Electronics Foundations: Semiconductor Devices
https://www.lynda.com/Software-Development-tutorials/Electronics-Foundations-Semiconductor-Devices/502049-2.html?srchtrk=index%3a2%0alinktypeid%3a2%0aq%3aelectronics+foundations%0apage%3a1%0as%3arelevance%0asa%3atrue%0aproducttypeid%3a2

Thanks for any help and advice in advance
regards
Ronan j

 

[john12ax7]

Not an online course,  but the book The Art of Electronics by Horowitz and Hill is a good place to start.

 

[Scodiddly]

I can't imagine that being useful compared to the regular gizmos. I myself am happy if I've just got a Panavise, but I'm a little weird when it comes to soldering. 

EDIT: How did this response show up on a completely different thread!?!

 

[pucho812]

careful with lynda I knew a few folks on there "teaching" and their entire course is nothing more then  something you could find with a few minutes of google  searching.  Proceed with caution.

 

[scott2000]

careful with lynda I knew a few folks on there "teaching" and their entire course is nothing more then  somethnig you could find with a few minutes of google  searching.  Proceed with caution.

Thanks for that advice! A few things I've tried in audio related stuff seems to be the same..... After a few years of learning and digging, I've tried to get some more answers from a couple of courses and ended up with the same scenario....... if I knew a class would've sped that up...I'd be interested......

Buyer beware for sure.......

Getting some broken gear and learning how to repair it is a pretty good learning experience......
I guess it all depends on what type of electronics you want to get into.... I've been fascinated with the older tube stuff lately and, it's a bit different than ss stuff..... Bit more dangerous too.... There's actually a decent offering online from some guys who share some pretty good information.....

And this place is a treasure of information ..... Someone's signature mentions that.....can't remember who.....

Not an online course,  but the book The Art of Electronics by Horowitz and Hill is a good place to start.

Thanks!

 

[iampoor1]

If all you care about is audio stuff, start with Douglas Selfs small signal audio design.

Oh, and if all you want to do is build gear and not design it....don't get too bogged down in the theory initially. Building and designing are different disciplines.

 

[rob_gould]

How about a free undergraduate EE course from MIT?!

https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-002-circuits-and-electronics-spring-2007/

Needles to say - the difficulty with online courses is maintaining discipline and actually finishing them. I say this as someone who has not completed the above course link

 

[midwayfair]

How about a free undergraduate EE course from MIT?!

https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-002-circuits-and-electronics-spring-2007/

Needles to say - the difficulty with online courses is maintaining discipline and actually finishing them. I say this as someone who has not completed the above course link

Just to warn the op, the material for this class is very challenging. Make sure you look at the syllabus and problem sets, because they aren't joking about the prerequisites. (The class is probably total overkill, too.) Edx has some easier MITx classes that might be worth a peek.
Coursera has a course from Georgia Tech for absolute basics. Notably you don't usually have to pay for these except for a certificate.

If you can learn from books at all, The Art of Electronics is worth every penny and then some.

 

[dmp]

I have the art of electronics and agree it is a good book, but I would suggest a course/textbook on circuits to start with.  That will give you the basic skills for analyzing and understanding a schematic with ohm's law, etc... and the characteristics of basic components.
You can get older editions of text books really cheap - like less than $10. Typically the first undergrad course in a engineering degree is called 'circuits'.
Once you understand components and analyzing circuits, you'll be ready to learn on the go, so to speak, by building stuff and problem solving.
There's tons of free stuff out there online and you could also check out a local community college (if you have one).

 

[madswitcher]

Hi Ronan,

in order to get a grasp of electronic fundamendals,  this might help.  It is the electronics fundamentals course for the US navy technicians who may have to fix anything from a  motor to a sophisticated weapons system.  It is self-study and you can download the pdfs to teach yourself at your own pace.

http://www.fcctests.com/neets/Neets.htm

Kind regards

Mike

 

[pucho812]

Hi Ronan,

in order to get a grasp of electronic fundamendals,  this might help.  It is the electronics fundamentals course for the US navy technicians who may have to fix anything from a  motor to a sophisticated weapons system.  It is self-study and you can download the pdfs to teach yourself at your own pace.

http://www.fcctests.com/neets/Neets.htm

Kind regards

Mike

The Navy, now you are talking. Dave royer will tell you that if you can find them, get the JAN electronics books. Jan is short for joint army navy. Apparently they are designed so that guys who lived in places where they may not have electricity could fix a sonar while being under the ocean in a sub.  Lot of good old army and navy training videos on electronics on you tube.  8)

 

[benb]

I have the art of electronics and agree it is a good book, but I would suggest a course/textbook on circuits to start with.  That will give you the basic skills for analyzing and understanding a schematic with ohm's law, etc... and the characteristics of basic components.
You can get older editions of text books really cheap - like less than $10. Typically the first undergrad course in a engineering degree is called 'circuits'.
Once you understand components and analyzing circuits, you'll be ready to learn on the go, so to speak, by building stuff and problem solving.
There's tons of free stuff out there online and you could also check out a local community college (if you have one).

Did they change things? When I was in college for an electrical degree the first course was called "DC circuit analysis" (including Ohm's Law, power formula and labs showing that resistors follow Ohm's Law and incandescent lamps do not (and perhaps since then that diodes/LEDs also do not). Then there was AC Circuit Analysis that presumes knowledge of complex numbers (real and imaginary), and oh, in electrical we don't call the imaginary number i like they do in math, we call it j because we already used i for current.

Study the textbooks with those names (something like "DC circuit analysis" and "AC circuit analysis" - thrift store book prices are $2 to $3, and that's often less than cheap online prices when you add in shipping) and you will have learned a lot of the basics. When you know what KCL and KVL are and how to apply them, you're more than ready to devour TAOE.

 

[tony hunt]

I also agree with Mike's suggestion for the NEETS electronics modules.

Recently I ordered the Module 6 for tubes and power supplies for around $12.
This book is really well laid out for a beginner with careful, clear text and diagrams. By now I know most of the content anyway, but I sure wish I had found this path when I was starting out.

 

[PRR]

> NEETS electronics module ... $12

Older copies of NEETS are readily available on-line. It is Public Domain, your US tax dollars at your service.

"Older" is fine for most. Electrons did not change recently.

Yes, a dead-tree copy to read in the potty may well be worth the printing cost. But don't let poverty slow-down your NEETS.

 

[PRR]

> Apparently they are designed so that guys who lived in places where they may not have electricity could fix a sonar while being under the ocean in a sub.

Roughly.

JAN and NEETS electronics come from a heap of training manuals on EVERY subject. The Army (etc) is not good on experience or aptitude. ROTC put my father through an EE degree. When he reported for service they put him "in charge" of a mess (food) hall, then a truck test project near Pike's Peak. I have read some of his books on Mess Hall operation. If you never saw a kitchen before, these books would teach you how to serve healthy and palatable food to huge numbers of men, even in a tent. In many wars illness, often water and food-borne, caused as much trouble as bullets. The washing-up instructions are very thorough.

(While he did read the books, fortunately as a junior Lt. he was not really running the mess. The Sergeants run the Army. Sarge handed dad a thermometer and a white glove, dad poked the washtub and ran the glove inside a pot and murmered something about baseball, Sarge turned and bellowed: "the Loot says the water is pee-warm and the pots is greasy! Take them out and scrub the s*** out of them!" The long-term Sarges not only knew food, they knew how to play bad-guy / bigger-bad-guy to motivate the men.)

 

[scott2000]

I have read some of his books on Mess Hall operation. If you never saw a kitchen before, these books would teach you how to serve healthy and palatable food to huge numbers of men, even in a tent. In many wars illness, often water and food-borne, caused as much trouble as bullets. The washing-up instructions are very thorough.

I'd like to check this out.....

Ashamed to say but I can barely get a meal for three together at reasonable temps......

This would be a good insight ....

Thanks!

 

[dmp]

Did they change things? When I was in college for an electrical degree the first course was called "DC circuit analysis" (including Ohm's Law, power formula and labs showing that resistors follow Ohm's Law and incandescent lamps do not (and perhaps since then that diodes/LEDs also do not). Then there was AC Circuit Analysis that presumes knowledge of complex numbers (real and imaginary), and oh, in electrical we don't call the imaginary number i like they do in math, we call it j because we already used i for current.

My first semester course covered AC and DC circuits
The second semester class was more focused on power electronics and conversion: motors, generators, etc.
These however were the required courses for Mechanical Engineering, so probably different than what an EE would take.
I took 376 and 377 here:
http://guide.wisc.edu/courses/e_c_e/
I expect the classes have evolved since I took them. Especially considering the rise of motor-generators for EVs and battery technology. (I would love to take a class on this stuff if I had the time)

The last class I took was in the Physics dept and focused on electronics for experimentation. The course textbook was "art of electronics" and this class was a great hands on class, the most helpful for my later hobby in DIY electronics. 

https://www.physics.wisc.edu/academics/undergrads/inter-adv-623

 

[leadbreath]

I did National Technical Certificate Level 4 (Industrial Electronics)  in South Africa. Kirchoffs law and Thevenins theorem until it came out my ass!! What a waste of time and effort that was!!!☹

 

[Speedskater]

While far from a formal course, Rod Elliott has many pages that explain things of interest in audio:
http://sound.whsites.net/index2.html

 

[madswitcher]

While far from a formal course, Rod Elliott has many pages that explain things of interest in audio:
http://sound.whsites.net/index2.html

+++ on that.

Rod has some very good stuff on his sites and his project details always go to lengths to explain how they work and pass on the techniques and knowledge.

Cheers

Mike