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All Forums >> Radios, Batteries, Clubhouse and more >> Batteries & Chargers >> Where to obtain general electronics knowledge?
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Where to obtain general electronics knowledge? - 5/16/2003 12:44:02 AM   
jbeck-RCU


 

Posts: 36
Joined: 3/17/2002
From: Philadelphia, PA
Status: offline 		Hi all,

In reading this forum, and related posts on other newsgroups, I realized that I have a tremendous lack of understanding about general electrical things. I don't know the difference between a resistor or a capacitor, volts and amps, etc. Nor do I know how to solder, or connect banana clips to wires, or other things along those lines. Pathetic? Yes, but I want to learn!

I know that this expands to more than the R/C world, but does anybody have any good resources where a person can learn these skills? It seems to me that these are of increasing importance as I progress in this hobby, and in some cases knowledge is sort of "assumed". I am not sure where a person without these skills coming into the hobby is supposed to acquire these skills, so I figure I would ask here.

Thanks in advance for any help!

John
       Post #: 1

Where to obtain general electronics knowledge? - 5/16/2003 12:59:57 AM   
Red Scholefield



Posts: 4902
Joined: 12/8/2001
From: Newberry, FL, USA
Status: offline 		Check your local library. Look for books on basic electronics. There are many self help courses of this nature.

Also your local Jr. College probably offers courses starting with the basics.

Look in your larger book stores for books on the subject.

One good book is BASIC ELECITICITY by Van Valkenburh, Nooger & Neville, INc. a Prompt publication. Available at Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com

$23.77 New, Used from $15.99

Just type in Basic Electricity in the search blank.

_____________________________

Red S.
AMA 951 Leader Member

(in reply to jbeck-RCU)
       Post #: 2

Thanks - 5/16/2003 1:03:02 AM   
jbeck-RCU


 

Posts: 36
Joined: 3/17/2002
From: Philadelphia, PA
Status: offline 		Thanks Red, I'll start there.

(in reply to jbeck-RCU)
       Post #: 3

Where to obtain general electronics knowledge? - 5/16/2003 3:22:30 AM   
Andrew


 

Posts: 1896
Joined: 2/4/2003
From: Murray, KY,
Status: offline 		A GOOGLE search on: BASIC ELECTRONICS TUTORIAL will get you over 300,000 hits. Several within the first 40 or so should allow you to find a good starting level -- some are more basic than others -- just keep looking until you feel comfortable with the information. You can further fine-tune your search just by listing the components you are interested in, i.e., BASIC RESISTOR TUTORIAL.

Your library may be a reasonable source, but with the unfortunate decline in electronics as a hobby, some of the material may be dated. On the other hand, OHM's LAW has not changed much in 170 years.

Regards,
Andrew

_____________________________

the "other" andrew
I'm not older than dirt, but I can remember when it was patent pending

(in reply to jbeck-RCU)
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Where to obtain general electronics knowledge? - 5/16/2003 5:05:54 AM   
Red Scholefield



Posts: 4902
Joined: 12/8/2001
From: Newberry, FL, USA
Status: offline 		[QUOTE]Originally posted by Andrew

Your library may be a reasonable source, but with the unfortunate decline in electronics as a hobby, some of the material may be dated. On the other hand, OHM's LAW has not changed much in 170 years.

Regards,
Andrew [/QUOTE]

Nor has anything else in BASIC electricity. Ohms law will take you a long way along the path of understanding some of the stuff one encounters in his R/C work.

_____________________________

Red S.
AMA 951 Leader Member

(in reply to jbeck-RCU)
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Where to obtain general electronics knowledge? - 5/16/2003 8:08:19 AM   
Andrew


 

Posts: 1896
Joined: 2/4/2003
From: Murray, KY,
Status: offline 		Obviously Red, your years of insensitivity have led you to miss some of the crucial, and correctional changes in BASIC electricity.

Because of the de-atomizing effect of simply referring to the electron energy shells by letter: s, p, d and f, the shells are now to be called Stanley, Paula, Delbert and Francine. This is a kinder and gentler approach.

Secondly, you should no longer refer to electrons as negatively charged particles -- constant reference to electron negativity has had a detrimental effect on their self esteem, causing them to resist moving along in their work. They will now be called SBBU's or Site Based Balancing Units -- this is to insure that while they may be little buggers, they do have an equal voice in maintaining neutrality in the universe.

So you see, it's not your BASIC electricity any more.

Endorsed by the California Group for Universe Tranquility.

Regards,

Andrew

PS: While I do think electrons have been ridden out of town on a wire, the shell Francine should have been named Frank!!!

_____________________________

the "other" andrew
I'm not older than dirt, but I can remember when it was patent pending

(in reply to jbeck-RCU)
       Post #: 6

Where to obtain general electronics knowledge? - 5/16/2003 3:58:58 PM   
Red Scholefield



Posts: 4902
Joined: 12/8/2001
From: Newberry, FL, USA
Status: offline 		[QUOTE]Originally posted by Andrew
Obviously Red, your years of insensitivity have led you to miss some of the crucial, and correctional changes in BASIC electricity.

[/QUOTE]

I stand corrected . . . . . particularly when I note that some institutions of higher learning have funded studies to change their mascot to be less gender specific. In New England college the minuteman mascot is deemed not only too gender specific BUT he is carrying a gun! The request for the annual BBQ at another was denied since it might be offensive to vegetarians.

Now we must address this "color" issue - using black or brown as as negative (or ground), while white for the signal wire and red for Positive on servos has severe racial undertones that cannot be tolerated.

Red S.

(in reply to jbeck-RCU)
       Post #: 7

Where to obtain general electronics knowledge? - 5/16/2003 5:46:24 PM   
Andrew


 

Posts: 1896
Joined: 2/4/2003
From: Murray, KY,
Status: offline 		We can be tongue in cheek, but the regulations applied to federal and state institutions (college campuses are particularly prone to "PC" motivated rules) and to a lesser extent private industry, are beginning to have an impact on productivity. Having been hoggtied by red tape (no slure intended ) this week, I'm feeling especially ornery. Here are 3 examples.

1. Having been particularly aggressive in buying and exploiting vendor competition, I was able to realize some substantial savings. Result: "We see that you came in under budget -- we need a written justification why you spent less and what you intend to do with the savings"

2. "I'm sorry, you can't have a ledger 10 and ledger 91 account number on the same PO -- you can have 2 purchase orders and separate the accounts. Result: Back to office, fill out a budget transfer request to move enough money from one account to the other to cover the purchase and resubmit.

3. My daughter is taking a summer class here at the University. While at the Admin. building to take care of the budget transfer above, I stopped by the Bursar's office to pay her tuition. Here's a check for Summer ... After a short wait, I say, "May I have a receipt?" Result: I'm sorry, you can't have the receipt - your daughter's SSN is on the receipt and you must provide a copy before I can give it to you. You had to attend FERPA training and should know this."

And that was Mon. - Thur. -- who knows what today will bring.

Sorry to vent off-topic.

Andrew

_____________________________

the "other" andrew
I'm not older than dirt, but I can remember when it was patent pending

(in reply to jbeck-RCU)
       Post #: 8

Where to obtain general electronics knowledge? - 5/17/2003 5:06:49 AM   
KJohn


 

Posts: 264
Joined: 2/19/2003
From: Medina, OH, USA
Status: offline 		You might try looking into books written for Amateur Radio operators (Hams). Many are published by the ARRL (Amateur Radio Relay League) [[url]www.arrl.com[/url]] . The books are usually geared toward different levels of understanding. Start at the lowest level. They might be available at local libraries. I have found that I can read something and it just does not really mean anything significant until I actually try to put it to use. If I read about energy in a battery it is interesting but when I short out a battery by accident and see a big spark I begin to grasp the energy that is in the battery. To reduce the spark I can insert a resistor. But the resisitor gets warm. I wonder why. Gradually everything I read about resistors in the past starts to sink in. I charge a capacitor with the battery and five minutes later I short out the capacitor by accident. Again I see a spark. Now I begin to understand a capacitor and what it is doing. I know I can hook a charged capacitor to a resistor and now it begins to be a 'circuit'.

Also there is a difference between the DC (Direct Current) circuits and the RF (Radio Frequency) circuits. Components perform differently depending on frequency. All very interesting and it is amazing that we have been able to control the electrons to give us so many useful inventions.

Also, notet he various test instruments used in electronics. Each has a purpose. Ask WHY a person needs THAT instrument. It will help you learn what other people have felt they needed to measure.

It can seem intimidating at first but have patients and persistence and you will slowly be rewarded.

(in reply to jbeck-RCU)
       Post #: 9

Where to obtain general electronics knowledge? - 5/17/2003 6:47:57 AM   
Andrew


 

Posts: 1896
Joined: 2/4/2003
From: Murray, KY,
Status: offline 		Both Keith and Red have recommended finding some basic textbooks -- as Red pointed out, BASIC electronics has not changed and your library or one of the on-line book companies would be a good source. If you live near a college town and they offer electronics courses, try the book store.

We are able to manage electricity differently and somewhat more efficiently than a few years back -- when I commented about dated material, it really applied to changes in circuit management -- we are still doing resistance, capacitance, switching - just faster and with lower power consumption. I tend to use online information, simply because it is more convenient and I have access to a very high speed link.

As a former instructor told me, "Read the chapter then read it again -- work all the examples and all the problems at the end."
Eventually, stuff will begin to make sense and then things can become really fun. Don't get discouraged -- if I had given up everytime I didn't understand something, I would have learned almost nothing.

Just remember, ALL electronic components run on gray smoke -- when you let the smoke out, they don't run anymore.

Best of luck,

Andrew

_____________________________

the "other" andrew
I'm not older than dirt, but I can remember when it was patent pending

(in reply to jbeck-RCU)
       Post #: 10

Where to obtain general electronics knowledge? - 5/18/2003 1:37:53 AM   
N1EDM-RCU



Posts: 89
Joined: 5/20/2002
From: Brockton, MA,
Status: offline 		To go along with what Keith said, if you have a friend who is a Ham radio operator, he may loan you his 'bible, a ARRL book called "The ARRL Handbook". While geared to ham radio, there are a lot of basic circuits (as well as theory), and the book does a nice job of explaning why the circuit works.

The book is rather expensive, but 2nd hand books are available at ham radio flea markets. Your friend could pick one up for you if this book looks like the kind of thing you'd want.

Just a suggestion,

Bob

_____________________________

You can never have too much fuel, unless your plane is on fire.

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       Post #: 11

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