Electronic ignorance

Having commissioned a 3d printer my obvious lack of electronic knowledge was a considerable embarrassment. Seems I need an idiots guide to basic electronics. - Is there such a thing?

Could anyone offer constructive advice as to how I might move forward

You need to get hold of a book called "The Art of Electronics" by Paul Horowitz and Winfield Hill.

If you try hard you might find a free PDF which you can use on your tablet PC, but I would always recommend purchasing an original copy, obviously.

It's an unofficial "standard text" for most EE undergraduate courses.

Rod- I too am trying to learn, despite being quite good about 50 years ago I now know nothing. I've bought books and used the web but not much further on. I think the biggest problem is the language, does not seem to be English, OK until page two and then I'm reaching for a glossary. You will get lots of good advice and I hope you do well, please don't let me discourage you.

Horowitz and Hill is excellent. One of teh few books I have in more than one edition (the other examples are all floras!)

It may be worth settling for the second edition if you are interested in the basics.

Neil

"I think the biggest problem is the language, does not seem to be English, OK until page two and then I'm reaching for a glossary."

Gordon, t'was ever thus!

When I did my initial (R.A.F.) electrics/electronics training some 60 years ago, the first lecture started with an explanation(???) of current flow. Says the instructor Sgt Sergeant (yes, really), "there are two sorts of current flow - Positive to Negative and Negative to Positive". So, says I, which is correct? "Both", says he.

The subject has been a source of confusion and torment ever since, made worse by the effect you observed - obfuscation! It really does seem that the majority of people who deal in wiggly amps and associated areas have a language of their own. There are exceptions, notably some of our forum members such as Les Jones 1 (long time, no input?), but once the electronics guys start discussing problems amongst themselves, there is no hope for such as me! I have bought several tomes of Wiggly Amps for Dunderheads etc., and have a couple of electronic experimental 'things' but little joy. Was once foolish enough to attempt putting together a motor speed control from the MTM Workshop Series booklet ... switched on, big bang, magic smoke!!!

At 80, I have now decided that enough is enough - great pity.

Ladybird book of sparks and things ... anybody??

rgds

Bill

Rod, I have a spare copy of Horowitz and Hill. I'll think of a price and send you a PM.

Well any kind of useful knowledge has always had the ball and chain of jargon and confusion, sometimes unintended and sometimes deliberated.

I read "success in electronics, Tom duncan" ISBN 9780-719-572-050

I'll kinda summarize here, 

There are questions on each section you can answer, It provides a basic understand of the principles related to electronics, practical applications and real products are picked apart to help you relate to real life scenarios and usage of electronics in action as it were.

Maths requirements are minimal and it's also pretty handy if you're considering taking an educational course on the entry level of electronics. It's been updated here and there to try and keep pace with the rapid developments in digital and fully integrated systems. 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 30/07/2016 11:48:48

Surely recommending H&H to a rank beginner is like handing somebody the St James Bible as an introduction to religion? There must be simpler, more basic introductory books. I'm not an expert in starter books like this but hopefully somebody will come along who is.

Muzzer,

I have to agree on your thoughts re the H n H recommendation.......

There are numerous resources on the web that are available to enable someone to learn the basics, and if questions arise, given the level of expertise from those responding to this thread, answers ought to be forthcoming to resolve....

http://sound.westhost.com/beginners.htm

This might help.

Sorry about all the edits .

Edited By Dave Daniels on 30/07/2016 12:25:24

Edited By Dave Daniels on 30/07/2016 12:29:38

Edited By Dave Daniels on 30/07/2016 12:30:51

Excellent link, Dave

Rod Elliott is a wizard ... It's well worth exploring his site.

MichaelG.

Thank you for the response gentlemen.

David that link looks excellent. Duncan I would be very pleased to hear from you. Only thing I have to fear now is nodding off with my tea on my lap. Seems to happen when I study these days.

I read some time ago that electricity does not exist. In fact, it is just smoke that passes through all those wires (a bit like steam). When there is a problem, smoke leaks out of the circuits generally stopping the process until the source of the leak can be detected. For Diodes, read clack valves, For transistors/injectors, For capacitors/boilers etc.. Its all quite simple really !! That is why I demonstrated to a young student how to destroy a NE555 timer. Quite simple, ignore simple instructions and get the pin numbers all wrong - and you guessed it - SMOKE.
BobH

I think a lot depends on what people mean by the term electronics. It's a rather wide field so before suggesting this and that it would be better to have some idea what some one wishes to do with it / what type of circuitry they are interested in.

I would say in respect to 3D printers this sort of site would be a good idea

**LINK**

Some of that such as minimising the logic needed may seem a bit incomprehensible so probably best noted and gone back to later.

Much of what goes in 3D printers though is done with software. It may sound odd but when things are controlled via software some proportion of it will have a strong relationship to digital logic. It just uses instructions instead.

If some one wants to get into simple analogue work such as op amps and comparators there is a need to understand the methods of analysing resistive networks in order to understand what the feed back around these parts cause them to do what they do. There may be some tutorials about that explain this in simple terms but they usually don't. One starting point I can find is the Node Voltage Method on this page

**LINK**

This may help people understand the current flows and directions often shown in tutorials.

I sometimes wonder why some one can't simply say that in the usual op amp amplifying circuit the feed back resistor is simply driven to an output voltage until there is zero volts difference between it's two inputs. In practice this has it's complications but it's enough to make use of them.

John

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Edited By Ajohnw on 30/07/2016 13:55:23

Edited By Ajohnw on 30/07/2016 13:56:36

Edited By Ajohnw on 30/07/2016 14:05:29

I will also go along with Dave and Michael, not over excited about the book. There is a lot of useful information on Rod's place, its worth while printing it out for a good read, several times over letting you digest it. Modern electronics ain't what it you to be. I'm Ok with single discreet devices but not with complicated chips. One of the best way is to start making some thing/gadget useful in the workshop, following a circuit diagram from one of the many magazines, then you will learn the resistor colour code, capacitor values and transistors details. There used to be two good magazine one called Electronics International Today, the other Every day Electronics, you may pick up back copies of those two. John

It's a pity R E doesn't go into a little more detail on networks of resistors because it's a pretty fundamental aspect of electronics.

As a for instance on the voltage divider he shows. Another way of looking at it is that the sum of currents where the 2 resistors join has to be zero. It flows into R1 which is regarded as positive and then through R2 which would be regarded as negative. In circuits like this the actual current level is important because it will be connected to something which also takes current and that may upset the division ratio. This connection might provide either a positive or negative current so if there is to be any confidence in what division ratio is actually achieved either the current flow in the divider has to be an awful lot more than the additional current added by the circuit it is connected to or it has to be accounted for.

It's all pretty simple stuff really as outlined here. There may be better and simpler elsewhere on the web.

**LINK**

The problem in that page for some will be oh dear integrals - an integral is just a sum and that's all it means in this case. Matrix manipulation might be mentioned as well but isn't actually needed. Some times simple high school algebra is. Most tutorials on all sorts of things will assume that this area is understood.

Schaums Outline series are good text books if any one feels inclined that way. They include plenty of worked examples and cover all sorts, There is one on Electronic Circuits. Mines years old now and even has a valve circuits in it.

Frederiksen's Intuitive OP Amps is pretty intuitive in places if it can be found but does cover a lot of aspects in some depth.

If some one fancies playing with buckets of transistors this booklet is pretty famous and free.

**LINK**

Really though it all depends on what some one means by brushing up their electronics knowledge. Copying and building other peoples circuits is fine but wont aid understanding what is going on. Some magazines did add a lot of information on that aspect but often it can be rather terse.

I'm tempted to add that I have an oscilloscope for sale in the classified - Oh dear I have.

John

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Edited By Ajohnw on 30/07/2016 18:11:05

One book I have Is pretty good for analogue etc. Not as erudite as A of E ( which I also have ) but much more 'holdy-handy'

Gives all the useful info. on op-amps, Schmitt Triggers, comparators etc. etc. but in a more pictorial form than the A of E.

**LINK**

That is the edition I have. I think later ones are available.

D.

Edited By Dave Daniels on 30/07/2016 20:29:04

Edited By Dave Daniels on 30/07/2016 20:31:22

For someone who just wants to make things with just basic theory the 'Maplin Electronics Handbook' by Michael Tooley is very good, but being 25 years old it is a bit behind the curve for modern power transistors (no logic level MOSFETS or IGBTs) and the digital stuff is soooo last century :0)

But if you want to understand basic use of discrete components, transistors, filters, oscillators, timers, logic, power supplies, op amps, comparators etc. it is very good.

Neil

Can I recommend backing up a textbook with a circuit simulator. I use Yenka **LINK** It is a simple to use circuit simulator, which allows you to try circuits out whilst only creating virtual smoke - and unlike real circuits, when you get them wrong, clicking on the burnt-out component tells you why it failed. I have managed to forget almost everything I learnt nearly 40 years ago (I tried re-reading Smith and Dorf's "Circuits, Devices and Systems" and just go blank), and have come to rely on this for checking circuits and in particular for stitching together the partial circuits that tend to be shown in text books.

Only hitch is that as it is educational software, with the "Free home licence for other users" you can only use the simulator outside school hours.

Brian

I've found Ian Sinclair good,

**LINK**

Plenty of info on the 'net.

Good luck.