Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How I learned electronics [video]

youtube.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 62 posts

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#21

Post by JKCalhoun »

leohonexus wrote: post #17
k_sze wrote: post #11

How do you learn electronics when you don’t have access to a lab? I live in HK, where real estate is at a premium. I’m a family of 4 people, living in a 700 sq-ft home with no garage. (And I’m reckoned to be on the fortunate side of things.) There is no way I can set up a home lab here. I know there are circuit simulators, but simulators are not the real thing. I think that simulators (the free ones that I know of an…

I guess start with breadboards? You can get them cheap at SSP WECL - my friend also living in HK made a DIY exhaust duct taped to his window in his room, to generate negative pressure for carrying away the fumes. As for equipment you can get started with a multimeter.

Agree, 100%.

Of all my hobbies, electronics is probably the one that takes the least space. When I was a kid, I had all kinds of fun with those "100 in 1 Electronics" kits that RadioShack sold (smaller than an autoharp). Did not even have a multimeter then, ha ha.

The modern equivalent is indeed a breadboard. You can get component kits that cover the spectrum for resistors and capacitors (the size of a recipe box).

I find a handful of transistors, some op-amps, some IC's can be a lot of fun - but it depends on what you are interested in.

If you just want to learn general electronics (as opposed to say, digital, or audio, etc.) do a Google search for "100 Transistor Circuits", "200 Transistor Circuits", "100 IC Circuits", etc. So much free stuff out there.

And this amazing site:

https://worldradiohistory.com/Popular-Electronics-Guide.htm

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#22

Post by JKCalhoun »

raducu wrote: post #6
ulamia wrote: post #2

Excellent video. I like the ‘do’ advice. > If I had one word of wisdom on learning it’s ‘do’. Don’t wait, ok? You’ll be waiting on Godot.

I've got a dozen tronclub kits completely unopened. A 200mhz osciloscope I've only used to test the onboard signal generator. A decent electronic microscope. Solder paste in my fridge, never opened. A broken cheap chinese airgun that I was going to repair (I'm pretty sure it's just a capacitor blown out, but I couldn't find the correct value for it). I'm the opposite of just "do", I research so much ahead of the "do"…

I know the feeling.

And yet. When I was young and poor, a friend lent me his 4-track recorder for just one weekend and I knocked out 5 or 6 songs to make for one side of a cassette tape.

I think being resource-poor made me creative-rich. Now, not so much.

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#23

Post by exDM69 »

k_sze wrote: post #11

How do you learn electronics when you don’t have access to a lab? I live in HK, where real estate is at a premium. I’m a family of 4 people, living in a 700 sq-ft home with no garage. (And I’m reckoned to be on the fortunate side of things.) There is no way I can set up a home lab here. I know there are circuit simulators, but simulators are not the real thing. I think that simulators (the free ones that I know of an…

A hobbyist grade electronics lab doesn't need a lot of space and it's not super expensive either. You can get a lot of projects done with tools and components that fit in a shoe box.

Learning electronics is easier than ever before. You can buy smartphone-sized oscilloscopes for less than $200 or even use your smartphone or computer as an oscilloscope/signal generator if you work with audio frequencies. Or plug in a microcontroller board for a few bucks.

You can find textbooks (e.g. [0]) freely online which would've cost you a fortune back in the day (and still do if you want it on paper).

And finally... We still can buy through hole electronics components you can plug into a breadboard. They are obsolete for almost all industrial uses but still widely available. The supply is dwindling but most common components can still be bought.

I am a bit afraid of what will happen when we can no longer buy components in a large form factor that you can solder by hand or stick in a breadboard.

[0] https://archive.org/details/art-of-electronics-3e

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#25

Post by clktmr »

dom96 wrote: post #20
clktmr wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can start with a breadboard, oscilloscope and a set of standard parts (LEDs, resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes). Combine this with a microcontroller you can flash via USB dongle or an RaspberryPi. Should all fit on a desk. The lab is really only necessary for soldering and creating custom PCBs.

You don't even need a lab for this. You can solder fine on a computer desk and create custom PCBs using software, then send it off to a company to etch it for you.

True if you only do DIP, wouldn't recommend it for SMD. Eventually you will need to debug your PCB and solder some fixes, which will be frustrating for SMD parts without the proper equipment.

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#26

Post by sho_hn »

exDM69 wrote: post #23
k_sze wrote: post #11

How do you learn electronics when you don’t have access to a lab? I live in HK, where real estate is at a premium. I’m a family of 4 people, living in a 700 sq-ft home with no garage. (And I’m reckoned to be on the fortunate side of things.) There is no way I can set up a home lab here. I know there are circuit simulators, but simulators are not the real thing. I think that simulators (the free ones that I know of an…

A hobbyist grade electronics lab doesn't need a lot of space and it's not super expensive either. You can get a lot of projects done with tools and components that fit in a shoe box. Learning electronics is easier than ever before. You can buy smartphone-sized oscilloscopes for less than $200 or even use your smartphone or computer as an oscilloscope/signal generator if you work with audio frequencies. Or plug in a m…

I was thinking about this the other day - what’s the situation like now with the active manufacturing of 7400/4000 series parts in (literally) handy DIP packages and the like?

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#27

Post by HPsquared »

k_sze wrote: post #11

How do you learn electronics when you don’t have access to a lab? I live in HK, where real estate is at a premium. I’m a family of 4 people, living in a 700 sq-ft home with no garage. (And I’m reckoned to be on the fortunate side of things.) There is no way I can set up a home lab here. I know there are circuit simulators, but simulators are not the real thing. I think that simulators (the free ones that I know of an…

Take things apart that you're interested in and look at the components, look up the datasheets. Only need very basic tools for that (screwdriver etc).

Also, simply browsing through parts catalogues and looking at datasheets can be a great learning experience.

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#28

Post by sigmaprimus »

sho_hn wrote: post #26
exDM69 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A hobbyist grade electronics lab doesn't need a lot of space and it's not super expensive either. You can get a lot of projects done with tools and components that fit in a shoe box. Learning electronics is easier than ever before. You can buy smartphone-sized oscilloscopes for less than $200 or even use your smartphone or computer as an oscilloscope/signal generator if you work with audio frequencies. Or plug in a m…

I was thinking about this the other day - what’s the situation like now with the active manufacturing of 7400/4000 series parts in (literally) handy DIP packages and the like?

Personally I prefer surface mount over dip on anything other than when I'm using a solderless breadboard as drilling holes(without messing up traces) is a PITA.

But the DIPs are readily available on the *Zon and for fast delivery too!

Of course SMT also requires somewhat of a lab I suppose as a hot air tool is the way to go.

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#29

Post by sigmaprimus »

dom96 wrote: post #20
clktmr wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can start with a breadboard, oscilloscope and a set of standard parts (LEDs, resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes). Combine this with a microcontroller you can flash via USB dongle or an RaspberryPi. Should all fit on a desk. The lab is really only necessary for soldering and creating custom PCBs.

You don't even need a lab for this. You can solder fine on a computer desk and create custom PCBs using software, then send it off to a company to etch it for you.

When I was younger the kitchen table and a piece of cardboard was my soldering station for years. In fact truth be told many times I just bring my equipment out and use it there even now that I have my own place. My workspace is generally crowded where as my table is kept clean.

Very similar to the fact that most people don't have a dedicate place to do a puzzle, a card table or kitchen table will suffice.

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#30

Post by sigmaprimus »

exDM69 wrote: post #23
k_sze wrote: post #11

How do you learn electronics when you don’t have access to a lab? I live in HK, where real estate is at a premium. I’m a family of 4 people, living in a 700 sq-ft home with no garage. (And I’m reckoned to be on the fortunate side of things.) There is no way I can set up a home lab here. I know there are circuit simulators, but simulators are not the real thing. I think that simulators (the free ones that I know of an…

A hobbyist grade electronics lab doesn't need a lot of space and it's not super expensive either. You can get a lot of projects done with tools and components that fit in a shoe box. Learning electronics is easier than ever before. You can buy smartphone-sized oscilloscopes for less than $200 or even use your smartphone or computer as an oscilloscope/signal generator if you work with audio frequencies. Or plug in a m…

Just curious, I see many people comment on buying or having a oscilloscope for beginning electronics.

My question is how many people actually use these devices for anything other than trivial purposes these days?

I feel that mine just collects dust and takes up space and does not compare to my multimeter which is probably my most used tool, but maybe I'm missing something.

Post reply on HN