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

31–40 of 62 posts

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#31

Post by alksdeef »

I've been slowly teaching myself electronics for the last three years. Started by building electronics kits and gradually over time you start to see similarities between the circuits and questions arise..

Why are there small value capacitors near all the power inputs on the various chips? Why do many of the inputs and outputs have the similar value resistors right near them? What are these diodes doing, going from ground towards the power output?

Curiosity leads to understanding, leads to pattern recognition, leads to greater understanding, and so on.. Now I'm building my own circuits from scratch and routing custom boards in KiCad and it just seems like second nature almost. There are still SO many mysteries and so much more to learn, but once you begin to understand the basics that knowledge allows the next step and so on.. I think all you really need to get started is a soldering iron (get one with adjustable temperature, I love my Hakko but started with a cheaper one), decent multimeter (The UT61E is really great and cheap) and some leaded solder (just don't eat it).. There are cheap digital handh-held scopes these days too and you don't HAVE to have a scope right away.

Components are cheap (check tayda electronics) and it's endlessly fun, especially for those with a side gig working on the computer all the time. I find having something 'real' I can tinker with a great hobby and don't see myself ever stopping at this point.

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#32

Post by poulpy123 »

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…

You don't need a lab: electronics components, breadboards, some arduinos, a multimeter and some small tools are enough to start and learn, but it's true that with 4 people in a 65 sq meter, even that may be too much... maybe you can find a fablab in you city ?

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#35

Post by madengr »

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…

No post body was provided.

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#36

Post by mhb »

sigmaprimus wrote: post #30
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…

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.

This is for learning electronics. It's very satisfying to see the actual waveform of, for example, an R and a C and to be able to see the effect of changing their values. Or to figure out what you've connected wrong when what you see is not what you expect.

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#37

Post by harry8 »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #21
leohonexus wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

>I had all kinds of fun with those "100 in 1 Electronics" kits that RadioShack sold

Still available new on ebay fwiw, "Maxitronix." Pdfs of the instructions are around on the web too.

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#39

Post by II2II »

sigmaprimus wrote: post #30
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…

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.

From my limited experience, oscilloscopes are useful while learning since you can see what is happening in the circuit. For example, you can build an oscillator or filter circuit then have a visual of the results.

In terms of needing one: no, if you can borrow one or have access to someone else's lab. Oscilloscopes have relatively low benefit given the cost. They will either be too low frequency to be of value for many modern applications, or too finicky to learn how to use properly for higher frequency applications (not to mention expensive for higher frequency applications).

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#40

Post by q3k »

sigmaprimus wrote: post #30
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…

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.

It’s hard to convey how invaluable an oscilloscope is for most electronics labs, at least when you reach the point where you're dealing with your own designs and/or troubleshooting others' flaky designs. Not for use all the time, but for being there if needed. After all, signals in electronics are everywhere, and being able to see a represantation of them takes out so much guesswork from any situation.

You don’t technically need one, but that’ll make a lot of work much harder and some work impossible.

Post reply on HN