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Electronics Course (45 episodes, YouTube)

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Re: Electronics Course (45 episodes, YouTube)

#21
post #3

An hour-long video on the PN junction... This is going to be good.

It's interesting that he started with that topic. As opposed to voltage, current , RC circuits, etc. He's got quite a few topics, like emitter followers and op amps. But I think he's a bit below the level of what people need in order to create useful PCB level electronics. I think something like this would be so much more useful if it was tied to an existing book on the subject, like for instance "The Art of Electron…

It makes perfect sense to me, as this looks more like an university-level course rather than a tutorial.

In my university there were two main course around electronics (past the electromagnetism part pf the physics course) circuit theory (all things voltages, currents, various laws like thevenin, transformations, capacitors, resistors, inductances and ideal diodes) and then there was the electronic course (all things transistor, basic signal analysis etc). My university was a proper (and major) engineering-centered university though.

Re: Electronics Course (45 episodes, YouTube)

#22
post #12
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, this course seems to be about going into the depth, I guess the chemistry and physics, of solid state electronics. Diodes, transistors, etc. But do I need to spend 45 hours watching this to empower me to successfully design, say, a microcomputer board? A Z80? 6502? Even an 8088? Do I need this level of depth to get a microcontroller to make a stepper motor do what I want to do (whatever that may be)? Or a power c…

Do I need this level of depth to get a microcontroller to make a stepper motor do what I want to do (whatever that may be) Dave over at the EEVBlog likes to draw a distinction here. He distinguishes between people who want to learn electronics (build power supplies, radios), that is, analog circuits, from people who want put together Arduino projects. He refers to the latter as more of embedded programming rather tha…

Possibly OT and possibly triggering, but I had to stop watching Dave's videos because he matches my personal definition of giant gatekeeping asshole.

I have learned a ton from him over the years, but when you watch something like his video about Flux, it's hard not to feel a little gross. This is subjective, but when you spend a lot of time making sweeping generalizations and then quite literally read the fawning comments as though an echo chamber proves your point... that's when I have to check out.

https://youtu.be/x5Yslag6Mxk?si=FjL8lHjFhWtFsWun&t=45

My bias is that I've been using Flux for about a year and while it's not without flaws... it's actually pretty great.

TL;DR: dividing people who are building things with electronics into "real" vs "embedded" is just a way to enforce a very artificial hierarchy where you're conveniently always at the top.

Re: Electronics Course (45 episodes, YouTube)

#23
post #8
post #3

An hour-long video on the PN junction... This is going to be good.

So, this course seems to be about going into the depth, I guess the chemistry and physics, of solid state electronics. Diodes, transistors, etc. But do I need to spend 45 hours watching this to empower me to successfully design, say, a microcomputer board? A Z80? 6502? Even an 8088? Do I need this level of depth to get a microcontroller to make a stepper motor do what I want to do (whatever that may be)? Or a power c…

Sure you’re right, go watch something else.

Re: Electronics Course (45 episodes, YouTube)

#24
post #5

This is the sort of thing that is solid gold for a well-motivated hobbyist. Lots of content together in one place that takes a (I hope) coherent journey through the "what's important" of a subject. If anyone knows of something similar for mechanical engineering I would be very interested. (Thanks in advance from a physicist who should probably have been an engineer instead :-) )

A well-motivated hobbyist with a physics degree maybe. As someone who studied EE, I wouldn’t recommend most hobbyists sit through all this unless they have a solid background in basic engineering math. He assumes some knowledge of the Laplace transformation for instance. Really, you don’t need to know this stuff to do hobby electronics. You can get pretty far in thinking about circuits at a higher level. Of course, i…

What do you recommended for non-EE major hobbyist?

Re: Electronics Course (45 episodes, YouTube)

#25

https://invidious.flokinet.to/playlist?list=PL7qUW0KPfsIIOPO... Here's the same course, but on invidious, for those who don't go onto Youtube "proper". Is there a HN policy on this? Seems more "neutral" to post the non-youtube link to me. There are people who don't go on to youtube, whereas I don't know of anyone with a moral issue with invidious? Anyway, course looks cool, I'm bookmarking for after doing a few more…

thanks

Re: Electronics Course (45 episodes, YouTube)

#26
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the project?

im admittedly embarrassed to mention it because I know its very rudimentary but here goes - small solar array //and// an exercise bike transformed into a generator - both going to same battery store - stretch goal: generation and draw telemetry dashboard. What will it power you might ask? automated garden system (water delivery essentially), a nintendo switch and accompanying TV/peripherals. "Why a stationary bike?"…

Not sure this YouTube series is the right fit for your project. Razavi's course is focused on signal processing (for future integrated circuit designers), whereas your project is power processing. Quite different approaches. The only comparable academic alternative that comes to mind is maybe CU Boulder on Coursera, which covers at least some of your project. I'm not conversant enough with hobbyist-oriented resources to make a more relevant suggestion.

How deep do you want to go in terms of where to draw the line between building and buying parts?

Re: Electronics Course (45 episodes, YouTube)

#27
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it this channel? https://www.youtube.com/@adultliteracyandenglishlang Here is the reading/writing playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9RaD1SLwSoZhMNz7pqRw... I like her pacing (not fast, not too slow) and the way she presents herself. It seems like a high quality course, even if the audio and video quality are not perfect. I wonder how we could bring more awareness to this great work and others like…

No, the one I was looking for was a west African woman in Africa, teaching people to learn to read English from scratch.

It’s so disheartening that you can have this much of a laser focused understanding of what you’re looking for and not be able to find it.

Re: Electronics Course (45 episodes, YouTube)

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the one I was looking for was a west African woman in Africa, teaching people to learn to read English from scratch.

It’s so disheartening that you can have this much of a laser focused understanding of what you’re looking for and not be able to find it.

I have the gut feeling that a while back you could find it with a Google search. Nowadays I don't think I can find such stuff.

Re: Electronics Course (45 episodes, YouTube)

#29
post #3

An hour-long video on the PN junction... This is going to be good.

It's interesting that he started with that topic. As opposed to voltage, current , RC circuits, etc. He's got quite a few topics, like emitter followers and op amps. But I think he's a bit below the level of what people need in order to create useful PCB level electronics. I think something like this would be so much more useful if it was tied to an existing book on the subject, like for instance "The Art of Electron…

This seems more like a quarter of Sedra/Smith[1]---which, at over 1200 pages, could very well be three courses---and half of an electronic materials/semiconductors course.

[1] https://global.oup.com/ushe/product/microelectronic-circuits...

When I did a Sedra/Smith course, it was after two semesters of passive linear circuit analysis, so it makes sense to skip the basics in lecture 1.

-----

Personally, I found 6.002 (MIT's Circuits lecture[2]) very good for getting through electricity basics and into amplifier modelling, and then using Falstad's simulator to explore real amplifiers and diode circuits. I wish the lecture audio was better, because at one point he moves from the I-V bend of a crude amplifier into the linear region (by applying a bias voltage and shrinking the signal input) while playing music[3], and that sounds really cool live.

[2] https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9F74AFA03AA06A11

[3] https://youtu.be/JqvKtMNz3RQ?t=1480

It's old content, so 240p. At one point, they had better lecture videos from a more recent year, but those are maybe on edX or MIT DSpace or their Digital Learning server.

Re: Electronics Course (45 episodes, YouTube)

#30
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do I need this level of depth to get a microcontroller to make a stepper motor do what I want to do (whatever that may be) Dave over at the EEVBlog likes to draw a distinction here. He distinguishes between people who want to learn electronics (build power supplies, radios), that is, analog circuits, from people who want put together Arduino projects. He refers to the latter as more of embedded programming rather tha…

Possibly OT and possibly triggering, but I had to stop watching Dave's videos because he matches my personal definition of giant gatekeeping asshole. I have learned a ton from him over the years, but when you watch something like his video about Flux, it's hard not to feel a little gross. This is subjective, but when you spend a lot of time making sweeping generalizations and then quite literally read the fawning com…

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