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How I learned electronics [video]

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Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#41

Post by q3k »

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…

Back when I last visited HK (years ago), Dim Sum Labs would have been a great place to learn electronics.

But as others said, many of us have learned electronics at home in even smaller apartments. You really don't need much to get started.

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#42

Post by q3k »

clktmr wrote: post #25
dom96 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

All you need for simple SMD soldering is a TS100 soldering iron, good solder and good flux. And that's what I would recommend to any beginner, even if they wanted to solder together THT kits.

The only extra tool needed is if you need to replace a chip (or solder some QFNs / BGAs), but the cheapest available hot air station will do just fine.

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#43

Post by exDM69 »

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.

I only recently bought my first oscilloscope (Telequipment analog CRT scope circa 1964), but I've done electronics for years without one. Mostly audio stuff so I've poked an audio probe in the circuit and listen to the signal rather than look at it.

So no, it's by no means essential but it certainly opens some new doors in the hobby. If you want to build kits, say for guitar pedals (pretty popular electronics-related hobby), you can manage without an oscilloscope.

But for designing experimental circuits from scratch, it's really nice to have one.

And it's just fun to play your guitar with the signal plotted on the warm glowing cathode ray tube.

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#44

Post by slig »

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 the Gear Acquisition Syndrome. (I got the classic Rigol 1054Z ~6 years ago, and it's collecting dust, but I love to be able to use when needed. Nowadays I'd probably go with a portable one from Banggood).

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#45

Post by jp0d »

Perfect timing. Thanks for posting this. I recently bought a Microbit V2 and Raspberry Pi Pico with a few sensors and a breadboard. Excited to play with these. Thanks to everyone who've suggested informative sources as well. Cheers.

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#46

Post by sho_hn »

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.

I'd say a scope is to EE what gdb is to coding in C/C++. You can reason instead of observe, but observation can be a huge timesaver, especially if it's not your design.

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#47

Post by porknubbins »

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…

An electronics labs needs very little space but I will say one huge thing that helps is a dedicated desk surface to allow you to "save your state". In my last apartment I found moving around tons of tiny components and half finished projects gets very frustrating and makes the hurdle to doing the hobby too high.

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#48

Post by nhecker »

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…

Ah, this is such a good textbook! I still have my hardcover 2nd ed. left over from my college days and reference it when I'm trying to figure something out for my hobbies. Thanks for the link to the 3rd ed., I didn't know that existed!

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#49

Post by ekingr »

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.

I bought a cheap usb-powered hand-held oscilloscope DIY kit off Aliexpress. It was a fun soldering project and now I have a (very minimalistic) oscilloscope for when I need one (which is very seldom).

Re: How I learned electronics [video]

#50

Post by zild3d »

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…

Learned electronics in university, but definitely was able to work on projects in a small apartment later on. Had a small box of electronics stuff that can get put away.

Arduino or various other microcontrollers, multimeter, breadboard, and a bunch of small parts (resistors, capacitors, ICs, LEDs, sensors, wires, etc). Having "lab" gear like an oscilloscope, signal generator is definitely nice but not needed to get started

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