wanting to get into electronics

[Red Squirrel]

Been doing lot of random reading up and watching lot of youtube videos on electronics. I have the itch to learn more, something I always wanted to get more into and just never really did. About to do a small digi-key order for some stuff I actually need for a small project and figured I may as well order some bread boards and misc components to have stuff to mess with. I also have lot of misc components from an old UPS I took apart. Anything fun I should order to play around with? I'm thinking LEDs, 555 timers, what else could be fun to mess with? What about micro controllers? I know there's arduino, I actually have a board that I use for my home monitoring system. Though it's my understanding there are probably lot of other stand alone micro controllers I can buy too.

Also, if I wanted to make a circuit board for an actual permanent project, without making a printed circuit board, what is the best thing to use? Is there some boards I can buy where I can just drill my own holes? And would I just solder wires to do the junctions?

Depending on how deeply I get into this I may want to make my own projects that I actually use in production. First one I have in mind is a monitoring system, which is fairly simple, just a bunch of sensor terminals that talk with a PC. Of course if I was to mass produce then I'd get real PCBs made, but I'm a LONG way from there, just going to mess around with this as a hobby. I don't understand why electronics was not something they teached in computer science, they could have easily fitted it in considering 50% of it was filler courses anyway.

 

[C101]

Sounds like you're looking for Perfboard. It comes in a wide variety of sizes and connections. (Some have all holes electrically isolated, some have strips of holes connected together, called Stripboard)

 

[Red Squirrel]

That does look like it would be perfect. I know what to search for now. Finding all sorts to choose from.

 

[RelaxTheMind]

probably easier to use a basic breadboard. premade in many sizes and you can chain them however you want. still tinker with the one i got from school from time to time, mostly rf and/or usb stuff.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah for tinkering will use solderless breadboards.

 

[sandorski]

Radio Shack used to have a book or 2 on some basics that might interest you, if they still have them. They explained things such as Resistors, Capacitators, and the like. There are probably better Online sources these days though.

 

[disappoint]

Fun stuff that Arduino platform. I have one and a temp+humidity sensor, Works a treat. Easy to set up and code for.

Any specific projects in mind or looking for suggestions?

 

[disappoint]

If you're looking for suggestions or ideas, I say make a POV clock or POV globe:

pov clock:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYNgomrDePo

globe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQhBm_EgB0w#t=13

 

[Red Squirrel]

Wow that's really cool. Definitely something worth trying. I've seen it done in 2D using hard drive platters too.

But yeah pretty much just looking at ideas and resources for a beginning. Been finding lot of stuff on youtube too. EEVblog is pretty good.

One thing I eventually want to actually build is a high output swtch mode PSU, something like 48-57v 2kw psu. Or perhaps multiple that work together. Probably quite advanced for a beginner but start small and move towards something like that.

I do have a simpler project I want to do as well, essentially a home automation system using arduino. The arduino would be doing most of the work so it would just be the thing of wiring the transistors and such to power the relays, not too big of a deal but would make a fun starting project to make an actual circuit board and have block terminals to put all my alarm points. Probably put that in a nema panel. Would even be cool to sell such a product. Outside of very proprietary cloud based stuff there actually is not much monitoring/automation options out there.

Also been reading and watching videos on old style stuff like Marconi tube radios, definitly want to play with that at some point. Probably break every rule in the FCC book using something like that but would be fun to play with for short spurts.

 

[John Connor]

Have you heard of Raspberry PI?


http://lifehacker.com/build-an-entire-home-automation-system-with-a-raspberry-1640844965

I haven't messed with it because I don't know much about Linux, but it has a lof of cool features.

I tried to build a fiber optic communicator once, but never finished. I have a schematic for a bug (tap) detector with output audio I have always wanted to build.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah I have one actually, has some basic i/o that I never played with. Arduino has more to offer for electronic stuff though, but can do some fun stuff with the Pi too. I might get another for actually messing with.

 

[TheVrolok]

Marked for future coolness

 

[disappoint]

Marked for future coolness

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

3D hologram made with a spinning mirror:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G10bzatpuFc

 

[Shadowknight]

Get this http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...cECFSRp7AodJlsAjw&utm_medium=ppc&gclsrc=aw.ds it's an electronics learning kit with books by Forrest Mims, who's considered an electronics teacher guru.

 

[z1ggy]

Didn't read much of your post or any replies.. but... build a Tesla Coil.

or

It's been a while for me since college so I don't remember the exact hardware, but we build some autonomous robots using Labview as the software. It was basically plug and play, pretty simple. Write the code in Labview, connect the cable to the robot, download it, run the program. The cool part was, the robot was completely customizable, ie, like Kennex(spelling?). So you could build something 5 different ways and program it to do 10 different things.

 

[Scarpozzi]

The Arduino is a great place to start if you want more input/output with a mix of programming. In college, I used a breadboard with different microprocessors...basically, they all had different functions and you could wire them up to build different counters using AND/OR/NAND/NOR gates with LEDs. I remember building multiplexors and various counters/simple memory cells.

Radio Shack used to have a lot of components made by Archer (their supplier). I'm not sure what they have anymore...most just sell cellphones and some parts. If you want some real parts suppliers and can't find what you need at Radio Shack, check out Mouser Electronics ( http://www.mouser.com ) or MCM Electronics. ( http://www.mcmelectronics.com/ )

They may not have the best prices on stuff...I just used to order from them before the influx of cheaper suppliers from China. If you find something specific you like, check ebay too if you don't mind the slow boat.

 

[unokitty]

Been doing lot of random reading up and watching lot of youtube videos on electronics. I have the itch to learn more, something I always wanted to get more into and just never really did. ...

When I worked for Heathkit, we developed and sold several trainers like the one above. We also developed text books and home study courses that accompanied the trainers. Even had a printed circuit board course where you made your own circuit board. Unfortunately, Heathkit doesn't exist anymore. (Though occasionally, you can still find the trainers on eBay.)

If I wanted to get into electronics now, I'd probably look for something similar. That is a company that produces both electronic devices and learning materials. Adafruit seems to have alot of mindshare in that space now.

If you are interested in books of circuits, Forest Mims has always been my go to guy in that space. Radio Shack used to carry his 'Engineer's Notebooks.' Though, it looks like you can get them direct from Forrest now.

Best of luck,
Uno

 

[Instan00dles]

If you have no experience an Arduino is pretty good place to start but just realize that the arduino's "c++" language hides a lot of what is actually going on in the program. For instance when you turn an output high, you type one line of code but it is actually about 10 lines of code. This becomes an issue later on if you project requires fast operation. After using the Arduino a bit it is a good idea to pick up a PIC or Atmel micro and start programming it with their developer software.

I don’t know much you know about electronics now but a really good book to read is the "Practical Electronics for Inventors" http://www.amazon.ca/Practical-Elect...ww.eevblog.com that fixes a lot of mistakes in the book.

 

[alkemyst]

Get this http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...cECFSRp7AodJlsAjw&utm_medium=ppc&gclsrc=aw.ds it's an electronics learning kit with books by Forrest Mims, who's considered an electronics teacher guru.

This is the way to go. Get the book you want to learn from (or the website) and then order stuff based on the projects you will take down.

Be careful because even low voltage some chips can get hot enough to give 3rd degree burns if you wired them wrong.

 

[arkcom]

If you have no experience an Arduino is pretty good place to start but just realize that the arduino's "c++" language hides a lot of what is actually going on in the program. For instance when you turn an output high, you type one line of code but it is actually about 10 lines of code. This becomes an issue later on if you project requires fast operation. After using the Arduino a bit it is a good idea to pick up a PIC or Atmel micro and start programming it with their developer software.

There is nothing preventing you from programming and arduino in atmel studio or preventing you from using/mixing C in the arduino ide.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Didn't read much of your post or any replies.. but... build a Tesla Coil.

That is definitely on my bucket list. :biggrin:

I also forgot, I have one of those "130 in one science fair kits" from back before Radio Shack turned into The Source. I was just a kid so I'd follow the instructions and get stuff to work but did not really know what was going on. I should crack that open again. :biggrin:

 

[Rubycon]

Don't get into lasers or expect to spend lots of money.

 

[Leros]

Don't waste your time at RadioShack unless you have to (yes I know they're better, but they're still pretty bad).

These are two great sources for hobbyists
https://www.sparkfun.com/
http://www.adafruit.com/

Once you get a bit more advanced, you can start buying some components from DigiKey or Mouser for cheaper.

 

[Red Squirrel]

lol yeah was looking at laser diodes on digikey and they just have smaller ones there and even those are a few bucks, which can get expensive if you want to get into a big project and high wattage ones.

I've actually been looking a lot at digikey as they have a .ca website so I presume I wont have to pay customs so that will probably be my goto place. I also need to find a good way to get organized with components. Right now I have a bunch of components all randomly thrown in a box.

Was looking at robotshop.ca as well since they sell stuff like servos which could be fun to play with.

What gauge wire are most breadboards, will teleco frame wire work? I think that's like 22 gauge. I have TONS of that stuff. Think I'll make a digikey order soon, I actually need some bridge rectifiers for a small side project so may as well throw in some stuff to mess with. We had these old 36" CRTs at work we threw out, I kind of regret not grabbing the circuit boards for juicy components like big ass capacitors and of course the transformer.

If I do get serious I'll probably want to buy an oscilloscope as well. Anything to look out for when buying one? I'm not ready to pay the premium for an Agilent, but how are the Siglants? I'd probably look at something like this one:
http://www.amazon.ca/Siglent-SDS105...8&qid=1412304882&sr=8-1&keywords=oscilloscope

 

[Leros]

The thing about Digikey is that you have too many choices for a beginner. Need a 10k potentiometer, you have 1500 choices. Sites like sparkfun give you a narrower selection which is actually useful. You don't have choice paralysis and you know you're getting something decent.