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is reading lots of schematics the best way to learn?

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psasidisrcum

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Hi all,
I'm a novice in the field of electronics and wanted to know what your suggestions are for further learning. I've had a few university courses in electronics but don't feel like I have much practical knowledge that would be useful in designing anything complicated.

I gather that The Art of Electronics is an excellent book and plan on getting one soon. But beyond this book, is reading a lot of schematics the best way to learn (other than actually doing lots of projects, of course)?

If so, are there any good books that contain tons of schematics with explanations? I'm guessing The Art of Electronics is more of a how-to book, rather than something with tons of schematics and examples. Certainly, just going through this book isn't going to make me very capable, is it?

I've visited a number of sites with schematics, recommended by people on this forum, but often found them to be either lacking explanations, or inconsistent in presentation (not to mention that I prefer looking at a paper rather than an LCD :p).

The books that I did find were mostly limited to a single subject (ie. audio), and I was looking for something more general, ideally presented in an increasingly-complicated manner.

I guess I'm looking back at how I learned to program, and I remember that reading other people's code was of tremendous value. I'm hoping that taking a similar route in learning electronics will speed up the process (please correct me if I am wrong)

Also, are software simulators(ie. PSpice) a good aid in learning? or are they more useful for checking things before actually building a project?

Thanks for your input!
 
Certainly studying circuits is a GREAT help to learning, but you need to start off simple and work up. Larger circuits are usually derived from a number of smaller sections - if you already understand the smaller sections, it doesn't take long to see how the larger circuit works.

I would also suggest you study discrete designs, generally IC's don't lend themselves to helping you understand the circuit.

Above all, remember that most circuits can be understood with a basic knowledge of ohms law! - and a little thought!.
 
Nigel's advice is very good.

I started by reading electronics magazines and constructing some of the projects they described.

Then you can start your own designing.

Len
 
One good way to learn is to put a circuit that you see into a simulator. Make sure that it is doing what it is supposed to be doing though! Then you can change out different componenets and see what that does to the way the circuit works.

Nigel won't be too happy about this posting though, he has an aversion to simulators :wink:
 
Yeah I found my into electronics by reading the siliconchip magazine and buying electronic kits. Once I got confident I ventured into using breadboards and the simmstick. Now I'm still learning pic's and when time permits my son is dazzled by some of the circuits I make. This is 1 hobby that will stick for the rest of my life

Cheers Bryan1 :D
 
opps double post :oops:
 
zachtheterrible said:
Nigel won't be too happy about this posting though, he has an aversion to simulators :wink:

True! - I see no point in using a simulator unless they are 100% effective, from LOAD's of threads in these forums it's apparently commonplace to have to modify your circuit to make it simulate properly! - as I see it, this makes a simulator worse than useless!.
 
At some point you'd benefit by narrowing your study field because electronics is a very broad field. Sure, things like Ohm's Law apply but you did say "practical" and implied in that is a wish to accomplish something.

Lab or bench work is essential, in my opinion, to learning anything and is especially true with electronics. Read thru some threads in this forum on the trials and tribulations of those who built the simple FM transmitters. On something so "simple" there is a lot to be learned - sort of the practical that supplements theory.

You might select an area that is already of interest to you. Digital electronics, audio/stereo, robotics. You'll be able to link up with others of like interests - nothing speeds the learning process better than to have others as partners even if only connected via the internet. A local hobbyist group would be better.

Don't be afraid to look closely at one of those 50 in 1 or 500 in 1 electronics labs - or to purchase some kind of breadboarding equipment if you can afford it.
 
DO NOT use a simulator as a learning tool.
It would be like having virtual sex.

People learn in different ways, from different perspectives.

I happen to be a "visual" learner, which means that diagrams above verbage works best for me. We all differ in regards to learning.

I would suggest learning interactively, at the lowest-basic level.
Read, form a hypothesis, build, observe, question, and repeat if necessary.
Do not move to a higher level until fully understanding what you have learned.

Kind of like classical guitar instruction...if bad habits are formed in the beginning steps, getting to higher levels will be much more difficult.

Ldi Edt
:)
 
I think simulators can be extremely useful, and they are quite often used in real-life teaching classes, but they do of course have limitations and I have seen the problem Nigel mentioned all too often where students are having to modify their circuit design in order to get the simulation working.

Overall I feel I've learned a lot more from practical building and testing of prototype designs rather than the use of simulators, but simulation sure is cheaper!

Brian
 
I hated when professors would have us simulate a circuit, but never ever taught us how to actually use the simulator. There were times I would just go to lab and connect the circuit, take measurements with a multimeter, then jump through whatever hoops I had to to get the simulator to match. :p Change those obscure paremeters 'till it works! Hehe.
 
DO NOT use a simulator as a learning tool.
It would be like having virtual sex.

Nice analogy!!!

I think simulators can be extremely useful, and they are quite often used in real-life teaching classes, but they do of course have limitations and I have seen the problem Nigel mentioned all too often where students are having to modify their circuit design in order to get the simulation working.

I do agree that simulators arent the best for actually building a circuit, JUST BUILD IT!! But hey, I figured out how a one transistor op-amp circuit works by using a simulator in gatorclips, a real piece o junk simulation program. Ive figured out how a lot of things work by means of simulation.
 
reply

The way I learned, was through books, it is a good way to take your time and you can alway's go buy more book's on what you want to learn.
 
I dont think circuit simulation is the best choice myself. It's much better taking a schematic from a professional than to try to create a schematic in a simulation program. Sure, a simulation program can make your circuit look pretty, but there can be bugs in them!

Go to googles directories, and search for circuit archives. Google has a list of websites under "circuit archives" that contain useful circuits.

and dont forget to read descriptions to the schematics.
 
For clarification (so i dont look bad :lol: ) i never said that one should create their own circuits on the simulation program, in fact i said just the opposite.

What i mean is this: You can take a circuit, put it in the simulator, and see how changing the value of a capacitor will affect things, or a resistor, etc. Of course the reason I did this was because I didnt have an oscilliscope, and still dont.

I would not rely on a simulation program to build my circuit!

The best way BY FAR to learn is to read books, take a class, and do hands on.
 
Study the principle and operation of electronics and electrical devices.
If you have a strong foundation then you are about to design a circuit.
When you see a electronics gadget, try to know how it operates. Then, try to design your own. In that thing, your skills and knowledge will improve.
 
When I first went to work for Tektronix in their Dallas Service Center, we were expected to learn the circuits used in the scopes. We were given access to the Tektronix Concept Books, a now out-of-print and highly-sought-after set of theory books on oscilloscope circuits. In addition, quite a few of the Tektronix products had audio tapes available for explaining the circuitry. For instance, there were three or four C-120 cassettes for the 465 portable scope and one of the original Tek employees in Beaverton (I've since forgotten his name) would sit at a table with the original circuit drawings before his and just start at one end and go to the other, explaining every circuit and the reason for every single component in the instrument, going over every single one of the 10 or 11 pull-out schematics in the service manual. It put a lot of folks to sleep, but if you paid attention and kept at it, you became intimately knowledgeable of the circuitry.

Dean
 
Reading schematics does help alot, especialy when you are trying to get your project to work. You can look at the schematic, and learn lots of things. For example, I purchased a electronics led matrix kit, and learned that it scrolled text with a single microcontroller. I looked at the schematic, and saw that it was only possible for one light to be on at a time. Then i realized, it used persistance of vision! However, keeping a journal of the circuits that you have built is an amazing way to learn. Just draw a schematic, and a description, date it, title it, and put it in the table of contents you have made at the front of the notebook. this way, you can understand the simple things first and go on to combineing the simple things with more complex things. Like Steve Wozniak said:
"One step at a time."
From the movie meet the robinsons:
"Keep moving forward."
Dont try to go the advanced stuff to soon.
 
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