Recommended reading for a beginner?

[Gimhalos]

Hello, sorry if this is in the wrong section. I thought this would be the most appropriate place to post this.

I've taken an interest in hardware hacking/modding, and I figured it would be best to learn some basic electrical engineering before I try anything major. Are there any good books that would help me learn the basics so that I can try a few projects?

Thanks.

 

[Krumlink]

You posted in the right place.

For a super noob, I would look at buying radioshacks learning lab. Comes with a bunch of stuff for you to start with. That is a good buy. ANother thing to look at is this site: www.kpsec.freeuk.co.uk Has lots of simple circuits and stuff a newbie might like. Also, go here: www.robotroom.com Buy the book "robot building for beginners" Has tons of new information that you will want even if you dont want to build the robot ( i reccomend the robot though, awesome). Hope that helped.

 

[Gimhalos]

Thanks for the help. I'll look into those.


Edit: www.kpsec.freeuk.co.uk is giving me a 404... was that a typo or is it a problem on my end?

 

[Papabravo]

Books by Foster, Caxton C. are an excellent if dated read on all sorts of useful algorithms and techniques.

 

[Krumlink]

It got upgraded (hooray)

It is a great site for nubies. Helped me out alot

www.kpsec.freeuk.com

 

[Gimhalos]

Oh, excellent. It looks like that site has a few projects I could handle. I stopped by radioshack and got an iron, some wire, and some solder, but the person who organized the electronics components was apparently illiterate or blindfolded, nothing was in the right place. So I'm going to head to a different one after work tomorrow.

Also, a quick stupid question. I took apart an old universal remote out of boredom and curiosity. There were two LED looking bulbs labeled on the circuit board as D1 and D2, where the signal is transmitted... Were those infrared LEDs or Diodes or something? They looked like LEDs but the fact that they were labeled with a 'D' makes me think they were diodes.

Thanks for the help.

Edit: I just found out what a diode looks like. Pardon my stupidity >.<

Edit2: Haha... I just found out what LED stood for.

 

[sam2]

Forrest M. Mims books are good.

TAB Electronics Guide to Understanding Electricity and Electronics is one of my favorite books( I am a beginner).

The ARRL Handbook is great too( many good projects).

I have bought all my books used ,on line for about 1/4 of the cover prices, so look around.

Nuts and volts is a fun magazine, with lots of projects.
Sam

 

[Krumlink]

Radioshack may make electronic hobbists look rich. The fact is that radiocrap is only good for perf boards, and assorted 22 gauge wire. I buy their solid gauge wire because it works well and I like it. If you want a really good and cheap supplier of electronic components, go to jameco.com. They are nice and cheap, and I buy stuff from them all the time. At my radiocrap store, I dont even look at the labels of the part bins its that unorginized. Radiocraps soldering iron tip disintegrates fairly quick, so you may want to stock up. Make sure you have the following before you start to solder:

Nonflammable work bench
Sponge
Baking soda (for electrical fires)
Soldering IRON (not the gun)
Solder
Solid gauge wire (22gau)
A basic idea of what your doing.

You may want to study up on the components of what your using before you solder. You may also want to "prototype it" on a breadboard to make sure it works.

As for D1 and D2, they are probably phototransistors or just IR LEDs. Go to the study section of that kpsec.freeuk site first to study up. Since you are new, you may want to sample some stuff first. Go to the "gotta love ripping off free samples" thread and look at some of the companies offering samples. Just get one of somthing to try it out. Dont abuse it, or it may not be there.

Any questions? PM (private Message)me!

NOTE: That kpsec site is REALLY good for a beginner, so look at "how to solder", and "study" section. Read uP!

 

[mneary]

LEDs are Light Emitting Diodes, so it's not wrong to label them D1, D2...

 

[Krumlink]

I agree with you, just saying the posibilities

 

[Gimhalos]

Thanks for all of the resources. I have a lot of reading to do ^_^

 

[TheVictim]

I second Sam's recommendation for TAB Electronics' Understanding Electricity and Electronics. A great book.