I want to learn electronics, from the basics.

[Dofu]

I want knowledge... hardware, software, ebooks of all variety, but preferably freely distributed by the author. I'm reading a book about Circuits and microprocessors right now, and I realized I need more... MORE KNOWLEDGE. I want to know how each little pixel is lit up, I want to know how a bunch of 0s and 1s can lead to such wonders as this amazing piece of technology sitting in my lap.

So anyone got any resources of this variety? I prefer DRM free ebooks (just got a tablet) that the authors give out freely, as those are the people who tend to have the same outlook as me (all knowledge should be free), but websites and the like would also be welcomed!

Specifically beginners stuff would be helpful in the extreme.

Stuff I've found and been linked:

http://www.tomshardware.com

http://freecomputerbooks.com/ (large amount of ebooks, all free, and all related to computers. Some of them appear to be only on websites though, not pdfs.)

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/ (Books about circuits)

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Design.../dp/0131863894 (Not free, but according to someone it's very helpful)

http://www.amazon.com/How-Computers-...8822140&sr=8-1

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/

~Dofu

[Jevinskie]

What a great endeavor! For basic circuit info I would highly recommend All About Circuits : Free Electric Circuits Textbooks. For digital circuits I highly recommend Digital Design Principles and Practices by Wakerly. The book is very easy to understand and has a humorous tone that keeps it interesting. I know it isn't a free source (which I love too, btw), but I haven't found an equal free equivalent. If you're in the states you can get an older edition for just a few bucks from half.com! If you want to make your own little digital gadget or project, get an Arduino for ~$30. They are little microcontroller platforms that use the same microcontroller family as many of the jailbreak dongle clones. I recommend them because they are cheap and have a huge amount of information, guides and shields (hardware addons). Make has a lot of great Arduino info.

Good luck with your pursuit of knowledge!!

-Jevin

[noone2k]

very basic understanding: Turing machine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

but to really understand everything, you have have to go back to electrons
( sound more awful as it really is ... )


greetz && regards

[Dofu]

What a great endeavor! For basic circuit info I would highly recommend All About Circuits : Free Electric Circuits Textbooks. For digital circuits I highly recommend Digital Design Principles and Practices by Wakerly. The book is very easy to understand and has a humorous tone that keeps it interesting. I know it isn't a free source (which I love too, btw), but I haven't found an equal free equivalent. If you're in the states you can get an older edition for just a few bucks from half.com! If you want to make your own little digital gadget or project, get an Arduino for ~$30. They are little microcontroller platforms that use the same microcontroller family as many of the jailbreak dongle clones. I recommend them because they are cheap and have a huge amount of information, guides and shields (hardware addons). Make has a lot of great Arduino info.

Good luck with your pursuit of knowledge!!

-Jevin

Thanks! Sadly, I shall not be purchasing that book... $120 for a book is insane, used being about $35 (still too much for now, maybe I'll get it later). I might look into getting an Arduino and working with it! Thanks!

very basic understanding: Turing machine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

but to really understand everything, you have have to go back to electrons
( sound more awful as it really is ... )


greetz && regards

I did realize the electrons part before I posted this, and decided to look into that later on, and just learn more about computers and other electronics for now

Thanks for the link!

~Dofu

[Jevinskie]

Thanks! Sadly, I shall not be purchasing that book... $120 for a book is insane, used being about $35 (still too much for now, maybe I'll get it later). I might look into getting an Arduino and working with it! Thanks!

Did you see the 2000 and 1999 editions going for under $4?

[Dofu]

Did you see the 2000 and 1999 editions going for under $4?

I did, and I'm considering it.

Thanks for the stuff so far! I'm gonna update the first post with the stuff that's been found so far.

~Dofu

[siggen]

The basics quicly summarized:

U = R * I (U is Voltage, R is ohm or Resistance, I is the electricity or Ampers)

P = U * I (P is the effect or Wattage)

This are the most important things to know in electronics, everything else is built upon this. I know your books will say this, but why I'm telling you is that this is SO important, that you should tattoo it to your arm. Also if you don't know enough math to change these formulas (example; U = R * I => I = R / U && P = U^2 / R) then your screwed and should get math classes, and preferably you should have an understanding about cosinus, sinus, and tangens, they are really useful when dealing with alternating currents.

Next step is getting a basic understanding of which component does what,
Basic components are: Resistors, Capacitors, Diodes, Transistors. Look them up, and see what they do when you put power to them and stuff.

Next, to understand IC's (Integrated Chinese Circuits) you need to learn what logic gates does.

Gates like NOR, NAND, OR, AND, INVERSE, and others.


This will should teach you a great deal of the theoretical basics, further reading recommended. And do buy, and learn to use a soldering iron. The once with regulator for heat and exchangeable tips are highly recommended when soldering inside expensive electronics, like the PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, and so on

[MaNa]

The basics quicly summarized:

U = R * I (U is Voltage, R is ohm or Resistance, I is the electricity or Ampers)

P = U * I (P is the effect or Wattage)

This are the most important things to know in electronics, everything else is built upon this. I know your books will say this, but why I'm telling you is that this is SO important, that you should tattoo it to your arm. Also if you don't know enough math to change these formulas (example; U = R * I => I = R / U && P = U^2 / R) then your screwed and should get math classes, and preferably you should have an understanding about cosinus, sinus, and tangens, they are really useful when dealing with alternating currents.

Next step is getting a basic understanding of which component does what,
Basic components are: Resistors, Capacitors, Diodes, Transistors. Look them up, and see what they do when you put power to them and stuff.

Next, to understand IC's (Integrated Chinese Circuits) you need to learn what logic gates does.

Gates like NOR, NAND, OR, AND, INVERSE, and others.


This will should teach you a great deal of the theoretical basics, further reading recommended. And do buy, and learn to use a soldering iron. The once with regulator for heat and exchangeable tips are highly recommended when soldering inside expensive electronics, like the PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, and so on

you forgot to mention XOR and XAND gates.. and the fact that most circuits are builts purely of them.. since they are cheaper to produce. it is kinda amazing, in a course i took we would be given a circuit and we would have to build the same circuit using only XOR or XAND gates (on paper ofcourse)

[siggen]

Thanks for being so trolly,

there are lots of other gates, get a table with an explanation of them and print it out in A3 size and hang it on the wall lol.

Any how, I'd teach him the "regular" gates first. When learning the basics, understanding the logic behind it is key. After that, you can look up the details.