I'm a physics student and I just finished a (mostly theoretical) electronics class. I really enjoyed it and I was able to get a grant through my school for $250 to buy some electronics equipment to continue my studies independently (my school only offers one semester). I was looking for some suggestions as to what to buy. I've been looking at some analog trainers like the XK-550 Elenco Analog/ Digital Trainer. My school has an oscilloscope and some circuit components, but that is about it. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Look for some kits that give hands-on application to the level of theory that you have studied so far. Investigate some kits that go a little beyond what you have studied and educate yourself as you go. Even though you have finished your semester, the professors would most likely assist you in what you are asking.
I'd recommend springing for "The Art of Electronics" AND its companion workbook "Student Manual for The Art of Electronics." You can get all the gizmos but a structured approach makes all the difference in the world. *Possibly* available through the school at a discount.
The "Schwab's School Selection Grab Bag"
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may help fill in your miscellaneous parts drawers. You'll also need some op amps and other items that aren't likely to be in the grab bag.
Note that a third edition is rumored to be on the way. In the natural course of things if you buy the current (second) edition the third will be released two weeks later. If you put off buying the second, then the third won't show up until sometime in 2009.
NRI's trainers - found on E-Bay (usually for like $10 or so) are good starters. NRI is out of business but it "appears" CIE is still in business - maybe they can expand the knowledge! Courses don't seem too bad in price.
Sounds as though the whole field is open game. Sometimes the best approach is to focus on something that really interests you. The other stuff will usually catch up with you sooner or later.
Since you've had some theoretical background, the Art of Electronics suggestion is a good one. You might also look into The Electronics of Radio by Rutledge. It is intended to provide the underlying theory behind the construction of an actual shortwave transceiver that is available as a kit. That could be the beginning of a lifelong hobby.
Instead of buying a ''trainer", consider buying proto-boards and the parts needed to build your own power supplies. A power supply is a good first project. You can wire it up on the proto-board, test everything, then if you want you can wire it permanently on perfboard, or etch your own PC board. See
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for complete PC board creation instructions and tips forusing the hand-drawn (Sharpie marker" approach.
If you want to do digital stuff first, start with a single 15V supply and buy some generic 4000-series CMOS chips plus the "CMOS Cookbook" by Don Lancaster. Then you can later build a -15V supply to do standard op-amp stuff. I don't particularly recommend starting out with single-supply op-amps... they are too quirky and you will waste time tracking down circuit problems that would never have happened in a standard dual-supply circuit.
If you want to stick to only digital, you can just build a single +5V supply.
Best regards,
Bob Masta DAQARTA v3.50 Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
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Scope, Spectrum, Spectrogram, FREE Signal Generator Science with your sound card!
I studied physics in college too. Perhaps I was fortunate to have a bit more extensive electronics course: Two semesters taught from the first edition of Horowitz & Hill, plus lab. But I was also interested in electronics as a hobby, so I continued the pursuit on my own.
The aforementioned suggestions are good. I didn't have anything radically different. So I will make some parallel comments. First is to familiarize yourself with some suppliers, as you will quickly outgrow your neighborhood Radio Shack. Assuming you are in the US, a place like All Electronics or Parts Express if you are interested in audio, have catalogs that are not too forbidding. Those of us who do a lot of prototyping seem to favor Digi-Key and Mouser Electronics. Did I forget anybody else worth mentioning?
Second, there is now some free software out there that is beneficial. I learned a lot about design by having to do it without modeling software, but today, I model everything I can with LTSpice. It's fun to doodle around with when I should be working. At audio frequencies, you can measure waveforms using your PC audio input / output (taking care not to blow up your PC) using a program like Virtual Analyzer. Should you ever consider making a printed circuit board, ExpressPCB is worth considering, though their software ties you to their fabrication service. There are free PCB boards that generate generic CAD files (Eagle), but with much steeper learning curve.
Assuming that you're starting from scratch, probably the bare minimum to get you started on your budget would be:
Breadboard strip and a roll of #22 ga jumper wire
Some sort of power supply. It doesn't have to be fancy... might even be a battery pack.
Digital voltmeter: don't spend a lot
Cheap logic probe
Hand tools: small long nose pliers, good wire cutters, flat-blade screwdriver. It's worth the money to splurge on good tools.
A good soldering iron or used soldering station, small diameter solder, and a spool of SoderWick.
There are a lot of good online sources of inexpensive parts, but shipping costs can kill you on small orders. Maybe you can talk to your electronics instructor to see if you can obtain some surplus parts from the school, or see if they'll obtain some parts for you through their purchasing folks.
Depending upon what you're planning to do, you can get a lot of mileage from just a few carefully chosen transistors and ICs, a good resistor assortment, a handful of capacitors, maybe a few inductors, etc. Mostly you'll be scrounging cheap parts whenever and wherever you can. This will be a never-ending process.
Try to find others locally who share your interest. Maybe you can trade parts among you, or set up joint purchases from online sources to minimize the impact of shipping costs.
These are just a few ideas off the top of my head. (I'm a home experimenter.) If the bug bites, you'll find yourself expanding your capabilities and inventory little by little, from discretionary funds. And if it doesn't bite, you won't have wasted a lot of cash.
Good idea, but instead of a roll of wire get a kit of pre-cut, already stripped, color-coded jumper wires. Available at Radio Shack, should be next to their breadboard strips.
Learning to cut and strip wire is something that needs to be learned. It's actually something the beginner can do, since it's a mechanical skill while much of the electronics will still be a mystery. And after a bit of breadboarding, the wire will build up so there's an existing pile for the further breadboarding.
Plus, the color coding in the pre-cut wire kits that I've seen is based on length, not on function. Honestly, it's not all that terribly useful. A few feet of scrap CAT5 cable (solid, not the stranded "patch cable") could provide practically a lifetime supply of jumper wires. And one gets eight different color patterns! ;-)
Small spools of real red and black may still be a good idea, though, for the power/ground jumpers.
Back in the day, Ma Bell used to provide a lifetime supply of jumpers every time she installed an office PBX, as the leftover scraps. Fat cables with many conductor pairs, all color coded. You may still find smaller lengths when they work on your neighborhood phone junction boxes, or hit the jackpot where they are tearing out an old PBX.
Best regards,
Bob Masta DAQARTA v3.50 Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
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Scope, Spectrum, Spectrogram, FREE Signal Generator Science with your sound card!
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