Thread: Learning How

I am very interested in electronics, but I don't know where to start. I guess I'm starting this thread as a way to ask the complex, yet simple question: How can I learn how to build electronics?

I don't have money, so I'm looking for the free way; the way that takes more time than usual- more dedication, but free.

Links, Steps, Ideas... anything! I just wanna know a little bit about the process by which to learn electronics.

Please tell us what your starting point is. How old are you, how good are you at science, do you have any experience with electricity (such as, in your childhood, connecting a little bulb to a battery and a switch so you can read in bed or make a Halloween lampoon, or building a crystal radio with your father....), how much do you already know?

Also, you say you have little money, but how little is little? Would you be able to buy some basic parts or self-assembly kits to experiment?

Anyway, good luck and I am looking forward to your questions.

I'm turning twenty one in a month. Every since I was a child- I'd have to say somewhere around four or five, I was a little pyro- from almost burning the house down to actually figuring out that a dried-out christmas tree is one of the best ways to get a fire up and going. After that, I got really interested in lightning. My parents and I would just marvel outside the front stoop during lightning storms. It was one of my first real experiences with electricity. I did a lot of technological projects including electricity as a child in school, from like you were talking about- making a lightbulb light up using a copper wire and a battery. Later on in highschool I went to boces to become CISCO certified. There I learned all about RJ-45 connectors, half and full duplex, AC & DC, resistance, and a little bit about wireless communication. I never finished the course, but I received a lot of helpful information.

What I have down pact, electricity-wise, is the basics. Oppossites attract, Ressistance is measured in Ohms....

And by little money, I mean no money. I could get anything off the internet software wise, but I can't really purchase anything. I have access to the library, and the Internet. I also have a lot of time to dedicate to this, given that there is a possible way to teach yourself something like electronics without getting a degree or something.

I was thinking of going to the library and picking up a couple books, but I wasn't really sure of what kind of books to get. My starting point is ABSOLUTE beginner- like, I would love to start at zero, and build myself up to my goal. That goal, would most definitely be to have the knowledge of knowing how to build a working computer. I know this seems unbelievably difficult, but I am not trying to build one of the Navy's most advanced super-computer; just a tower the size of a washer-machine or something, powerful enough for me to start building simplistic software onto it. And yes, I have some programming background. It's merely limited to HTML, CSS, and C++, but it will suffice.

So, I must ask now, where should I start?
Once I start, how can I expand the knowledge I've retained?
(basically, where do I go from there..)
What is a good tutorial site for electonic hobbiests?
What kind of books should I look for in the library?
What kind of math is involved? Is there a lot of math involved?
(I like math by the way, just not math explained in an advanced way, I'm simple)

A very good intro book is

"Bebop to the Boolean Boogie" by Clive Maxfield.

The name is just plain dumb, but the information is recent and useful.


Edited to fix Author Name.