
Ask HN: What are some nice electronics courses that blend theory and practice? - thro1237
I am looking for an electronics course that is a good blend of theory and practice. I studied electronics in college and remember Kirchoff&#x27;s laws and the like, but nothing else. The ideal course would probably start off from there and would include lot of practical circuits to build while explaining the theory of each circuit would work.
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mafuyu
I highly recommend the Student Guide to the Art of Electronics:
[http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Electronics-Student-
Manual/dp/...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Electronics-Student-
Manual/dp/0521377099)

The book covers the basics of both analog and digital, and focuses on
developing intuition without getting _too_ bogged down by theory, with
accompanying labs/projects. I took the course taught by the author of the book
before going to school to study the same subject area, and it helped me
develop intuition and general electronics knowledge in a way no other course
has.

If you want preview of the book, e-mail me and I can send you some scans.

~~~
gshrikant
Curiously, you linked the Student Manual for TAOE. I was under the impression
that the Manual was more of a supplement to the main text than a standalone
book. I've been looking to buy a hobbyist-friendly yet comprehensive
electronics book for quite a while now. Do you recommend I get the Manual
alone or do I need the TAOE book (which appears to be a bit expensive to me at
the moment)?

~~~
mafuyu
I think the Student Manual more or less stands as its own text. Obviously,
there are some complements to TAOE, but I don't think it's necessary for the
manual. TAOE is more like a cookbook than a textbook; it makes for a great
reference but I wouldn't recommend trying to learn directly from it.

If you're curious, I have some scans that you can use to preview the book.

------
gshrikant
If you are willing to consider eBooks, I find the ones at All About Circuits
[1] quite accessible. They are yet to be completed in their entirety but the
parts which exist are well-written and do well to cover both the theory and
practical considerations (there is a laboratory book supplement available too
IIRC). Plus, there is a nice forum to turn to for helpful discussions.

For a free resource, it is right up there with TSEGDSP [2].

[1] [http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/](http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/)

[2] [http://www.dspguide.com/pdfbook.htm](http://www.dspguide.com/pdfbook.htm)

------
induction
I actually learned a great deal from just reading Sedra and Smith's book on
microelectronics. You don't need much more than algebra and trig to comprehend
what is going on in this book.

There is some sloppiness in the book, but the first 5-10 chapters, with enough
struggling, get you to think in terms of the basic models that you learn about
early on. Once you understand how things break down conceptually, mapping
theory to reality becomes a more manageable fight as you cross reference
theory while looking at existing designs.

~~~
wyc
I would caution against starting on this text because it's typically at the
upperclassman/graduate level, containing details about transistor models and
amplifier design that you don't need to know unless you're considering a
career in microelectronics design. It also assumes a lot of background so you
might find yourself moving at a snail's pace. Otherwise, I thought it was a
great text heavy on theory.

~~~
induction
I agree with your warning, but would advise the reader to struggle with this
book and embrace the struggle.

The text helped me with a lot of hobbyist discrete circuit design. The reason
is because, in the book, they have little "model" transformations of active
circuit components. Breaking things down into models that can be studied with
KVL and KCL, as well as simple approximations and rules for dealing with the
various modes of transistors, makes the subject accessible. (At least, to me
anyway.)

I guess, to add a little bit to the suggestion: buy a used, outdated copy of
this book, and try to work through a chapter every 2 months or so. Having a
solutions manual on hand helps a lot also.

------
maho
Related question, sorry for hijacking this thread:

Are there any simulator-games out there? Like:

"Here are available components in your components box, now draw a circuit that
lights an LED without distroying it, regardless how the 5V input voltage is
connected. Max component count: 4"

Something in the spirit of Euler-project, but with electronics.

~~~
grandalf
This is what I want too. I imagine I could learn what I want to learn about
20x faster with such a game.

BTW if you want to collaborate together to spec out the game we want maybe
someone who already understands the relevant theory can help create such a
game.

I want to start with questions like:

\- create a voltage divider to do ___

\- what value of resistor is needed to bias the transistor properly to start
oscillation? (would show the rest of the context)

\- choose three components to create a low pass filter

\- which transistor would work with this oscillator circuit? (multiple choice)

\- why doesn't the LED in this circuit light?

There are thousands of simple questions/exercises that would (I think) pave
the way for slightly more complex questions... it would be such a fun game :)

~~~
davegoliath
I commented below, and I would be happy to collaborate and can provide the
theory as well as development. I'd love to get in contact, you can reach me at
davep dot goliath @ gmail dot com

~~~
grandalf
sent you an email

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lovelearning
Speaking as someone who picked up hobby electronics not too long ago, I
recommend Paul Scherz's "Practical Electronics for Inventors" [1]. Good mix of
theory as well as practice.

[1]: [http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Electronics-Inventors-
Paul-S...](http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Electronics-Inventors-Paul-
Scherz/dp/0071771336)

------
tdicola
Contextual Electronics sounds like just what you're interested in with both
design and implementation of electronics. The course is about to start later
in January too:
[https://contextualelectronics.com/](https://contextualelectronics.com/)

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jestinjoy1
I am looking forward to two embedded system courses in EdX.

Electronic Interfaces: Bridging the Physical and Digital Worlds:
[https://www.edx.org/course/electronic-interfaces-bridging-
ph...](https://www.edx.org/course/electronic-interfaces-bridging-physical-uc-
berkeleyx-ee40lx#.VKZTNrCN1WU)

Embedded Systems - Shape The World: [https://www.edx.org/course/embedded-
systems-shape-world-utau...](https://www.edx.org/course/embedded-systems-
shape-world-utaustinx-ut-6-02x#.VKZTNrCN1WU)

EdX has got some nice electronics courses:
[https://www.edx.org/course](https://www.edx.org/course)

Between, I am from compsci background

~~~
carlosgg
I took Embedded Systems last spring and it was great. Students interface to
the outside world by programming an ARM microcontroller using C language. The
staff and fellow students provide __tremendous __support on the boards. Here
's the syllabus:

[http://edx-org-utaustinx.s3.amazonaws.com/UT601x/syllabus.ht...](http://edx-
org-utaustinx.s3.amazonaws.com/UT601x/syllabus.html)

Here are some projects from last year:

[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyg2vmIzGxXGS3bdIkTF4...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyg2vmIzGxXGS3bdIkTF4uhaWy43kPaal)

------
minthd
A good book:

[http://www.amazon.com/Make-Electronics-Discovery-Charles-
Pla...](http://www.amazon.com/Make-Electronics-Discovery-Charles-
Platt/dp/0596153740/ref=pd_cp_b_1)

~~~
increment_i
I recently purchased this book, along with three different kits that supplied
all the tools and components I would need to carry out the experiments for
roughly the first two thirds of the book (total cost: around 300 dollars, I
know I could have gotten most of this stuff cheaper but such is life). My
experience was...mixed. The book did a great job explaining some of the basic
principles of electronics but these kind of cookbook tutorials don't seem to
work as well as say a book that will teach you everything you need to know
about Ruby programming. Eventually you will need to start from hard theoretic
principles in order to design your own circuits.

I've come to the realization that you need to pull from a bunch of different
sources to get a good enough background in the domain of electrons to start
building a project you want to see realized, and that mastery in this domain
is probably a journey that can be measured in decades.

------
dmritard96
[http://mightyohm.com/blog/2008/12/the-greatest-
electronics-b...](http://mightyohm.com/blog/2008/12/the-greatest-electronics-
book-ever-written/)

In elementary/middle and even high school I absolutely loved this book. I even
had a backup copy. It might be a bit more basic than you need if you studied
it in college though.

~~~
jeffwass
Somehow I knew before clicking the link that it would be this book.

I also read it several times, my father's copy in junior high, a copy I bought
in high school, and another copy in early college.

Though I'd probably recommend the Art of Electeonics as mentioned up thread,
along with the student manual. I took that Physics 123 class at Harvard taught
by Horowitz and Hayes, and it was amazing.

------
benschrauwen
[http://123d.circuits.io/](http://123d.circuits.io/) and
[https://projectignite.autodesk.com/](https://projectignite.autodesk.com/)

------
sriram_malhar
I loved coursera's course on audio electronics. Starts from absolute scratch,
but has you building an amplifier and giving you an understanding of
everything in between.

------
thro1237
A related question is -- Are there good simulators (preferably over the web)
that one can use?

~~~
denysonique
[http://www.falstad.com/circuit/](http://www.falstad.com/circuit/)
[https://www.circuitlab.com/](https://www.circuitlab.com/)

I recommend LTSpice as a desktop circuit simulator/analyzer.

------
rongenre
I'm signed up for
[https://www.coursera.org/course/introtoelectronics](https://www.coursera.org/course/introtoelectronics)

Starts in late March.

------
platz
[https://www.edx.org/course/circuits-electronics-
mitx-6-002x](https://www.edx.org/course/circuits-electronics-mitx-6-002x)

~~~
smcl
I actually started looking at this the other day on Open Courseware - as I'd
set myself a resolution this year to put together a little embedded\SBC system
and needed to understand electronics in more detail[0]. It's a little bit
intimidating. For example in the first few sentences he started referring to
Maxwell's equations in very familiar terms (something like "we all know about
Maxwell's equations already...") which threw me slightly and made me wonder if
there's probably a better introduction to electronics out there.

[0] = [http://blog.mclemon.io/new-years-
resolutions-2015](http://blog.mclemon.io/new-years-resolutions-2015)

~~~
gamache
_For example in the first few sentences he started referring to Maxwell 's
equations in very familiar terms (something like "we all know about Maxwell's
equations already...")_

This, incidentally, is exactly like going to MIT.

~~~
cottonseed
While I don't disagree, 8.02 (Electricity and Magnetism), which basically
spends the semester teaching Maxwell's equations, is a prereq for 6.002.

------
thro1237
Thank you very much everyone for all your useful comments. This community is
awesome.

------
MichaelCrawford
Enroll in undergraduate physics at a community college, or as an
unmatriculated student at a university. The electricity and magnetism theory
as taught to physicists is in many ways better than that taught to engineers.

Alternatively - and less expensive - read The Feynman Lectures on Physics by
Feynman, Leighton and Sands, followed by the first part of Jackson's
Electrodynamics.

University of California Santa Cruz' Physics Department has two good courses
that teach how to design and build the electronics for use as experimental
apparatus. The first quarter is analog, the second digital. After I took both
courses, I did well at a summer job where I repaired electronic gear for the
department.

