Everyone uses electronic devices, but most of us don’t really know what goes on inside them.
You may feel that you don’t need to know. You can drive a car without understanding the workings of an internal combustion engine, so why should you learn about electricity and electronics?
I think there are three reasons:
By learning how technology works, you become better able to control your world instead of being controlled by it. When you run into problems, you can solve them instead of feeling frustrated by them.
Learning about electronics can be fun, so long as you approach the process in the right way. It is also very affordable.
Knowledge of electronics can enhance your value as an employee, or perhaps even lead to a whole new career.
Most introductory guides begin by using definitions and theory to explain some fundamental concepts. Circuits are included to demonstrate what you have been told.
Science education in schools often follows a similar plan. I think of this as learning by explanation.
This book works the other way around. I want you to dive right in and start putting components together without necessarily knowing what to expect. As you see what happens, you will figure out what’s going on. This is Learning by Discovery, which I believe is more fun, more interesting, and more memorable.
Working on an exploratory basis, you run the risk of making mistakes. But I don’t see this as a bad thing, because mistakes are a valuable way to learn. I want you to burn things out and mess things up, to see for yourself the behavior and limitations of the parts that you are dealing with. The very low voltages used throughout this book may damage sensitive components, but will not damage you.
The key requirement of Learning by Discovery is that it has to be hands-on. You can derive some value from this book merely by reading it, but you will enjoy a much more valuable experience if you perform the experiments yourself.
Fortunately, the tools and components that you need are inexpensive. Hobby electronics should not cost significantly more than a recreation such as needlepoint, and you don’t need a workshop. Everything can be done on a tabletop.
I assume that you’re beginning with no prior knowledge. Consequently, the first few experiments will be extremely simple, and you won’t even use prototyping boards or a soldering iron.
I don’t believe that the concepts will be hard to understand. Of course, if you want to study electronics more formally and do your own circuit design, that can be challenging. But in this book I have kept theory to a minimum, and the only math you’ll need will be addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. You may also find it helpful (but not absolutely necessary) if you can move decimal points from one position to another.
An introductory book can present information in two ways: in tutorials or in reference sections. I decided to use both of these methods.
You’ll find the tutorials in sections headed as follows:
Experiments
What You Will Need
Cautions
Experiments are the heart of the book, and they have been sequenced so that the knowledge you gain at the beginning can be applied to subsequent projects. I suggest that you perform the experiments in numerical order, skipping as few as possible.
You’ll find reference sections under the following headings:
Fundamentals
Theory
Background
I think the reference sections are important (otherwise, I would not have included them), but if you’re impatient, you can dip into them at random or skip them and come back to them later.
Usually there is only one way to build a circuit that works, while there are hundreds of ways to make mistakes that will prevent it from working. Therefore the odds are against you, unless you proceed in a really careful and methodical manner.
I know how frustrating it is when components just sit there doing nothing, but if you build a circuit that doesn’t work, please begin by following the fault-tracing procedure that I have recommended (see “Fundamentals: Fault Tracing”). I will do my best to answer emails from readers who run into problems, but it’s only fair for you to try to solve your problems first.
There are three situations where you and I may want to communicate with each other.
I may want to tell you if it turns out that the book contains a mistake which will prevent you from building a project successfully. I may also want to tell you if a parts kit, sold in association with the book, has something wrong with it. This is me-informing-you feedback.
You may want to tell me if you think you found an error in the book, or in a parts kit. This is you-informing-me feedback.
You may be having trouble making something work, and you don’t know whether I made a mistake or you made a mistake. You would like some help. This is you-asking-me feedback.
I will explain how to deal with each of these situations.
If you already registered with me in connection with Make: More Electronics, you don’t need to register again for updates relating to Make: Electronics. But if you have not already registered, here’s how it works.
I can’t notify you if there’s an error in the book or in a parts kit unless I have your contact information. Therefore I am asking you to send me your email address for the following purposes. Your email will not be used or abused for any other purpose.
I will notify you if any significant errors are found in this book or in its successor, Make: More Electronics, and I will provide a workaround.
I will notify you of any errors or problems relating to kits of components sold in association with this book or in Make: More Electronics.
I will notify you if there is a completely new edition of this book, or of Make: More Electronics, or of my other books. These notifications will be very rare.
We’ve all seen registration cards that promise to enter you for a prize drawing. I’m going to offer you a much better deal. If you submit your email address, which may only be used for the three purposes listed above, I will send you an unpublished electronics project with complete construction plans as a two-page PDF. It will be fun, it will be unique, and it will be relatively easy. You won’t be able to get this in any other way.
The reason I am encouraging you to participate is that if an error is found, and I have no way to tell you, and you discover it later on your own, you’re likely to get annoyed. This will be bad for my reputation and the reputation of my work. It is very much in my interest to avoid a situation where you have a complaint.
Simply send a blank email (or include some comments in it, if you like) to make.electronics@gmail.com. Please put REGISTER in the subject line.
If you only want to notify me of an error that you have found, it’s really better to use the “errata” system maintained by my publisher. The publisher uses the “errata” information to fix the error in updates of the book.
If you are sure that you found an error, please visit:
http://shop.oreilly.com/category/customer-service/faq-errata.do
The web page will tell you how to submit errata.
My time is obviously limited, but if you attach a photograph of a project that doesn’t work, I may have a suggestion. The photograph is essential.
You can use make.electronics@gmail.com for this purpose. Please put the word HELP in the subject line.
There are dozens of forums online where you can discuss this book and mention any problems you are having, but please be aware of the power that you have as a reader, and use it fairly. A single negative review can create a bigger effect than you may realize. It can certainly outweigh half-a-dozen positive reviews.
The responses that I receive are generally very positive, but in a couple of cases people have been annoyed over small issues such as being unable to find a part online. I would have been happy to help these people if they had asked me.
I do read my reviews on Amazon about once each month, and will always provide a response if necessary.
Of course, if you simply don’t like the way in which I have written this book, you should feel free to say so.
After you work your way through this book, you will have grasped many of the basic principles in electronics. I like to think that if you want to know more, my own Make: More Electronics is the ideal next step. It is slightly more difficult, but uses the same “Learning by Discovery” method that I have used here. My intention is that you will end up with what I consider an “intermediate” understanding of electronics.
I am not qualified to write an “advanced” guide, and consequently I don’t expect to create a third book with a title such as “Make: Even More Electronics.”
If you want to know more electrical theory, Practical Electronics for Inventors by Paul Scherz is still the book that I recommend most often. You don’t have to be an inventor to find it useful.
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Please address comments and questions concerning this book to the publisher:
Make: unites, inspires, informs, and entertains a growing community of resourceful people who undertake amazing projects in their backyards, basements, and garages. Make: celebrates your right to tweak, hack, and bend any technology to your will. The Make: audience continues to be a growing culture and community that believes in bettering ourselves, our environment, our educational system—our entire world. This is much more than an audience, it’s a worldwide movement that Make: is leading—we call it the Maker Movement.
For more information about Make:, visit us online:
We have a web page for this book, where we list errata, examples, and any additional information. You can access this page at http://bit.ly/make_elect_2e.
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