2 ms·

If you can find them, Forrest Mims electronics books (once sold at RadioShack).

ken 9y ago
I had a million of those when I was a kid, and they were fun, but I can't say I learned much from them. They're great for "follow these simple instructions and you can build a device that does X", but I couldn't tell you why he picked a PNP or NPN transistor if my life depended on it.
- cr0sh 9y ago
  The mini engineer notebooks is probably what you're thinking of; and you're right on your assessment. But he wrote other books published through Radio Shack (and maybe TAB publications?) that did address things for learning and such. His website has a complete listing of his works: http://www.forrestmims.org/publications.html http://www.forrestmims.org/publications.html In fact, the first book on that page is called "Getting Started in Electronics" (he's actually a prolific author); between that book, the mini-notebooks, and AOE - that would be a great set for an electronics education.
fuzzfactor 9y ago
There are a variety of project subject areas in the series of Engineer's Mini-Notebooks, and some of them are quite advanced: https://archive.org/search.php?query=%22Engineer%27s%20Mini-Notebook%22 https://archive.org/search.php?query=%22Engineer%27s%20Mini-... It can really be most worthwhile to start with the introductory Engineer's Mini-Notebook volume, "Getting Started in Electronics" where everything is so simple. Once available at Radio Shack for $2.49: https://www.scribd.com/document/103603952/Engineer-s-Mini-Notebook-Getting-Started-in-Electronics-Forrest-Mims-Forrest-M-Mims-III https://www.scribd.com/document/103603952/Engineer-s-Mini-No... Then work your way through the other Engineer's Mini-Notebooks of interest and you will be able to recognize all kinds of other resources that can be helpful to build on this foundation in similar ways. Regardless of your objective you will need a foundation in analog circuits and here's a classic reference for schematics: https://archive.org/details/howtoreadschemat00herr https://archive.org/details/howtoreadschemat00herr

ken 9y ago

I had a million of those when I was a kid, and they were fun, but I can't say I learned much from them. They're great for "follow these simple instructions and you can build a device that does X", but I couldn't tell you why he picked a PNP or NPN transistor if my life depended on it.

cr0sh 9y ago
The mini engineer notebooks is probably what you're thinking of; and you're right on your assessment. But he wrote other books published through Radio Shack (and maybe TAB publications?) that did address things for learning and such. His website has a complete listing of his works: http://www.forrestmims.org/publications.html http://www.forrestmims.org/publications.html In fact, the first book on that page is called "Getting Started in Electronics" (he's actually a prolific author); between that book, the mini-notebooks, and AOE - that would be a great set for an electronics education.

fuzzfactor 9y ago

There are a variety of project subject areas in the series of Engineer's Mini-Notebooks, and some of them are quite advanced: https://archive.org/search.php?query=%22Engineer%27s%20Mini-Notebook%22 https://archive.org/search.php?query=%22Engineer%27s%20Mini-... It can really be most worthwhile to start with the introductory Engineer's Mini-Notebook volume, "Getting Started in Electronics" where everything is so simple. Once available at Radio Shack for $2.49: https://www.scribd.com/document/103603952/Engineer-s-Mini-Notebook-Getting-Started-in-Electronics-Forrest-Mims-Forrest-M-Mims-III https://www.scribd.com/document/103603952/Engineer-s-Mini-No... Then work your way through the other Engineer's Mini-Notebooks of interest and you will be able to recognize all kinds of other resources that can be helpful to build on this foundation in similar ways. Regardless of your objective you will need a foundation in analog circuits and here's a classic reference for schematics: https://archive.org/details/howtoreadschemat00herr https://archive.org/details/howtoreadschemat00herr