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Obligatory newb question: I recently got into electronics/electricity and I have been trying to put together a course for myself, mostly for the kind of work t

Obligatory newb question: I recently got into electronics/electricity and I have been trying to put together a course for myself, mostly for the kind of work that involves fixing things (power supplies, small house appliances, and so on) but also for having a good understanding for how things work. Of course the field is huge and there’s all sorts of applications out there. I’m a long time software dev and I’ve delved into all sorts of software-oriented subjects over the years, so I’m hoping I can apply some of this knowledge, at least from a troubleshooting/analysis perspective. But oh boy is this difficult due to electromagnetism and not being able to really visualize these things (not without an oscilloscope I suppose). A close family member was an EE/technician and they ran a repair service for appliances for many decades - anything and everything, TVs, radios, kitchen appliances, industrial machinery, and so on. Sadly they passed away and I don’t know anyone personally I can ask about where to begin and how to approach this. Any recommendations for curriculum? I started with Make: Electronics 3rd Ed and a half dozen or so online resources, like the Khan Academy series and some other undergraduate level videos on circuit analysis and such. I really like the electricity misconceptions site as well.

jrumbut 5y ago
The key is to realize electricity in a circuit is kind of like data traveling through a network ;)
- Moru 5y ago
  Except the wifi has it's own wifi that has it's own interference that is having it's own echo. Go too low down the frequency hole and you get so lost :-)
shadowgovt 5y ago
For fixing things, a couple of good books on home repair will do you a lot better than deep theory (both because safely manipulating high voltages in a home setting doesn't require the underlying physics so much as following the rules and because if you apply the theory too strictly, you run the risk of getting tripped up, possibly dangerously so, by somebody failing to do something to code). On the other hand, the underlying theory is very useful for if you do encounter something off code, because something off code will be doing something, and you as the homeowner are stuck figuring out what.

jrumbut 5y ago

The key is to realize electricity in a circuit is kind of like data traveling through a network ;)

Moru 5y ago
Except the wifi has it's own wifi that has it's own interference that is having it's own echo. Go too low down the frequency hole and you get so lost :-)

shadowgovt 5y ago

For fixing things, a couple of good books on home repair will do you a lot better than deep theory (both because safely manipulating high voltages in a home setting doesn't require the underlying physics so much as following the rules and because if you apply the theory too strictly, you run the risk of getting tripped up, possibly dangerously so, by somebody failing to do something to code). On the other hand, the underlying theory is very useful for if you do encounter something off code, because something off code will be doing something, and you as the homeowner are stuck figuring out what.