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Ask HN: What's the *second* Arduino book?
A bit of context: I was playing with Arduino for a while (got the SparkFun starter kit), and it was all good until I hit the third tutorial circuit, which involved a diode and a transistor and a few other things.
The point is... I couldn't make the circuit work. AFAICT, everything was plugged in correctly, and as I decomposed the circuit to understand more of what was going on, incremental pieces worked, but the whole thing just didn't work at all.
What I think I need is the second Arduino book. Some kind of "Debugging Circuits for Dummies" course/lecture/video/book/thingie that doesn't start out with "First, take two years of basic circuits and do all the exercises in Horowitz and Hill."
How have other people solved the "I'm playing with Arduino, starting from the vague rudiments of electronics knowledge, and I'm stuck." problem?
- compumike 14y agoWe've got some sample circuits built around our simulator at https://www.circuitlab.com/ https://www.circuitlab.com/ . Also a growing active community on our forums -- draw up your schematic and post your question. Debugging electronics is tough and heavily experience/intuition driven, possibly more so than in software, so I can't think of a good book that speaks exclusively to that. Good luck!
- IridescentBlue 14y agoI liked this one; It goes a lot more into detail: http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Arduino-Getting-Started-Sketches/dp/0071784225/?_encoding=UTF8&s=books&keywords=Arduino&tag=produc05-20&linkCode=ur2&qid=1357084977&camp=1789&sr=1-1&creative=9325 http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Arduino-Getting-Started-Sk...
- IgorP 14y agoThis one: http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Arduino-Getting-Started-Sketches/dp/0071784225/?_encoding=UTF8&s=books&keywords=Arduino&tag=produc05-20&linkCode=ur2&qid=1357084977&camp=1789&sr=1-1&creative=9325 http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Arduino-Getting-Started-Sk...
- teeja 14y agoIf a simple circuit doesn't work (happens) it could be a faulty part (happens). Or something is installed with the wrong polarity (diode for example). Or a wire that should be conducting isn't. If you have spare parts, try them. If you don't, start building a junkbox. If you don't have an exact replacement, swapping in something reasonably similar will show you if that might be the bad part. Learn to test simple components for functionality with a multimeter (it's your BEST FRIEND). The book of experiments you did yourself is the best book to own. Expect some smoke (learning by fusion), and try adding stuff to see what happens. No book can replace the fun you'll have.
- orangethirty 14y agoMay you send me an email? I would like to talk to you about your current experience learning about prototyping and the arduino. Just a quick chat. Will also show you something I'm working on to help begineers like you. Email in profile.