[SOLVED] I don't know how to go further with electronics

Hello, i'm 15 years old now and i've been interested in electronics already since when I was 3-4 years old. I really started to do electronics when I was like 11 years old. I was starting to make some electronic kits. I did that till I was at the highest mark of soldering for the kits I did(not that it said anything about my electronics skills because it was just soldering with a manual that said what you needed to do). So the sad thing was that I did it for a couple of years but I didn't really learn anything from it. I started to buy some books about electronics to help me understand it. Now I've read several but I still can't really make anything myself. So my question is how to go further?

I was like you in the 60's. My father helped me make a pickle Jar AM Radio wound with magnet wire with a slider tuner and catwhisker for a diode and crystal earphone. Then at 16, I made a 3 channel light organ Triac board which was kewl pulsing to music.

I never knew what I wanted to do, so I went into University to be an Engineer in 1970 and before graduating had read every electronics magazine design article in the library.

So I understood the theory then, knew how to do basic design and read schematics from these articles, I read. But anything I built was a mess. One summer job, I had a job in a recording studio and soldered these plastic rectangular capacitors in backwards on all the new mixer boards , because I never recognized they were polarized.

My first job after graduating had some exciting challenges and a big mil-spec library with the properties of all electrical passive component types with all the characteristics of different materials from mylar to crystals.

I was lucky to get a job in a time and place far away from Silicon Valley but the same high tech requirements. I also got to work with brilliant people, which wasn't me but I worked hard long hours to make up for it.

After my 1st 4 years in the last 40 yrs I know all digital chips are analog in nature when it comes to EMC, and dynamic behaviors and how to solve any analog or EMI problem.

Now many of tasks can be done with digital solutions such as PIC processors and ARM kits.

If you'd rather not worry about assembly details, buy the design kits and learn how to program them from others. They are fast flexible solutions.

It's always quicker to learn from others and you have to follow your passion and try to get paid well for it. Often I had to quit my job to get a 25% raise instead of 8%. You do need to figure out your priorities. But I really enjoyed my career in Electronics.

SunnySkyGuy, your story is impressive, but how does it help koen851? Koen851, it looks like you don't have the basic understanding of simple electronics (elements like resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes and transistors and their combinations), therefore you have problems building your own circuits. Since you're young you lack some engineering school knowledge. If you can't gain nothing from the books, which is somehow strange (search for books with lots of circuits and their explanations), find yourself a mentor to guide you and/or ask specific questions on the net, like this board.

"So the sad thing was that I did it for a couple of years but I didn't really learn anything from it." If this is true, you're simply not interested in the how-it-works of electronics.

I agree rfmw. The best answer always comes from the best questions

The best question always has measurable Specifications or "Specs."

So Koen851, what are your specs?
What is your desired outcome?

My first project was a Singing Bird purchased at Radio Shack. It was fun but I did not know how to learn from it.

Something is bound to bring out your motivation. There are many practical projects your skills can be applied to. Money saving, too.

Then there are fun projects.

One important thing is to find out what is within your reach in the electronics field. What devices are available, which circuits can achieve a simple goal, etc.

The internet is an excellent source. People have websites with tutorials, projects, etc.

Do schools still have an audio-visual committee? A few of my schoolmates were part of that. I often saw a guy carting a film projector through the hallways. I don't know, maybe they knew how to repair the equipment too.

Consider getting one of those 300-in-one electronics labs. One with a breadboard and an assortment of components.

koen851 said:

I started to buy some books about electronics to help me understand it. Now I've read several but I still can't really make anything myself

Click to expand...

The issue seems much more related scope of the self motivation, as someones here already pointed out: Although you bought many books and read a lot, in having difficult to undestand a specific subject, do you really insist untill the end ? The fact is that to take knowledge you must litarally bleed your brain, but the reward outcome as satisfaction.



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As rfmw said you must get some knowledge on the basic building blocks of electronics. Write the list down and as a start try www.wikipedia.org to try to under stand their function. Without this understanding all you can do is to assemble other peoples kits.
Once you have a basic understanding about what the components do, it is a good time to buy a Digital Volt Meter (which actually will also measure amps and resistance), read its instruction leaflet thoroughly so you really understand what it measure. Then set up a simple one transistor amplifier (circuits available on the internet) and modify the resistor values and see what happens.
Build some simple test gear, such as an audio amplifier and loudspeaker in a box with terminal on it and a volume control. Now if you build a radio, you will have the audio bit, ready built. It can also act as a signal tracer. Build a transistor multivibrator (in a box) now you can feed a rough signal into a radio and trace it through with your amplifier. Build a variable power supply to power your circuits (batteries are expensive).
Building up you knowledge and practical skills in this way could be the way to go until you fall in love with a particular type of electronics, then you can specialise just in this area .
Frank

Well, I found the answer. When I did those projects/kits I was looking at it as a puzzle. I was thinking: oh, this piece belongs here and that piece there. I wasn't looking at it as something too study.
Thanks for all the help!

If you live near a college that offers a physics course, try and get a copy of one of their booklets (assuming they have a unit involving electronics). Although it hasn't showed me everything, the physics booklet at my college explains a lot of the basic rules like Ohm's law.