New to Electronics - Guidance needed

[eleboy]

Hi, I am new to electronics (hobbyist)...pls give me your guidance in the below:

1. What should be the roadmap, what books to read, what to practice in which order.. to have deep understanding of everything I do with electronics.. My focus is to have true, in-depth understanding of electronics ( atom,particle level happenings), ability to build / design circuits, play with micro-controllers, robotics, arduino, Rasberry PI etc.

2. What tools should I buy? Right now, I just bought lots of resistors, capacitors, diodes, Intel 8051, Atmel atmega 32 16 PU, soldering gun, solder, stand, digital multi-meter, breadboard, perf board, wires, batteries, battery connectors.

Apart from these...what is the difference between acceptor board, shield, breakout board and target board. Unable to get proper clarification anywhere in web.

Thank You

 

[Genovator]

To start from zero, stick with EDAboard & surf some website. This one is good.: https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/
Search some electronics ebooks from web.

Tools depends upon what you are going to make. I advise, do not buy anything unless it is required. First start with a project, make your Bill of Materials, then buy.

 

[tpetar]

For sure, having some good development boards for PIC, AVR, 8051 will help You a lot when developing some projects with microcontrollers.

 

[jeffrey samuel]

try to improve basic knowledge about your field of interest

electronics is vast choose your speciality in it then work to gain basic info of it

this will ensure you to succeed in gaining the maximum out of the ordinary

post your queries here and you will get great solutions in easier and simplified manner

 

[RetroTechie]

Welcome here, eleboy! :grin:

No offense but it is dumb to go out and buy lots of stuff, when you don't know what you need, why or what for. Decide what you want to do, figure out what you need for that, then buy. Like Genovator said: buy as needed, no more (and no sooner than when you need it). As your experience grows, it will make it easier to determine what you need, what's important and what not, and how your money / time is best spent. Buy stuff with 0 knowledge and you'll just be wasting money & buy things you don't need or won't use. If you still can: return that soldering gun, it's near useless for the kind of things usually referred to as "electronics".

I'd start with basics: what is voltage, current, DC, AC, power (Watts). Passive components: resistor, capacitor, inductor (probably won't need that when starting out). Then basic active components: diode, NPN / PNP transistors, LEDs. And some of the more common integrated IC's: opamps, CMOS 4000 and 74xx series logic, linear voltage regulators, etc.

You'll have plenty of reading to do, introductory web sites may be a better place to start than say, Wikipedia. For in-depth understanding, there's many good books out there. For example "The Art of Electronics" (2nd edition) by Horowitz & Hill is considered a 'bible' of sorts :wink: and a paper copy would be well worth the money. Although old (1989), covers all the basics thoroughly. Word is they're working on a 3rd edition which is quite far along, but I wouldn't wait for that.

A good way to learn is by doing. Put together some simple circuits with light bulbs / LEDs, RC oscillator, something that responds to a light sensor, whatever. Plenty of example projects & descriptions out there. Go for some ready-designed Velleman kits, or pull apart some junk electronics to find out how it works. You'll need 3 basic tools:

• A power source. Can be anything from a few batteries, a US $5 DC adaptor to a $500 lab supply with X number of outputs, adjustable current limit, voltage/amp reading etc. This is something that lends itself well as one of your first do-it-yourself projects, and I would strongly refrain from spending serious money on this until you understand what good it would do.
• Something to put circuits together. A simple 15W soldering iron + 0.7 mm 60/40 or 63/37 (tin/lead) rosin core solder wire will do, breadboard is another option. There also exist electronic learning kits with a bunch of components & contacts to wire up example circuits quickly. Good for learning but you'll quickly feel the itch to step outside the box. :smile: Example here - strangely enough this seems mostly vintage stuff & hard or impossible to find new these days. Good buy if you come across one on a flea market!
• A tool to do measurements. Specifically low voltage DC, and DC currents up to a few Amps. A $10 - $20 digital multimeter from local hardware or electronics store will go a long way for a beginner (make sure it has diode + transistor test, capacitor measurement might be useful but not necessary. Plain 3 1/2 digit, 2% or better accuracy will do fine).

Lots of small bits & pieces: tweezers, scissors, desolder pump, some different color wires, etc, etc.

When you've done a number of example circuits, you'll find that interests will draw you in specific direction(s). Go from there to decide what projects to try & what tools / components to buy next. Chances are you'll want some basic parts inventory to make development of circuits easier (you might already have enough of that). And dive into more advanced projects like microcontroller circuits, programmable logic, power audio amplifiers etc, etc, etc. It's a wide field, and "electronics" doesn't always mean the same depending on who you ask...

 

[jeffrey samuel]

complete basic trainer kit awesome work @Retrotechie

 

[RetroTechie]

Nothing wrong with spending a half hour to help a new 'colleague' / fellow hobbyist get started, right? :grin:

 

[jeffrey samuel]

the greatest pleasure i find and happy to see many helpful minds in EDABOARD

 

[Marvel_tronix]

Hello everyone!
Nice help RetroTechie. But, I would like to make some more suggestions. The book "The Art of Electronics" is really good, but the thing is it doesn't explains everything keeping in mind a novice, but assumes some previous background. So, u can start with some introductory texts like:"Electronic Principles by Malvino", link:https://www.amazon.com/Electronic-Principles-Albert-Malvino/dp/0028028333/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347645531&sr=1-3&keywords=malvino+electronic+principles+7th+edition & "Digital Systems by Tocci", link:https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Systems-Principles-Applications-11th/dp/0135103827/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347646415&sr=1-1&keywords=tocci+digital+systems. Then some hobbyist books like the "Evil Genius Series", link: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_5?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=evil+genius&sprefix=evil+%2Cstripbooks%2C373. Start from basics & go in deeper, u would definitely enjoy this "Realm of electronics". And remember always, there is "Web". U can google about anything, even u can get some ready-made projects. And as others said buy those components first which will be used(I'm not telling surplus is bad:wink.
Hope U would appreciate the help.

 

[Syncopator]

Read the monthly electronics magazines if there are any where you live. There will be much that you won't understand at first. Many of them have articles for beginners occasionally.

 

[eleboy]

Very helpful, thanks a lot @RetroTechie :smile:

- - - Updated - - -

Thank you all for the kind help. Great to be here in edaboard!!

- - - Updated - - -

Hi Marvel_tronix, Welcome to Edaboard and thanks for the suggestion. Yes, I am starting with "The Art of Electronics"..lets see how it goes.

 

[lduren]

I am also new to electronics somewhat.

I took a few courses in electrical engineering in college but did not finish the curriculum.

I have been self studying the book Fundamentals of Digital Logic and Microcomputer Design by M. Rafiquzzaman and am now at the 7th chapter. I have learned a great deal from this book, and I think that it is well though out in the explanations.

I have decided to learn PCB software, and to apply this to solving the problems in the book. So I carefully searched and evaluated several PCB software companies and open source programs, and have decided to learn KiCad. I picked them because there is plenty of documentation, there are support forums, and it is free. I read some of the manuals of KiCad's functionality that were extremely transparent about the functionality of KiCad. I have already experimented with it, and am comfortable with it. I do this in my spare time.

I would like to read a book that is a tutorial on pcb software in general.

I have seen an excellent post at this forum, which I will paste it below.:

Welcome to the world of PCB design.
Firstly, you need to find a system and stick with it, I have been using the same software for over 25 years (in its various guises) and I am still learning so don't expect overnight success. Whatever system you use will not be perfect, but ALL will produce PCB's so bite the bullet and learn how to use one system.
Libraries, the most (MOST) important part of any ECAD system, and doing libraries is one of the best ways of getting to know both your ECAD system and develop an understanding of component footprints and their relationship to the schematic, real components and all the other processes your design will go through to get manufactured and populated.
IPC-7351 for SMD components and IPC-7251 for PTH are world standards for footprints, I would use them as the basis for you libraries.
**broken link removed**
The CAD Library of the Future - Mentor Graphics

Point 3. No, always specify the footprint as part of the part, and keep record of the FULL part number, including package type. It is the best way of avoiding problems. Changing parts is easier in the more expensive software, such as Cadstar, Orcad, for other packages can't say as I haven't used them.
Point 4. Create them.
Point 5. 3D, IDF & STEP, I'd get to grips with the basics of PCB libraries and design first.
Point 6.
“Board layout” VS “Stencil”
Pont 7. You have quite a few exotic devices that probably wouldn't appear in most supplied ECAD libraries, also the 600 pin limit may be pushing it for most of evaluation versions of major ECAD software (Cadstar Express is limited to 300 pins).
With the low noise and sensitive op-amps, low voltage DAC/ADC I would look seriously at doing a 4 layer board with a contiguous ground, not only for signal integrity and a low impedance return path, but also these sort of designs can be very sensitive to EMC, due to the small value of and conversion steps and the devices sensitivity. A 4 layer design wouldn't be much more expensive and would give numerous benefits.
Some basic links on mixed signal design:
http://www.hottconsultants.com/techt...gnd-plane.html
**broken link removed**
An intuitive, practical approach to mixed-signal grounding
**broken link removed**
http://focus.ti.com/lit/ml/slyp167/slyp167.pdf
http://www.ieee.org.uk/docs/emc1206a.pdf
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**

Common Mode Ground Currents

---------- Post added at 12:29 ---------- Previous post was at 12:27 ----------

And the rest:
Some PCB design guides:
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
http://pcbtalk.com/data/upload/Desig...anced_PCBs.pdf
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
http://www.dnu.no/arkiv1/The CAD%2...e Future.pdf
http://www.ece.unh.edu/courses/ece71...0Libraries.pdf
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
http://www.thehighspeeddesignbook.com/

A list of EDA software:

Free/Open source
DesignSpark (RS comp) - http://www.designspark.com/
FreePCB - http://www.freepcb.com/
Fritzing - http://fritzing.org/
gEDA - http://www.gpleda.org/index.html
KiCAD - **broken link removed**
Minimal Board Editor - http://www.suigyodo.com/online/e/index.htm (English, Japanese)
Open Circuit Design - http://opencircuitdesign.com/
Protel (Altium) AutoTrax/EasyTrax (DOS Based) - **broken link removed**
TCI - **broken link removed** (French)
ZenitPCB - http://www.zenitpcb.com/Index.html

Limited free version
AutoTRAX - http://www.kov.com/
CADint - http://www.cadint.se/p_free.asp
Cadstar Express (Zuken) - **broken link removed**
DipTrace - http://www.diptrace.com/
Eagle (Farnell/Newark) -
Layo1 PCB - http://www.baas.nl/layo1pcb/uk/downloads.htm
McCAD - http://www.mccad.com/index.html
OrCad 16.3 (Cadence) - http://www.cadence.com/products/orca...oads.aspx#demo
Osmond PCB - http://www.osmondpcb.com/index.html (Only PCB)
PCB Elegance - http://www.mercoelectronics.nl/
WinQcad - http://www.winqcad.com/

Commersial
Allegro (Cadence) - http://www.cadence.com/products/pcb/Pages/default.aspx
Altium - http://www.altium.com/
Ariadne - **broken link removed** (German)
AutoTRAX - http://www.kov.com/
Bartels AutoEngineer - http://www.bartels.de/bae/bae_en.htm (English, German)
BoardMaker3 - http://www.tsien.info/index.php#
Board Station (Mentor) - http://www.mentor.com/products/pcb-s.../boardstation/
CADint - http://www.cadint.se/products.asp
Cadstar (Zuken) - http://www.zuken.com/products/cadstar
CIRCAD - http://www.holophase.com/index.html
CircuitCREATOR - **broken link removed**
Circuit Wizard, PCB wizard - http://www.new-wave-concepts.com/products.html
CSiEDA - http://www.csitek.co.kr/ (Korean)
CSiEDA - http://www.csieda.co.jp/en/csieda/ (Japanese, English)
CR-5000 (Zuken) - http://www.zuken.com/products/cr-5000
DipTrace - http://www.diptrace.com/
Douglas CAD/CAM - http://www.douglas.com/software/pro/prolayout.html
Dreamcad - **broken link removed** (Japanese)
Eagle (Farnell/Newark) -
Easy-PC - **broken link removed**
EDWinXP - http://www.visionics.a.se/index.html
Expedition Enterprise (Mentor) - http://www.mentor.com/products/pcb-s...on-enterprise/
ICADPCB (Fujitsu) - **broken link removed**
Layo1 PCB - http://www.baas.nl/layo1pcb/uk/index.html
McCAD - http://www.mccad.com/index.html
Orcad (Cadence) - http://www.cadence.com/products/orca...s/default.aspx
Osmond PCB - http://www.osmondpcb.com/index.html (Only PCB)
Pads (Mentor) - http://www.mentor.com/products/pcb-s...gn-flows/pads/
PCB Elegance - http://www.mercoelectronics.nl/
Proteus PCB Design - **broken link removed**
Pulsonix - http://pulsonix.com/index.asp
Rimu Schematics/PCB - **broken link removed**
Scooter PCB - **broken link removed** (German)
Sprint-Layout - http://www.abacom-online.de/uk/html/sprint-layout.html
SuperCAD/SuperPCB - **broken link removed**
Target 3001 - http://www.ibfriedrich.com/ (English, German, French)
TINA (DesignSoft) - http://www.tina.com
Ultiboard (National Instruments) - http://www.ni.com/ultiboard/
Vutrax - http://www.vutrax.co.uk/index.htm
WinCircuit - http://alain.michel13.free.fr/Anglais.html
WinQcad - http://www.winqcad.com/
XL designer (Seetrax) - http://www.xldesigner.com/

Free SW for PCB order service (no gerber files export)
ECAD Pro - http://www.pcbdesignandfab.com/ (gerber files $25/board)
Expresspcb - http://www.expresspcb.com/
Pad 2 Pad - http://www.pad2pad.com
PCB123 - http://www.sunstone.com/PCB123-CAD-Software.aspx (gerber files $100/board)
PCB Artist - http://www.4pcb.com/free-pcb-layout-software/
Target 3001 (PCB Pool edition) - http://www.pcb-pool.com/ppuk/service_downloads.html (gerber with proto)

Gerber tools
GCPrevue (Graphicode) - **broken link removed**
GerberLogix - http://www.easylogix.de/products_detail.php?prog_id=1
gerbv - http://gerbv.sourceforge.net/
Viewplot - http://www.viewplot.com/

PCB panelizing
CAM 350 - **broken link removed**
FAB 3000 - http://www.numericalinnovations.com/fab3000.html

Stripboard/Veroboard layout tools
DIY Layout Creator - http://diy-fever.com/software/
LochMaster - http://www.abacom-online.de/uk/html/lochmaster.html
Stripboard Designer - **broken link removed**
Stripboard Magic - **broken link removed**
Stripes - http://sites.google.com/site/libby8dev/stripes
VeeCAD - http://veecad.com/
VeroCAD - http://xtronic.org/download/verocad-3-veroboard/
VeroDes - http://www.heyrick.co.uk/software/verodes/


Simulation - Free
5Spice - http://www.5spice.com/ (not free for commercial use)
Cider - **broken link removed**
Circuit Simulator Applet - http://www.falstad.com/circuit/ (iPad/iPhone version available, iCircuit - NOT FREE)
Logisim - **broken link removed**
LTpsiceIV (Linear Technology) - http://www.linear.com/designtools/software/
Mindi (Microchip) - **broken link removed**
Ngspice - http://ngspice.sourceforge.net/screens.html
Qucs - http://qucs.sourceforge.net/
TINA-TI (Texas Instruments) - **broken link removed**
XSPICE - http://users.ece.gatech.edu/~mrichard/Xspice/

Simulation - Commercial
AIM Spice - http://www.aimspice.com/
B2 Spice - http://www.beigebag.com/
Circuit Wizard - http://www.new-wave-concepts.com/products.html
ICAP/4, etc.. - **broken link removed** (Limited Free version available)
Micro Cap - http://www.spectrum-soft.com/index.shtm (Limited Free version available)
NI Multisim (National Instruments) - http://www.ni.com/multisim/
PSpice (Cadence) - http://www.cadence.com/products/orca...s/default.aspx (Limited Free version available)
Super Spice (Anasoft) - http://www.anasoft.co.uk/ (Limited Free version available)
TopSpice - http://penzar.com/topspice/topspice.htm (Limited Free version available)
WinSpice - http://www.winspice.com/

Hi, I am new to electronics (hobbyist)...pls give me your guidance in the below:

1. What should be the roadmap, what books to read, what to practice in which order.. to have deep understanding of everything I do with electronics.. My focus is to have true, in-depth understanding of electronics ( atom,particle level happenings), ability to build / design circuits, play with micro-controllers, robotics, arduino, Rasberry PI etc.

2. What tools should I buy? Right now, I just bought lots of resistors, capacitors, diodes, Intel 8051, Atmel atmega 32 16 PU, soldering gun, solder, stand, digital multi-meter, breadboard, perf board, wires, batteries, battery connectors.

Apart from these...what is the difference between acceptor board, shield, breakout board and target board. Unable to get proper clarification anywhere in web.

Thank You

- - - Updated - - -

I am also new to electronics somewhat.

I took a few courses in electrical engineering in college but did not finish the curriculum.

I have been self studying the book Fundamentals of Digital Logic and Microcomputer Design by M. Rafiquzzaman and am now at the 7th chapter. I have learned a great deal from this book, and I think that it is well though out in the explanations.

I have decided to learn PCB software, and to apply this to solving the problems in the book. So I carefully searched and evaluated several PCB software companies and open source programs, and have decided to learn KiCad. I picked them because there is plenty of documentation, there are support forums, and it is free. I read some of the manuals of KiCad's functionality that were extremely transparent about the functionality of KiCad. I have already experimented with it, and am comfortable with it. I do this in my spare time.

I would like to read a book that is a tutorial on pcb software in general.

I have seen an excellent post at this forum, which I will paste it below.:

Welcome to the world of PCB design.
Firstly, you need to find a system and stick with it, I have been using the same software for over 25 years (in its various guises) and I am still learning so don't expect overnight success. Whatever system you use will not be perfect, but ALL will produce PCB's so bite the bullet and learn how to use one system.
Libraries, the most (MOST) important part of any ECAD system, and doing libraries is one of the best ways of getting to know both your ECAD system and develop an understanding of component footprints and their relationship to the schematic, real components and all the other processes your design will go through to get manufactured and populated.
IPC-7351 for SMD components and IPC-7251 for PTH are world standards for footprints, I would use them as the basis for you libraries.
**broken link removed**
The CAD Library of the Future - Mentor Graphics

Point 3. No, always specify the footprint as part of the part, and keep record of the FULL part number, including package type. It is the best way of avoiding problems. Changing parts is easier in the more expensive software, such as Cadstar, Orcad, for other packages can't say as I haven't used them.
Point 4. Create them.
Point 5. 3D, IDF & STEP, I'd get to grips with the basics of PCB libraries and design first.
Point 6.
“Board layout” VS “Stencil”
Pont 7. You have quite a few exotic devices that probably wouldn't appear in most supplied ECAD libraries, also the 600 pin limit may be pushing it for most of evaluation versions of major ECAD software (Cadstar Express is limited to 300 pins).
With the low noise and sensitive op-amps, low voltage DAC/ADC I would look seriously at doing a 4 layer board with a contiguous ground, not only for signal integrity and a low impedance return path, but also these sort of designs can be very sensitive to EMC, due to the small value of and conversion steps and the devices sensitivity. A 4 layer design wouldn't be much more expensive and would give numerous benefits.
Some basic links on mixed signal design:
http://www.hottconsultants.com/techt...gnd-plane.html
**broken link removed**
An intuitive, practical approach to mixed-signal grounding
**broken link removed**
http://focus.ti.com/lit/ml/slyp167/slyp167.pdf
http://www.ieee.org.uk/docs/emc1206a.pdf
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**

Common Mode Ground Currents

---------- Post added at 12:29 ---------- Previous post was at 12:27 ----------

And the rest:
Some PCB design guides:
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
http://pcbtalk.com/data/upload/Desig...anced_PCBs.pdf
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
http://www.dnu.no/arkiv1/The CAD%2...e Future.pdf
http://www.ece.unh.edu/courses/ece71...0Libraries.pdf
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
http://www.thehighspeeddesignbook.com/

A list of EDA software:

Free/Open source
DesignSpark (RS comp) - http://www.designspark.com/
FreePCB - http://www.freepcb.com/
Fritzing - http://fritzing.org/
gEDA - http://www.gpleda.org/index.html
KiCAD - **broken link removed**
Minimal Board Editor - http://www.suigyodo.com/online/e/index.htm (English, Japanese)
Open Circuit Design - http://opencircuitdesign.com/
Protel (Altium) AutoTrax/EasyTrax (DOS Based) - **broken link removed**
TCI - **broken link removed** (French)
ZenitPCB - http://www.zenitpcb.com/Index.html

Limited free version
AutoTRAX - http://www.kov.com/
CADint - http://www.cadint.se/p_free.asp
Cadstar Express (Zuken) - **broken link removed**
DipTrace - http://www.diptrace.com/
Eagle (Farnell/Newark) -
Layo1 PCB - http://www.baas.nl/layo1pcb/uk/downloads.htm
McCAD - http://www.mccad.com/index.html
OrCad 16.3 (Cadence) - http://www.cadence.com/products/orca...oads.aspx#demo
Osmond PCB - http://www.osmondpcb.com/index.html (Only PCB)
PCB Elegance - http://www.mercoelectronics.nl/
WinQcad - http://www.winqcad.com/

Commersial
Allegro (Cadence) - http://www.cadence.com/products/pcb/Pages/default.aspx
Altium - http://www.altium.com/
Ariadne - **broken link removed** (German)
AutoTRAX - http://www.kov.com/
Bartels AutoEngineer - http://www.bartels.de/bae/bae_en.htm (English, German)
BoardMaker3 - http://www.tsien.info/index.php#
Board Station (Mentor) - http://www.mentor.com/products/pcb-s.../boardstation/
CADint - http://www.cadint.se/products.asp
Cadstar (Zuken) - http://www.zuken.com/products/cadstar
CIRCAD - http://www.holophase.com/index.html
CircuitCREATOR - **broken link removed**
Circuit Wizard, PCB wizard - http://www.new-wave-concepts.com/products.html
CSiEDA - http://www.csitek.co.kr/ (Korean)
CSiEDA - http://www.csieda.co.jp/en/csieda/ (Japanese, English)
CR-5000 (Zuken) - http://www.zuken.com/products/cr-5000
DipTrace - http://www.diptrace.com/
Douglas CAD/CAM - http://www.douglas.com/software/pro/prolayout.html
Dreamcad - **broken link removed** (Japanese)
Eagle (Farnell/Newark) -
Easy-PC - **broken link removed**
EDWinXP - http://www.visionics.a.se/index.html
Expedition Enterprise (Mentor) - http://www.mentor.com/products/pcb-s...on-enterprise/
ICADPCB (Fujitsu) - **broken link removed**
Layo1 PCB - http://www.baas.nl/layo1pcb/uk/index.html
McCAD - http://www.mccad.com/index.html
Orcad (Cadence) - http://www.cadence.com/products/orca...s/default.aspx
Osmond PCB - http://www.osmondpcb.com/index.html (Only PCB)
Pads (Mentor) - http://www.mentor.com/products/pcb-s...gn-flows/pads/
PCB Elegance - http://www.mercoelectronics.nl/
Proteus PCB Design - **broken link removed**
Pulsonix - http://pulsonix.com/index.asp
Rimu Schematics/PCB - **broken link removed**
Scooter PCB - **broken link removed** (German)
Sprint-Layout - http://www.abacom-online.de/uk/html/sprint-layout.html
SuperCAD/SuperPCB - **broken link removed**
Target 3001 - http://www.ibfriedrich.com/ (English, German, French)
TINA (DesignSoft) - http://www.tina.com
Ultiboard (National Instruments) - http://www.ni.com/ultiboard/
Vutrax - http://www.vutrax.co.uk/index.htm
WinCircuit - http://alain.michel13.free.fr/Anglais.html
WinQcad - http://www.winqcad.com/
XL designer (Seetrax) - http://www.xldesigner.com/

Free SW for PCB order service (no gerber files export)
ECAD Pro - http://www.pcbdesignandfab.com/ (gerber files $25/board)
Expresspcb - http://www.expresspcb.com/
Pad 2 Pad - http://www.pad2pad.com
PCB123 - http://www.sunstone.com/PCB123-CAD-Software.aspx (gerber files $100/board)
PCB Artist - http://www.4pcb.com/free-pcb-layout-software/
Target 3001 (PCB Pool edition) - http://www.pcb-pool.com/ppuk/service_downloads.html (gerber with proto)

Gerber tools
GCPrevue (Graphicode) - **broken link removed**
GerberLogix - http://www.easylogix.de/products_detail.php?prog_id=1
gerbv - http://gerbv.sourceforge.net/
Viewplot - http://www.viewplot.com/

PCB panelizing
CAM 350 - **broken link removed**
FAB 3000 - http://www.numericalinnovations.com/fab3000.html

Stripboard/Veroboard layout tools
DIY Layout Creator - http://diy-fever.com/software/
LochMaster - http://www.abacom-online.de/uk/html/lochmaster.html
Stripboard Designer - **broken link removed**
Stripboard Magic - **broken link removed**
Stripes - http://sites.google.com/site/libby8dev/stripes
VeeCAD - http://veecad.com/
VeroCAD - http://xtronic.org/download/verocad-3-veroboard/
VeroDes - http://www.heyrick.co.uk/software/verodes/


Simulation - Free
5Spice - http://www.5spice.com/ (not free for commercial use)
Cider - **broken link removed**
Circuit Simulator Applet - http://www.falstad.com/circuit/ (iPad/iPhone version available, iCircuit - NOT FREE)
Logisim - **broken link removed**
LTpsiceIV (Linear Technology) - http://www.linear.com/designtools/software/
Mindi (Microchip) - **broken link removed**
Ngspice - http://ngspice.sourceforge.net/screens.html
Qucs - http://qucs.sourceforge.net/
TINA-TI (Texas Instruments) - **broken link removed**
XSPICE - http://users.ece.gatech.edu/~mrichard/Xspice/

Simulation - Commercial
AIM Spice - http://www.aimspice.com/
B2 Spice - http://www.beigebag.com/
Circuit Wizard - http://www.new-wave-concepts.com/products.html
ICAP/4, etc.. - **broken link removed** (Limited Free version available)
Micro Cap - http://www.spectrum-soft.com/index.shtm (Limited Free version available)
NI Multisim (National Instruments) - http://www.ni.com/multisim/
PSpice (Cadence) - http://www.cadence.com/products/orca...s/default.aspx (Limited Free version available)
Super Spice (Anasoft) - http://www.anasoft.co.uk/ (Limited Free version available)
TopSpice - http://penzar.com/topspice/topspice.htm (Limited Free version available)
WinSpice - http://www.winspice.com/

Hi, I am new to electronics (hobbyist)...pls give me your guidance in the below:

1. What should be the roadmap, what books to read, what to practice in which order.. to have deep understanding of everything I do with electronics.. My focus is to have true, in-depth understanding of electronics ( atom,particle level happenings), ability to build / design circuits, play with micro-controllers, robotics, arduino, Rasberry PI etc.

2. What tools should I buy? Right now, I just bought lots of resistors, capacitors, diodes, Intel 8051, Atmel atmega 32 16 PU, soldering gun, solder, stand, digital multi-meter, breadboard, perf board, wires, batteries, battery connectors.

Apart from these...what is the difference between acceptor board, shield, breakout board and target board. Unable to get proper clarification anywhere in web.

Thank You