Ask HN: I want to learn electronics design. Where should I start | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: I want to learn electronics design. Where should I start

35 pointszyngaro11 comments

Hi, I have a software background and I want to lear to design electronic systems (PCP, manufacturing technologies etc). Any ideas. Thanks

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One good project if you're familiar with Arduino is to build your own AVR based Arduino clone. Some thorough examples:

* http://makezine.com/projects/make-36-boards/make-your-own-dm...

* https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/using-eagle-schematic

* https://learn.adafruit.com/boarduino-kits/overview

It's also good to know the lower level concepts of directly programming an AVR:

* http://hackaday.com/2010/10/23/avr-programming-introduction/

* http://highlowtech.org/?p=1695

I found this an excellent resource, it literally starts from the basics of electricity - http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/

There are a lot of tutorials on the sparkfun website.

https://learn.sparkfun.com/start_a_project

I find some of the articles on PCB Design magazine to be useful for PCB layout.

http://design.iconnect007.com/

Note that a lot of hobbyists use 'Eagle' which is free(ish) as in beer. Profession tools are $$$, though Altium offers http://circuitmaker.com/ (which I can not speak for).

Thank you for this. I am looking for more advanced or expert oriented resources that go beyond the simple concepts of electronics.

You should probably start by saying what you already know so we can tailor the responses. For example

Basic: https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Started-Electronics-Forrest-M...

Intermediate (with a heavy RF slant): http://www.arrl.org/arrl-handbook-2015

Advanced: https://www.amazon.com/High-Speed-Digital-Design-Handbook/dp...

And then there are the various subcategories: low level precision analog, high power motors and switchgear, basic digital and microcontrollers, high speed processors, etc... you're asking a wide open question.

Even Manufacturing is not a simple question to answer unless given some direction. You want to make a first PC board in your bathroom, or build complex electromechanical assemblies?

Thank you. To narrow down the scope. Something like the raspberry pi is what I have in mind. I want to lear for example how to read and understand a hardware board design.

There's some demand for niche accessory boards for the RPi. Relatively easy to design, too - get a basic copy of Eagle or KiCAD.

I don't know if any single tutorial is going to give you what you want. I'd just dive right in, figure out what you want to do with your board, select some parts at Digikey, and start designing. Google questions as they come up.

Great ressources thank you.

That's really what electronics magazines are for! Elektor still exists, but old issues can be even more valuable to get a feel for circuits. This resource should keep you occupied for some time: https://archive.org/details/radioelectronicsmagazine

They also have some cool project ideas at instructables.com

find and hire an expert who you get on with to guide your self-study.

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