Learning
A lot of people have been curious about where I’ve learned so much about electricity and electronics. I’ve had very little formal schooling on the subject, so I thought it might be interesting to go over some of the resources I’ve used and things that have helped me learn. I think these subjects are a lot more accessible than people realize.
When I was 10 or 11, my aunt got me an electronics project kit. I suspect these kits are still available, but I had mine for at least 8 years. They were basically a board made of plastic or cardboard with springs sticking out. The springs were connected to various components (resistors, LEDs, capacitors, etc, etc). This made it easy to bend the spring sideways and slide in a jumper wire. The kits came with booklets complete with all kinds of circuits. In my earlier years, my dad had to help me build them and show me how to follow the instructions. One of my favorite circuits was the electromagnetic radiation detector. This circuit used the tuner coil on the board and the tiny little earpiece. The tuner coil was placed in a circuit so that it would be sensitive to ambient electromagnetic radiation. This was fascinating to me because I learned that our CRT TV at the time output a lot of stray electromagnetic noise. It was quiet compared to the microwave though.
Once I became more comfortable with how circuits worked and what various components did, I started to get myself in trouble at home by disassembling various electronics. Eventually I started finding scrap electronics instead of things that worked. I learned how to repair a few things. I remember repairing a flashlight I had that didn’t work anymore. I also remember disassembling a motor in a toy submarine I had and fixing it so that the brushes worked again. I think all of my tinkering had a lot to do with what I ended up learning, especially about the limits of various electronics.
As I got older I was able to follow along in books and videos online. A few very basic courses in high school and college helped me to get a handle on some of the fundamentals, but school was never a big part of what I’ve learned about electricity. Some of the things that really helped me a lot were books designed for trade schools. I always found these books easiest to follow and most practical. Another great resource is old US Army instructional videos on youtube. Most of them are from the 1940s or 1950s and were designed to help teach people in the army how to do things. For having no special effects, simple graphics and all in black and white, these videos are incredibly instructive. Some companies, like General Electric, also made similar videos at the time. It was one of these videos that finally got through to me on how induction motors worked. The great thing is that what they talk about is fundamental and hasn’t really changed in the 60-70 years since the videos were made. Motors still generally work exactly the same way. I also found a youtube channel that was particularly helpful in demystifying some of the more complex digital and signals processing parts of electrical engineering. “**Jerri Ellsworth**”:https://www.youtube.com/user/jeriellsworth helped me understand a lot. Plus she had videos on fabricating a race car (another interest of mine).
Beyond instructional things, I’ve found the best way to learn about this stuff is to just do it. I learned a ton from building my own solar power station. Everything from different battery chemistries to how to size wiring based on load. I think it helps a lot to break things down into individual pieces. An entire system might be complicated, but maybe you can just focus on what is required to calculate the correct fuse size or how DC breakers work. Eventually all of the little things add up. It’s important to me to show others that despite how daunting and complicated this subject might seem, most people will be able to figure it out. Plus, lifelong learning is awesome! Hopefully my articles are contributing to that for readers.