Learning Hardware as a Software Geek? 55
digitalvengeance asks: "I'm a long-time software geek with very little experience on the hardware side. I've configured servers and built various desktops for friends and family, but I'd like to move to the next level. I assume I need to purchase a breadboard to begin tinkering, but is there a particular kit I will find more useful than others? What books, sites, or other resources can the hardware geeks recommend for a software geek wanting to learn the basics of electronics and hardware?"
A Book Recommendation (Score:5, Informative)
It starts off with the real basics, and has a very readable style and lots of practical advice.
It's pretty expensive (about $50) but well worth it. If I'd had this at University, I would have done a whole lot better in my practical electronics courses.
Re:A Book Recommendation (Score:2)
That book was our univeristy text, great stuff. I sat and read it cover to cover rather than wait for the the course to set the pace.
I would also rettpcommdn one of these kits [maplin.co.uk]. The 300 in one kit and it's ilk are particularly neat: a load of bits and bobs and solderless joints, they have springs that you put the connecting wires into. Good fun to get you going.
Re:A Book Recommendation (Score:1)
Don't get me wrong, I love the book, I just didn't have it pegged as an introduction book. But then I don't know a good introduction book for all of electronics.
What I use AoE for is a quick refresher on a subject when I can't be bothered going back to my uni notes.
I'd like to ask a question back to the origonal post, good introduction to what? Electronic Engineering? Hobby digital electronics, hobby analog? Audio or Control? Theory or practice?
What do you want to achieve? solder together a few examp
Re:A Book Recommendation (Score:1)
But that book advanced my understanding of computer science.
I was on a CS/microelectronics course
Re:A Book Recommendation (Score:2)
Re:A Book Recommendation (Score:3, Informative)
For digital electronics, O'Reilly's Designing Embedded Hardware [oreilly.com] is brilliant. I have the first edition, and it takes you through digital circuits with practical examples of putting together AVRs and other small chips with memory and peripherals. It doesn't cover FPGAs or VHDL though.
Lessons in Electric Circuits (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Lessons in Electric Circuits (Score:2)
Next step (Score:5, Informative)
Next step, is to go digital. Buy a couple of PIC or AVR microcontrollers and build some simple stuff. You'll get to write assembly code (or even in C) and upload the code to the chip and run it there. The pic can be interfaced with ethernet, audio chips, flash chips, LCD, camera CCD etc. Think of the possibilities.
If the PIC is tough, just use the simplest PIC16F54A initially, or even just use a BASIC stamp. Make a set of blinking lights to begin with, and download the test code first before writing code.
After the 8-bit level, you can buy the powerpc or ARM kits from olimex.com or ebay, and with enough flash, sram and boot code, try to boot netbsd, linux or something similar.
Re:Next step (Score:2)
Re:Next step (Score:2)
But thats me.
I cant come up with many books beside PDF datasheets of the devices, sample circuits online and in popular electronics, and quite possibly the textbooks of electronics courses of reputable universities like MIT.
Re:Next step (Score:3, Interesting)
I myself went through the same thing a few years ago. Been a prog for 20+ years and needed a new challenge. I bought a LARGE breadboard and some discrete logic chips, leds, dip switches. Built a bunch of nand, and or etc circuits. Played around with 555 circuits. Then went into PICs, pretty easy to interface and pgm.
The easiest way for me to learn is to build som
Re:Next step (Score:3, Interesting)
Even for the PICs they direct you to use RC oscillators, and that can have consequences from the change of temp, part inaccuracy etc.
Youre right about not buying stuff retail. I bought a soldering iron from radioshack and reg
Re:Next step (Score:2)
The Atmel ATMega8 is a wonderful beginner's chip. It's cheap at about $5, and it has on-board clock and reset circuits, so you really do only need a 5v supply and some programming hardware. It also has at least one of most of the peripherals available in the AVR architecture: ADC, timers, USART, SPI interface, I2C interface, symmetric digital I/O, watchd
XGameStation (Score:2)
Great learning tool.
Read Forrest Mimms books, get a ham radio license (Score:4, Informative)
Second of all get your ham radio license! Buy a copy of Now You're Talking! [arrl.org] from the ARRL and study up! Amateur radio is approximately 50% applied analog and digital electronics, and don't think all that communications theory stuff doesn't apply to computers because it does, RF knowledge is CRITICAL to engineering high speed digital circuits! Get involved with a local ham radio club and start building ham radio kits and projects. Other than working in an electronics lab, it's the best way to get applied electronics experience quickly.
I'm n1ywb and that's my two cents.
Re:Read Forrest Mimms books, get a ham radio licen (Score:2)
Re:Read Forrest Mimms books, get a ham radio licen (Score:3, Informative)
Just two weeks ago a friend serendipitously returned something that I'd lent and forgotten about -- Mims' "Getting Started in Electronics", which the cover tells me was published exclusively for Radio Shack. It was a great introduction to electronics and covered enough theory to make it worth reading
Re:Read Forrest Mimms books, get a ham radio licen (Score:2)
That book was great for all novice skill levels. It helped me teach basic electronics to several people.
Re:Read Forrest Mimms books, get a ham radio licen (Score:2)
What they *won't* be doing is making up 6-layer PCBs with umpty-tum surface mount components, so small you can hardly see them, auto-routed using Protel or some similar package, etc, etc. This simply is not possible at an amateur level. The
Re:Read Forrest Mimms books, get a ham radio licen (Score:1)
BTW, how's the weather in New Rochelle?
Address info courtesy qrz...
Re:Read Forrest Mimms books, get a ham radio licen (Score:1)
Re:Read Forrest Mimms books, get a ham radio licen (Score:1)
You will most likely want a multimeter next.
Good luck from another electronics novice!
KG6TCM
Re:Read Forrest Mimms books, get a ham radio licen (Score:1)
Just in case some stalker is interested in your outdated information off the net.
Program an FPGA... (Score:3, Informative)
Now, the problem is to figure out what do you want it to do....
Paul B.
school (Score:2)
Designing Embedded Hardware (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Designing Embedded Hardware (Score:2)
Re:Designing Embedded Hardware (Score:2)
Re:Designing Embedded Hardware (Score:2, Informative)
Two must haves: (Score:3, Informative)
The multimeter is good for simple diagnostics (checking the power supply, checking a circuit for shorts, and troubleshooting analog inputs). The logic probe can make or break a project. This is assuming its mulitple chips and not a single FPGA>
You've got a lot of learning to do (Score:2, Redundant)
Dabble not with the hardware side (Score:4, Funny)
Knew once I a software engineer that dabbled in the hardware, and destroyed him did it.
"How do I know the difference between hardware and software, it's all digital isn't it?"
When alone and peace at are you, clear it will be. Or you could always ask a systems engineer.
Re:Dabble not with the hardware side (Score:1, Troll)
Re:Dabble not with the hardware side (Score:1)
Go to microcontroller land, then add peripherals (Score:1)
How about a 500-in-one kit? (Score:2)
If I remember correctly, ads in Nuts & Volts and Circuit Cellar magazines list these at around $179.
http://www.nutsvolts.com/ [nutsvolts.com]
http://www.circuitcellar.com/ [circuitcellar.com]
D00ds! (Score:2)
The closest thing I could find on the web site was the Electronics Learning Lab [radioshack.com], but the old style project kits [ebay.com] are still around.
Re:D00ds! (Score:2)
Re:D00ds! (Score:2)
I think you need a project first.... (Score:3, Insightful)
The objective you choose will define the path you need to take.
I started with wanting to build a Joystick interface for Sinclair Spectrums back in the mid-eighties. So then I went out and got books on microprocessor interfacing and spectrum architecture. The learning was simply a natural process then.
There is plenty of fun hardware stuff you can do. Hack a cheap 2 channel radio control into a 10 channel monster with a mini PC in charge ! Build a set of servo's to control a camera remotely ! But choose something you actually wanted to do, or you will just waste your time doing stuff that seems pointless.
I'd second the suggestion of getting some Forrest Mimms stuff. The books seem kind of basic, but they are good... I used to keep them in my reference library way back when I was employed as a serious R&D Engineer as a quick reference to some stuff I was uncomfortable with.... (I was mainly digital, and only sometimes dabbled in analogue).
Also, the Electronics Cookbook is a more serious text that is very useful. Especially if you start to get into more powerful circuits or RF.
After that, you'll need more specific texts that relate to what you are doing.
And as every great hardware hacker knows, if you have a need, the knowledge will slowly present itself. It's the one fixed law of the universe.
David.
Start digital, then go analog (Score:1)
Analog can be a bitch goddess: variations in resistive, capacitive,
the basics of hardware (Score:1)
bebop to the boolean boogie [amazon.com]
It was nice for an introduction to logic design, and the simpler parts of computer hardware. I later went on to learn about(and program) FPGA's, and do some analog stuff.
Personally, I think the best way to learn is on a project basis. Pick out something you want to make(
There be dragons... (Score:2)
Beware the programmer that carries a screwdriver. Retreat quickly if they carry a soldering iron.
-Adam
Open University course on microprocessors (Score:3, Informative)
It seems (M)T223 has been stopped now, but you may find something else there that is useful. The replacement is http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/bin/p12.dll?C01T22
T223 was a top down look at microprocessors starting with the C programming language, then look at compilation, instructions, microcode and logic to understand how programs are converted to impulses. The course used a serial (RS232) connected thermometer to aid study of some of the hardware aspects.
If you know software then it might be a little basic for you - but you could try for a level-3 course.
HTH
pbhj
Parallel port (Score:2)
Everything you need to know about hardware : (Score:3, Funny)
COM 1 and 3 on IRQ4,
COM 2 and 4 on IRQ3. Don't ask me why.
Orange and White, Orange, Green and White, Blue, Blue and White, Green, Brown and White, Brown. (Sing to the tune Mary Had A Little Lamb.) When the times comes, you will know why that is important (hint: network cabling.)
The IDE hard drive closest to the motherboard on the cable is the slave, the one on the far end of the cable (or the only drive on the cable, if there is only one) is the master. Bitchslap anybody who says otherwise.
The red line on the cable goes towards the power connector or towards the front of the case.
Black wires together when putting the cable from the power supply to the motherboard.
ARCnet isn't picky, you can use two coathangers (metal) to transmit signal as long as they don't touch.
On the Intel vs. AMD - I don't care, just pick one and stick with it.
nVidia video card are better simply because they all use the same drivers so upgrading doesn't require anything more than swapping the old card for the new one.
It used to be cheaper to build your own, but that isn't the case anymore.
Anybody that adds lights to the inside of the case, or a see-through panel or neon or anything like that is a pathetic loser and isn't worth your attention.
Pay special attention when wiring the power supply to the switch on your new case. The wires aren't keyed and you can cause a wicked short if you don't get it right.
Twist two wires together, use the iron to get the wires really hot, put the soldier on the hot wires. If the wires aren't hot enough to melt the solder then heat the wires hotter, don't use the iron to melt the solder.
Don't eat the solder, not even a little.
Static electricity kills hardware. Wear a grounding strap, spray the carpet with fabric softener.
Enable the encryption on your wireless point.
You can tell if a 9v battery has power by touching it to your tongue. Don't try this with anything plugged into the wall.
Exotic cooling and overclocking are like hooker sex. Expensive, and you don't really get anything you wouldn't get anyways if you were patient and waited a few months, except maybe a fried PC / PeePee.
If you have to choose between $200 worth of processor upgrade or $200 worth of additional memory, go with the memory.
If you can't tell the difference between two systems / components / configurations without a stopwatch, they are equally fast. A 4.3% advantage isn't really faster. 300%, now THAT's faster.
Re:Everything you need to know about hardware : (Score:1)