I'm looking to get into electronics. Anybody know any good self teaching sources for beginners?
If I was
honestly interested in getting involved in electronics, on the cheap, I would strike up a friendship with a hole-in-the-wall electronics repair shop. Tell them your intentions, that you want to learn electronics. Places that pawn televisions and stereos, owned by old men who will be lucky to have their shop survive another year.
I knew several over the years. Admittedly, I never gave a fuck about the electronics part - and I regret it. But those guys are wizards.
The first guy, his name was Art, he owned a RadioShack franchise when the Tandy computers first came out. Probly 1980 or so, if I have to guess. I used to run for coffee for him. I was too small to be taught anything significant, but looking back on it, he was looking for an apprentice, which is why he used to throw a dollar at me to go fetch a coffee. He owned a store, for fucks sake, I'm sure there was a coffee pot in the back. Eventually I lost interest. He sold the franchise, opened a place called Artco, and went into CB stuff. He fixed TV's and stuff. Eventually he died, and his store really looked like a dogs breakfast at the end. Shit everywhere.
Another guy, he was into the high-end stuff. He had all sorts of Harmon Kardon tube receivers (I didn't even know they made shit in the "old days"). Toggle switches and needle meters on 'em. I was visiting him one time, and asked what happens when a tube goes kaflooey. He slides open this cabinet, and its just
stacked with those paper boxes like light bulbs come in. He says, theres thousands of people all over the world who would kill for this assortment of tubes, and slides the door shut. He had things most people never heard of, again I had no appreciation of it - other than a general respect for delicate instruments, but you could tell it was quality shit. He's dead now, too. But he spoke the language, showed me how to build emergency batteries out of dead cordless phones.
Moving along into the more modern years, there was an electronics tech I used to work with, Mike. The guy knew everything there was to know about electronics. A wizard in his own right, he could rip down anything electronic, fix it, and put it back in service. He was into radio and phone circuitry. The computer interface used to piss him off, because the two things do not perfectly jive. Translating analogue into digital, it can be a pain in the balls I guess. But electronics, the guy was gifted. His bench left me mystified.
The point to this little sermon is, find a guru. An older man who is bored and knows a lot of shit. He will pour his knowledge into your open bucket of a head, at ten times the rate of book-learnin. He will appreciate your desire to learn his craft. And if you have to sweep up the store or run for coffee, so what? You'll make a friend in the process, and will be mentored, and given the opportunity to gain some hands-on experience, even if it is just replacing some burnt TV boards or whatever.
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The Free Talk Live BBS
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