Practice makes perfect

Woo! So it was my birthday recently and of course I requested a bunch of electronics stuff. Here's what I got.

An electronics kit (most of you probably had these when you were 12).

http://www.maplin.co.uk/electronics-kit-97369

There's an awesome selection of components and a number of basic projects for me to get stuck into. Also, got a flashing LED kit.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/dual-superbright-redflashing-leds-34161

Not entirely sure what this is going to do but I intend to leave this until after I've worked through most of the projects in the kit. It also looks like this might require a bit of soldering and I don't yet have a soldering iron. But I do have... screwdrivers!

http://www.maplin.co.uk/32-piece-precision-screwdriver-set-528589

This is a really cool little set, given the price and although it doesn't contain the security versions of the 'T' head screwdrivers that just means my xbox controllers are safe for now.

So, due to recent illness, this is a bit of a retrospective so I'll just give a quick recap. I worked dutifully through the stage 1 exercises, creating simple lightbulb, buzzer and LED switch circuits. I also created my own pressure switch!

It's ok to be jealous.

Today I started on the stage 2 exercises. It involves work with transistors which I'm still trying to wrap my head around. Below is a circuit listed as 'Dampness Indicator'.  From what I gather the transistor in the circuit acts like a switch but the middle (base) pin requires connection to positive current in order for the switch to work. This way (I think) a small amount of current could be used to operate a switch on something that needs more. Behold the dampness indicator!

To the right are 2 probes that can be bridged with a finger. If the finger is damp the bulb comes on strongly. If the finger is relatively dry then it doesn't (or gives a weak response due to the slight moisture already in my finger). This is basically a crude lie detector.

That's it for now. Stay tuned for more thrilling experiments!

Dressing the part

Having seen the article about how wearing a lab coat will make you feel smarter I now really want one. That and a Van Der Graaf generator for the office.

John Nolan's Amazing Animatronics

Just so we don't lose sight of what awesomeness looks like, here's a video of what happens when you combine electronics, mechanical engineering and a crapload of foam latex. I'll totally be up to this standard by, like, 2050.

http://www.johnnolanfilms.com/

Sexeh Multimeter

Following the previous post I researched some of the stuff I'm going to need (by trawling maplin.co.uk) and was pleased to discover that a lot of it is pretty cheap. Firstly, here's a Digital Multimeter that I think looks pretty sweet. it's not the cheapest but this one has a square wave generator and who wouldn't want one of those?

UT-132A Digital Multimeter with Square Wave Generator

See? Damn sexy by comparison to he boxy orange one. I also found breadboards and power supplies although if I want one with a readout it looks like it's gonna be pretty expensive. Can I trust my multimeter to tell me what's going on if I get a cheaper one?

Learning electronics the Indian way

So next I found a pretty good YouTube lecture on basic electronics given by Prof. T.S.Natarajan from Department of Physics, IIT Madras (Chennai). It's quite mispronounced, hideously produced but the basics seem to be there and despite the language barrier (which all told is pretty small) I found it easy to follow.

It's taught me some good fundamentals, including what I might need from a power supply and what a Digital Multimeter (DMM) does (measures voltage, resistance, etc).

Diode - cathode + anode

Triode - base + limiter + collector

It also really clearly outlined the 3 main categories of basic electronics; Components & Devices, Measuring Instruments and Circuits (sercyoots).

Passive Components = (result in decrease of voltage/current or no change at all)

Active Components = (result in increase of voltage/current)

I won't go in to too much detail as it's all in the above video if you can sit through it all. I find it's starting to fill in the details on a lot of terms I'm already familiar with but haven't investigated further. I'm looking forward to seeing how all these things interact.

It begins...

So, I'm finally beginning hobby number 132b; amateur electronics. Spurred on by watching too much Mythbusters I now have a new-found passion for making stuff that does stuff. This new passion also includes a similarly new interest in mechanical engineering, animatronics and explosions but you've got to start somewhere.

Hopefully this blog will track my hobby as it blossoms from knowing nothing, to knowing at least something. It may ultimately only be of interest to me but it's here in case anyone happens across it or in case someone wonders, one day, how I managed to electrocute myself or blow myself up.

Of course my head is full of wondrous ambitions; remote control robots, robot arms, flashy lights and readouts and soldering stuff to other stuff but it's early days.

My first port of call was http://101science.com/Radio.htm, a page that looks like it was made in 1992 with videos from 1978 but you've got to start somewhere and I feel the basics probably don't change much. I need to learn the basics of electricity if I'm going to start using it safely. From watching the videos on that first page I gleamed the following.

AC (Alternate Current) - Changes in both magnitude and direction (polarity)
DC (Direct Current) - the unidirectional flow of electric charge

P = Power (watts) - amount of work done
V = Voltage (volts) - pressure that pushes electrons
I = Current (amperes) - flow of electrical charge. Electrons in motion.
R = Resistance (ohms) - interference to flow of electrons. Opposition to the flow of charge.

Some simple equations to work out current or voltage if the other values are known

P=VI Power = Voltage x Current

V=IR Voltage = Current x Resistance 

P=I2R Power = (Current x Current) x Resistance

Not a bad start and I'm not confused yet which is always a positive thing.