I’m looking for an ELECTRONIC free ebook.
One that can be downloaded/copy-paste
One that can explain:
All parts of an electronic
Oscillators
All ICs
Types of transistors
Types of diodes
whats inside those parts
How they work
Formulas
Types of Circuits
Circuit symbols
Those abbrieviations when looking at component datasheets (Vc, V+…)
And more if there is.
I’m also curious where everyone got his/her electronic expertise from.
Thanks! 
;D
I’m also curious where everyone got his/her electronic expertise from.
Mostly from these forums, Googling things I didn’t understand, and asking my brother, who is older than me, and has worked with Electronics.
Catcher you’re not asking for much . . . just asking for everything. I really don’t believe that there is a single free web-based ebook that will give you everything you want. However, there are real books that you would need to purchase or borrow from a public library that will give you all of the above.
Try to purchase or find a copy of, “Teach Yourself Electricity and Electronics” by Stan Gibilisco. Published by McGraw Hill (Tab Electronics) ISBN 978-0-07-145933-4. Most libraries in my area have at least one copy and if I had to start again from the beginning, it is the one book I would purchase from the get go.
This book is really a textbook that has everything you are asking for and then some, but at almost 700 pages, I cannot imagine trying to read it as an ebook . . . but I have been recently been re-reading my copy and am amazed at how much I had forgotten.
The next book I would buy is, “Getting Started in Electronics” by Forrest M. Mims and available at < http://www.forrestmims.com/>. For that matter any book by Mims is a good introduction to electronics and a great source for project ideas . . . unfortunately many seem to be out of print, but are available used from Amazon at reasonable prices.
Both of these books are well worth their price . . . remember, sometimes you get what you pay for!
However, there are a number of e-sources that will also help you:
The Complete Beginners Guide to the Arduino http://www.earthshinedesign.co.uk/ASKManual/Site/ASKManual.html
All About Circuits
http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/
Mike Cook’s Tutorials
http://www.thebox.myzen.co.uk/Tutorial/Introduction.html
Play-Hookey . . . yes that is the name
http://www.play-hookey.com/
And of course no list would be complete without a little more Arduino content
http://www.freeduino.org/
I’m also curious where everyone got his/her electronic expertise from.
When I was a kid in grade school, I was always pestering neighbors and friends for their electronic junk; stuff that they would normally throw away. I would also scrounge in the garbage for it. Some of this junk I still have to this day (!). I would take it home, tear it apart, and then play with it.
My parents bought me a few of those ###-in-one kits from Radio Shack (which kinda shows how old I am!), and I also played with weird things hooked up to my computer (a TRS-80 Color Computer with 64K of RAM) - I even managed to build my own light gun that hooked to the joystick port, and programmed a simple shooting game in BASIC (both items I still have, packed away somewhere).
But honestly, I never really understood what things did or how they worked. That had to ultimately wait until after high school.
I ended up leaving my hometown of Bakersfield, California a week after graduation to go to a tech school here in Phoenix, Arizona named “High Tech Institute”; it was basically a DeVry that focused on the hands-on electronic stuff, rather than the business acumen (which DeVry, at least then, focused on, from what I’ve gathered from graduates of that school). Looking back on it, I can honestly say I made a mistake choosing that route instead of going to an actual college/university - but I didn’t really realize this until I was older, had my career (software development), and a small pile of debt (credit cards and mortgage, basically - I paid off my student loans, such as they were, fairly rapidly).
However, with that said, HTI showed me the hands-on stuff I wanted to know in order to successfully design and interface digital circuits with computers, and build robots and other fun things. Aside from having the Associates degree from there, nothing I learned there have I really applied in my career as a software developer (I already had those skills mostly in place when I got my first development position; the rest I learned on the job and on my own). I could’ve probably excelled in an actual university or college setting, but my lazy streak is a mile long and got the better of me.
If you want an excellent book, though, to get you started in electronics, you couldn’t do much better than Grob’s “Basic Electronics”; it won’t be cheap (it is a textbook, after all), but you might be able to find a fairly decent older edition cheaply somewhere. It is the book to read if you want to pick up the basics, theory, and math behind both passive and active basic electronic components, as well as other topics of importance.
After that, the resources that have already been posted are good for follow on. You also can’t go wrong with picking up anything by Steve Ciarcia (especially once you gain more experience).
Finally, if your interests lie toward robotics, there are a ton of books out there that I could recommend. I won’t list them all here (unless you or someone asks) because there are so many; but getting the first, second and third editions of “Robot Builder’s Bonanza” is a must (each is different from the others - the third departs the most from the first, but they are all good to have on hand, IMHO).
I also must say that I have learned a lot on these forums, too, when it comes to electronics; there is something good to be said about this community. Just don’t expect us to do the work for you, and you’ll get good results and questions answered very quickly.
Good luck, and have fun!
As a kid i no electronic toy lasted long. I’d play with it for a while then as soon as i could swipe one of my dad’s screw drivers I’d tear it apart. I’ve always had some kind of box full of stripped down electronic toys and other items. Learning little things here and there.
I went to a vocational High School and spent many semesters goofing off in electronics. Learned the basics of DC and started doing AC. But then electronics class started getting into PC repair. So i then spent all my time doing tech support for teacher’s PCs, TVs, and VCRs. I also helped the school pull together an A+ certification class. But that i was Senior year so i didn’t get a chance to actually go threw it.
But its only been recently that i’ve gotten back into basic electronics. Been spending most of my time gaming and working tech support. I’ve forgotten most of what little i learned about electronics in High School and have been going threw my books again to refresh myself. Not to mention all that i’ve been learning threw the typical Goolge search. Of course the forums here have been a huge help. Its always the little things that trip me up the most.
Wow, I’m surprised many of you do what I do. My parents thought i was weird for wanting to take apart electronics!
I’ll try that book by stan.
Currently in HighSchool ;D
ANd i reaaaaaaaly want to learn about electronics!
Wish me luck! Thanks all.
I’m not incredibly well educated in electronics, but I think a lot of the information you want can be found by using google, wikipedia and the sites that CSingletong mentioned.
I have never had an electronics book but I have a reasonable knowledge of these things. I have always been fascinated by electronics, but I really started getting into it when I started playing guitar and wanted to learn more about effects pedals.
I love ripping electronic things apart. Especially audio related stuff. Have done several cheapo 70s electronic organs, some cool stuff in there. It’s a great way to learn.
Those who got to do electronics related stuff in school are incredibly lucky, IMO.