I am looking for an electronics course that is a good blend of theory and practice. I studied electronics in college and remember Kirchoff's laws and the like, but nothing else. The ideal course would probably start off from there and would include lot of practical circuits to build while explaining the theory of each circuit would work.
I highly recommend the Student Guide to the Art of Electronics: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Electronics-Student-Manual/dp/0521377099" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Electronics-Student-Manual/dp/...</a><p>The book covers the basics of both analog and digital, and focuses on developing intuition without getting _too_ bogged down by theory, with accompanying labs/projects. I took the course taught by the author of the book before going to school to study the same subject area, and it helped me develop intuition and general electronics knowledge in a way no other course has.<p>If you want preview of the book, e-mail me and I can send you some scans.
If you are willing to consider eBooks, I find the ones at All About Circuits [1] quite accessible. They are yet to be completed in their entirety but the parts which exist are well-written and do well to cover both the theory and practical considerations (there is a laboratory book supplement available too IIRC). Plus, there is a nice forum to turn to for helpful discussions.<p>For a free resource, it is right up there with TSEGDSP [2].<p>[1] <a href="http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/</a><p>[2] <a href="http://www.dspguide.com/pdfbook.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.dspguide.com/pdfbook.htm</a>
I actually learned a great deal from just reading Sedra and Smith's book on microelectronics. You don't need much more than algebra and trig to comprehend what is going on in this book.<p>There is some sloppiness in the book, but the first 5-10 chapters, with enough struggling, get you to think in terms of the basic models that you learn about early on. Once you understand how things break down conceptually, mapping theory to reality becomes a more manageable fight as you cross reference theory while looking at existing designs.
Related question, sorry for hijacking this thread:<p>Are there any simulator-games out there? Like:<p>"Here are available components in your components box, now draw a circuit that lights an LED without distroying it, regardless how the 5V input voltage is connected. Max component count: 4"<p>Something in the spirit of Euler-project, but with electronics.
Speaking as someone who picked up hobby electronics not too long ago, I recommend Paul Scherz's "Practical Electronics for Inventors" [1]. Good mix of theory as well as practice.<p>[1]: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Electronics-Inventors-Paul-Scherz/dp/0071771336" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Electronics-Inventors-Paul-S...</a>
Contextual Electronics sounds like just what you're interested in with both design and implementation of electronics. The course is about to start later in January too: <a href="https://contextualelectronics.com/" rel="nofollow">https://contextualelectronics.com/</a>
I am looking forward to two embedded system courses in EdX.<p>Electronic Interfaces: Bridging the Physical and Digital Worlds: <a href="https://www.edx.org/course/electronic-interfaces-bridging-physical-uc-berkeleyx-ee40lx#.VKZTNrCN1WU" rel="nofollow">https://www.edx.org/course/electronic-interfaces-bridging-ph...</a><p>Embedded Systems - Shape The World: <a href="https://www.edx.org/course/embedded-systems-shape-world-utaustinx-ut-6-02x#.VKZTNrCN1WU" rel="nofollow">https://www.edx.org/course/embedded-systems-shape-world-utau...</a><p>EdX has got some nice electronics courses: <a href="https://www.edx.org/course" rel="nofollow">https://www.edx.org/course</a><p>Between, I am from compsci background
A good book:<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Make-Electronics-Discovery-Charles-Platt/dp/0596153740/ref=pd_cp_b_1" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Make-Electronics-Discovery-Charles-Pla...</a>
<a href="http://mightyohm.com/blog/2008/12/the-greatest-electronics-book-ever-written/" rel="nofollow">http://mightyohm.com/blog/2008/12/the-greatest-electronics-b...</a><p>In elementary/middle and even high school I absolutely loved this book. I even had a backup copy. It might be a bit more basic than you need if you studied it in college though.
I loved coursera's course on audio electronics. Starts from absolute scratch, but has you building an amplifier and giving you an understanding of everything in between.
I'm signed up for <a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/introtoelectronics" rel="nofollow">https://www.coursera.org/course/introtoelectronics</a><p>Starts in late March.
Enroll in undergraduate physics at a community college, or as an unmatriculated student at a university. The electricity and magnetism theory as taught to physicists is in many ways better than that taught to engineers.<p>Alternatively - and less expensive - read The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Feynman, Leighton and Sands, followed by the first part of Jackson's Electrodynamics.<p>University of California Santa Cruz' Physics Department has two good courses that teach how to design and build the electronics for use as experimental apparatus. The first quarter is analog, the second digital. After I took both courses, I did well at a summer job where I repaired electronic gear for the department.