This is teaching at its best!
--Hans Camenzind, inventor of the 555 timer (the world's most successful integrated circuit), and author of Much Ado About Almost Nothing: Man's Encounter with the Electron (Booklocker.com)
A fabulous book: well written, well paced, fun, and informative. I also love the sense of humor. It's very good at disarming the fear. And it's gorgeous. I'll be recommending this book highly.
--Tom Igoe, author of Physical Computing and Making Things Talk
A magnificent and rewarding book. ... Every step of this structured instruction is expertly illustrated with photos and crisp diagrams. . . . This really is the best way to learn.
--Kevin Kelly, in Cool Tools
The first edition of Make: Electronics established a new benchmark for introductory texts. This second edition enhances that learning experience.
Here you will find unique, photographically precise diagrams of breadboarded components, to help you build circuits with speed and precision. A new shopping guide and a simplified range of components, will minimize your investment in parts for the projects. A completely new section on the Arduino shows you how to write properly structured programs instead of just downloading other people's code. Projects have been reworked to provide additional features, and the book has been restructured to offer a step-by-step learning process that is as clear and visually pleasing on handheld devices as it is on paper. Full color is used throughout.
As before, Make: Electronics begins with the basics. You'll see for yourself how components work--and what happens when they don't. You'll short out a battery and overheat an LED. You'll also open up a potentiometer and a relay to see what's inside. No other book gives you such an opportunity to learn from real-life experiences.
Ultimately, you will build gadgets that have lasting value, and you'll have a complete understanding of how they work. From capacitors to transistors to microcontrollers--it's all here.
Hans Camenzind, inventor of the 555 Timer (the world's most successful integrated circuit chip), said that This is teaching at its best! when he reviewed the first edition. Now the second edition offers even more!
Author(s): Charles Platt
Edition: 2
Publisher: Make Community, LLC
Year: 2015
Language: English
Pages: 352
What’s New in the Second Edition
Preface: How to Have Fun with This Book
Learning by Discovery
Will It Be Difficult?
How This Book Is Organized
If Something Doesn’t Work
Writer–Reader Communication
Me Informing You
You Informing Me
You Asking Me
Going Public
Going Further
Safari® Books Online
How to Contact Us
1. The Basics
Necessary Items for Chapter One
The Multimeter
Ranging
Values
Safety Glasses
Batteries and Connectors
Test Leads
Potentiometer
Fuse
Light-Emitting Diodes
Resistors
Experiment 1: Taste the Power!
What You Will Need
Caution: No More than Nine Volts
Procedure
Setting Up Your Meter
Fundamentals: Ohms
Measuring Your Tongue
Fundamentals: Inside a Battery
Further Investigation
Background: The Man Who Discovered Resistance
Cleanup and Recycling
Experiment 2: Let’s Abuse a Battery!
Caution: Use a Small Battery
What You Will Need
Generating Heat with Current
Background: Why Didn’t Your Tongue Get Hot?
Fundamentals: Volt Basics
Fundamentals: Ampere Basics
How to Blow a Fuse
Fundamentals: Direct and Alternating Current
Background: Inventor of the Battery
Background: Father of Electromagnetism
Cleanup and Recycling
Experiment 3: Your First Circuit
What You Will Need
Setup
Fundamentals: Decoding Resistors
Lighting an LED
Checking a Resistor
Background: Puzzling Numbers
Cleanup and Recycling
Experiment 4: Variable Resistance
What You Will Need
Look Inside Your Potentiometer
Testing the Potentiometer
Caution: Don’t Add Power
Caution: Destructive Experiment Ahead
Dimming Your LED
Measuring Potential Difference
Checking the Flow
Caution: Meter Overload
Checking the Current
Making Measurements
Fundamentals: Ohm’s Law
Fundamentals: Series and Parallel
Using Ohm’s Law
How Big a Resistor?
Background: Hot Wires
Fundamentals: Decimals
Theory: The Math on Your Tongue
Background: The Watt
Background: The Origins of Wattage
Cleanup and Recycling
Experiment 5: Let’s Make a Battery
What You Will Need
Setup
Lemon Test: Part One
Theory: The Nature of Electricity
Background: Positive and Negative
Theory: Basic Measurements
Practically Speaking
Cleanup and Recycling
2. Switching
Necessary Items for Chapter Two
Essential: Small Screwdrivers
Essential: Small Long-Nosed Pliers
Optional: Sharp-Nosed Pliers
Essential: Wire Cutters
Optional: Flush Cutters
Essential: Wire Strippers
Essential: Breadboards
Supplies
Essential: Hookup Wire
Jumpers
Optional: Stranded Wire
Components
Essential: Toggle Switch
Essential: Tactile Switch
Essential: Relay
Essential: Trimmer Potentiometer
Essential: Transistors
Essential: Capacitors
Essential: Resistors
Essential: Loudspeaker
And More?
Experiment 6: Very Simple Switching
What You Will Need
Fundamentals: All About Switches
Sparking
Checking Continuity
Background: Early Switching Systems
Introducing Schematics
Fundamentals: Basic Schematic Symbols
Schematic Layout
Crossovers
Colored Conductors
Experiment 7: Investigating a Relay
What You Will Need:
The Relay
Caution: Polarity Problems
Procedure
What’s Going On Inside
Other Relays
Opening It Up
What’s Inside?
Fundamentals: Relay Terminology
Experiment 8: A Relay Oscillator
What You Will Need
A Beginner’s Board
Making Jumpers
Power Up
Inside the Board
Relay Circuit, Revealed
Making It Buzz
Adding Capacitance
Fundamentals: Farad Basics
Caution: Getting Zapped by Capacitors
Fundamentals: Capacitor Basics
Caution: Observe Capacitor Polarity!
Fundamentals: Fault Tracing
Background: Michael Faraday and Capacitors
Experiment 9: Time and Capacitors
What You Will Need
Charging a Capacitor
An RC Network
Voltage, Resistance, and Capacitance
Background: The Time Constant
Background: Graphing It
Experimental Verification
Capacitive Coupling
Displacement Current
Alternating Current
Experiment 10: Transistor Switching
What You Will Need
The Finger Test
Caution: Never Use Two Hands
Inside the Finger Test
Fundamentals: Transistor Variants
Adding a Potentiometer
Voltage and Current
Fundamentals: All About NPN and PNP Transistors
Caution: Fragile Component!
Background: Transistor Origins
Fundamentals: Transistors and Relays
Experiment 11: Light and Sound
What You Will Need
Fluctuations
Step by Step
Coupling Capacitor
But How Does It Start?
Why So Complicated?
A Processed Pulse
Upping the Speed
Still More Mods
Background: Mounting a Loudspeaker
3. Getting Somewhat More Serious
Necessary Items for Chapter Three
Essential: Power Supply
Essential: Low-Power Soldering Iron
Essential: General Duty Soldering Iron
Soldering Iron Terminology
Essential: Helping Hand
Essential: Magnifying Lens
Optional: Clip-on Meter Test Leads
Optional: Heat Gun
Optional: Desoldering Equipment
Optional: Soldering Stand
Optional: Miniature Hand Saw
Optional: Deburring Tool
Optional: Calipers
Supplies
Essential: Solder
Optional: Heat-Shrink Tubing
Essential: Copper Alligator Clips
Optional: Perforated Board
Optional: Plywood
Optional: Machine Screws
Essential: Project Boxes
Essential: Power Connectors
Optional: Headers
Components
Diodes
Experiment 12: Joining Two Wires Together
What You Will Need
Caution: Soldering Irons Do Get Hot!
Your First Solder Joint
Background: Soldering Myths
Fundamentals: Eight Soldering Errors
Background: Soldering Alternatives
Your Second Solder Joint
Theory: Heat Transfer
Insulating the Solder Joint
Caution: Heat Guns Do Get Hot!
Wiring Your Power Source
Step One: Cut and Measure
Step Two: Soldering
Pruning a Power Cord
Twelve Steps to a Shorter Cord
What’s Next?
Experiment 13: Roasting an LED
What You Will Need
Where the Heat Goes
Rules for Heat Sinking
Experiment 14: A Wearable Pulsing Glow
What You Will Need
Fluctuations Revisited
Bend Wires, Add Solder
Step by Step
Caution: Flying Wire Segments
Finishing the Job
Background: Maddened by Measurement
Experiment 15: Intrusion Alarm, Part One
What You Will Need
Wish List
Implementing the Wish List
Magnetic Sensor Switches
A Break-to-Make Transistor Circuit
Self-Locking Relay
Blocking Bad Voltage
Fundamentals: All About Diodes
One Problem Creates Another
Solving the Problem
Protection Diode
Time to Breadboard
Adding the Sound
Reference: Take-Home Messages
4. Chips, Ahoy!
Necessary Items for Chapter Four
Components
Fundamentals: Choosing Chips
Optional: IC Sockets
Essential: Subminiature Slide Switch
Caution: Switching Overload
Essential: Low-Current LEDs
Essential: Numeric Displays
Essential: Voltage Regulator
Optional Extras
Background: How Chips Came to Be
Experiment 16: Emitting a Pulse
What You Will Need
Know Your Chips
Monostable Test
Timing the Pulse
Caution: Beware of Pin-Shuffling!
Fundamentals: Timer Duration
Theory: Inside the 555 in Monostable Mode
Fundamentals: Pulse Suppression
Fundamentals: Why the 555 Is Useful
Fundamentals: Bistable Mode
Background: How the Timer Was Born
Fundamentals: 555 Timer Specifications
Caution: Not All Timers Are Equal
Experiment 17: Set Your Tone
What You Will Need
Astable Test
Theory: Output Frequency
Theory: Inside the 555 in Astable Mode
Fundamentals: Unequal On-Off Cycles
Astable Modifications
Chaining Chips
Sounding Like a Siren
Experiment 18: Intrusion Alarm (Almost) Completed
What You Will Need
Three Steps to a Functional Device
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
What About the Noise?
What About On and Off?
Finalizing
Most Common Perfboarding Errors
Fundamentals: Perforated Board Fault Tracing
The Project Box
Soldering the Switches
Fixing the Board
Caution: Avoid Board Stress
Final Test
Alarm Installation
Conclusion
Experiment 19: Reflex Tester
What You Will Need
Caution: Protecting Chips from Static
Caution: Be Careful When Grounded
A Quick Demo
Fundamentals: LED Displays
Fundamentals: The Counter
Pulse Generation
Time for a Plan
A Control System
Progress Report
The Delay
Testing
How Does It Work?
Background: Development Issues
Extra Digits
Calibration
Enhancements
Next?
Experiment 20: Learning Logic
What You Will Need
The Regulator
Caution: Inappropriate Inputs
Usage
Your First Logic Gate
Background: Logical Origins
Fundamentals: Logic Gate Basics
Background: The Confusing World of TTL and CMOS
What You Don’t Need
Fundamentals: Part Numbers and Functions
Fundamentals: Rules for Connecting Logic Gates
Experiment 21: A Powerful Combination
Caution: The Warranty Issue
What You Will Need
A Three-Part Circuit
How It Works
More than One Button?
Triggering the Relay
The Logic Chip
Time to Build!
Setup
Testing
Dealing with Diodes
Questions
The Computer Interface
Enhancements
Experiment 22: Race to Place
What You Will Need
The Goal
A Conceptual Experiment
Breadboarding It
Enhancements
Experiment 23: Flipping and Bouncing
What You Will Need
How It Works
Debouncing with NORs
Debouncing with NANDs
Jamming Versus Clocking
Experiment 24: Nice Dice
What You Will Need
A Binary Counter
Counter Testing
Fundamentals: Binary Code
Rising Edge, Falling Edge
The Modulus
Converting to Modulus 6
Not Using a Seven-Segment Display
Choosing the Gates
The Finished Circuit
Good News
Chained Counters
Going Further
The Slowdown Problem
Slowdown Alternatives
5. What Next?
Tools, Equipment, Components, and Supplies
Customizing Your Work Area
Labeling
On the Bench
Reference Sources Online
Books
Experiment 25: Magnetism
Fundamentals: A Two-Way Relationship
What You Will Need
Procedure
Theory: Inductance
Fundamentals: Coil Schematics and Basics
Background: Joseph Henry
Experiment 26: Tabletop Power Generation
What You Will Need
Procedure
Lighting an LED
Optional Extensions
Caution: Blood Blisters and Dead Media
Charging a Capacitor
Next: Audio
Experiment 27: Loudspeaker Destruction
What You Will Need
Procedure
Background: Origins of Loudspeakers
Theory: Sound, Slectricity, and Sound
Experiment 28: Making a Coil React
What You Will Need
Procedure
A Collapsing Field
Resistors, Capacitors, and Coils
Theory: Alternating Current Concepts
Experiment 29: Filtering Frequencies
What You Will Need
A Home for Your Speaker
A Single Chip
Test, 1-2-3
Adventures in Audio
Theory: Waveforms
Mangling Some Music
Background: Crossover Networks
Experiment 30: Make It Fuzzy
What You Will Need
Making the Mods
Background: Clipping
Background: Stomp-Box Origins
Experiment 31: One Radio, No Solder, No Power
What You Will Need
Step 1: The Coil
Caution: High Voltage!
Antenna and Ground
Enhancements
Theory: How Radio Works
Experiment 32: Hardware Meets Software
What You Will Need
Definitions
Real-World Applications
The Right Tool for the Job?
One Board, Many Chips
Beware of Imitations?
Setup
Linux Installation
Windows Installation
Windows Troubleshooting
Mac Installation
If All Else Fails
The Old Arduino Blink Test
Verify and Compile
Upload and Run
Caution: Lost Code
Programming Entails Detail
Background: Origins and Options Among Programmable Chips
Fundamentals: Advantages and Disadvantages
Longevity
Obsolescence
Hybrid Circuits
Individual Components: Advantages
Individual Components: Disadvantages
Microcontrollers: Advantages
Microcontrollers: Disadvantages
Summing Up
Experiment 33: Checking the Real World
What You Will Need
Using a Thermistor
Range Conversion
Connections
What, No Output?
Hysteresis
Line by Line
Additional Details
Enhancements
Experiment 34: Nicer Dice
What You Will Need:
The Limits to Learning by Discovery
Randomicity
Pseudocode
Button Inputs
The System Clock
Final Draft of Pseudocode
Hardware Setup
Now, the Program
Short and Long Integers
Setup
The “for” Loop
The Random Function
The “if” Statement
Flash Speed
Creating a New Function
Structure
But Is It Too Difficult?
Upgrading the Nicer Dice Program
Other Microcontrollers
Unexplored Territory
In Closing
6. Tools, Equipment, Components, and Supplies
Kits
Searching and Shopping Online
The Art of Searching
Try the Chat Option
Parts on Google
Datasheets
General Search Techniques
Exclusions
Alternatives
Too Much Typing?
Vendor Categories
Which to Click First?
A Real-Life Search
eBay Options
Amazon
Killing Autocomplete
Is Searching Worth the Trouble?
Checklists of Supplies and Components
Supplies
Components
Other Components
Components for Chapter One
Components for Chapter Two
Components for Chapter Three
Components for Chapter Four
Components for Chapter Five
Buying Tools and Equipment
Tools and Equipment for Chapter One
Tools and Equipment for Chapter Two
Tools and Equipment for Chapter Three
Suppliers
Index
