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    Getting Started with Electronics: Build Electronic Circuits!
    Getting Started with Electronics: Build Electronic Circuits!
    Getting Started with Electronics: Build Electronic Circuits!
    Ebook207 pages1 hour

    Getting Started with Electronics: Build Electronic Circuits!

    By Cathleen Shamieh

    5/5

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    About this ebook

    Fun and engaging electronics projects just for kids!

    Do you have a cunning kid who's curious about what goes on inside computers, phones, TVs, and other electronic devices? You may just have a budding Edison on your hands—and what better way to encourage their fascination with electronics than a book filled with projects they can complete on their own? In Getting Started with Electronics, your child will follow simple steps to safely create cool electronics projects using basic materials that can easily be found at online retailers or hobby shops.

    Just imagine your child's delight as they use clips, switches, resistors, capacitors, and more to create circuits that control light and sound! From building a nifty LED flashlight to tuning in to a local radio station using a homemade tuner—and more—your little electronic wiz's world is about to get a whole lot brighter!

    • Features vivid designs and a short page count
    • Focuses on your child experiencing a sense of accomplishment
    • Projects introduce core concepts while keeping tasks simple
    • Teaches electronics in a safe environment

    Built for the youngest of learners from the makers of the trusted For Dummies brand, you can feel good about giving your child a book that will spark their creativity.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWiley
    Release dateAug 15, 2016
    ISBN9781119313816
    Getting Started with Electronics: Build Electronic Circuits!

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      Book preview

      Getting Started with Electronics - Cathleen Shamieh

      INTRODUCTION

      GREETINGS, FUTURE ENGINEERS!

      Welcome to Getting Started with Electronics — the book that gives you a jump-start into the exciting world of electronics.

      Electronics is all about controlling electrical current — which you may know better as electricity — flowing in a complete path called a circuit. All electronic devices are made up of circuits, and every circuit contains a power supply, a path, and one or more parts (known as electronic components) to control current flow.

      ABOUT THIS BOOK

      Getting Started with Electronics walks you through six electronics projects you can build and show off to your family and friends. Each project includes a list of the parts you need, step-by-step circuit-building instructions, and loads of colorful illustrations to guide you.

      By completing all the projects in this book, you will

      Discover how to build a complete circuit

      Build circuits on a breadboard

      Light an LED — without frying it

      Switch electrical current between paths

      Control sound using light

      Use an integrated circuit (IC) to control lights and sound

      Pull a radio signal out of thin air and listen to it

      After reading this book, you’ll have enough knowledge and experience to join Apple as a circuit designer for the next-generation iPhone.

      Just kidding! (You didn’t really believe me, did you?)

      Okay, so I can’t promise that this book will get you a job in electronics, but I will promise that you’ll have fun building circuits — and that you’ll learn a bit about electronics along the way.

      ABOUT YOU

      In writing this book, I made a few assumptions about you and other readers:

      You don’t know much — if anything — about electronics.

      You’re interested in fun circuits that are easy to build.

      You have some money to spend on supplies and tools. With some smart shopping, $20 will get you most of what you need and $70 to $100 will cover everything.

      You’re able to place an online order for electronic components and get to a store or two (with help from an adult).

      You will carefully follow the safety tips in this book.

      ABOUT THE ICONS

      tip The tip icon flags time-saving shortcuts and other information that can make your circuit-building job easier.

      remember This icon alerts you to important ideas or facts that you should keep in mind while building your electronics projects.

      warning When you build electronic circuits, you’re bound to run into situations that call for extreme caution. The warning icon reminds you to take extra care to avoid injury or prevent damage to your components or circuits.

      UPDATES

      Nobody’s perfect, least of all me. In the event that someone (whether it be me, an editor, or a reader) discovers an error (or two or more) in this book, I will provide updates at www.dummies.com. Search for Getting Started with Electronics and then open the Download tab on this book's dedicated page.

      THE FIRST STEP

      Getting Started with Electronics isn’t like a typical novel that you read from start to finish. It’s more like a book of short stories or, in this case, projects. It’s perfectly fine to pick a project that interests you and build it — even if you haven’t built the earlier projects in the book.

      But if you choose to jump into a later project first, you’d be smart to read Project 1 before you get started. Project 1 lists everything you need to build the projects in the book and walks you step-by-step through the shopping process to ensure that it’s as easy, quick, and inexpensive as possible.

      No matter how you choose to use Getting Started with Electronics, I hope you have a lot of fun building the projects in this book!

      PROJECT 1

      SHOPPING SPREE

      DO YOU LIKE TO SHOP? (I DON’T!)

      To build the projects in this book, you need to buy a bunch of electronic components (including resistors, capacitors, diodes, LEDs, transistors, a speaker, an earphone, and an integrated circuit), accessories (such as alligator clips and wires), tools (such as wire strippers), and other supplies.

      PLAN YOUR SHOPPING SPREE

      I wish I could name a store in a shopping mall close to your house where you could just walk in, pick out all the parts you need, plunk down about $50, and go home and start building projects. Unfortunately, there is no such store (even RadioShack stores no longer carry a wide variety of electronic components).

      So, you will need to order many of your supplies online, which means you have to plan to allow time for shipping. The good news is that you can save a lot of money by shopping online, and you can get most of the components you need in just one online trip (with an adult’s assistance or, at least, an adult's credit card). You may still need to go to a couple of local stores to pick up some tools and other supplies.

      Here are some recommended suppliers:

      Tayda Electronics: The www.TaydaElectronics.com website is easy to use (see the sidebar How to Order Online). One visit to Tayda and you can order nearly every electronic component and some of the accessories you need at reasonable prices (many for just pennies).

      tip Tayda has a $5 order minimum, so try to buy everything you need in one order.

      With warehouses in Colorado (US) and Bangkok (Thailand), Tayda ships worldwide. Allow 1–4 weeks for delivery, depending on where you live.

      tip I’ve provided Tayda part numbers for many of the components you need in the next section.

      Fry’s Electronics: Between its stores (in several US states) and website (www.Frys.com), Fry’s stocks many of the electronic components and accessories you need. Fry’s ships worldwide.

      Farnell element14: Start at www.Farnell.com and select your country for the Farnell element14 company in your region. (The US company is called Newark.) You’ll find all the electronic components and many accessories you need.

      tip The Farnell website is geared for adults who work in the electronics industry, so you will probably need an adult’s help to make sense out of the highly technical product descriptions.

      RadioShack: RadioShack has stores in many parts of the US, but the stores have a limited supply of electronic components. You may find a better selection on RadioShack’s online store (www.RadioShack.com). Prices are significantly higher at RadioShack than at other online suppliers, but if you really need a certain component right away (say, for instance, you burned out all your LEDs and you need just one to finish a project)

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