02-17-2014, 11:40 AM
Well, I strongly recommend starting from basic theory.
NOT from how the tube radio works, (or any radio, or any device) but how the electricity works. EE called electrical for a reason. Sometimes when trying to help and realizing the person on the other end does not know anything, helping becomes difficult to the point of frustration. Almost to the point pf saying "send it to me, it will take me 2 minutes to do what I have been explaining here for several hours".
Really. Theory rules. Very basic. Very-very basic. One does not have to learn about electric field, induction, dielectric constants or what not, but you do need Ohms law, you need Joule-Lenz law, you need your impedances understanding, AC reactances, that is how a cap and inductance behave etc, and then you go for basic circuitry - trying to understand transistor before you do tubes does not hurt at all, in fact it is good as you could experiment and get a feel of how it works without subjecting yourself to the risk of dying the way they show in the Green mile.
Then you could go and understand radio, amps, generators and such.
I am not sure what good books are as I learned my hobby and then the trade in a different country.
But. If you ever could get your hands on this
Svoren R.A.. Electronics step-by-step. The practical encyclopedia of the young radio Amateur
- this is, although translated from Russian, is one of the beste EVER books written for kids who want to learn electronics, and it used to have tubes in it, then there was a book about transistors etc, and generations of Soviet radio amateurs, hams and engineers grew up cutting their teeth using this very book.
I did too.
And if you stumble once in a while, us more epxerienced folks here, we will gladly help you - we have people with strength in different areas, some know tubes better, some transistors, some are good in general electronics, some are also very good with history of radio and particular solutiuons used over time - it will be our pleasure.
But do your part. Please.
NOT from how the tube radio works, (or any radio, or any device) but how the electricity works. EE called electrical for a reason. Sometimes when trying to help and realizing the person on the other end does not know anything, helping becomes difficult to the point of frustration. Almost to the point pf saying "send it to me, it will take me 2 minutes to do what I have been explaining here for several hours".
Really. Theory rules. Very basic. Very-very basic. One does not have to learn about electric field, induction, dielectric constants or what not, but you do need Ohms law, you need Joule-Lenz law, you need your impedances understanding, AC reactances, that is how a cap and inductance behave etc, and then you go for basic circuitry - trying to understand transistor before you do tubes does not hurt at all, in fact it is good as you could experiment and get a feel of how it works without subjecting yourself to the risk of dying the way they show in the Green mile.
Then you could go and understand radio, amps, generators and such.
I am not sure what good books are as I learned my hobby and then the trade in a different country.
But. If you ever could get your hands on this
Svoren R.A.. Electronics step-by-step. The practical encyclopedia of the young radio Amateur
- this is, although translated from Russian, is one of the beste EVER books written for kids who want to learn electronics, and it used to have tubes in it, then there was a book about transistors etc, and generations of Soviet radio amateurs, hams and engineers grew up cutting their teeth using this very book.
I did too.
And if you stumble once in a while, us more epxerienced folks here, we will gladly help you - we have people with strength in different areas, some know tubes better, some transistors, some are good in general electronics, some are also very good with history of radio and particular solutiuons used over time - it will be our pleasure.
But do your part. Please.
