I read the first 4 or 5 chapters from a friends "8085: Programming and Architecture" text book from college and that was enough to learn the basics of digital electronics (ie. busses, multiplexing, tri-state, etc..). Everything else I've learned was purely from GoogleWeb and GoogleGroups. So when people ask me what school I went(go) to, I simply reply, "The University of Google". I'm yet to pay a dime for electronics learning materials and I've learned about 5x as much as my friends who went to college for Electrical Engineering. Not that I am AT ALL an expert or electrical engineer, but I'm am learning at a really fast pace, and it will no doubt make my eventual university degree for EE much simpler. Now I just gotta make some scratch from a device/invention to pay for university cuz Google doesn't give out diplomas AFAIK .. hehehe Peace MJ Brush ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lindy Mayfield" To: Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2004 12:52 PM Subject: Re: [EE: ] what is a logic analyzer? I have Getting Started in Electronics by Forrest M. Mimms, III which I've been through a million times. (And each time I pick up something new.) -----Original Message----- From: pic microcontroller discussion list [mailto:PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU] On Behalf Of Bruce Partridge Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2004 18:33 To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU Subject: Re: [EE: ] what is a logic analyzer? I started electronics the same way the OP did. I have been in the computer business for 25+ years, and didn't know what a pull up resister was. I bought the Horowitz book and found it impractical. I don't need to know the theory, particularly when if you just put the parts together, it works. And I am not going to become an engineer. I will always need someone to design good boards for manufacturing. OK, for all you hardware gurus, try to control your laughter: One of my first really good resources was Appendix C in Scott Edwards "Programming and Customizing the Basic Stamp Computer." That appendix, along with the Chapter 3 on "Electronic Components and Symbols" gave me the fundamentals to build my first breadboard computer. Its the obvious stuff that isn't obvious to me. - How to connect a led and diode and how to tell one end from the other - Why switches are better with a pull up than a pull down. - How to switch a high current load. - How to wire a voltage regulator. - Resistances in series and parallel. All of this is explained in about 20 pages making no assumptions about what you already know. Perfect. The Mike Predko book, "Programming and Customizing PICmicro Microcontrollers" also had a lot of good stuff. But a lot of the book is about computers, binary, and assembler. I didn't need help there. Bruce Partridge http://www.rebreather.ca > -----Original Message----- > From: pic microcontroller discussion list > [mailto:PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU]On Behalf Of Eisermann, Phil [Ridg/CO] > Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2004 9:06 AM > To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU > Subject: Re: [EE: ] what is a logic analyzer? > > > pic microcontroller discussion list wrote: > > What do I want to do? Not sure. I've been a programmer on > > mainframes my whole life, and at the beginning of this year my wife > > got me a little robot kit, from there I went to PIC's, and now I'm > > trying to learn electronics, something I've tried to understand since > > I was a kid. (Is it a different way of thinking, electronics and > > programming?) > > > > So the truth is that I was programming Pic assembler in a couple of > > days, but it took me about a month to figure out what a pull-up > > resistor was, for example. (-: > > > > might be a good idea to get a book, then. If you don't already have it, > get "The Art Of Electronics" by Horowitz and Hill. I think it would be > ideal for you. It isn't geared towards EE students, but it is not > dumbed down at all. It gets recommended on this list quite often and > covers a broad spectrum of topics. > > > -- > http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different > ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details. > --- > Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.686 / Virus Database: 447 - Release Date: 5/14/2004 > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.686 / Virus Database: 447 - Release Date: 5/14/2004 -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details. --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. 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