Preface xi
FundamentalsMoving Through This Book
Basically there are two ways to present information in a book of this kind: in
tutorials and in reference sections. I’m going to use both of these methods.
You’ll find the tutorials in sections headed as follows:
- Shopping Lists
- Using Tools
- Experiments
You’ll find reference sections under the following headings:
- Fundamentals
- Theory
- Background
How you use the sections is up to you. You can skip many of the reference
sections and come back to them later. But if you skip many of the tutorials,
this book won’t be of much use to you. Learning by discovery means that you
absolutely, positively have to do some hands-on work, and this in turn means
that you have to buy some basic components and play with them. You will
gain very little by merely imagining that you are doing this.
It’s easy and inexpensive to buy what you need. In almost any urban or sub-
urban area in the United States, chances are you live near a store that sells
electronic components and some basic tools to work with them. I am referring,
of course, to RadioShack franchises. Some Shacks have more components than
others, but almost all of them have the basics that you’ll need.
You can also visit auto supply stores such as AutoZone and Pep Boys for basics
such as hookup wire, fuses, and switches, while stores such as Ace Hardware,
Home Depot, and Lowe’s will sell you tools.
If you prefer to buy via mail order, you can easily find everything you need by
searching online. In each section of the book, I’ll include the URLs of the most
popular supply sources, and you’ll find a complete list of URLs in the appendix.
Fundamentals
Mail-ordering components and tools
Here are the primary mail-order sources that I use myself online:
http://www.radioshack.com
RadioShack, a.k.a. The Shack. For tools and components. Not always the
cheapest, but the site is easy and convenient, and some of the tools are
exactly what you need.
http://www.mouser.com
Mouser Electronics.
http://www.digikey.com
Digi-Key Corporation.