Step 1: admitting your illness: I'm an electrodummyolic

[FJ and G]

I bought electronics for dummies at the bookstore last night hoping to gain an insight into the magical world of electrons. I noticed, btw, that the most frequent questions on this and other model train forums have to do with electronics.

I'm on chapter 1 now. The end of the book has some remote control stuff that Jim Duda already knows about and for Bob Nelson, it is just a reference (as the Dummy manuals state)[:D]

[FJ and G]

Gee, just as I posted this I noticed an electronics question answered by Bob N. just below this post. I swear I didn't see it before. Syncronicity? Serendipidy?

[lionelsoni]

Dave, watch out for those "dummy" books. I have noticed that they are often reprints of the Navy textbooks from long ago. As you may know, the Navy was given the job of educating all the armed forces in electronics. They had the unfortunate idea of trying to reform the definition of current.

A convention was established long before the electron was discovered that current flows from a positive voltage to a negative voltage through a load. When it was learned that the elecrons were actually going the other way, the problem was solved simply by saying that the electron has a negative charge. Negative electrons going one way was equivalent to positive charge flowing the other way.

The Navy thought this would make it hard to understand vacuum tubes, in which electrons are boiled off the cathode and flow to the plate. So they wrote all their books with current flowing the other way. To this day we find technicians who got their first training in the military who never knew that the rest of the world does it the other way.

Now that vacuum tubes are not so important any more; and the current in semiconductors is often carried by positive "holes" instead of electrons, the Navy books are still being reprinted and sold, perhaps to folks like you.

[1688torpedo]

Dave- Never feel bad that you do not know too much about Electronics. I studied at a Electronics School many years ago & let me tell you there is a awfuuull lot to learn in Electronics with 555 Timing Chips,J&K Flip Flops,Binary Numbers,Oscilloscopes,Transistor's,Resistor's & Ohm's Law. & I still could not understand it all.The Technology literally changes almost every month which is why Computer's & other consumer electronics are almost obsolete after you buy them. Learn what you can.However, do not sweat the small stuff as I'm sure Bob & others are willing to help you out with a Jam. And I'm also sure that there is plenty of knowledge in your Head with all of the Travels & Pictures you have shared on this Forum & with all of your Writing & Work with The Army's Webpage. That is no small accomplishment at all! Be proud of yourself. You're a very talented person indeed! Take Care.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE ; To this day we find technicians who got their first training in the military who never knew that the rest of the world does it the other way.
WHAT ?
Great Lakes USN "A" school 1962 , and now I retire from 41 years as a electrican for the power plants , and now you tell me this ?
Thank goodness I just always thought that if you break the circle , the magic stops , no matter the direction .

[lionelsoni]

It's true, Dennis. I read those books in the original in high school back in the 1950's. Fortunately, I got straightened out soon in college.

[Jumijo]

What I know about electronics wouldn't fill a thimble. We're lucky to have people like Bob, as well as many others, who not only know their stuff, but are so willing to share that information.

Jim

[Anonymous]

I was a total electronic illiterate up until age 25 or so. My step father was a ham radio operator and electronics guru who always told me to leave my hands off everything and that I would never understand it,it was too complicated.

Someone gave me a jukebox,not just any jukebox but rather a 1955 Seeburg V200 which did not work. This machine was way ahead of its time technoligically as switching was done with torodial magnets,actually a crude forerunner of modern computers. After sitting there a couple of years I decided to fix it. I went to a public library and got out some electronic books. One was actually a US Navy training manual. After a few days of reading , I repaired the machine in a few hours. I amazed myself that I could fix anything as previously it was like trying to read Greek.

After that nothing electrical ever intimidated me. I went on to develop a side business fixing coin op machines and became pretty good at it. At work I became an electronic technician servicing various instruments in the Power House and Water treatment plants. I witnessed the transition over to solid state and IC chip development. I also took a course at Allen Bradley school concerning logic controllers.

Still I am not an electrician or engineer,I am now retired. However I know enough where some technician , engineer, or train company cannot feed me a line of BS. I always learn when reading some of the knowledgable posts here,Bob is very good at explaing things . I certainly dont know everything. Electronics is a hobby of mine and I have incorporated it into the layout I am building which will be totally automated.

Having said all this no one really knows what electricity really is,they just predict how it works. Sometimes electricity just does what it wants to like lightning hitting a house.This happened to me once frying all my GFIs,phones and TV sets even though everything was correctly installed. And you still have to use caution,even experienced electricians have lapses with tragic consequences.

So dont feel bad, If I can learn something anyone can. Being a product of the Cleveland public school system I have had to over come a severe handicap.

Dale Hz

[cnw1995]

David, I am with you, brother, in that I am inexperienced with electronics (and for me, electrical issues as well). I am re-reading a Peter Riddle book put out by Kalmbach on some of these issues - it is sometimes confusing. I think if I had something to take apart and look at while I went along, it would help (my fellow propeller-heads here at DePaul would call that being a 'tactile learner' or maybe a 'visual learner'), but boy, I sure seem to 'get it' better by reading some of these posts. Thanks, guys.

[FJ and G]

Doug,

I'm a hands-on, visual learner as well. I think once you get the symbols down, then you can figure out the components in a circuit. That's my goal, anyways. I was re-reading the "Can I get a quick electronics lesson?" post again today and realized that I could probably understand it better with pictures or illustrations vice verbiage!

But, why do they use E for Voltage? Why not just V?

Also, the unit symbol for current is A but the abbreviation is I. And the unit symbol inductance is H and the abbreviation is L. Wi***hey'd make it a bit easier to memorize!

All:

Thanks for your replies, sympathies, condolences. Step 2: I’m into the first chapter of the Dummies book and it speaks about these untamed, wild electrons that comprise lightning. Behind this wall cloud that I photo’d on Monday (same storm that ravaged Tennessee) there was plenty of lightning.

The Dummies book addresses robots and remotely controlled toys in the latter chapters. This could prove useful in my continuing R/C toy train studies. Shown here is my basement “lab” with my R/C test track and some fabricated 2-rail track attached to wooden “battens” that will be submersed in ballast outside.

I might keep this post open as I learn more from the book and perhaps ask a question or 2 from the electronics wizards.

[lionelsoni]

Dave, the reason for using (or trying to use) different letters for the quantity and its units is that the units, if used properly, should be part of the equations that you might write. For example, we could say about a light bulb that the voltage across it and the current through it are
E = 120 V
I = 500 mA
Then, when we apply Ohm's law,
R = E / I = 120 V / (500 mA) = .24 kV / A = .24 kohm = 240 ohm
See how keeping the units in the equation leads us to the correct unit for the result. Likewise for the power,
P = E * I = 120 V * 500 mA = 60000 mVA = 60000 mW = 60 W

If we used the same symbols for current and ampere, for example, things could get pretty confused. Actually, you often see "V" used (unwisely) for voltage. "E" is an abbreviation for the formal name, "electromotive force". You can see why "voltage" is more popular. Often you will see the analogous term "amperage" for current; but using this word will mark you as electrically illiterate in some circles.

I don't know where "I" comes from. However, because we use it for current, electrical engineers always use "j" for the square-root of minus 1, which we deal with a lot, instead of the mathemetician's "i".

[FJ and G]

Thanks, Bob, I'm studying scientific notation and "powers" so I can better compute stuff I see (I was asleep in algebra class--actually forgot it all b/c never used it).

That's interesting about engineers using the "j" for the square root of minus 1.

Dummies recommends 2 advanced sites that look to be rather entertaining, once I get better emersed in this (or should I say "energized") [:D]

http://discovercircuits.com/index.htm

and

http://www.electronics-lab.com/

I'm not, BTW, advocating the Dummies book, but was intrigued by some of the last chapters that deal with making Smart Rover Robots and stuff. These are some items that could be applied to toy train layouts too. And, of course, there are remote controlled items explained, which is my current interest.

I'll keep you all posted on what I learn and how it can be applied to toy trains; and, come up with questions for those circuitry smart folks.

It would be a small dream of mine to actually master some of this stuff and open an electronics home business so I don't have to work for anyone again; esp. since my work site is getting BRAC'd to Fort Meade.