Introduction 1
About This Book 2
Foolish Assumptions 4
Icons Used in This Book 5
Beyond the Book 5
Where to Go from Here 5
Book 1: Getting Started In Electronics 7
Chapter 1: Welcome to Electronics 9
What Is Electricity? 10
But Really, What Is Electricity? 12
What Is Electronics? 14
What Can You Do with Electronics? 16
Making noise 16
Making light 17
Transmitting to the world 17
Computing 17
Looking inside Electronic Devices 18
Chapter 2: Understanding Electricity 21
Pondering the Wonder of Electricity 22
Looking for Electricity 23
Peering Inside Atoms 24
Examining the Elements 25
Minding Your Charges 26
Conductors and Insulators 27
Understanding Current 28
Understanding Voltage 29
Comparing Direct and Alternating Current 32
Understanding Power 34
Chapter 3: Creating Your Mad-Scientist Lab 37
Setting Up Your Mad-Scientist Lab 38
Equipping Your Mad-Scientist Lab 40
Basic hand tools 41
Magnifying glasses 43
Third hands and hobby vises 44
Soldering iron 46
Multimeter 47
Solderless breadboard 48
Wire 49
Batteries 51
Other things to stock up on 52
Stocking up on Basic Electronic Components 53
Resistors 54
Capacitors 55
Diodes 55
Light-emitting diodes 56
Transistors 56
Integrated circuits 58
One Last Thing 59
Chapter 4: Staying Safe 61
Facing the Realities of Electrical Dangers 62
Household electrical current can kill you! 62
Even relatively small voltages can hurt you 64
Sometimes voltage hides in unexpected places 64
Other Ways to Stay Safe 66
Keeping Safety Equipment on Hand 68
Protecting Your Stuff from Static Discharges 69
Chapter 5: Reading Schematic Diagrams 71
Introducing a Simple Schematic Diagram 72
Laying Out a Circuit 73
To Connect or Not to Connect 74
Looking at Commonly Used Symbols 75
Simplifying Ground and Power Connections 77
Labeling Components in a Schematic Diagram 80
Representing Integrated Circuits in a Schematic Diagram 82
Chapter 6: Building Projects 85
Looking at the Process of Building an Electronic Project 86
Envisioning Your Project 87
Designing Your Circuit 89
Prototyping Your Circuit on a Solderless Breadboard 94
Understanding how solderless breadboards work 95
Laying out your circuit 96
Assembling the coin-toss circuit on a solderless breadboard 98
What if it doesn't work? 104
Constructing Your Circuit on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) 105
Understanding how printed circuit boards work 105
Using a preprinted PCB 106
Building the coin-toss circuit on a PCB 108
Finding an Enclosure for Your Circuit 113
Working with a project box 115
Mounting the coin-toss circuit in a box 116
Chapter 7: The Secrets of Successful Soldering 123
Understanding How Solder Works 123
Procuring What You Need to Solder 124
Buying a soldering iron 125
Stocking up on solder 126
Other goodies you need 127
Preparing to Solder 128
Soldering a Solid Solder Joint 129
Checking Your Work 132
Desoldering 133
Chapter 8: Measuring Circuits with a Multimeter 135
Looking at Multimeters 135
What a Multimeter Measures 138
Ammeter 138
Voltmeter 139
Ohmmeter 141
Other measurements 141
Schematic symbols for meter functions 141
Using Your Multimeter 142
Measuring current 144
Measuring voltage 146
Measuring resistance 147
Chapter 9: Catching Waves with an Oscilloscope 149
Understanding Oscilloscopes 150
Examining Waveforms 152
Calibrating an Oscilloscope 155
Displaying Signals 157
Book 2: Working With Basic Electronic Components 161
Chapter 1: Working with Basic Circuits 163
What Is a Circuit? 164
Using Batteries 166
Building a Lamp Circuit 168
Project 1: A Simple Lamp Circuit 169
Parts 169
Steps 170
Working with Switches 171
The many ways to throw the switch 171
Making connections with poles and throws 172
Building a Switched Lamp Circuit 175
Project 2: A Lamp Controlled by a Switch 176
Parts 177
Steps 177
Understand Series and Parallel Circuits 178
Building a Series Lamp Circuit 180
Project 3: A Series Lamp Circuit 180
Parts 181
Steps 182
Building a Parallel Lamp Circuit 182
Project 4: A Parallel Lamp Circuit 183
Parts 184
Steps 184
Using Switches in Series and Parallel 185
Building a Series Switch Circuit 186
Project 5: A Series Switch Circuit 187
Parts 188
Steps 188
Building a Parallel Switch Circuit 189
Project 6: A Parallel Switch Circuit 190
Parts 191
Steps 191
Switching between Two Lamps 192
Project 7: Controlling Two Lamps with One Switch 193
Parts 194
Steps 194
Building a Three-Way Lamp Switch 195
Project 8: A Three-Way Light Switch 197
Parts 197
Steps 198
Reversing Polarity 198
Project 9: A Polarity-Reversing Circuit 199
Parts 200
Steps 200
Chapter 2: Working with Resistors 203
What Is Resistance? 204
Measuring Resistance 204
Looking at Ohm's Law 206
Introducing Resistors 208
Reading Resistor Color Codes 209
Reading a resistor's value 210
Understanding resistor tolerance 213
Understanding Resistor Power Ratings 214
Limiting Current with a Resistor 215
Project 10: Using a Current-Limiting Resistor 215
Parts 216
Steps 216
Combining Resistors 217
Combining resistors in series 218
Combining resistors in parallel 218
Mixing series and parallel resistors 221
Combining resistors in series and parallel 221
Project 11: Resistors in Series and Parallel 222
Parts 222
Steps 223
Dividing Voltage 225
Dividing Voltage with Resistors 226
Project 12: A Voltage Divider Circuit 227
Parts 227
Steps 228
Varying Resistance with a Potentiometer 229
Chapter 3: Working with Capacitors 233
What Is a Capacitor? 233
Counting Capacitance 236
Reading Capacitor Values 238
The Many Sizes and Shapes of Capacitors 240
Calculating Time Constants for Resistor/Capacitor Networks 243
Combining Capacitors 245
Combining capacitors in parallel 245
Connecting capacitors in series 246
Putting Capacitors to Work 247
Charging and Discharging a Capacitor 248
Project 13: Charging and Discharging a Capacitor 249
Parts 250
Steps 250
Blocking DC while Passing AC 252
Project 14: Blocking Direct Current 254
Parts 255
Steps 255
Chapter 4: Working with Inductors 257
What Is Magnetism? 258
The north and south of magnetism 259
Pondering permanent magnets 260
Examining Electromagnets 260
Inducing Current 261
Inductance and the art of resisting change 262
Regarding henry 264
Calculating RL Time Constants 265
Calculating Inductive Reactance 266
Combining Inductors 267
Putting Inductors to Work 268
Chapter 5: Working with Diodes and LEDs 269
What Is a Semiconductor? 270
Doping: It's not just for athletes 272
Understanding p-n junctions 274
Introducing Diodes 275
The Many Types of Diodes 277
Rectifier diodes 277
Signal diodes 278
Zener diodes 280
Using a Diode to Block Reverse Polarity 280
Project 15: Blocking Reverse Polarity 281
Parts 282
Steps 282
Putting Rectifiers to Work 283
Building Rectifier Circuits 285
Project 16: Rectifier Circuits 286
Parts 287
Steps 287
Introducing Light Emitting Diodes 288
Using LEDs to Detect Polarity 291
Project 17: An LED Polarity Detector 291
Parts 292
Steps 292
Chapter 6: Working with Transistors 295
What's the Big Deal about Transistors? 296
Why were transistors invented? 296
Looking inside a transistor 298
Examining transistor specifications 300
Amplifying with a Transistor 302
Using a Transistor as a Switch 306
An LED Driver Circuit 308
Project 18: A Transistor LED Driver 309
Parts 310
Steps 311
Looking at a Simple NOT Gate Circuit 312
Building a NOT Gate 313
Project 19: A NOT Gate 313
Parts 315
Steps 315
Oscillating with a Transistor 317
Building an LED Flasher 319
Project 20: An LED Flasher 320
Parts 322
Steps 322
Wrapping Up Our Exploration of Discrete Components 324
Book 3: Working With Integrated Circuits 325
Chapter 1: Introducing Integrated Circuits 327
What Exactly Is an Integrated Circuit? 328
Looking at How Integrated Circuits Are Made 329
Integrated Circuit Packages 330
Using ICs in Schematic Diagrams 333
Powering ICs 334
Avoiding Static and Heat Damage 335
Reading IC Data Sheets 336
Popular Integrated Circuits 337
555 Timer 337
741 and LM324 Op-Amp 338
78xx Voltage Regulator 338
74xx Logic Family 338
Chapter 2: The Fabulous 555 Timer Chip 339
Looking at How the 555 Works 339
Understanding 555 Modes 342
Using the 555 in Monostable (One-Shot) Mode 342
Looking at a typical 555 monostable circuit 343
Looking at the resistor-capacitor circuit in a monostable timer 344
Calculating the time interval for a monostable circuit 345
Using the 555 in Astable (Oscillator) Mode 346
Looking at a typical astable circuit 346
Controlling the time intervals in an astable 555 circuit 348
Calculating the duty cycle 350
Using the 555 in Bistable (Flip-Flop) Mode 351
Using the 555 Timer Output 353
Doubling Up with the 556 Dual Timer 355
Making a One-Shot Timer 358
Project 21: A One-Shot 555 Timer Circuit 359
Parts 359
Steps 360
Making an LED Flasher 362
Project 22: An LED Flasher 363
Parts 364
Steps 365
Using a Set/Reset Switch 366
Project 23: An LED Flasher with a Set/Reset Switch 367
Parts 368
Steps 369
Making a Beeper 370
Project 24: An Audible Beeper 371
Parts 372
Steps 373
Chapter 3: Working with Op-Amps 375
Looking at Operational Amplifiers 376
Understanding Open Loop-Amplifiers 380
Looking at Closed Loop-Amplifiers 383
Using an Op-Amp as a Unity Gain Amplifier 385
Configuring a unity follower 386
Configuring a unity inverter 386
Using an Op-Amp as a Voltage Comparator 387
Adding Voltages 390
Working with Op-Amp ICs 393
Book 4: Beyond Direct Current 395
Chapter 1: Getting into Alternating Current 397
What Is Alternating Current? 398
Measuring Alternating Current 400
Understanding Alternators 403
Understanding Motors 405
Understanding Transformers 405
Working with Line Voltage 408
Using Line Voltage in Your Projects 408
Being safe with line voltage 410
Understanding hot, neutral, and ground 411
Wires and Connectors for Working with Line Voltage 413
Using Fuses to Protect Line-Voltage Circuits 415
Using Relays to Control Line-Voltage Circuits 417
Chapter 2: Building Power Supplies 421
Using a Power Adapter 422
Understanding What a Power Supply Does 423
Transforming Voltage 424
Turning AC into DC 425
Half-wave rectifier 426
Full-wave rectifier 427
Bridge rectifier 427
Filtering Rectified Current 428
Regulating Voltage 430
Chapter 3: Understanding Radio 433
Understanding Radio Waves 434
Transmitting and Receiving Radio 437
Understanding radio transmitters 437
Understanding radio receivers 438
Understanding AM Radio 441
Understanding FM Radio 443
Building a Crystal Radio 447
Looking at a simple crystal radio circuit 447
Gathering your parts 448
Building the coil 450
Assembling the circuit 452
Stringing up an antenna 454
Connecting to ground 456
Using the crystal radio 457
Chapter 4: Working with Infrared 459
Introducing Infrared Light 459
Detecting Infrared Light 461
Project 25: A Simple IR Detector 463
Parts 463
Steps 464
Creating Infrared Light 464
Building a Proximity Detector 466
Building a Common-Emitter Proximity Detector 466
Project 26: A Common-Emitter Proximity Detector 467
Parts 469
Steps 469
Building a Common-Collector Proximity Detector 470
Project 27: A Common-Collector Proximity Detector 471
Parts 472
Steps 472
Book 5: Doing Digital Electronics 475
Chapter 1: Understanding Digital Electronics 477
Distinguishing Analog and Digital Electronics 478
Understanding Binary 480
Knowing your number systems 480
Counting by ones 481
Doing the logic thing 483
Using Switches to Build Gates 486
Project 28: A Simple AND Circuit 486
Parts 487
Steps 488
Project 29: A Simple OR Circuit 488
Parts 489
Steps 490
Project 30: A Simple XOR Circuit 490
Parts 491
Steps 492
Chapter 2: Getting Logical 493
Introducing Boolean Logic and Logic Gates 494
Looking at NOT Gates 495
Looking at AND Gates 496
Looking at OR Gates 499
Looking at NAND Gates 501
Looking at NOR Gates 502
Looking at XOR and XNOR Gates 503
De Marvelous De Morgan's Theorem 505
All You Need Is NAND (Or NOR) 508
Universal NAND gates 508
Universal NOR gates 509
Using Software to Practice with gates 510
Chapter 3: Working with Logic Circuits 513
Creating Logic Gates with Transistors 513
A transistor NOT gate circuit 514
Project 31: A Transistor NOT Gate 515
Parts 517
Steps 517
A transistor AND gate circuit 518
A transistor NAND gate circuit 518
Project 32: A Transistor NAND Gate 520
Parts 521
Steps 522
A transistor OR gate circuit 523
A transistor NOR gate circuit 523
Project 33: A Transistor NOR Gate 525
Parts 526
Steps 527
Introducing Integrated Circuit Logic Gates 528
Introducing the Versatile 4000-Series Logic Gates 531
Building Projects with the 4011 Quad Two-Input NAND Gate 532
Project 34: A CMOS NAND Gate 534
Parts 536
Steps 536
Project 35: A CMOS AND Gate 537
Parts 538
Steps 539
Project 36: A CMOS OR Gate 540
Parts 541
Steps 542
Project 37: A CMOS NOR Gate 543
Parts 545
Steps 545
Chapter 4: Working with Flip-Flops 547
Looking at Latches 548
Project 38: An Active-High Latch 552
Parts 553
Steps 553
Project 39: An Active-Low Latch 554
Parts 555
Steps 556
Looking at Gated Latches 557
Project 40: A Gated D Latch 560
Parts 561
Steps 561
Introducing Flip-Flops 563
Project 41: A D Flip-Flop 566
Parts 567
Steps 568
Project 42: A Toggle Flip-Flop 570
Parts 571
Steps 571
Debouncing a Clock Input 572
Chapter 5: Introducing Microcontrollers 573
Introducing Microcontrollers 574
Programming a Microcontroller 575
Working with I/O Pins 576
Book 6: Working With Arduino Microprocessors 579
Chapter 1: Introducing Arduino 581
Introducing the Arduino UNO 581
Buying an UNO Starter Kit 584
Installing the Arduino IDE 584
Connecting to an UNO 585
Looking at a Simple Arduino Sketch 586
Running the Blink Program 588
Using a Digital I/O Pin to Control an LED 589
Project 43: Blinking an LED with an Arduino UNO 590
Parts 591
Steps 591
Chapter 2: Creating Arduino Sketches 593
Introducing C 594
Building a Test Circuit 597
Project 44: An Arduino LED Test Board 597
Parts 598
Steps 599
Flashing the LEDs 600
Using Comments 602
Creating Identifiers 604
Using Variables 604
Doing Math 606
A Program That Uses Variables and Math 607
Using If Statements 609
Using While Loops 613
Using For Loops 615
Crafting Your Own Functions 618
Chapter 3: More Arduino Programming Tricks 623
Using a Push Button with an Arduino 623
Checking the Status of a Switch in Arduino 625
Project 45: A Push-Button Controlled Arduino LED Flasher 628
Parts 629
Steps 629
Randomizing Your Programs 630
Reading a Value from a Potentiometer 633
Project 46: A Variable-Rate LED Flasher 635
Parts 636
Steps 636
Chapter 4: An Arduino Proximity Sensor 639
Using an Ultrasonic Range Finder 639
Looking at the HC-SR04 Range Finder 640
Generating a trigger pulse 641
Reading pulse input 642
Doing the math 643
Using an LCD 644
Connecting an LCD to Arduino 644
Programming the LCD 646
Building a Proximity Sensor 648
Project 47: An Arduino Proximity Sensor 649
Parts 650
Steps 651
Book 7: Working With Basic Stamp Processors 655
Chapter 1: Introducing the BASIC Stamp 657
Introducing the BASIC Stamp 657
Buying a BASIC Stamp 659
Working with the BASIC Stamp HomeWork Board 660
Connecting to BASIC Stamp I/O Pins 662
Installing the BASIC Stamp Windows Editor 664
Connecting to a BASIC Stamp 665
Writing Your First PBASIC Program 667
Project 48: Hello, World! 669
Parts 669
Steps 669
Flashing an LED with a BASIC Stamp 670
Project 49: An LED Flasher 672
Parts 673
Steps 673
Chapter 2: Programming in PBASIC 675
Introducing PBASIC 676
Building a Test Circuit 677
Project 50: An LED Test Board 677
Parts 679
Steps 679
Flashing the LEDs 681
Using Comments 683
Creating Names 684
Using Constants 685
Assigning Names to I/O Pins 686
Using Variables 688
Doing Math 691
Using If Statements 692
Using DO Loops 695
Using FOR Loops 698
Chapter 3: More PBASIC Programming Tricks 703
Using a Push Button with a BASIC Stamp 703
Checking the Status of a Switch in PBASIC 705
Project 51: A Push-Button-Controlled LED Flasher 707
Parts 709
Steps 709
Randomizing Your Programs 711
Reading a Value from a Potentiometer 715
Project 52: Using a Potentiometer to Control Flashing LEDs 719
Parts 720
Steps 721
Using Subroutines and the GOSUB Command 722
Chapter 4: Adding Sound and Motion to Your BASIC Stamp Projects 725
Using a Piezo Speaker with a BASIC Stamp 725
Using the FREQOUT command 726
Testing the piezo speaker 727
Project 53: Creating Sound with a Piezo Speaker 728
Parts 729
Steps 729
Playing with sound effects 731
Using a Servo with a BASIC Stamp 736
Connecting a servo to a BASIC Stamp 736
Programming a servo in PBASIC 738
Building a servo project 741
Project 54: Using a Servo with a BASIC Stamp 742
Parts 743
Steps 744
Book 8: Working With Raspberry Pi 747
Chapter 1: Introducing Raspberry Pi 749
Introducing the Raspberry Pi 750
Considering Raspberry Pi Versions 751
Setting Up a Raspberry Pi 753
Installing the Raspbian Operating System 754
Logging In to Raspberry Pi 755
Understanding the File System 756
Fixing the Keyboard 758
Writing Your First Raspberry Pi Program 762
Examining GPIO Ports 765
Connecting an LED to a GPIO Port 766
Flashing an LED in Python 766
Configuring IDLE for Root Privileges 768
Building a Raspberry Pi LED Flasher 770
Project 55: Blinking an LED with a Raspberry Pi 770
Parts 771
Steps 771
Chapter 2: Programming in Python 773
Looking Closer at Python 774
Building a Test Circuit 775
Project 56: A Raspberry Pi LED Test Board 776
Parts 777
Steps 777
Flashing the LEDs 779
Using Comments 780
Creating Identifiers 782
Using Constants 783
Using Variables 784
Creating Your Own Functions 787
Using If Statements 790
Using While Loops 794
Using For Loops 796
Looking at Python Lists 799
Chapter 3: Reading Digital and Analog Input 805
Using a GPIO Port for Digital Input 805
Checking the Status of a Switch in Python 808
Project 57: A Push-Button-Controlled Raspberry Pi LED Flasher 810
Parts 811
Steps 812
Reading Analog Input 813
Enabling SPI on Your Raspberry Pi 816
Using the MCP3008 in Python 818
Using the mcp3008 Package 819
Project 58: A Variable-Rate LED Flasher 822
Parts 823
Steps 823
Book 9: Special Effects 825
Chapter 1: Building a Color Organ 827
Examining the Color Organ Project 828
Understanding How the Color Organ Works .829
Getting What You Need to Build the Color Organ 830
Assembling the Color Organ 831
Using the Color Organ 836
Chapter 2: Animating Holiday Lights 839
Introducing the ShowTime PC Controller 840
Looking at a Basic Light-O-Rama Setup 842
Understanding Channels and Sequences 843
Choosing Lights for Your Display 845
Designing Your Layout 846
Assembling the ShowTime PC Controller 847
Connecting the Controller to a Computer 848
Testing the ShowTime PC Controller 849
Using the Light-O-Rama Sequence Editor 852
Understanding Sequences 853
Creating a Musical Sequence 854
Visualizing Your Show 859
Chapter 3: Building an Animatronic Prop Controller 861
Looking at the Requirements of Animatronic Prop Control 862
Examining a Typical Animatronic Prop 864
Building the Prop Controller 868
Programming the Prop-1 Controller 872
Sending Commands to the RC-4 or AP-16+ Modules 874
Programming the RC-4 Relay Control Module 875
Turning all relays off 877
Turning an individual relay on or off 877
Setting all four relays at once 877
Using symbols to make RC-4 commands more readable 878
A sample program for controlling all four RC-4 relays 879
Programming the AP-16+ Audio Player Module 881
Resetting the AP-16+ 883
Changing the volume 883
Playing a specific file 884
Waiting for a file to finish playing 885
A sample AP-16+ program 886
Programming the PIR Motion Detector 887
Looking at Complete Jack-in-the-Box Program 888
Index 893
