by Earl Boysen and Nancy Muir
Get Charged Up Over These New, Inexpensive, Build-it-Yourself Project!
 |
| Electronics Projects For Dummies |
Earl Boysen is an engineer who after 20 years in the computer chip industry,
decided to slow down and move to a quiet town in Washington state. Earl is
the co-author of Electronics For Dummies and Nanotechnology For Dummies.
He lives with his wife, Nancy, in a house he built himself and finds himself as
busy as ever with teaching, writing, house building, and acting. Visit Earl at
his Web site to get reviews and information about the latest components and
techniques for building projects: www.buildinggadgets.com.
Nancy Muir is the author of over 50 books on topics ranging from desktop
computer applications to distance learning and electronics. She has a certificate
in distance learning design and has taught technical writing at the university
level. Prior to her freelance writing career, she held management
positions in the publishing and software industries. She lives with her husband
Earl and their benevolent owners — their dog and cat. Nancy’s company,
The Publishing Studio, has its Web site at www.pubstudio.com.
Authors’ Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Katie Feltman for continuing to hire them to work
on interesting book projects and to Chris Morris for managing the editing
process and the authors so successfully. Thanks also to technical editor Kirk
Kleinschmidt and copy editor Teresa Artman for making sure that what we
wrote ended up being accurate and grammatically correct.
We also received help during this project from the following people, and they
have our sincere gratitude: Bruce Reynolds of Reynolds Electronics (www.renton.com); the helpful folks at Magnevation (www.magnevation.com);
and the following helpful members of our local ham radio club: Clint Hurd,
Andy Andersen, Jack West and Owen Mulkey; and Gordon McComb of Budget
Robotics (www.budgetrobotics.com).
Introduction
If you’ve caught the electronics bug, you’re ready to try all kinds of projects
that will help you develop your skills while creating weird and wonderful
gadgets. That’s what this book is about: providing projects that are fun
and interesting as well as helping you find out about all kinds of electronic
circuits and components.
Electronics Projects For Dummies is a great way to break into electronics or
expand your electronics horizons. Here, we provide projects that allow you
to dabble in using sound chips, motion detectors, light effects, and more. And
all the projects are low voltage, so if you follow our safety advice, no electronics
folks will be hurt in the process.
Why Buy This Book?
Electronics projects not only help you build useful and fun gadgets, but you
pick up a lot of knowledge along the way about how various electronic parts
work, how to read a circuit diagram, and how to use tools such as soldering
irons and multimeters. So by using this book, you have fun and get some
knowledge at the same time.
This book provides you with just what you need to get going in the fun world
of electronics. It offers projects that you can build in a reasonable amount of
time — and in most cases, for under $100 each (some well under!).
Foolish Assumptions
This book assumes that you have an interest in electronics and that you’ve
probably explored the world of electricity and electronics a bit. You’ve probably
scanned a few electronics circuit Web sites and maybe a magazine or two
and have picked up some of the jargon. Other than that, you don’t need anything
but a minimal budget to buy parts and tools, a small space in your
house or apartment that you can set aside for a workbench, and a little time.
If you feel like you want more information about terms and concepts in electronics
to help you out, we recommend Electronics For Dummies, by Gordon
McComb and Earl Boysen (Wiley).
You don’t need to be an electrical engineer or have worked on electronic projects
in the past. We provide some initial chapters that help you stock up on
essential parts and tools, understand what each one does, set yourself up for
safety, and master a few simple skills. Then you’re all set to tackle any one of
the projects in this book.
Safety, Safety, Safety!
We can’t say this enough: Electronics, especially lower-voltage projects like
the ones in this book, can be a painless pastime but only if you follow some
basic safety procedures from the get-go.
Even low voltages can harm you, soldering irons can burn you, and small
pieces of plastic or wire that you snip could fly into your face.
We recommend that everybody — even those with electronics experience —
read the chapter on safety (Chapter 2). And because we can’t cover every
potential danger in a single chapter, be sure to read each manufacturer’s
warnings about how to use parts, power sources, and tools. Finally, use
common sense when working on projects. If in doubt whether a safety precaution
is necessary, just do it. Better safe than sorry is one of our mantras.
How This Book Is Organized
Electronics Projects For Dummies is organized into several parts, starting off
with some general information about safety and stocking your electronics
workshop. Then we offer several parts with different types of projects, and
finally conclude with the Part of Tens chapters with additional resources you
might want to explore. This book also has a spiffy full-color photo spread of
some of the circuits and finished products of several of the projects.
Here’s the rundown of how this book is organized.
Part I: Project Prep
If you’re new to electronics, read through this part first. Even if you’re seasoned,
humor us and read Chapter 2 about safety. Then use Chapters 3 and 4
to gather the parts and tools you’ll need and also bone up on some essential
electronics skills, such as soldering and reading schematics.
Part II: Sounding Off!
This part contains the first set of projects, all involving sound in some fashion.
Here you work on projects to make lights dance to music, create a parabolic
microphone to pick up sounds at a distance, make a wizard that talks
when you push his buttons, and create your own AM radio.
Part III: Let There Be Light
Electricity can produce light (as Thomas Edison could have told you), so
here we show you how to work with light in a variety of ways. These projects
use light to amuse or even make gadgets run. In this part, you light up a
pumpkin by using a motion detector, create a light display that will make
your next party rock, and build a go-kart that you direct by using an infrared
remote control device.
Part IV: Good Vibrations
Some electronic gadgets do their thing when they sense vibrations. All the
projects in this part depend on vibrations, including electrical, mechanical,
or radio waves. Work through these projects to create a metal detector, a
radio controlled vehicle that senses light and runs around a track, and a
device that sits on your couch and raises a ruckus if your pet jumps on the cushion.
Part V: The Part of Tens
The chapters in this part provide the ever-popular For Dummies top-ten lists.
Use the recommendations here to explore some interesting suppliers of electronic
parts and tools; get information or swap ideas about general electronics
topics online or in print; or look into resources for more specialized
interests, such as audio effects and robotics.
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Product details
Price
|
|
|---|---|
File Size
| 17,298 KB |
Pages
|
443 p |
File Type
|
PDF format |
ISBN-13
ISBN-10 | 978-0-470-00968-0 0-470-00968-3 |
Copyright
| 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc |
Contents at a Glance
Introduction
Part I: Project Prep
Chapter 1: Exploring the World of Electronics Projects
Chapter 2: Safety First
Chapter 3: Assembling Your Electronics Arsenal
Chapter 4: Running Down the Skills You Need
Part II: Sounding Off!
Chapter 5: Making Light Dance to the Music
Chapter 6: Focusing Sound with a Parabolic Microphone
Chapter 7: Murmuring Merlin
Chapter 8: Surfing the Airwaves
Part III: Let There Be Light
Chapter 9: Scary Pumpkins
Chapter 10: Dancing Dolphins
Chapter 11: Controlling a Go-Kart Infrared Style
Part IV: Good Vibrations
Chapter 12: A Handy-Dandy Metal Detector
Chapter 13: Sensitive Sam Walks the Line
Chapter 14: Couch Pet-ato
Part V: The Part of Tens
Chapter 15: Ten Great Parts Suppliers
Chapter 16: Ten Great Electronics Resources
Chapter 17: Ten Specialized Electronics Resources
Glossary
Index
Table of Contents
Introduction........................1
Why Buy This Book?.........1
Foolish Assumptions ..........1
Safety, Safety, Safety!........................2
How This Book Is Organized.............2
Part I: Project Prep ........2
Part II: Sounding Off! ..................3
Part III: Let There Be Light .........3
Part IV: Good Vibrations..........3
Part V: The Part of Tens..............3
Icons Used in This Book..............3
Part I: Project Prep .......................................................5
Chapter 1: Exploring the World of Electronics Projects . . . . . . . . . . . .7
What Is an Electronics Project, Anyway?......................................................7
Electronics, mechanics, robotics: Huh? ..............................................8
Programmable versus nonprogrammable...........................................8
Mixing and Matching Effects...........................................................................9
What Can You Do with Electronics Projects? .............................................10
Just for the fun of it ..............................................................................10
Building things you can actually use .................................................12
Picking up lots of cool stuff along the way .......................................12
What You Need to Get Started......................................................................13
How much will it cost?.........................................................................13
Space . . . the final frontier ..................................................................14
Chapter 2: Safety First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Avoiding Shocks Like the Plague..................................................................17
How voltage and current can get you................................................18
How much is too much? ......................................................................18
Common sense: Protecting yourself from getting shocked ............20
Protecting Electronic Components from Dreaded Static Discharge........21
What static discharge can do .............................................................21
How to guard against ESD ...................................................................22
Working with the Tools of the Trade ...........................................................23
Safe soldering........................................................................................24
Running with sharp objects: Cutting, sawing, and drilling .............25
A Safe Workspace Is a Happy Workspace ...................................................26
Dressing for safety................................................................................26
Clean up your stuff! ..............................................................................29
Keeping kids and pets out of your space ..........................................29
Chapter 3: Assembling Your Electronics Arsenal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
Tool Time ........................................................................................................31
Soldering prerequisites........................................................................32
Drills that come in handy ....................................................................33
Hacking away with saws......................................................................34
Garden variety tools: Pliers, screwdrivers,
wire strippers, and more .................................................................35
Multimeter.......................................................................................................37
Components Primer.......................................................................................38
Running down discrete components: Resistors,
capacitors, and transistors .............................................................39
ICs...........................................................................................................42
The switch is on ...................................................................................45
Sensors ..................................................................................................48
Microphones .........................................................................................48
Let there be light: Light emitting diodes ...........................................50
Speaking up about speakers ...............................................................50
Buzzers ..................................................................................................51
The Nuts and Bolts of Building Materials ...................................................52
Plastic.....................................................................................................52
Wood ......................................................................................................52
Build it yourself ....................................................................................53
Holding it all together ..........................................................................53
Holding down wires..............................................................................54
Breadboard Basics .........................................................................................54
Wires pull it all together ......................................................................56
Connectors............................................................................................58
Chapter 4: Running Down the Skills You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
It’s Symbolic: Reading a Schematic..............................................................59
Perusing a simple schematic ..............................................................60
Switching gears with switches............................................................62
Schematic variables .............................................................................63
Pulling it all together............................................................................64
Breadboarding................................................................................................65
The anatomy of a breadboard ............................................................66
Figuring and finessing the layout .......................................................67
Inserting wires and components........................................................68
Soldering Your Circuit Board........................................................................70
Using a soldering iron..........................................................................71
Working with solder .............................................................................72
Soldering extras....................................................................................75
Measuring Stuff with a Multimeter...............................................................76
How a multimeter works .....................................................................76
Reading resistance ...............................................................................77
Measuring voltage ................................................................................77
Working with the Boxes that Contain Your Projects .................................78
Working with boxes..............................................................................78
Mounting your project in a box ..........................................................79
Part II: Sounding Off!..................................................85
Chapter 5: Making Light Dance to the Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
The Big Picture: Project Overview...............................................................87
Scoping Out the Schematic...........................................................................89
Fancy Footwork: Exploring the Dance to the Music Circuit .....................90
Building Alert: Construction Issues .............................................................92
Perusing the Parts List ..................................................................................92
Taking Things Step by Step...........................................................................94
Building a circuit ..................................................................................94
Let there be lights ..............................................................................101
Adding the rest of the doohickeys ...................................................108
Trying It Out..................................................................................................111
Taking It Further...........................................................................................113
Chapter 6: Focusing Sound with a Parabolic Microphone . . . . . . . .115
What a Dish! The Project Overview...........................................................115
Scoping Out the Schematic.........................................................................117
Building Alert: Construction Issues ...........................................................118
Perusing the Parts List ................................................................................119
Taking Things Step by Step.........................................................................122
Building an amplifier circuit..............................................................123
Mounting everything on the dish.....................................................126
Mounting the microphone.................................................................138
Mounting switches and more on the box........................................132
Putting everything together..............................................................134
Trying It Out..................................................................................................137
Taking It Further...........................................................................................137
Chapter 7: Murmuring Merlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139
The Big Picture: Project Overview.............................................................139
Scoping Out the Schematic.........................................................................141
Building Alert: Construction Issues ...........................................................143
Perusing the Parts List ................................................................................144
Taking Things Step by Step.........................................................................147
Creating Merlin’s circuit ....................................................................147
Making the box puppet-friendly .......................................................152
Programming sounds.........................................................................159
Hooking up the puppet......................................................................162
Trying It Out..................................................................................................163
Taking It Further...........................................................................................164
Chapter 8: Surfing the Airwaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165
The Big Picture: Project Overview.............................................................165
Scoping Out the Schematic.........................................................................166
Building Alert: Construction Issues ...........................................................169
Perusing the Parts List ................................................................................169
Taking Things Step by Step.........................................................................172
Building a radio circuit ......................................................................172
Making a box into a radio..................................................................174
Coaxing the coil ..................................................................................179
Putting it all together .........................................................................180
Trying It Out..................................................................................................183
Taking It Further...........................................................................................183
Part III: Let There Be Light ........................................185
Chapter 9: Scary Pumpkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187
The Big Picture: Project Overview.............................................................187
Scoping out the schematic................................................................189
Building alert: Construction issues..................................................193
Perusing the parts list........................................................................194
Taking Things Step by Step.........................................................................197
Making a silent pumpkin ...................................................................197
Making a talking pumpkin .................................................................205
Trying It Out..................................................................................................211
Taking It Further...........................................................................................214
Chapter 10: Dancing Dolphins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215
The Big Picture: Project Overview.............................................................215
Scoping Out the Schematic.........................................................................216
Getting in the swim: Exploring the dolphin circuit ........................218
Setting up the light show...................................................................219
Building Alert: Construction Issues ...........................................................221
Perusing the Parts List ................................................................................221
A circuit with a porpoise ...................................................................221
Making your dolphins boogie ...........................................................222
Taking Things Step by Step.........................................................................223
Making the circuit...............................................................................224
Making dolphins .................................................................................229
Trying It Out..................................................................................................237
Taking It Further...........................................................................................238
Chapter 11: Controlling a Go-Kart, Infrared Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239
The Big Picture: Project Overview.............................................................239
Scoping Out the Schematic.........................................................................241
Transmitting at the speed of light....................................................241
Receiving what the transmitter sends.............................................242
Controlling motor behavior ..............................................................243
Building Alert: Construction Issues ...........................................................245
Perusing the Parts List ................................................................................245
Go-kart transmitter parts list............................................................246
Go-kart receiver/chassis parts list ...................................................247
Taking Things Step by Step.........................................................................249
Making the transmitter ......................................................................249
Making the receiver circuit board....................................................260
Building the go-kart............................................................................268
Trying It Out..................................................................................................276
Taking It Further...........................................................................................277
Part IV: Good Vibrations ............................................279
Chapter 12: A Handy-Dandy Metal Detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281
The Big Picture: Project Overview.............................................................281
Scoping Out the Schematic.........................................................................282
Building Alert: Construction Issues ...........................................................284
Perusing the Parts List ................................................................................284
Taking Things Step by Step.........................................................................286
Building a metal detector circuit......................................................286
Building the box to house the circuit ..............................................291
Putting it all together .........................................................................293
Handling the handle...........................................................................294
Trying It Out..................................................................................................299
Taking It Further...........................................................................................300
Chapter 13: Sensitive Sam Walks the Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .301
The Big Picture: Project Overview.............................................................301
Scoping Out the Schematic.........................................................................303
Transmitting Sam’s commands ........................................................303
Helping Sam receive his commands ................................................305
Building Alert: Construction Issues ...........................................................309
Perusing the Parts List ................................................................................309
Tallying up transmitter bits and pieces...........................................309
Running down receiver and container parts ..................................311
Taking Things Step by Step.........................................................................313
Making the transmitter circuit and remote control box................313
Making the receiver circuit ...............................................................321
Building Sensitive Sam’s chassis ......................................................332
Trying It Out..................................................................................................340
Taking It Further...........................................................................................341
Chapter 14: Couch Pet-ato . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .343
The Big Picture: Project Overview.............................................................344
Scoping Out the Schematic.........................................................................344
Building Alert: Construction Issues ...........................................................346
Perusing the Parts List ................................................................................346
Taking Things Step by Step.........................................................................348
Trying It Out..................................................................................................359
Taking It Further...........................................................................................360
Part V: The Part of Tens .............................................361
Chapter 15: Ten Great Parts Suppliers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .363
When Is a Supplier Right for You?..............................................................363
Reynolds Electronics ...................................................................................364
Hobby Engineering.......................................................................................365
Jameco...........................................................................................................365
Digi-Key..........................................................................................................365
Mouser Electronics ......................................................................................366
RadioShack....................................................................................................366
Fry’s Electronics...........................................................................................366
Electronic Goldmine ....................................................................................367
Furturlec........................................................................................................367
Maplin............................................................................................................367
Chapter 16: Ten Great Electronics Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .369
Electronics Magazines .................................................................................369
Nuts & Volts magazine .......................................................................370
Everyday Practical Electronics magazine .......................................370
Silicon Chip magazine........................................................................370
Jumpstart Your Project Creativity with Circuits ......................................371
Electronics Lab ...................................................................................371
Circuits for the Hobbyist ...................................................................371
Discover Circuits ................................................................................371
Bowden’s Hobby Circuits ..................................................................372
FC’s Electronic Circuits......................................................................372
Web Sites That Teach You the Ropes ........................................................372
Electronics Teacher Web site............................................................373
The Electronics Club Web site..........................................................373
Electronics Tutorials Web site..........................................................373
All About Circuits discussion forum................................................373
Writing the Book on Electronics ................................................................374
Chapter 17: Ten Specialized Electronics Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . .375
Radio.............................375
Ian Purdie’s electronics tutorial radio design pages......................376
QRP Quarterly................376
Australian Radio Resource Page .............376
QRP/SWL HomeBuilder .........376
IK3OIL........................377
Audio and Music.................377
The Guitar Effects Oriented (GEO) Web Page...............377
Bob’s Vacuum Tube Audio Projects Page......378
Effectronics ....................378
Robotics ..............378
The BEAM Reference Library............378
Robot magazine .................379
Glossary.......................381
Index ...............391
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