Hi guys. I hope this post isn't misplaced, I apologize if it is. I'll try to be brief.
My background is one year in a tech lab in middle school. I learned how to do basic soldering and built a circuitboard with a couple LEDs and a switch.
My educational background is one year in calculus-based physics at the collegiate level, and about a third of that dealt with circuits. So, I understand basic circuitry principles very well.
I got curious about electronics repair and decided to dive in. I opened up the simplest handheld FM radio I could find and was overwhelmed to find that the complexity of the circuits far exceeded the hardest problems on our tests in college. This was definitely the stuff of EEs. So much for my original plan of troubleshooting and repairing my 39lb. Yamaha RX-V2600.
So my question is this: How do I get into this? Of course I would like to do some simple projects to get my hands wet, but how do I learn about this hobby? I would like to find some educational material on how you troubleshoot something with a multimeter, a sort of Dummies' Electronics Repair 101 guide.
Thanks for any help you guys can offer, and sorry this wasn't so brief.
My background is one year in a tech lab in middle school. I learned how to do basic soldering and built a circuitboard with a couple LEDs and a switch.
My educational background is one year in calculus-based physics at the collegiate level, and about a third of that dealt with circuits. So, I understand basic circuitry principles very well.
I got curious about electronics repair and decided to dive in. I opened up the simplest handheld FM radio I could find and was overwhelmed to find that the complexity of the circuits far exceeded the hardest problems on our tests in college. This was definitely the stuff of EEs. So much for my original plan of troubleshooting and repairing my 39lb. Yamaha RX-V2600.
So my question is this: How do I get into this? Of course I would like to do some simple projects to get my hands wet, but how do I learn about this hobby? I would like to find some educational material on how you troubleshoot something with a multimeter, a sort of Dummies' Electronics Repair 101 guide.
Thanks for any help you guys can offer, and sorry this wasn't so brief.
First of all ....
FM is an art unto itself. The "simplest handheld FM radio" is in another whole level of difficulty.
The most complex circuits are all composed of simple circuits, just gotta break it down.
Your Yamaha surround receiver is just a bunch of relatively straight forward components. Besides, the problem is probably just a bad super-cap.
I'd suggest starting with analog, audio frequency stuff and expanding from there. You'll start seeing things as you get familiar. Google up repair faq . org for a good introduction.
FM is an art unto itself. The "simplest handheld FM radio" is in another whole level of difficulty.
The most complex circuits are all composed of simple circuits, just gotta break it down.
Your Yamaha surround receiver is just a bunch of relatively straight forward components. Besides, the problem is probably just a bad super-cap.
I'd suggest starting with analog, audio frequency stuff and expanding from there. You'll start seeing things as you get familiar. Google up repair faq . org for a good introduction.
Read books and magazines. Explore the back issues of the library. Leech more current electronic magazines from file-sharing sites if that's legal on your planet; you can find about 20 years of Elektor on CDROM issues without much trouble. Audioxpress has some issues on line for free. Everyday Practical Electronics (EPE) back issues can be found.
Start with something easy like buying an amp module from somewhere and building it into a box. Build a kit.
Start with something easy like buying an amp module from somewhere and building it into a box. Build a kit.
Your background is more than enough to jump right in.
I've built at least 5 amp projects and I doubt that I would be successful at troubleshooting my Yamaha power amp.....
Buy a kit, or build one of Nelson Pass's F5's (if you need a nice 50W amp). You can buy circuit boards for a number of Pass labs amps at the store here on DIYaudio. These are quite straightforward to build (although the F5 thread has over 11,000 posts!) The parts are readily avaialble from Digi-Key, Mouser, etc. You can get matched output transistors from sellers here on the swap meet forum.
Home Page
The Pass labs/Firstwatt stuff need big heatsinks; that's your biggest expense. You will learn lots, and basically need a soldering iron and a multimeter. Lot's of support on the forum here for those projects.
Modern mid-fi stuff like Yamaha, etc have lots of IC's in them; the DIY stuff here is mostly all discreet analog, through-hole stuff, ie much simpler. Nelson's First Watt circuits are very simple.
If you are into tubes, buy a kit or build a simple SE or PP amp from a well supported circuit here. You will be amazed at what 12W of tube power can do. TubeLab (Tubelab Home) sells some very nice circuit boards for about $35 for SE and PP designs that are highly regarded here if point to point wiring is too much for a first project. You can build any of the above on a piece of plywood.
There are plenty of other simple build options as well. What are your listening habits and how sensitive are your speakers?
Both Nelson Pass (Pass labs) and Tubelab have their own forums here with lots of support, and Nelson has lots of circuit descriptions on his firstwatt site and the DIY section of the Pass Labs site; both are very educational.
http://www.firstwatt.com/f5.html
I've built at least 5 amp projects and I doubt that I would be successful at troubleshooting my Yamaha power amp.....
Buy a kit, or build one of Nelson Pass's F5's (if you need a nice 50W amp). You can buy circuit boards for a number of Pass labs amps at the store here on DIYaudio. These are quite straightforward to build (although the F5 thread has over 11,000 posts!) The parts are readily avaialble from Digi-Key, Mouser, etc. You can get matched output transistors from sellers here on the swap meet forum.
Home Page
The Pass labs/Firstwatt stuff need big heatsinks; that's your biggest expense. You will learn lots, and basically need a soldering iron and a multimeter. Lot's of support on the forum here for those projects.
Modern mid-fi stuff like Yamaha, etc have lots of IC's in them; the DIY stuff here is mostly all discreet analog, through-hole stuff, ie much simpler. Nelson's First Watt circuits are very simple.
If you are into tubes, buy a kit or build a simple SE or PP amp from a well supported circuit here. You will be amazed at what 12W of tube power can do. TubeLab (Tubelab Home) sells some very nice circuit boards for about $35 for SE and PP designs that are highly regarded here if point to point wiring is too much for a first project. You can build any of the above on a piece of plywood.
There are plenty of other simple build options as well. What are your listening habits and how sensitive are your speakers?
Both Nelson Pass (Pass labs) and Tubelab have their own forums here with lots of support, and Nelson has lots of circuit descriptions on his firstwatt site and the DIY section of the Pass Labs site; both are very educational.
http://www.firstwatt.com/f5.html
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Hello ashiyatl - and Welcome to diyAudio!!! 
The good news is that there are many sites on the 'Net that will help you to learn electronic theory. Just like in collage you will need a bit of lab time to put theory into practice.
Start simple - and I would suggest with projects that involve the use of lower voltages. Tube circuits use very high voltages and are quite dangerous and some high power solid state amplifiers also use some pretty healthy voltages as well - sooooooo the 1st thing to learn is SAFETY!!!!
I would suggest that you take a look at building up some power supply circuits and some of the lower powered "T" amps for use as a headphone amplifier. It's a low cost way of getting into the hobby and results can be seen quickly.
Always feel free to ask around about things and someone will pop up with suggestions.
Here are a couple of sites to get you going - there are a lot more!!!
How to Solder
TALKING ELECTRONICS Soldering
Basic Car Audio Electronics
The good news is that there are many sites on the 'Net that will help you to learn electronic theory. Just like in collage you will need a bit of lab time to put theory into practice.
Start simple - and I would suggest with projects that involve the use of lower voltages. Tube circuits use very high voltages and are quite dangerous and some high power solid state amplifiers also use some pretty healthy voltages as well - sooooooo the 1st thing to learn is SAFETY!!!!
I would suggest that you take a look at building up some power supply circuits and some of the lower powered "T" amps for use as a headphone amplifier. It's a low cost way of getting into the hobby and results can be seen quickly.
Always feel free to ask around about things and someone will pop up with suggestions.
Here are a couple of sites to get you going - there are a lot more!!!
How to Solder
TALKING ELECTRONICS Soldering
Basic Car Audio Electronics
Check out Peter Daniel kits
Since you mentioned that you want to debug your amp, I assume that a new amp might be of interest.
I had even less experience and jumped in with a Peter Daniel chip amp kit. It was wonderfully full filling to build something more or less from scratch and then hear something better than my $2k retail system. Dead easy but also a little challenging when its your first. Peter's stuff is simple, but if you read his guides you will learn how simplicity is elegant and important. He has a very good DAC and will happily sell you equally good PCB for Nelson Pass amps. I think he is a great place to start.
That led me to need a linestage and I built a lightspeed attenuator. Search for GeorgeHiFi.
Wow, even better.
Later I discovered the Lampizator site and next thing I was building state of the art DAC with tube output and Async USB2 all with tons of low noise power supplies with discrete regulators. This led to exploring PC audio source which was a whole new labour of love. My audio source is now a client server set up with a small industrial processor running linux for the music player deamon fed by a separate NAS or data server and a remote client to control it from my easy chair. It all contributes to amazing sound quality. None of this would have been possible if I had not just jumped in with the chip amp. It kind of astounds my how much I have learned and how rewarding it has been.
While I am now slowly building my first OTL 6C33C tube amps to replace the chip amp, I must say I am still 5 years later listening to that Peter Daniel chip amp as I write this and still loving the sound.
So for me it has been a slow progression all based on stuff I learned on this site. I am astounded at the great sound system I now have with minimal $ invested. One thing I have come to learn is doing is far more rewarding than talking about it. Pick a simple project based on a good PCB kit and jump right in. The other thing I have learned is it does not need to look pretty to be very satisfying.
Have fun. You'll get lots of support on this site
Since you mentioned that you want to debug your amp, I assume that a new amp might be of interest.
I had even less experience and jumped in with a Peter Daniel chip amp kit. It was wonderfully full filling to build something more or less from scratch and then hear something better than my $2k retail system. Dead easy but also a little challenging when its your first. Peter's stuff is simple, but if you read his guides you will learn how simplicity is elegant and important. He has a very good DAC and will happily sell you equally good PCB for Nelson Pass amps. I think he is a great place to start.
That led me to need a linestage and I built a lightspeed attenuator. Search for GeorgeHiFi.
Wow, even better.
Later I discovered the Lampizator site and next thing I was building state of the art DAC with tube output and Async USB2 all with tons of low noise power supplies with discrete regulators. This led to exploring PC audio source which was a whole new labour of love. My audio source is now a client server set up with a small industrial processor running linux for the music player deamon fed by a separate NAS or data server and a remote client to control it from my easy chair. It all contributes to amazing sound quality. None of this would have been possible if I had not just jumped in with the chip amp. It kind of astounds my how much I have learned and how rewarding it has been.
While I am now slowly building my first OTL 6C33C tube amps to replace the chip amp, I must say I am still 5 years later listening to that Peter Daniel chip amp as I write this and still loving the sound.
So for me it has been a slow progression all based on stuff I learned on this site. I am astounded at the great sound system I now have with minimal $ invested. One thing I have come to learn is doing is far more rewarding than talking about it. Pick a simple project based on a good PCB kit and jump right in. The other thing I have learned is it does not need to look pretty to be very satisfying.
Have fun. You'll get lots of support on this site
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