Hello,

Does anyone know of any in-person circuit design classes or workshops, specifically in Illinois, that are not part of a college curriculum where you would need to pay tuition? For example building simple RC circuits, switches/MOSFETS, op-amps, etc.

My father, age 76, has always been interested in learning about circuit design but has never found a way to learn that is suitable for him. I've tried working with him on an arduino starter kit but he finds the programming and microcontroller logic to be too complicated, including uploading pre-made example programs. He wants something that is only hardware, no firmware. He also needs something in person, because when he gets stuck, he finds googling/chatgpt'ing to be too cumbersome and he would prefer in-person help.

Any recommendation would be greatly appreciated, I've been having a hard time finding anything myself.

 

Lookup makerspace in Illinois.

 

Please check the free ebook, if your father has any problem then he can ask the question in our forums as you did, and don't forget to post the links of the question.
https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/

 

I was also going to suggest a textbook as a great way to learn, starting with the basics.

To actually DESIGN a circuit requires understanding. That is totally different from cobbling together pats to see what happens. Actual DESIGN starts with a requirement.

 

My father, age 76, has always been interested in learning........ in Illinois.

I wish he was in Colorado. Here there are 100s of retired engineers with too little to do. Some are teaching high school classes, volunteering.
In 1960s, I got two electronic magazines. Every month they had build it projects. They are long gone.
Make
Make-2
eleK
I live 30 minutes away from these people. They have interesting built_it kits. sparkFun