Electronics is a very wide and yet very satisfying field. There is the urge to accomplish big things early with the danger of not fully understanding every detail.

My advice would be, don't skip over the basics.

Learn and master the fundamentals of potential difference, voltage, and current flow.
Master how to use a digital multi-meter (DMM) to measure voltage, current, resistance.
Master Ohm's Law, series and parallel circuits, Kirchhoff's Voltage Law (KVL) and Kirchoff's Current Law (KCL).
Learn the properties and applications of inductors and capacitors.

Next, move on to diodes, transistors and op amps.

Learn how to read and draw circuit schematics.

(And this is just the start of much more ahead.)

 

A great place to stock up on components is Amazon, you can get lots of components for a cheap price, thats where i shop and save alot of cash.

 

I got one of those for my eldest grandson. All he wanted to do was build the final project without taking the time to learn all the little stuff. The little stuff is the foundation of electronics.

There's a couple of options then. First, of course, is to abandon all hope and accept that they just aren't interested. Not a problem if that's the case -- there's LOTS of things that I'm not interested enough to learn the fundamentals and might only want something that takes me right to the end result. Second, see if getting an dedicated kit, such as making an FM radio or clock or whatever else they have these days, and having them do that, even if the educational value may not be all that high. That might promote an interest into learning more -- or underscore that he just isn't interested. Another option is bribery. Pay him for every step of the way he completes. Again, the idea is to either foster an interest or more firmly establish that there is none.

 

Greetings and welcome from the SE Suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio. Enjoy your visits and ask all the questions you want.

Ron

My daughter's heading to your neck of the woods in August to start at Oberlin. Maybe we can get together for lunch after we drop her off. I suspect I'll be needing something to cheer me up (still haven't come to grips with the fact that my little girl is now an amazing young woman heading out on her own).

 

there are quite a few true experts here

And then there's - um - Me. But I'll help when I can. If I can't - I'm not ashamed to say IDK.

 

Another option is bribery...

That's how I taught my daughter to ace exams and learn the magic of capitalism.

 

There's a couple of options then. First, of course, is to abandon all hope and accept that they just aren't interested.

It's not in my interest to push him in any particular direction. It was my hope he would find it fascinating and take to it. His interests lie elsewhere. And as a 13 year old I don't yet know where he's going to go. Tomorrow (or later today actually) we're going to be building model rockets with plans to fly them next weekend. Hopefully the thrill of seeing one of his creations blast off will give him some direction. As for abandoning hope for electronics - perhaps I can guide him into putting electronic packages into a rocket and take pictures or log altitude or acceleration. Perhaps he will get interested in radio control aircraft. A rocket plane launched vertically then glide it back to a smooth landing. Will just have to wait and see what sparks his interest. Till then it's just a matter of exposing him to various things. His mother (my daughter) has taken to teaching English as a second language to eastern asian children. Works in the wee hours over the internet; which proves earth is not flat. She finds it rewarding.

 

It's not in my interest to push him in any particular direction. It was my hope he would find it fascinating and take to it. His interests lie elsewhere. And as a 13 year old I don't yet know where he's going to go. Tomorrow (or later today actually) we're going to be building model rockets with plans to fly them next weekend. Hopefully the thrill of seeing one of his creations blast off will give him some direction. As for abandoning hope for electronics - perhaps I can guide him into putting electronic packages into a rocket and take pictures or log altitude or acceleration. Perhaps he will get interested in radio control aircraft. A rocket plane launched vertically then glide it back to a smooth landing. Will just have to wait and see what sparks his interest. Till then it's just a matter of exposing him to various things. His mother (my daughter) has taken to teaching English as a second language to eastern asian children. Works in the wee hours over the internet; which proves earth is not flat. She finds it rewarding.

My personal belief, which is not at all inconsistent with what you are doing, is to give kids as much varied experiences as possible so that they can start getting a sense for themselves of where their interests and passions lie. This involves encouraging them to both explore things that catch their attention at the moment, but also pressuring them to do things that you feel they should at least consider. I've seen so many cases over the years, working with young kids in a couple of different youth organizations, where parents really push their kids down a particular path (such as following in their footsteps). Sometimes, of course, it works out just fine, even great. But the usual outcome is either rebellion or the kid follows the path and ends up doing something they hate, are miserable, and never finds anything that ignites their passion. I've also seen parents get frustrated with kids that jump from activity to activity -- volleyball today and ceramics next week. The see it as a sign of a kid that can't commit to anything (and, sometimes, that's exactly what it is), so they force them to keep doing it long past the point where it's obvious they truly have zero interest. With my own daughter, I would have loved for her to become an engineer or get involved in aviation, or attend a service academy. I tried to get her to at least explore activities related to those areas, with limited success. Those that she did, she did very well at and seemed to enjoy, but there was no passion. At one point, at the beginning of her high school experience, she was interested in becoming a nurse and joined HOSA and did a number of things with them, and decided she wasn't as interested as she thought she was. This then shifted to wanting to do something in the biology realm, which is very broad and I was sure she could find something that would capture her desire. When she was in first grade, her mom made her take a year of ballet. She was one of the better ones in her peer group, but again, no passion. About this time she said she wanted to be a dog trainer (I had recently had her take our new dog through obedience school) and then that evolved into being a veterinarian. By the time she was old enough to be able to volunteer at some local shelters and vet offices, she was still interested, but not enough to actually pursue it. I think that had to do with finding out more about what was involved in being a vet. That's all just fine by me -- it's just as valuable to learn what you don't like and don't want to do, Her mom made her take a year of violin when she was in third grade and she resisted (she hated new things, even if it's something she thought she wanted to do, when it comes time to do it she tends to balk). But by the end of the year she was willing to keep doing it for another year and we figured that would probably be that. But she kept doing it and about the time that she was shifting from nursing to biology, she formed a string quartet and it started becoming apparent that she was drifting more toward music performance, which made me sigh, concerned that she would likely just end up discovering what the phrase, "starving artist" fully means. But a few months later and a few days after she openly declared that that was what she intended to do, I saw her quartet perform for the first time and my reaction was, well, this girl just may have the chops to pull this off. That's backed up by the fact that two years ago she performed in the Sydney Opera House with the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony and just a few days ago she performed with them in Japan's Yokohama Minato Mirai Hall (with her having a stand-up solo in one piece and serving as the concertmaster in another). In addition, she was recently the featured soloist with a local community orchestra for winning their annual youth concerto competition. The Japan tour are her final performances with the Youth Symphony before she heads off to Oberlin Conservatory of Music in the Fall. Obviously, she found her passion, and in a place we would never have predicted all those years ago. She may yet learn about being a "starving artist", but she will do so while doing something she loves and is pretty darn good at.

Anyway, have fun with the rockets. That was an activity I thoroughly enjoyed and, for a summer, was completely engrossed in. Until something else caught by eye.

EDIT: @BeablossomR_ : Sorry for hijacking your thread. If you want me to delete this post, just say so. Forum threads tend to meander, but you as the Thread Start can put your foot down.

 

BeablossomR_

And here’s another tip (from personal experience):
Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed by the vast field of electronics (fundamentals of electrical engineering, circuit design: analog/digital, computer science, etc.).
Don’t try to learn about every subfield; instead, build on the basics and choose a specific area that you’d like to explore in more depth and that particularly interests you.
This is the best way to learn through self-study - and your successes will motivate you to keep going.
(For example, at some point I began to focus on the field of filter technology, which is broad enough: passive, active, analog, digital, sampled-analog).

 

Please stay on topic and not hijack a new member’s thread.

 

Please stay on topic and not hijack a new member’s thread.

MrChips - is this comment directed at me?

The TO wrote
"I’m a new member and I’m currently learning electronics and electrical engineering fundamentals. I’m still a beginner, but I’m very interested in circuit design, Arduino projects, and understanding how electronic systems work.
.......................
I joined this forum to learn from experienced engineers"

So - I cannot see why I have "hijacked" the thread with my answer. I did nothing else than to recommend some "strategies" for self-studying.
Please, can you explain your criticism?

 

I, too, wish to stay on topic. So I won't go into a long winded conversation. But I would like to say two things publicly:

This involves encouraging them to both explore things that catch their attention at the moment, but also pressuring them to do things that you feel they should at least consider.

My daughter is taking the lead along with her husband investigating areas of interest on the parts of their five children. From me they are learning to not push too hard but rather to encourage exploration of different fields, wherever it may lead them. I'm proud of my grandchildren, my daughter and her husband. Just as I'm sure your daughter makes you proud.

Sydney Opera House with the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony

You have a lot to be proud of. On the road of life there are potholes and detours our kids must navigate. The best we as parents can do is help them navigate. But we should never take the wheel from them. Even though on the road of life, the same road we all have traveled - we know what lay ahead of them because those are the very things that lie behind us.

BeablossomR_ as you might guess, we can be passionate about our hobbies, jobs and/or beliefs. I find the guys and gals here are a great source of inspiration. And sometimes we can get into what may seem like a shouting match. Hopefully from the foregoing you may find that those of us here are absolutely willing to help you solve electronics problems or maybe to recommend alternate solutions to those problems. But in the end - you are the driver. You hold the wheel on the road of your life. I guess what I'm saying (probably) on behalf of all here - we care enough to be supportive. As you may have noted, almost everyone (if not everyone) has said "Welcome to AAC". And we mean it. We're happy to have you as a new member. Now, fasten your seatbelt.