Electronic Experimenter's Manual (1959) -- Contents and Intro

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION (this page; see below CONTENTS)

1. GETTING STARTED

• Tools
• Solder and Flux
• Soldering Technique
• Screwdrivers
• Pliers
• Wire
• Working with Wires
• Wiring Techniques
• Shielded Wiring
• Hardware

2. THE PARTS YOU NEED

• Tubes and Transistors
• Resistors and Capacitors
• Potentiometers
• Capacitors
• Transformers
• Where to Get Parts

3. PLANNING AND MAKING A CHASSIS

• Laying Out the Chassis
• Making a Chassis from Scratch
• Dressing Up a Chassis

4. WIRING THE CIRCUIT

• Troubleshooting

5. MAKING PRINTED CIRCUITS

• Laying Out the Circuit
• Cutting Corners
• Stripping

6. BUILDING A WORKSHOP

• Apartment Workshop
• Full-size Workshop
• Workbench Tricks

7. SPECIAL TOOLS YOU CAN BUILD

• Chassis Holders
• Plastic Cutter
• Coil Winder
• Permanent Breadboard
• Jig for Soldering-gun Tips

8. MAKING YOUR OWN TEST EQUIPMENT

• Which Instrument First?
• Make Your Own Multi-tester
• Vacuum-tube Voltmeter
• Check Your a.c. Calibration
• Economy Transistor Checker
• Power Supply for Transistor Experiments
• Audio Oscillator
• R.F. Signal Generator
• Power Transistor Signal Tracer

9. PROJECTS YOU CAN BUILD

• Low-cost Broadcast Receiver
• One-tube Hi-Fi AM Tuner
• V.H.F. Explorer's Receiver
• Printed-circuit Transistor Receiver
• Listen to Aircraft with a Miniature v.h.f. Receiver
• Two-tube Economy Amplifier
• Transistorized Intercom
• Transistorized Photoflash

[Note: This guide is based on the 1959 out-of-print book by D. Findlay]

INTRODUCTION

ELECTRONICS is unique among the sciences in that the beginner with simple hand tools and nothing more than a table top for a laboratory can construct and operate electronic equipment that is as modern as guided missiles. The builder does not have to understand the complex physical and electrical principles behind the device he builds. He can have the pleasure of putting the unit together and seeing it operate with little or no understanding of electronics.

There are many magazines that provide circuit and construction details for many projects. However, these monthly publications cannot carry in each issue the basic construction techniques that the beginner must learn.

This is the gap that this guide is intended to fill. Using this guide as a guide, the beginner can start out with confidence on his construction project.

Much of the material used in the preparation of this guide came from pages of Popular Electronics. In the past five years, this magazine has published a great many articles dealing with various phases of electronic construction. The author has used many of these articles as a basis on which to build this guide. For this reason, I would like to acknowledge the help of the editors of Popular Electronics.

Particular thanks are due to Lou Garner, whose excellent articles on printed circuits and electronic components formed the foundation for a number of sections in the guide, and to Oliver Read and James Fahnestock for their comments and criticisms.

The author would also like to extend his appreciation to Barbara Hearst for her typing of the manuscript and copy editing. And, to his wife for her patience and understanding as well as for her helpful suggestions and comments.

--DAVID A. FINDLAY

Also see:

Practical Electronic Filters (1991)

Using Electronics -- through DIY and Experiments (1958)