The Basic Electronics Course is comprised of 17 comprehensive lessons. They are easy to follow, yet challenging and stimulating at the same time. Each lesson begins with a subject matter preview and objectives, an introductory note from your instructor and a vocabulary builder of new words and terms.
Next comes the reading assignment. Practice exercises help you check and review what you've learned. Optional hands-on projects give you the chance to experience the results of your training. At the end of the lesson is an open-book exam, which you may take online.
Lesson 1: Getting Started in Electronics
How to set up a lab; common test equipment and electronics supplies; starting a parts and materials inventory; getting components at low or no cost.
Lesson 2: Basic Electrical Concepts
Resistors, potentiometers, rheostats, capacitors, inductors, diodes, transistors, and integrated circuits; color coding; voltage, current, resistance, AC and DC, conductance, and power; circuits; the laws of electricity.
Lesson 3: Alternating Current and Transformers
Understanding AC waveshapes, frequency, amplitude, and calculations; inductance; DC resistance; sine waves; transformers; soldering for the first time; desoldering techniques; safety concerns.
Lesson 4: Diodes and Rectification
Solid-state devices explained; basic operational principles of diodes; the common types of diodes; referencing; full-wave and half-wave rectifiers; testing bridge rectifier modules.
Lesson 5: Capacitors and DC Filtering
Kinds of capacitors and their construction; important capacitor operating principles; filter capacitors; designing raw DC power supplies.
Lesson 6: Transistors and Voltage Regulation
Operating principles of transistors; common transistor types and configurations; transistor-amplifier comparisons; impedance matching.
Lesson 7: Special-Purpose Diodes and Opto-Electronic Device
Zener, Schottky, and varactor diodes; diacs; tunnel and fast recovery diodes; noise and transient suppression diodes; a brief look at quantum physics; practical circuit projects.
Lesson 8: Audio Amplification
Transistor biasing and load considerations; amplifier classes; audio amplifier output configurations and operational basics; high-quality audio systems.
Lesson 9: Power Control Devices and Circuits
Silicon-controlled rectifiers; the triac; UJTs; diacs; neon tubes; using thyristors in power-control circuits; how to build a soldering iron controller.
Lesson 10: Field-Effect Transistors (FET) and Batteries
FET operational principles; how to build a high-quality mosfet audio amplifier; additional practical circuit projects; battery types; how to build a general-purpose battery charger.
Lesson 11: Integrated Circuits
Operational amplifiers; IC or hybrid audio amplifiers; IC voltage regulators; special-purpose ICs; improving the lab-quality power supply; how to build a quad-outputpower supply; additional practical circuit projects.
Lesson 12: Digital Electronics and Computers
logic gates; logic symbols; multivibrators; digital clocks; shift registers; digital memory devices; using a logic pulser and probe; analog signals.
Lesson 13: Resonance and IC Filters
Inductive and capacitive reactance; reflected impedance; resonance; passive filters; integrator and differentiator circuits; waves; harmonics.
Lesson 14: Diagnosing Analog and Audio Circuits
Troubleshooting digital and analog equipment and audio-amplifier consumer chips; narrowing the problem; block diagrams; using a bench power supply; signal tracing; output devices; troubleshooting basic low-frequency amplifier circuits; audio distortion problems.
Lesson 15: In-Circuit DiscreteSemi-Conductor and Troubleshooting
How to troubleshoot the PN junction diode and bipolar and FET circuits; how transistor circuits, diodes, zener diodes, UJT oscillators, and thyristors operate; transistor and resistor arrays; voltage regulator ICs and consumer IC chips; understanding analog switches; optical isolators.
Lesson 16: AM, FM, TV and RF Troubleshooting Techniques
Modulation; transmission and reception of RF signals; watts, transmitters, and components; radio receivers; TV; AM and FM detectors; microvolt signals in receivers.
Lesson 17: Diagnosing Pulse and Digital Circuits
Pulsed waveforms; source and load instruments; the originating pulse and processing pulse circuits; digital IC references; understanding digital schematic diagrams; digital gates; how to troubleshoot digital circuits.
Supplement: Time Management Guide
How to organize your study for greatest efficiency; maximizing your productivity while on the job.
Supplement: Career Search Guide
Locating opportunities; crafting a winning cover letter and résumé; self-employment and self-promotion.
