Electronics Projects For Dummies E-Book

Earl Boysen

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 358

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

These projects are fun to build and fun to use Make lights dance to music, play with radio remote control, or build your own metal detector Who says the Science Fair has to end? If you love building gadgets, this book belongs on your radar. Here are complete directions for building ten cool creations that involve light, sound, or vibrations -- a weird microphone, remote control gizmos, talking toys, and more, with full parts and tools lists, safety guidelines, and wiring schematics. Check out ten cool electronics projects, including * Chapter 8 -- Surfing the Radio Waves (how to make your own radio) * Chapter 9 -- Scary Pumpkins (crazy Halloween decorations that have sound, light, and movement) * Chapter 12 -- Hitting Paydirt with an Electronic Metal Detector (a project that can pay for itself) Discover how to * Handle electronic components safely * Read a circuit diagram * Troubleshoot circuits with a multimeter * Build light-activated gadgets * Set up a motion detector * Transform electromagnetic waves into sound Companion Web site * Go to href="http://www.dummies.com/go/electronicsprojectsfd">www.dummies.com/go/electronicsprojectsfd * Explore new projects with other electronics hobbyists * Find additional information and project opportunities

Leseprobe

Electronics Projects For Dummies®

by Earl Boysen and Nancy Muir

Electronics Projects For Dummies®

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2006926111

ISBN-13: 978-0-470-00968-0

ISBN-10: 0-470-00968-3

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4

1B/RT/QX/QW/IN

About the Authors

Earl Boysen is an engineer who after 20 years in the computer chip industry, decided to slow down and move to a quiet town in Washington state. Earl is the co-author of Electronics For Dummies and Nanotechnology For Dummies. He lives with his wife, Nancy, in a house he built himself and finds himself as busy as ever with teaching, writing, house building, and acting. Visit Earl at his Web site to get reviews and information about the latest components and techniques for building projects: www.buildinggadgets.com.

Nancy Muir is the author of over 50 books on topics ranging from desktop computer applications to distance learning and electronics. She has a certificate in distance learning design and has taught technical writing at the university level. Prior to her freelance writing career, she held management positions in the publishing and software industries. She lives with her husband Earl and their benevolent owners — their dog and cat. Nancy’s company, The Publishing Studio, has its Web site at www.pubstudio.com.

Dedication

Nancy and Earl dedicate this book to their uncle, Ted Stier, with thanks for being such a great guy and giving Nancy away with such style and grace!

Authors’ Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Katie Feltman for continuing to hire them to work on interesting book projects and to Chris Morris for managing the editing process and the authors so successfully. Thanks also to technical editor Kirk Kleinschmidt and copy editor Teresa Artman for making sure that what we wrote ended up being accurate and grammatically correct.

We also received help during this project from the following people, and they have our sincere gratitude: Bruce Reynolds of Reynolds Electronics (www.renton.com); the helpful folks at Magnevation (www.magnevation.com); and the following helpful members of our local ham radio club: Clint Hurd, Andy Andersen, Jack West and Owen Mulkey; and Gordon McComb of Budget Robotics (www.budgetrobotics.com).

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Christopher Morris

Acquisitions Editor: Katie Feltman

Senior Copy Editor: Teresa Artman

Technical Editor: Kirk Kleinschmidt

Editorial Manager: Kevin Kirschner

Media Development Specialists: Angela Denny, Kate Jenkins, Steven Kudirka, Kit Malone

Media Development Manager: Laura VanWinkle

Editorial Assistant: Amanda Foxworth

Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case

Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Patrick Redmond

Layout and Graphics: Claudia Bell, Carl Byers, Joyce Haughey, Barbara Moore, Barry Offringa, Alicia South

Proofreaders: Leeann Harney, Joe Niesen, Christy Pingleton

Indexer: Techbooks

Special Help: Virginia Sanders

Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies

Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher

Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director

Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director

Publishing for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher

Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director

Composition Services

Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Contents

Title

Introduction

Why Buy This Book?

Foolish Assumptions

Safety, Safety, Safety!

How This Book Is Organized

Icons Used in This Book

Part I : Project Prep

Chapter 1: Exploring the World of Electronics Projects

What Is an Electronics Project, Anyway?

Mixing and Matching Effects

What Can You Do with Electronics Projects?

What You Need to Get Started

Chapter 2: Safety First

Avoiding Shocks Like the Plague

Protecting Electronic Components from Dreaded Static Discharge

Working with the Tools of the Trade

A Safe Workspace Is a Happy Workspace

Chapter 3: Assembling Your Electronics Arsenal

Tool Time

Multimeter

Components Primer

The Nuts and Bolts of Building Materials

Breadboard Basics

Chapter 4: Running Down the Skills You Need

It’s Symbolic: Reading a Schematic

Breadboarding

Soldering Your Circuit Board

Measuring Stuff with a Multimeter

Working with the Boxes that Contain Your Projects

Part II : Sounding Off!

Chapter 5: Making Light Dance to the Music

The Big Picture: Project Overview

Scoping Out the Schematic

Fancy Footwork: Exploring the Dance to the Music Circuit

Building Alert: Construction Issues

Perusing the Parts List

Taking Things Step by Step

Trying It Out

Taking It Further

Chapter 6: Focusing Sound with a Parabolic Microphone

What a Dish! The Project Overview

Scoping Out the Schematic

Building Alert: Construction Issues

Perusing the Parts List

Taking Things Step by Step

Trying It Out

Taking It Further

Chapter 7: Murmuring Merlin

The Big Picture: Project Overview

Scoping Out the Schematic

Building Alert: Construction Issues

Perusing the Parts List

Taking Things Step by Step

Trying It Out

Taking It Further

Chapter 8: Surfing the Airwaves

The Big Picture: Project Overview

Scoping Out the Schematic

Building Alert: Construction Issues

Perusing the Parts List

Taking Things Step by Step

Trying It Out

Taking It Further

Part III : Let There Be Light

Chapter 9: Scary Pumpkins

The Big Picture: Project Overview

Taking Things Step by Step

Trying It Out

Taking It Further

Chapter 10: Dancing Dolphins

The Big Picture: Project Overview

Scoping Out the Schematic

Building Alert: Construction Issues

Perusing the Parts List

Taking Things Step by Step

Trying It Out

Taking It Further

Chapter 11: Controlling a Go-Kart, Infrared Style

The Big Picture: Project Overview

Scoping Out the Schematic

Building Alert: Construction Issues

Perusing the Parts List

Taking Things Step by Step

Trying It Out

Taking It Further

Part IV : Good Vibrations

Chapter 12: A Handy-Dandy Metal Detector

The Big Picture: Project Overview

Scoping Out the Schematic

Building Alert: Construction Issues

Perusing the Parts List

Taking Things Step by Step

Trying It Out

Taking It Further

Chapter 13: Sensitive Sam Walks the Line

The Big Picture: Project Overview

Scoping Out the Schematic

Building Alert: Construction Issues

Perusing the Parts List

Taking Things Step by Step

Trying It Out

Taking It Further

Chapter 14: Couch Pet-ato

The Big Picture: Project Overview

Scoping Out the Schematic

Building Alert: Construction Issues

Perusing the Parts List

Taking Things Step by Step

Trying It Out

Taking It Further

Part V : The Part of Tens

Chapter 15: Ten Great Parts Suppliers

When Is a Supplier Right for You?

Reynolds Electronics

Hobby Engineering

Jameco

Digi-Key

Mouser Electronics

RadioShack

Fry’s Electronics

Electronic Goldmine

Furturlec

Maplin

Chapter 16: Ten Great Electronics Resources

Electronics Magazines

Jumpstart Your Project Creativity with Circuits

Web Sites That Teach You the Ropes

Writing the Book on Electronics

Chapter 17: Ten Specialized Electronics Resources

Radio

Audio and Music

Robotics

Glossary

Introduction

If you’ve caught the electronics bug, you’re ready to try all kinds of projects that will help you develop your skills while creating weird and wonderful gadgets. That’s what this book is about: providing projects that are fun and interesting as well as helping you find out about all kinds of electronic circuits and components.

Electronics Projects For Dummies is a great way to break into electronics or expand your electronics horizons. Here, we provide projects that allow you to dabble in using sound chips, motion detectors, light effects, and more. And all the projects are low voltage, so if you follow our safety advice, no electronics folks will be hurt in the process.

Why Buy This Book?

Electronics projects not only help you build useful and fun gadgets, but you pick up a lot of knowledge along the way about how various electronic parts work, how to read a circuit diagram, and how to use tools such as soldering irons and multimeters. So by using this book, you have fun and get some knowledge at the same time.

This book provides you with just what you need to get going in the fun world of electronics. It offers projects that you can build in a reasonable amount of time — and in most cases, for under $100 each (some well under!).

Foolish Assumptions

This book assumes that you have an interest in electronics and that you’ve probably explored the world of electricity and electronics a bit. You’ve probably scanned a few electronics circuit Web sites and maybe a magazine or two and have picked up some of the jargon. Other than that, you don’t need anything but a minimal budget to buy parts and tools, a small space in your house or apartment that you can set aside for a workbench, and a little time.

If you feel like you want more information about terms and concepts in electronics to help you out, we recommend Electronics For Dummies, by Gordon McComb and Earl Boysen (Wiley).

You don’t need to be an electrical engineer or have worked on electronic projects in the past. We provide some initial chapters that help you stock up on essential parts and tools, understand what each one does, set yourself up for safety, and master a few simple skills. Then you’re all set to tackle any one of the projects in this book.

Safety, Safety, Safety!

We can’t say this enough: Electronics, especially lower-voltage projects like the ones in this book, can be a painless pastime but only if you follow some basic safety procedures from the get-go.

Even low voltages can harm you, soldering irons can burn you, and small pieces of plastic or wire that you snip could fly into your face.

We recommend that everybody — even those with electronics experience — read the chapter on safety (Chapter 2). And because we can’t cover every potential danger in a single chapter, be sure to read each manufacturer’s warnings about how to use parts, power sources, and tools. Finally, use common sense when working on projects. If in doubt whether a safety precaution is necessary, just do it. Better safe than sorry is one of our mantras.

How This Book Is Organized

Electronics Projects For Dummies is organized into several parts, starting off with some general information about safety and stocking your electronics workshop. Then we offer several parts with different types of projects, and finally conclude with the Part of Tens chapters with additional resources you might want to explore. This book also has a spiffy full-color photo spread of some of the circuits and finished products of several of the projects.

Here’s the rundown of how this book is organized.

Part I: Project Prep

If you’re new to electronics, read through this part first. Even if you’re seasoned, humor us and read Chapter 2 about safety. Then use Chapters 3 and 4 to gather the parts and tools you’ll need and also bone up on some essential electronics skills, such as soldering and reading schematics.

Part II: Sounding Off!

This part contains the first set of projects, all involving sound in some fashion. Here you work on projects to make lights dance to music, create a parabolic microphone to pick up sounds at a distance, make a wizard that talks when you push his buttons, and create your own AM radio.

Part III: Let There Be Light

Electricity can produce light (as Thomas Edison could have told you), so here we show you how to work with light in a variety of ways. These projects use light to amuse or even make gadgets run. In this part, you light up a pumpkin by using a motion detector, create a light display that will make your next party rock, and build a go-kart that you direct by using an infrared remote control device.

Part IV: Good Vibrations

Some electronic gadgets do their thing when they sense vibrations. All the projects in this part depend on vibrations, including electrical, mechanical, or radio waves. Work through these projects to create a metal detector, a radio controlled vehicle that senses light and runs around a track, and a device that sits on your couch and raises a ruckus if your pet jumps on the cushion.

Part V: The Part of Tens

The chapters in this part provide the ever-popular For Dummies top-ten lists. Use the recommendations here to explore some interesting suppliers of electronic parts and tools; get information or swap ideas about general electronics topics online or in print; or look into resources for more specialized interests, such as audio effects and robotics.

Icons Used in This Book

We live in a visual world, so this book uses little icons to point out useful information of various types.

The Tip icon points you to information that is interesting and can save you time or headaches. These icons generally add a bit of spice to your electronic project education.

Oops. If you don’t heed these little icons, you might regret it. Warnings alert you to potential danger or problems that you want to avoid.

Remember icons remind you of an important idea or fact that you should keep in mind as you explore electronics. They might even point you to another chapter for more in-depth information about a topic.

If you’re gonna build an electronics project, you’re gonna spend some money. To save you time and help you keep your costs down, we give you shopping tips wherever you see this icon.

Part I

Project Prep

In this part . . .

B efore you can jump in and tackle projects, you might want to brush up on (or discover for the first time) the basics. Chapter 1 answers such urgent questions as “What is an electronics project, anyway?,” and Chapter 2 provides our best advice about safety procedures that keep you intact while you play with gadgets. Chapter 3 runs down the parts and equipment you work with in a typical project, and Chapter 4 reviews some basic skills that you need to build all kinds of electronic toys.

Chapter 1

Exploring the World of Electronics Projects

In This Chapter

Understanding exactly what an electronics project is

Exploring the effects you can achieve

Considering what’s in it for you

Determining what you need to invest to get started

You probably picked up this book because you love tinkering with gadgets, from that train set you got as a kid to the motion-activated dancing monsters on display in the store aisles at Halloween. Not only are you intrigued by them, but you wonder whether you can build something like them yourself. Now that you own this book, yes, you can!

In this chapter, we take a look at exactly what getting into building electronics projects involves, the kinds of great gadgets you can build yourself, what you’ll get from spending your time with electronics, and what you need to commit to take the plunge.

What Is an Electronics Project, Anyway?

Obviously, an electronics project involves electronics, meaning that you use electricity to make something happen. However, overlaps exist among electronics, mechanics, and even programmable devices such as robots. Here’s what we mean when we say