Believe it or not Radio Shack has some great cheap beginners books about components and their functions, as well as basic circuit building projects and reading schematics. Practical hands on is very important. I've got some good websites somewhere, but have managed to axe my favorites list somehow
. I like books better, however.
- Practical Electronics by Nigel Cook is a good book. Well laid out, informative.
-The RCA Receiving Tube Manual. Pretty much required reading for understanding tubes.
-Bureau of Navy Personnel handbooks Basic Electronics and Basic Electricity. Classics.
With books, as with any teacher, it comes down to how they get across to you. Spend a few hours at a good bookstore, then try to find the ones you like used online, or check college bookstores. The books I've listed are relatively inexpensive, but many out there are in the $60 and up range.
Navy books
This guy is also good, though he talks a bit cheesy for me:
Greg Carpenter
He gets you building some stuff to see what it does. Get a breadboard kit, a power supply, a meter, and some basic books and you are off.
It's amazing how little you actually need to understand to build stuff. Me, I like to understand it all, but really you can build stuff way before you actually understand exactly what's going on in there.
