Learning Hardware as a Software Geek?

digitalvengeance asks: "I'm a long-time software geek with very little experience on the hardware side. I've configured servers and built various desktops for friends and family, but I'd like to move to the next level. I assume I need to purchase a breadboard to begin tinkering, but is there a particular kit I will find more useful than others? What books, sites, or other resources can the hardware geeks recommend for a software geek wanting to learn the basics of electronics and hardware?"

Comments

Re:Next step

[Usquebaugh]

Ignore the analog stuff. As a software guy he can handle digital far easier. Analog may be needed later but it really is chalk and cheese.

I myself went through the same thing a few years ago. Been a prog for 20+ years and needed a new challenge. I bought a LARGE breadboard and some discrete logic chips, leds, dip switches. Built a bunch of nand, and or etc circuits. Played around with 555 circuits. Then went into PICs, pretty easy to interface and pgm.

The easiest way for me to learn is to build something simple and then build on that. I only refer to books when stuck. There's plenty of info online and it's really not that hard.

I'm currentlyt working on my ham licsense, morse on QRP :-)

If you wish to buy components check out ebay, I have thousands of components for about $200, if I had bought them at retail it would have cost me thousands. Also I'm not scared if I smell that something is burning, it only cost me pence not $$$s.

Re:Next step

[mnmn]

I personally think the analog is quite important, from experience. Many a times in my digital experiments, things didnt work for analog reasons.. busses too long, wrong metals, interference, voltage stuff, and it becomes more interesting at higher speeds and in DSPs and DACs and ADCs.

Even for the PICs they direct you to use RC oscillators, and that can have consequences from the change of temp, part inaccuracy etc.

Youre right about not buying stuff retail. I bought a soldering iron from radioshack and regretted it. For passive parts, its best to buy assorted bulks from active, jameco and digi* etc. Later on, more advanced parts become harder to buy in small quantities, like the EP7312, and they dont come in DIP format either. Thats when you know youre an engineer.