101 in full force here.

I am more of a mechanical guy and the electronics stuff is kind of new to me. I know what a couple of the symbols on schematics mean but not all and I've forgotten quite a bit since my college days. Could someone please give a basic rundown of what the symbols mean or point to some websites to explain to the simple minded like myself?

Thanks. (Next thing will be for someone to explain what each part does)

Jason A.

OK, I dug up a few links on my own.

http://www.learn-c.com/schemat.htm
http://arts.ucsc.edu/EMS/Music/tech_background/schematics/ReadSchem.html
http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/pdf/8402019.pdf

Anybody got more to add?

Jason A.

I'd recommend you try and find a copy of Forrest M. Mimms III's book on basic electronics. I don't think Radio Shack still carries them. I'm told Forrest is still alive, so check for his name in the Library Card catalog.

Schematic reading is an acquired ability, based on your needs at the moment. In other words, it's based on why you are looking at the diagram: troubleshooting, understanding basic circuit function, etc.

Almost always, diagrams follow a convention of signal input on the left side, and outputs on the right side. Positive power at the top, and negative power at the bottom. Signal flow goes from left to right, often being welcomed into the circuit by some sort of input device like a transformer (wavy vertical lines on either side of vertical straight lines) and then receiving processing like "detection" in a radio circuit, amplification stages (tubes and transistors) with chokes (coils) and drains (capacitors) along the way to provide filtering of the signal. Final signal alterations and amplification are followed by an output transformer and jacks to allow you to send the signal to its next destination, like a speaker or mixing board.

Television circuits used to be designed using discrete components just like every other piece of gear, and it was a fascinating journey to attempt to follow a circuit from RF detection and amplification to division of the chroma and luminance (B&W) signal, and the vertical and horizontal sweep circuits, and the high voltage CRT drive components. Now, it's a lot of block diagrams and IC's.

Many of my favorite magazines have gone away for good, but one, Nuts and Volts, is a newcomer and may pick up where Popular Electronics left off.

If you have never built a project, pick a small one based around an op amp or a 555 timer IC. Use a little pice of perf board or generic PC board that allows you to solder on to copper pads and then use wire jumpers to connect the components. After a few of these, you will recognize 95 % of what is used in schematics.

"Wait a minute. Tom flys Britney Spears and I'm flying Madelaine Albright?"

[This message was edited by Art Houston on 09-12-03 at 12:32 AM.]

Hi Jason

Here is an excellent site for electronics theory & even some good practcal stuff :

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/g_knott/index1.htm

Peter