Star Tech Journal

September 1997
be a big manila envelope or
whatever else you like. I would
include a list of important and
relevant phone numbers, com-
pany phone list, perhaps a loca-
tion list including manager or
other contact names. Do you
have accounts at the hardware
store or any place? Make an ac-
count number list. If policy per-
mits, a key list may be helpful,
especially for access keys and
seldom used numbers or one of
a kinds. Some of us have very
involved key systems, while
some use just one master key and
others still leave the random keys
that came with the game. We al-
ways carried a standard parts kit
(plus whatever else the individual
liked to carry), so if you do this
as well, make up a listing of what
is in the kit. You might make up
a technical data list, such things
as specs for the transistors in your
kit, part subs you like to use, so-
lenoid coil equivalents or subs.
If your operation has policies or
procedures that can be confused,
put them in the book. The col-
lection schedule for the month,
especially if it changes. Which
locations may or may not hold a
key or a collection. Sky is the
limit. Metric-English conversion
chart, foreign currency exchange
rates, chili recipes... Maybe not.
Leaming the basics. Take a tis-
sue to the ol' glasses, because the
only real way to learn electron-
ics involves a lot of reading. The
only way to learn how to work a
screwdriver is to pick one up and
turn it, but the job provides
plenty of opportunity for that.
Book learning can even help you
STAR* TECH JOURNAL
with that screwdriver. Look
through a good tool catalog like
Techni-Tool or Jensen, and you
will find that what you thought
were just Phillips screws might
have been Posi-drive or Reed-
Prince. You may well find tools
and test equipment you were
unaware of, better ways to do the
job.
G
ettingin
formation
to the
troops or at least
making it acces-
sible is also valu-
able. Like any cur-
rency, you can't
spend it if it ain't in
your pocket.
It would be great if everyone
could go to the local community
college and take the courses in
vocational electronics. In fact I
recommend it. But today we are
going to discuss learning on your
own. If you don't actually have
any interest in electronics, it will
be difficult to learn it. The ab-
stract concepts and the relation-
ships involved are just not like
memorizing the state capitals.
We will assume the interest is
there. There is no best book for
learning the basics. Each of us
responds in unique fashion to any
text. Some of us like a no non-
sense text that doesn't dawdle on
any point, while others like to
move along slowly with lots of
explanations and examples. I
personally learned most of my
electronics from ARRL' s Radio
Amateur Handbook. It discusses
most areas thoroughly, but it does
so in minimal fashion, no gener-
ous explanations. You might pre-
fer a gentler text. There are
many intro-to-electronics books.
Visit the library, the bookstore,
the electronics parts store or
catalog(most have a book sec-
• tion), even Radio Shack. Thumb
through a book looking for its
general flavor, the attitude, would
you be comfortable with the ap-
proach? Self study courses can
be good. I have used a few of
the old Heathkit courses and
liked them. Whatever books you
chose, you need to get the basics,
all that Ohm's Law stuff, AC,
DC, circuits, transistors, logic.
Don't skip the chapter on mag-
nets and light bulbs. It may seem
stupid but the concepts are im-
portant.
Newer books leave them out, but
older texts cover vacuum tubes.
That's one of my strongest area,
personally, but you need not
dwell on it much. Don't ignore
it completely. Every video game
you operate has a big vacuum
tube in it, the picture tube.
Beyond the basics lies the more
advanced material. Generally
this is more specific stuff, mostly
centered on various applications.
More practical knowledge this.
More books. I learned basic logic
from the TTL Cookbook, and I rec-
ommend it. There is also a
CMOS Cookbook. Each of these
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