OK, let's start by looking at resistors and horse shoes

Apparently the easiest variable in any circuit to control is resistance, so probably the best place to start is with the humble resistor.

As the name would suggest, a resistor, erm, well . . . resists! Yes, it resists current and the lost current is dissipated as heat. Easy so far, right?

The most common schematic symbol for a resistor in a circuit diagram is a zig-zagged line. The resistors are labelled R1, R2, R3 etc, - resistor 1, resistor 2, resistor 3, blah blah and so on and so forth. They are also labelled with their resistance values, expressed in horse shoes. I mean Ohms. (Little joke! Ohm symbol is like an upside-down horse shoe). Anyway, moving swiftly on . . .

There are variable resistors also, just to make things complicated.

And because resistors dissipate heat they are rated according to how much energy they can dissipate without overheating and getting damaged. This is specified by the unit "watts". The power rating of a resistor is generally proportionate to its size, so the bigger the resistor, the higher its power dissipation rating. For more here is a great website - All About Circuits.

Update: Just did a 30-question test on receivers to refresh the memory. Got 29 out of 30 right, 97%. Buachaill Maith!

A new day, a new task - time to do some Binging

Countdown timer: 10 weeks 1 day to go

Right, now that I've been able to score 93% in the QADV test on receivers, I can move on a bit to something new. I thought that might be transmitters, but I have to leave that for a bit because I've been set a new task by Jedi Master Tony EI4DIB.

Tony wants me to "research" the different components in a circuit, ie resistors, variable resistors, capacitors, variable capacitors, diodes, transistors (PNP & NPN types) etc etc.

I'm going to do a bit of Googling on this one. Or perhaps a bit of Binging. You've heard of the new Microsoft search site, I presume? (Bing link)

I spent a bit of time on Friday learning about electrical pressure (volts), resistance (ohms), current and coulombs etc. Handy to know these basic things at the start.

But learning about the components themselves should act as a foundation for all the stuff to come, including circuit diagrams. I'll be honest, it all seems a bit daunting right now. Bloody heck, there's so much to learn. But I keep telling myself, if Brian EI7GVB did it in 8 weeks, I can do it in 10 !

Right, time to Bing . . .