want to learn how to solder/work with circuits

I was wondering if anyone had some good reading on learning to solder/ work with circuit boards and what not

by that I mean I want to be able to buy stuff like this and know exactly what all you can do with it

DealExtreme: $3.47 3W LED Emitter on Star (Multicolored RGB)

DealExtreme: $15.18 SSC P7 W724C0-BSYPI 3.6V~4.2V 12W LED Emitter (Bare)

DealExtreme: $10.44 12V 75-LED White Light Strip (50cm)

Are there good articles that anyone could provide me? or is this just something I need to choose a thing and read about it, choose and read type deal

The best way to learn the concepts of electronics are written guides, combined with your own experimentation. You can get "starter kits" of various simple components and a breadboard, then experiment with the help of a guide to get acquainted with the concepts, such as current, voltage, power, and the maths surrounding them. Once you have a core understanding of the basic components, you can apply these concepts to more advanced components such as LEDs or chips.

Well if i remember my Digital Electronic course corriculum(sp) this is how it went.

Binary-how to read/add/subtract
Basics of electronics-neg,pos/circuit symbols/voltage/amps/etc
Basic componets-Resistors,leds, wire, capacitors, IC chips(gates),etc
Basics of how to use a bread board.
What gates are and how they work- and, or, not, are the first one you should learn then more onto xor, nor, and others
Wire up gates
How to make a truth table, k-mapping, and D-morgans theorem.

That is were you should start if you truly want to learn how electronics work. Ill try to see if i can find an old book. Also charlies advise was good too.

Try checking out this site.........rob http://tangentsoft.net/elec/movies/

any recommended kits to start with? preferably something cheap(poor college kid here)

Get a bare PCB with holes (I think it's called a bareboard) and some 1ohm resistors (cheapest one you can find if not 1ohm). Start soldering them in series and try to fill up the whole board.

Easy Electronic Kits for Students & Hobbyists

anyone heard of this site before? it seems to have some nice little starter kits

I would most likely get all tools at local places. for an actual kit to build though, something like this seems to me to be good

There's an "online textbook" for electronics. Whole 4 volumes. Very helpful if you can spare the time to read through it, which you should if you're keen. Skip the chapters that are not relevant, but I don't think I need to tell you that =D

All About Circuits

The best way to learn to solder is to get a few cheap components such as resistors, and try soldering them onto proto board. It's not hard to pick up, I learnt to solder in a day when I was around 6.

These are all good kits. what you need to get is a good solder iron, good solder, good flux and then get some bare copper wire and practice soldering the wire togther first twist it and solder, then when you get good at that try just placing it side by side and soldering it. there is nothing like practice and theres no reason to use real components when you are just starting out. learn with copper wire and go up from there. you will want some small tools also like helping hands to help you hold stuff in place to br soldered, and a wire brush, some pics, tiny clamp on heatsinks, and an old tooth brush and alcohol to clean the flux off the board with. radio shack has some reading material that will help explaine electronics, just don't buy your soldering iron there, get something good like a weller temp controled iron. you willbe using it the rest of your life so don't be cheep you get what you pay for here.
hope this helps, have a fine day ! Pyro... :eg:
PS. if you can't find any flux PM me I have the best avab in 1ml syrenges, good flux is kinda like magic it can make a crappy job into the finest !!!

mgarnto said:

Easy Electronic Kits for Students & Hobbyists

anyone heard of this site before? it seems to have some nice little starter kits

I would most likely get all tools at local places. for an actual kit to build though, something like this seems to me to be good

Click to expand...

Practice, practice, practice ..... and then practice again ..... nothing better for learn how to solder

I think i know this, after all, i started at 12, and now i'm 47