HN Academy

MITx Circuits & Electronics [1][2][3] (it's in 3 parts) MOOC. They are just starting a new instance today, so your timing is perfect.

This is a seriously good course. I've been interested in electronics on and off since I was a kid. I tried learning from various Radio Shack books, but never got very far. I tried some introductory classes at Caltech, and never got very far. Tried "The Art of Electronics" and it just didn't work.

That MITx course worked.

That said, it does get fairly mathematical...circuits involving inductance and capacitance are going to be analyzed using differential equations so if you have never had any exposure to such things it could be rough going.

If you've been through college calculus you should be fine, even if (like me) you've forgotten most of it. They have some refresher material that should bring enough back to get through it.

Here's what you learn in part 1:

• How to design and analyze circuits using the node method, superposition, and the Thevenin method

• How to employ lumped circuit models and abstraction to simplify circuit analysis

• How to use intuition to solve circuits

• Construction of simple digital gates using MOSFET transistors

• Measurement of circuit variables using tools such as virtual oscilloscopes, virtual multimeters, and virtual signal generators

Part 2 teaches:

• How to build amplifiers using MOSFETs

• How to use intuition to describe the approximate time and frequency behavior of first-order circuits containing energy storage elements like capacitors and inductors

• The relationship between the mathematical representation of first-order circuit behavior and corresponding real-life effects

• How to improve the speed of digital circuits

• Measurement of circuit variables using tools such as virtual oscilloscopes, virtual multimeters, and virtual signal generators

• How to compare the measurements with the behavior predicted by mathematical models and explain the discrepancies

Part 3:

• How to construct and analyze filters using capacitors and inductors

• How to use intuition to describe the approximate time and frequency behavior of second-order circuits containing energy storage elements (capacitors and inductors)

• The relationship between the mathematical representation of first-order circuit behavior and corresponding real-life effects

• Circuits applications using op-amps

• Measurement of circuit variables using tools such as virtual oscilloscopes, virtual multimeters, and virtual signal generators

• How to compare the measurements with the behavior predicted by mathematical models and explain the discrepancies

The first course is 4 weeks:

Week 1: From physics to electrical engineering; lumped abstraction, KVL, KCL, intuitive simplification techniques, nodal analysis

Week 2: Linearity, superposition, Thevenin & Norton methods, digital abstraction, digital logic, combinational gates

Week 3: MOSFET switch, MOSFET switch models, nonlinear resistors, nonlinear networks

Week 4: Small signal analysis, small signal circuit model, dependent sources

The second course is also 4 weeks:

Week 1: Amplifiers, MOSFET large signal analysis, MOSFET small signal analysis

Week 2: Capacitors, first-order RC circuits

Week 3: Inductors, first-order step response, first-order circuit analysis, impulses, digital circuit speed

Week 4: Impulse, step, ramp superposition, digital memory, state, ZIR, ZSR

The third is 6 weeks:

Week 1: Second-order circuits, damping in second-order systems

Week 2: Sinusoidal steady state analysis, frequency response, frequency response plots, impedance methods

Week 3: Filters, quality factor, time and frequency domain responses

Week 4: Op-amp abstraction, negative feedback, Op-amp amplifiers, Op-amp filters and other circuits

Week 5: Stability, positive feedback, oscillators, energy and power

Week 6: CMOS digital logic, breaking, the abstraction barrier

[1] https://www.edx.org/course/circuits-and-electronics-1-basic-...

[2] https://www.edx.org/course/circuits-and-electronics-2-amplif...

[3] https://www.edx.org/course/circuits-and-electronics-3-applic...