Build Your Own Electronics Workshop: Everything You Need to Design a Work Space, Use Test Equipment, Build and Troubleshoot Circuits (TAB Electronics Technician Library) [Paperback]

Thomas Petruzzellis (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0071447245 | ISBN-13: 978-0071447249 | Publication Date: December 1, 2004 | Edition: 1

The Electronics Workbench was created to assist the newcomer to the field of practical electronics through the creation of a personal electronics workbench. It is a place specially designed so that readers can go there to work on an electronic project, such as testing components, troubleshooting a device, or building a new project. The book includes invaluable information, such as whether to buy or build test equipment, how to solder, how to make circuit boards, how to begin to troubleshoot, how to test components and systems, and how to build your own test equipment, complete with appendix & resources, etc. This is THE book for anyone entering the field or hobby of electronics.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

YOUR DREAM ELECTRONICS LAB IS WAITING INSIDE

This value-packed resource provides everything needed to put together a fully functioning home electronics workshop! From finding space to stocking it with components to putting the shop into action -- building, testing, and troubleshooting systems -- popular electronics author Tom Petruzzellis' Build Your Own Electronics Workshop has it all! And the best part is, this book shows you how to build many pieces of equipment yourself and save money, big time!

ALL THE HELP YOU NEED
Sophisticated and comprehensive enough for those who want to enter electronics semiprofessionally, yet reader-friendly enough for a beginner to understand and follow, this illustrated guide helps you:

• Find the right spot for your workshop, even in crowded apartments
• Select needed tools and equipment, from money-saving listed sources
• Learn soldering from the ground up
• Master circuit board and wiring techniques
• Conquer electronics troubleshooting and testing methods
• Build many of the pieces of equipment you need yourself, if you choose
• Discover the possibilities of circuit-board-design and CAD/CAM software

BUILD IT WITH TOM AND SAVE!
Build Your Own Electronics Workshop gives you clear, illustrated directions for making many of the components for your shop yourself, including:

• Workbench
• Function/Signal Generator
• Frequency Counter
• Bench Power Supply
• Continuity Tester
• Battery Tester
• Capacitor Tester
• Logic Injector/Probe
• L/C Tester
• Transistor Tester
• More

About the Author

Thomas Petruzzellis is an electronics engineer currently working with the geophysical field equipment in the geology department at the State University of New York, Binghamton. Tom has over 30 years' experience in electronics and he is a veteran author who has written extensively for industry publications, including Electronics Now, Modern Electronics, QST, Microcomputer Journal, Circuit Cellar and Nuts & Volts. The author of three earlier books: STAMP 2 Communications and Control Projects; Optoelectronics, Fiber Optics, and Laser Cookbook; Alarm, Sensor, and Security Circuit Cookbook, all from McGraw-Hill, he lives in Vestal, New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 428 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill/TAB Electronics; 1 edition (December 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071447245
• ISBN-13: 978-0071447249
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #313,607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but, June 4, 2005

By 

James A. Staley - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Build Your Own Electronics Workshop: Everything You Need to Design a Work Space, Use Test Equipment, Build and Troubleshoot Circuits (TAB Electronics Technician Library) (Paperback)

I am an amature in electronics and have been waiting for this book to hit the book stores. I finally picked up a copy. I like the subjects covered. The content on at least some subjects leaves a little to be desired. There is a lot of verbal descriptiion but diagrams would have been helpful when discussing how to use controls on an oscilloscope, for instance. A fuzzy photo of an oscilloscope is shown, and then a detailed discussion is presented of how to use various dials, buttons and so on without any diagram showing where these controls are on the oscilloscope. Similar problems of what waveforms should look like without any diagrams, or photos of how they appear.
I am particularly concerned about the description of how to build your own waveform generator. A discussion of how to do this is given along with a parts list. A photo is then shown of the "assembled function generator". However, the photo shows that this is really a Canakit (www.canakit.com) funtion generator. No credit is given to Canakit for this photo and the Canakit does not appear to be the same assembled function generator as the one described in the text.
Unfortunately, the author does not wish to be contacted about any questions about what he has presented in this book, since he has given no method of contacting him. A brief search of the WEB did not show any way to contact him.
I realize that writing a book of this size and range of topics is quite a labor, and I will try to get any missing info from other sources.
Electonics amateur/hobbyist

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Component projects lacking detail, January 17, 2005

By 

Seppo (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Build Your Own Electronics Workshop: Everything You Need to Design a Work Space, Use Test Equipment, Build and Troubleshoot Circuits (TAB Electronics Technician Library) (Paperback)

This book has lots of useful information for the beginner and overall I enjoyed the content of the book. However, it could have been a great book if PCBs or wiring guide diagrams were provided for the construction projects provided throughout the book. This is detail the beginner requires. Perhaps this can be provided through downloads from the publishers site? In addition, I found some references to components, such as resistors and diodes for example, from some of the projects listings that could not be located in the accompanying schematic.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Useful, but in need of serious editing, July 30, 2009

By 

Terry Maurice (Guelph, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Build Your Own Electronics Workshop: Everything You Need to Design a Work Space, Use Test Equipment, Build and Troubleshoot Circuits (TAB Electronics Technician Library) (Paperback)

Overall, I found this to be a helpful book as I try to re-kindle my interest in electronics after many years away from the hobby. It contains much good information and a great deal of detail with respect to setting up a home electronics workshop. In addition to suggesting commercially available products it also offers plans and parts lists for home built testing equipment. It would have been more useful if the author had provided PCB diagrams for the various projects outlined or a least a source for these boards.

My major complaint is that the book needs some serious editing. I have not read the whole book yet, but I have come across several sentences that were clearly overlooked in the editing process. Parts of the book are needlessly repeated almost word for word from earlier sections. The whole book is in much need of a critical re-editing and corrections.

Apart from these problems I did find it a helpful and useful addition to my library of electronics books.