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Okay, you're definitely at the beginning. I'll clarify a few things and then recommend some resources.

1. Places to buy components: Depending on where you live in the world, the large component suppliers are almost always the way to go, with smaller suppliers like Adafruit/Sparkfun if you need development boards or specialised things. I buy almost exclusively from Digikey -- they have $8 flat shipping to Canada, which typically arrives the next day, with no customs fees. They have some sort of agreement in place where they cover these costs. This *always* saves money over going to my local stores where the prices are inflated. It's crazy how cheap some things are. If I need a few 2.2K 1206 resistors for a project, I just buy a reel of 1000 because they are so cheap.
   
2. "Steer a joystick with an app" Do you mean connect motors to it and have them move the joystick for you? You're going to want some sort of microcontroller platform, along with a motor controller and way to communicate with a smartphone app. You mention you know C++ so it will be easy to switch to C. This is both true and false. Programming for microcontrollers is not the same as programming for computers. You are much closer to the hardware, typically manipulating many registers directly instead of abstracting it away. Each microcontroller vendor has their own tools and compilers, although *some* do support GCC or alternatives. You mentioned PIC, which is a line of microcontrollers by a large company called Microchip. There are 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit PICs, all at different price points and with hugely differing capabilities. Selecting the microcontroller for a project can be half the battle sometimes. Or, like me, you can just go with whatever you have on hand (which is usually MSP430s or PIC32MX's)
   
3. A lot of people will recommend the book The Art of Electronics. It's decent, but it's not for everyone. Some really like the conversational style, others don't. Many people who want to get into microcontroller programming and embedded development want to skip over the fundamentals and just get something working. For those, I point them to Arduino and let them on their merry way. However, if you actually want to learn something, I highly recommend buying an actual microcontroller development board, learning the fundamentals about electrical circuits, and programming in actual C with actual IDEs.
   
4. As far as resources go, again it depends on your actual goal. Whenever I want to learn a new tool (like a PCB layout software, or a new IDE) I always start with a simple project. Having an end point to reach will keep you motivated when things seem complicated. Your controlling a joystick with motors is a great starting point. I would buy a development board, Microchip PICs are popular, as are ST32s, and MSP430. It doesn't really matter that much in the long run. Just don't tie yourself too hard to one brand. Then pick up some stepper motors, and a stepper motor control board (grab one from Sparkfun/Adafruit, etc). Get yourself a breadboard, and some breadboard jumpers, a cheap power supply (there are tons available now for cheap that are pretty decent), and then jump in head first!
   
5. I highly recommend the book Making Embedded Systems by Elecia White, once you've covered the basics. It's a great way to learn more about how professionals actually design things. For the basics, you can watch *EARLY* EEVBlog videos (anything past around video 600/650 he gets progressively more annoying and set in his ways, another topic entirely, but the early stuff is decent). I'd also recommend picking up your choice of books about the fundamentals -- Electronics for Dummies, the aforementioned Art of Electronics, Making Embedded Systems, The Art of Designing Embedded Systems, and even stuff like Design Patterns for Embedded Systems in C. Again, it all depends on what your goal is. If you want to do embedded design, then you'll need to focus on that. If you're more into analog circuits, then maybe check out The Art and Science of Analog Circuit Design. Either way, grounding yourself in the fundamentals will help a LOT later on. It will make reading schematics way easier.
   
   I feel like I've gone off on a few tangents, but just ask for clarification if you want. I'd be happy to point you towards other resources.

So, for a basic beginning to get into electronics you need:

1. A soldering iron. For troubleshooting and assembly it is important to know how to solder. There are a bunch of YouTube videos on the subject.
   
   
2. Hookup Wire. 22 AWG solid core is the best wire in my opinion for use in breadboards and general repair.
   
   
3. A Multi-Meter. Probably the most important diagnostic tool you could own. This is not the end all best meter but it is a good DIY soldering experience. You learn some soldering basics while building your own test equipment.
   
   
4. An Oscilloscope. This is a cheap beginner build it yourself scope. This is the second most important tool for a circuit designer to own. This particular kit is good enough for basics.
   
   This would be a starter kit which would help build up soldering skills and start building up knowledge.
   
   Getting Started in Electronics is a good read for a beginner to understand basics in circuit theory. I may have seen this floating around the interwebs as a PDF when Radio Shack was going down.
   
   

Read read read and experiment!

https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Electronics-Inventors-Third-Scherz/dp/0071771336 is one of my favorite books that explains in great detail the workings of components, without getting overly mathematical. (Math is critical in understanding the behavior, however.)

Then get a basic scope/dmm (or get access to a lab) and build circuits to exercise your knowledge. It won’t work on the first couple tries, but google is your friend, and thats when the learning really materializes — when you understand why something didn’t work, and when you understand how to fix it.

Youtube is a great reference too. Here are some channels I’m subscribed to. Good luck!
https://www.youtube.com/user/w2aew
https://www.youtube.com/user/engineerguyvideo
https://www.youtube.com/user/LearnEngineeringTeam
https://www.youtube.com/user/sutty6
https://www.youtube.com/user/msadaghd
https://www.youtube.com/user/EEVblog

Buy yourself of copy of the art of electronics. Pick one or two topics from that book every day and read about them. It covers pretty much every aspect of EE without going into an insane amount of detail. Use that to narrow your focus once you find something that really interests you. EE is a huge area of engineering and you’re not gonna like all aspects of it but the art of electronics is a great start.

The Art of Electronics https://www.amazon.com/dp/0521809266/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_FeY5BbNKDNXSF

Edit: to add on to this. Adafruit has a ton of more entry level friendly tutorials and stuff. Find a component on their store and they’ll have tons of projects and tutorials using those components. They don’t get much in to how it all works. You’re going to have to read for that. Kahn academy is pretty good at explaining stuff too.

I am a big fan of Electrical Machines, Drives and Power Systems by Theodore Wildi.

For me, this is one of the most well-rounded and applicable books on electrical engineering. The concepts in the book are well explained and the in-chapter examples are set up extremely well based on the previous paragraphs that lead up to each example.

It has a large chapter dedicated to synchronous generators and control, which is the type of machine used by most large power plants to generate power. I believe it also touches on the different types of basic power generation equipment and the basic heat cycle used in thermal power plants: energy to heat, heat to water, water to steam, steam to drive a turbine, turbine to drive the rotor of a generator.

It is also heavy on distribution and very in-depth on transformers. In my opinion, this is one of the best transformer and rotating machine books out there, period. It is usually the first book I reach for.

The Author (Make sure you click translate on that Wikipedia page) owned his own machine shop in Canada back when this type of technology was new (imagine that), the book was essentially his life's work and based on everything he discovered working with electrical machines which he also taught. He had 17 patents.

Source - I have read and worked through a very large number of electrical engineering books almost cover to cover.

To understand the FFT you first need to understand the DFT. The FFT is just a clever way of going about the DFT to reduce the runtime from O(n^2) to O(n log n).

Maybe try googling around for Cooley-Tukey explanations?

I did pick up a book a while back called "Who is Fourier?" (https://www.amazon.com/Who-Fourier-Mathematical-Adventure-2nd/dp/0964350432/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1480353431&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=who+is+joseph+fourier) that did a surprisingly good job of explaining Fourier series and transforms. I am pretty sure there is a section in the book for the FFT, I can check when I get home if you're interested.

I would recommend the Art of Electronics (or the ARRL Handbook) if you are looking for more of a reference style text. Very thorough, but not something you would want to read front to back.

Assuming you have your circuits basics down, a good text to really start learning how to design circuits would be Microelectronic Circuits by Sedra and Smith which is your undergrad text on introductory analog/digital circuits. This one you can definitely read front to back (but it's big). And then if you really want to get into the thick of things, you could read Analysis and Design of Analog Integrated Circuits AKA Grey and Meyer which is your advanced undergrad/graduate text on analog circuits. There are many alternatives to these texts, but these ones are basically bibles.

All the classes I've taken, we just had chapters in different books that took care of three-phase things related to whatever subject we were having. We used a book called Electric Machinery(link further down), when dealing with three-phase in transformers, syncronous and asyncronous machines. Then we are using a book called Power Electronics for three-phase in, well.. power electronics :) It works pretty well :)

http://www.amazon.com/Electric-Machinery-A-E-Fitzgerald/dp/0073660094

What you are up against is economy of scale - there is no market for an inverter like that, so there are no low cost (mass produced) ones out there.

You may have better luck getting a 24 to 12V step down and then using a 12V Inverter - I know this is clunky, but step down efficiency is usually pretty good.

It's not going to be running at it's rating all the time, or even most of the time. The best and cheapest way to get a good rough estimate you can work with would be to get a Kill-a-Watt and see how much it draw at idle, and how much it peaks, and you can extrapolate your avg power and energy from there. If you could find something with a graphing feature that would be ideal, but I don't know any off hand.

Personally I love Practical Electronics for Inventors. It is massive and covers the basics as well as so many different subdisciplines that you can pursue. Also to my surprise it is only $20.

But more practical advice would be to research your university’s EE course path and read through the course syllabi. Find out what topics are covered in the core/required courses. See what electives you think you’d be interested in. Consider buying 1st edition (cheaper) versions of one or two or more of the textbooks that are used in those courses.

Get a practical electronics book right off the bat if you are into electronics. Something like this (or perhaps this):
https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Electronics-Inventors-Third-Scherz/dp/0071771336?ie=UTF8&keywords=electrical%20engineering&qid=1460691202&ref_=sr_1_1&s=books&sr=1-1

Also note the price-tag. This book is a gem.

University textbooks often don't have the right mindset to them and now that I've finished my degree and out in the workforce I'm realizing this. You want a book that will actually teach you how to build something. The field of EE also loves to apply a whole bunch of meanings to a few terms, for example "electricity" and "grounding", which can very easily confuse and mislead beginners. Practical books tend to address these things a bit better in my opinion. This applies to any field - I'm an Industrial Engineer (power, motors, control, safety) and also own a book of this type on my field - here in Canada we have Techs and Engineers. The Techs tend to learn how to actually do things, and these are the types of books they read.

Regarding textbooks: something I've only discovered recently is buying Eastern Edition textbooks as they're much cheaper and essentially the same thing.

Build your own transistor radios gently sweeps from ultra simplistic to quite deep and technical, in a comfortable breezy style.

Designing audio power amplifiers starts from the viewpoint that circuit design is serious engineering (not random "circuit bending" or trial-and-error hobby experimentation or "Maker Faire" futzing around) and you actually must use algebra and other mathematical tools to succeed. It introduces the modern hybrid-pi model of bipolar transistor operation, which is what actual practicing analog design engineers use in industry. Other books on the same topic, by other authors, omit this crucial element because, as the pull-string-to-speak Barbie Doll says, "Math is HARD!".

I recommend this book to get started.

Practical Electronics for Inventors, Fourth Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/1259587541/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_9lFwDbXMV8B57

It covers electronic basics and some more advanced components.

PCBs aren't too bad for hobbyist work; kicad is free, oshpark is cheap and fast. If you're planning anything at high frequency though, that's kind of a different level.

Be patient with yourself.

Is there stranded wire you could suggest for this application?

And yes I typically mount a junction box to a tree and use These or barrier strips inside the box. Then after running through ip68 strain reliefs I let the wire hang down to the ground and loosly zip tie the wire to said tree to help reduce some potential strain.

The whole system is kind of pieced togther throughout the years before I started using different types of wire and different types of connections everywhere. The old technician was very dilligent but our budget is very tight so he used whatever was available.

In an ideal world with a large budget I would tear everything out and build a single armored, hermetically sealed system that uses common connectors everywhere and is completely separate from the chairlift system, but that may not happen for a long time.

Oscilloscope kits are great. I just did this one a little while back. It was a lot of fun and handy for the price. They sell an acrylic case kit separately too.

kuman 3O-IUX5-O0TZ DSO 138 DIY Kit Open Source 2.4" TFT 1MSPS Digital Oscilloscope Kit with DIY Parts + Probe 13803K, SMD pre-soldered https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0195ZIURK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_LzIQDbP8TT31D

I also got this little signal generator kit to check the O-scope function.

Naravis Gelatinized Black Maca... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HM70CMY?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Elements of Electromagnetics: Matthew Sadiku

All the EM courses I took used this textbook and I found it to be pretty good. Theres PDF copies of it floating around as well

Why not these? https://www.amazon.com/Valley-Enterprises-UR-3-2-Wire-Splice/dp/B004EEMJS4 This is pretty standard for splicing telephone line and they are super quick.

The Art of Electronics - The EE bible
ARRL Handbook - Great for analog and RF circuit knowledge, but tons of general stuff too.
How to Diagnose and Fix Everything Electronic - For hands on, real world circuit diagnosis. I've been doing this a long time and I still learned a lot from this book. This book will save you a lot of magic smoke.

This. You can find decent starting irons on Amazon with solder. You might consider buying a few ”learn to solder" soldering kits from Amazon. They come with all the parts needed, and the instructions teach you how to assemble the components (you then have to solder them in the board it came with)

Iron set example: (good for basic /beginner projects) https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01H1IFT54/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1523313329&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=soldering+kit&dpPl=1&dpID=51rAt23O28L&ref=plSrch

Electronics kit beginner example (these are fun to do imo)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002LUAL6/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1523313465&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=elenco+soldering+kit&dpPl=1&dpID=519bj4ev-jL&ref=plSrch

I found this book extremely helpful- there are also questions at the end of each section.

Try looking at the used copies for better pricing.

Electrical Machines, Drives and Power Systems https://www.amazon.com/dp/933251853X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_NcoRBbEWEQ4WX

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Electronics-Paul-Horowitz/dp/0521370957

That will help with electronic circuits. For basic passive networks, any book on linear electrical circuits would be ok.

I would recommend Practical Electronics for Inventors. This book is awesome for all electronic concepts. Plenty of examples and working problems. Here’s a link on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Electronics-Inventors-Fourth-Scherz/dp/1259587541/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=electronics+book&qid=1567720843&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Art of Electronics is pretty comprehensive. Also the unofficial bible for electrical engineers
https://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Electronics-Paul-Horowitz/dp/0521809266?&linkCode=wey&tag=maggicom0e-20

I believe the field you want to look into is electromechanics. Although motors are a significant aspect of it, the more general umbrella term "electrical machines" also encompass things like mechanical relay switches, transformers, and other electro-magnetic devices. Its good that you have some background in control systems. I would advise you to also explore power electronics as a related discipline that is intimately related to motors and motor control.

This has be something that took a couple of years for me to wise up to. As an engineering student exposed to coursework heavy on the microelectronics side, till recently I never really encountered what I've come to realize is more toward the mechanical side of engineering. This book by Sen is the textbook for the electromechanics class at my school. As you explore other titles, keep in mind that books on fields and waves may appear similarly described but actually are presented with more emphasis on the generation and propagation of EM signals more relevant to microwave and communication engineering.

The off-the-shelf stuff can be pretty darn cheap...

https://www.amazon.ca/Countdown-Timing-Switch-Module-Display/dp/B07WRDN2P9/ref=sr_1_14?keywords=relay+with+timer+9v&qid=1571185836&sr=8-14

Hands-down, my favorite circuit theory text is "Fundamentals of Electric Circuits" by Alexander and Sadiku (https://www.amazon.ca/Fundamentals-Electric-Circuits-Charles-Alexander/dp/0078028221). It's one of the only books I reference from time to time as a working professional.

"The Art of Electronics" is a good option. They approach circuit design from a practical standpoint.

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Electronics-Paul-Horowitz/dp/0521809266/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

i got a siglent on Amazon for around 450 CAD, looks like its only 350 CAD now, not sure if that qualifies as 'cheap'.

https://www.amazon.ca/Siglent-Technologies-SDS1052DL-Digital-Oscilloscope/dp/B01J16NV54/ref=sr_1_5?crid=13EQT2UQO78N9&keywords=siglent+oscilloscope&qid=1571606292&sprefix=siglent+oscill%2Caps%2C177&sr=8-5

I remember E&M being difficult but less so if you have a good standing in calc3. People were over hyping the difficulty and I think its because of their weak calc 3 background.

I did well in calc 3 and had a good understandings of the theory which really helped in EM.

Elements of Electromagnetics is the textbook I used.

https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Electromagnetics-Electrical-Computer-Engineering/dp/0199321388/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1539537073&sr=8-5&keywords=electromagnetic+textbook


Didn't go to class and opted to self study utilizing this book. I thought it was more than sufficient. I didn't opt to watch any videos though.. so can't suggest anything there

You will discharge the battery you are drawing the 12V from causing it to wear out sooner. Here is an example of a DC-DC converter that should work fine in your application.

https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Electric-Machines-Power-Electronics/dp/111807887X/ref=nodl_?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-iphone-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=111807887X

I don't use a lot of reference material (outside of data sheets), but I do have the textbook from when I took circuits 1.

https://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Electric-Circuits-Charles-Alexander/dp/0078028221/ref=zg_bs_13698_11?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=N0HAN2GYR7V8RH48QT43

​

This is the newest version, I didnt use this version, I used the 4th edition, but It did a REASONABLE (not great) explanation of circuits, KVL, KCL, etc.

Are you looking for low-level info (ie how do motors and drives work) or higher level ( how do you take off the shelf units to combine them into a system)?

If the first, Electric Motors and Drives by Austin Hughes and Bill Drury. If the second, any drive manufacturer’s manuals should be more than sufficient.

https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU

Get yourself a copy of The Art of Electronics: by Horowitz & Hill.

Div Grad Curl and all that

The Art of Electronics

nope but i'm interested.

This book was also recomended : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0081010168/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

I'm asking someone to show me how to do the problem. So I know how to do it. I learned a lot from

ss0317 2 points 3 hours ago
You can solve this by inspection. The fundamental frequency is the lowest first order harmonic of all of your sin and cos terms.
100pi = 2pif0 -> f0 = 50Hz, or w0 = 100pi rads/s.
Period = 1/f0 = 20 ms.
Might I recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/Who-Fourier-Mathematical-Adventure-2nd/dp/0964350432/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1465228053&sr=8-3-fkmr0&keywords=who+is+joseph+fourier

You need to get a soldering iron (not a gun, a soldering gun is way to imprecise for this kind of work). I think you are going to have a difficult time getting the crimp terminals on the spades to properly fasten onto the piezo leads.
Just buy some el cheapo iron for under $20 from Amazon like this one https://www.amazon.com/Tabiger-Soldering-110V-Adjustable-Temperature-Welding/dp/B01H1IFT54/ref=sr_1_6?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1538839395&sr=1-6&keywords=Soldering+iron&dpID=51rAt23O28L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch