Not really sure where to ask this, as even the Google answers are very confusing for me.
I’m interested in DIY consumer(?) electronics. For e.g I saw a video of someone buying a used tablet screen, a display board, and made himself a little portable monitor. Or I have a retro handheld, and some people open theirs up, and replace the speaker in it. They buy the actual little tiny speaker from China and put it in themselves.
This stuff is cool as hell how do I learn how to do this?? I know I can look up project guides and recreate them, but I’d eventually like to be able to do my own things (like if I want to make some kind of soldering change?) And I assume that requires more in depth knowledge.
I should also add I have absolutely 0 prior knowledge about electronics.
YouTube teardown videos are a great resource to begin learning how things work. If you approach it as a sort of “theory in application” you will eventually pick up on what components tend to be used in what sorts of builds, and perhaps even why or how they do what they do.
Frequently these videos gloss over the finer points of electronics design, of throw around terms that.they don’t often explain. Still, once you have a feel for what you know you don’t know, you can delve a little deeper and look for tutorials on how THOSE concepts work in practice.
AvE’s BOLTR videos and Big Clive’s teardown-with-schematic and repair videos are high quality, if a bit saucy sometimes. Great Scott does some good videos on practical circuit design. There are so many other electronics and electrical edutainment creators on YouTube, it’s impossible to list them all, but some of the notable channels would also include Electroboom, PlasmaChannel, Andreas Speiss, Mark Furneaux, and to a lesser extent (for electronics projects) Jeff Geerling and Everything Smart Home
Outside of the YouTube sphere, older hobbyist guides in ham radio are a good resource for learning about RF transmission and antenna design. Likewise old textbooks from electrical & electronics school programs just about litter public libraries and used bookstores. Principles of Electrical Engineering is a classic, and any used edition would be valuable for learning the basic theory for circuit design.
The good thing about electronics projects is the materials are cheap and there are plenty of tutorials out there. You can make a modest investment in a 1000 In One Projects kit and start building as you learn. Sometimes its easiest to just dive and fail a few times, popping off a few caps or smoking some resistors along the way. (Or, just watch Electroboom do it for free)
e: typos
Remember to have fun with it!
Bigclivedotcom is the GOAT. I also recommend Ben Heck and Voidstarlab for electronic project ideas/edutainment
I also want to give a shout out to the YouTube channel “Borderline OCD” as someone who works in small electronics, he’s one of the few I don’t cringe at when he’s soldering. So if you want a good example for soldering, he should be high on anyone’s list.