About

LearnTronics Today

LearnTronics is an actively maintained electronics-learning site. First launched in 2003, it is intended to help novices, students, hobbyists, makers, technicians, and small manufacturers learn both the theory and the practical side of electronics.

The site combines Tutorials, Components, Parts, Projects, schematics, equations, 3D models, software and carefully selected electronics learning and reference links. The material continues to be revised and expanded for modern browsers while preserving useful original material from the site's early years.

A simple idea connects much of LearnTronics: Component → Part → Application. A general component can be studied first, followed by a specific real-world part, and then by a project showing how that part is actually used.

The goal is not merely to collect specifications. LearnTronics is intended to help explain what electronic parts do, why circuits behave as they do, how to read and build them, and how electronic ideas become useful working projects.

History of LearnTronics

LearnTronics was conceived by Frank Davies, founder of Trillium University, as a branch of practical learning. The original site began in 2003 as a free electronics-education project and has remained part of Frank's collection of technical and educational work.

Frank first dabbled in electronics as a youngster, building a crystal radio, motors, and a thermionic generator. In high school he studied electronics and was employed by Don Jones, then Chief Engineer of KGY Radio Station in Olympia. Don taught him how to make printed circuits. In college Frank studied transistor manufacturing and logic.

Years later he teamed with William (Metaldude) Sweeney and another fellow to manufacture electronic circuits under the trade name ROBOT. Among those products were the ASSM — Audio Simplex System Module, used mostly in Burger King restaurants, and the µ-Amp guitar preamplifier.

Frank enjoys all aspects of electronics work, from analog and digital design through fabrication and production. He is also associated with Delphi O.E.M. Co. and Autogate NW.

Old and New Technology Together

Some LearnTronics pages preserve technologies such as VRML because they are part of the site's history and remain useful teaching examples. Newer pages also use modern browser technologies, current electronic-design tools, interactive 3D presentation, and updated reference material. The older work is preserved as history; it is not the limit of what LearnTronics is today.

Enjoy, and learn.

Sincerely,
The staff of LearnTronics

This is a screenshot of an early VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) rendering of an ASSM. The model was still under construction when the image was captured, so not all components and features are shown. The unit used two daughter circuit boards connected to a motherboard, with mounting features and three connectors, housed in a standard-size electrical box with a face plate.