where do the smart people come from?

[Boaterguy]

I have lately been getting int o building circuitry, i built that water- switch and have been working on breadboard stuff ever since, using a fishing box full of electronics from my uncles university days.
I went to radio shack to pick up some transistors, resistors, diodes and what not, to build an amplifier circuit. When I got theer the people were occupied and it took about half an hour just to get service, more than just the "one sec" the guy told me, but that's beside the point. when i finally got help, i told him i had a pretty specific list and asked him if he could help me, he didn't answer.
I asked him for a 470uF 16V capacitor, beside not knowing what a capacitor was, he couldn't spell ferrad in his little search box thing. I asked him if he could help me with anything else showing him the list which included PNP TIP 30 and NPN TIP 30 transistors, an N1971 diode, and an N24401 transistor, he told me he had never heard of a transistor, and pointed me to a push button switch.
My question is this : if nobody understands the technology we have, and there is no community to support the people who want to learn, who did the smart people learn from and where did they get their start?

[NorCalZ71]

I worked for a radio shack for about 2 years. They are a bunch of high school dropouts that don't kno any more then how to sell cell phones and text message. I left as soon as I could. I'm now attending ITT tech and I only shop @ frys for components

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[Boaterguy]

what's a fry's?
the closest place that sells anything now is 30 minutes away, not being able to drive makes that quite a difficulty to get to.

[NorCalZ71]

Frys is an electronics store they do a lot of high end stuff and they have become more main stream lately but they still sell all the little components and tools like that. They are scattered all around california I don't know where else. Frys.com they should have a store locater

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[Boaterguy]

probably not any in canada

[egneg]

Back in the early 70's Radio Shack was pretty good for electronic stuff. Like hardware stores now they sell everything but what they should.

[NativePaul]

I asked him for a 470uF 16V capacitor, beside not knowing what a capacitor was, he couldn't spell ferrad in his little search box thing.

You can't really blame him for that, you cant spell Farad either.

I'm not an electronics engineer by any means, but I learnt the basics at school in science class and my dad filled in the knowledge gaps a little when I got home, If I had been greatly interested in it, I could have taken one of a number of electronics courses offered at college depending on the difficulty and specialisation I wanted, I could have then followed it up with a university masters course to PHD (doctorate) level, I don't know what the education system is like in Canada, but over here there's no shortage of ways to learn for those that are really interested. The UK is a service based economy and a large part of that is education, foreign students put billions of pounds into our economy every year, they make it pretty easy to get a UK student visa so you can come to the UK to learn if you are serious and don't have the facilities where you are,

[Boaterguy]

i'm 15 so I can't really ge over there easily, especially with my parents.
I guess I can't spell farad, but he didn't know what a capacitor was, barely understood what a volt was, and he works in a shop that sells electronics?
bell bought them out, so bye bye self education, I guess i'll wait 4 years so the teachers can explain to the students why 2+2=4 and then we can move on to subtraction.
but back to my original question : at 15, where can i get a start on electrical engineering (ie. capacitors, transistors, diodes, and more complicated things and making circuits with them). i've downloaded virtual breadboard but it won't work without j# which refuses to open in .exe form... KMN.

[Punisher 67]

Hey young fella most larger cities have great electronics components stores where you can purchase just about anything , they probably can mail you the components if you do the transaction over the phone - You probably will need your parents so supply a credit card number if thats the route you need to go or just get a ride there .

Back in the early 70's Radio Shack was pretty good for electronic stuff. Like hardware stores now they sell everything but what they should.

I remember those days - I am surprised I can still get solder there , our Radio shacks have been relabeled to being called the source

[Boaterguy]

yeah, by by radio shack.
that's where my first rc boat came from, it's along story but i ripped the pcb out of a car and made a fan boat.

[Flying Scotsman]

"The Source" in Canada as once was known as Radio Shack, is a sham of the original distributor who had the rights to the name, "The Source" is just another outlet for a huge well known big box store. In Vancouver we have quite a few specialty elecronic stores and the staff know their stuff.

Douggie

[Boaterguy]

I sure hope one moves in closer to my place, something i can bike to, it just feels so stupid to spend 10$ in gas to pick up 5$ worth of components.

[de-pro]

I dont know where you live in Ontario but this is where I shop for electronics parts:

http://www.sayal.com/

[Boaterguy]

stittsville, about 30 min outside of ottawa, reset is my best bet.

[siberianhusky]

Active Electronics

(613) 728-3586
1465 Merivale Rd
Ottawa, ON K2E5N9

If they are like the one in Toronto they have most anything you need,