I’m starting school for my EE. I’m currently a Journeyman electrician. Any advice on ho

I will be brief. I love the science of what we do. It's been my life's work. I have physically wired everything from skyscrapers to classic cars. Now I want the education needed to understand our field to the full extent of my capabilities. I live in PHX,AZ and I'm enrolled at GCC to begin courses in the spring. ( depending upon student loans)

Go to www.arrl.org and buy a copy of the ARRL Handbook. This is published by the American Radio Relay League. The Handbook covers fundamentals of electronics as applied to radio, as well as introducing modern approaches. The fundamentals will look familiar to your electrician's mind, and are a good starting point for your journey into the more abstract ideas you will encounter in your classes. Extend your physical skills by building simple radio receivers and other simple electronics projects.

If you haven't already, really learn the fundamentals of complex numbers and of calculus, until you are at ease with them. In your classes, you will see the fundamentals from the ARRL Handbook re-formulated using complex numbers. Wikipedia is excellent on mathematics. Morse and Feshbach, "Methods of Theoretical Physics", Part I and Part II, are excellent reference books with good explanations, though much is more advanced than you will need initially.

You have practical, physical knowledge most of your classmates lack. This is a big advantage; I speak from experience.

Finally, three interrelated things to cogitate on: The square root of minus one, is a ninety-degree rotation. e^(pi*sqrt(-1)) +1 = 0. Three-phase power lines transmit both power and rotation (credit to Nicola Tesla and to Charles Proteus Steinmetz).

Hi Martin,
I disagree with Peter. Don't jump into one particular area or one particular textbook that has very specific focus. I suggest you start out with basic EE courses and build from there. The problem with jumping into one area means that you may lack knowledge in other areas that could be important or interesting to you. Focusing on one narrow area may be great to start a career, but it will hurt in the long run when technology changes and you don't have the general background to follow it.Also, the book that Peter recommends, the ARRL Handbook, is intended as a reference for people in the field, not as a textbook for someone learning the field.

Good luck with your EE education!
-Bob

I agree with Bob Zeidman, don't jump into one specific area too soon. I recommended the ARRL Handbook specifically for its chapter on Electrical Fundamentals, as part of a general background in electronics. This chapter is of particular use for Martin, to extend Martin's existing practical electrician's knowledge of DC and AC circuits to electronics, without needing to first understand complex numbers and calculus. The Wikipedia article on Electrical_reactance discusses some of the same material, first without complex numbers and calculus, then using complex numbers and calculus, so readers can compare the two approaches. Martin, if you already understand the fundamentals of complex numbers and calculus, my advice is less relevant.