I've got a friend who has been at this since learning in TV repair shops in the 1950s. His emphasis is always on fast turn-around. He doesn't believe in slowly turning on things with old electrolytic capacitors, for example. I've learned quite a bit from him.
I've learned not to fear B+, but to give very healthy respect to anything more than 500 volts. (Only use 1 hand, keep the other behind you, always have a safety partner, etc)
I've learned to hate Silver Mica capacitors. I've learned how to track down the bad ones that cause the "crashing" sound in old radios.
I've learned that in very old electronics, you can let smoke out, and things will still work. I've gotten good at seeing where the smoke comes from.
You'll definitely need to learn to solder. I'd suggest starting with something like an Arduino starter kit to get a sense of how components actually interact.
But remember, if something is dead, you can't really make it worse. (Just be careful not to make yourself worse along the way)
I've learned not to fear B+, but to give very healthy respect to anything more than 500 volts. (Only use 1 hand, keep the other behind you, always have a safety partner, etc)
I've learned to hate Silver Mica capacitors. I've learned how to track down the bad ones that cause the "crashing" sound in old radios.
I've learned that in very old electronics, you can let smoke out, and things will still work. I've gotten good at seeing where the smoke comes from.
You'll definitely need to learn to solder. I'd suggest starting with something like an Arduino starter kit to get a sense of how components actually interact.
But remember, if something is dead, you can't really make it worse. (Just be careful not to make yourself worse along the way)