Hi
Not easy for me this one.Stuff on the internet gets disjointed and all over the place and I don't have a laser printer yet for proper study.I would like more info on the book like what level of guy it,s aimed at and the stuff it covers. I am fairly sharpe but not much on notation and advanced mathmatics.Beautiful Code is one of my treasured books and I would also like to build beautiful circuits.A scope I expect to be a bit tatty but repairing stuff is my thing and it gets you things cheaper. How can folk treat these beautiful devices like trash? Some of the scopes on Ebay look like they have been in a river and they discribe them as excellent.Are they demented would they accept a new one that looked like that?
My old Telequipment D83 looks like it has been in a river. In fact the ebay auction had "found in a barn" in the title. It's completely normal. If it's a dual trace and there's two traces and the triggering works it's probably ok enough to go and grab it. If you're daring, most older ones are pretty easy to fix if they're not completely trashed. Don't get them shipped - just about every postal service and courier can destroy the things. All of my equipment is scabby and old. My new scope I'm picking up this afternoon is circa 1966.
Maths isn't too heavy. If you can do basic algebra and arithmetic you'll be fine. if you can't, hit
http://www.khanacademy.org/ and go through the free lessons on there - they're all good.
As for reading material, you need something comprehensive and well written. That is NOT TAoE which serves better as a flick through reference. Couple of resources that are free:
http://jacquesricher.com/NEETS/http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/There are also illegitimate sources of official books but I will not discuss that further! But you get the idea.
if you want a good book, I tend to recommend the "Complete Electronics Self Teaching Guide With Projects" by Boysen, Kybett. However make sure you include the errata when you're reading it as there are a few confusing errors in it.
Noticed you're in the UK too. Have a look on gumtree.com for scopes and things - they come up pretty regularly for a good price. Got a Fluke 77 on there for £20 as well. Had to drive to some place in the sticks near Reading it get it though.