Starting out with electronics.

[r0jaws]

I'm an electronics Biff, but am starting to learn.

I have no bits and pieces with which to practice on, and am looking to get a "starter kit" to get me going.

I have had a bit of a nose around and found a BIN on eBay HERE which looks OK to me.

Are there any hints and tips out there for a budding electronics hobbyist?

 

[Justin]

maplins do some excellent starter kits m8y

 

[davideo]

So do CPC

And more importantly they both supply full instructions with the kits

Dave G

 

[Zetr0]

@r0jaws

are you looking for a kit to learn with or to stock up on?

 

[Merlin]

maplins do some excellent starter kits m8y

They do rather a nice PIC programmer; that could be a worthwhile starter project, as the finished article is most useful.

 

[r0jaws]

Let me clarify, I'm looking for a basic collection of electronic bits and pieces so that I can assemble small components or make mods as and when I see something interesting and feel I could have a crack at it.

As an example, I was looking to knock together a composite mod for my ZX81, and had found a couple of methods used by others to achieve this but I had no basic bits and pieces with which to crack on.

I'm also looking to learn a bit more about the theory of electronics as well as the practical side of assembling from instructions. I'm looking around my local area for any adult courses that might be going on and doing some reading in the background to start educating myself properly.

I've seen a few "starter kits", on Maplins and eBay but am not sure if they represent good value or not and just wanted the opinions of the venerable audience on here before committing.

 

[Justin]

from r0jaws

"feel I could have a crack at it."

"I'm looking around my local area for any adult courses that might be going on"

2 x fnar, snigger

 

[r0jaws]

oh:

LMAO!
I should have known better than to say such things in your presence.

 

[jvdbossc]

kit

kit

In need one to :huh: soldering is not a big problem, but some solutions suggest here, required me to go to a friend for a resitor, or the monochrome composyte hack was never done because of missing resitors oh:

They come in kits for about 20 eu, you can have almost any value multiple times..

 

[Zetr0]

I decided to put-together a complete setup of components, using www.futurlec.com


Including postage it came to $100 (£61.32) - the kit includes


3,900 1/4 watt Carbon Resistors

78 different values of (from 1 ohm to 10M ohm)
between 50 - 100 units of each value
​

180 Radial Electrolytic Capacitors

20 different values of (from 1uF to 10000uF)
between 5 - 20 units of each value
​

490 Ceramic Capacitors

34 different values of (from 0.001uF to 0.1uF & 1pF to 820pF )
between 5 - 20 units of each value
​

With elctronics, you need patience, not just in making the projects but also waiting to get the components - if however you dont mind stocking comnponents that might not use straight away then stock up.

The above (with exception to the ceramic) is pretty much what I have in stock, although I have probably twice this again in SMD components.

for learning electronics theres a lot of help out there,

The Electronics Club is a good as start as any, and to start off you could look at this Beginers Kit from eBay.co.uk (£18.99 BIN + £2.75 PnP)

(a little about the seller, I have done a lot of business with BobsBitBox on ebay in the past, he is very professional and if you have any queries he will certainly help)

I would suggest to anyone to learn the basics before treading ground in either MicroControllers or Logic Chips.