500-in-1 Electronics Kits? 125
Oneamp asks: "I'm interested in a '500-in-one' type electronics kit. Amazon lists a few, but I've seen some user reviews that maybe they are not all they're cracked up to be. Most of the complaints seem to be of the 'Manual sucks' variety. Nevertheless, I'm sold on the idea. Can any of you, who have had actual experience with any of these kits, recommend a good one?"
give it a try (Score:4, Interesting)
I had a few of these as a kid, and they were almost certainly not disappointing... It makes me want to buy one right now!
Ditto
Haven't seen one of those for over 20 years! (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't know if they are "worth it" as far as parts are concerned, but if a kid is wanting to play with and learn about basic electricity and electronics, it can be a good toy. In my case, my father worked on electronics and I grew up calculating resistor values by color and reading schematics.
Kits like these might be a good way to gauge the interest of a young person in electronics. If they really enjoy the kit, then it's probably going to be worthwhile to invest in more serious projects, books, and so on.
It used to be you could buy all kinds of chips and components from radio shack to build your own stuff. Over time a lot of those have fallen by the wayside. It's still possible to get some of them, but not like it used to be. Instead, I find Fry's Electronics to have all kinds of kits and things to build, like Radio Shack used it.
The last time I had a kit... (Score:3, Interesting)
True come are not electronic but the basics are there. There are big and easy to debug. Then get to into a TTL or Analog IC Manual. You can build from parts timers, radios, computers (from ALU and gates)
After all that start into computers like Z80 or V30. Look at embedded controlers.
After all all of this is just build blocks like legos!
They need to have a sit-down with their marketing (Score:3, Interesting)
Anyway, I had one of those old stick-wire-in-spring kits back in the day, and it claimed a whopping 50 projects, ranging from basic instruction on concepts like resistance on up to basic crystal and transistor radio. A bit basic in terms of theory, but frighteningly close in scope to the hands-on experience I got while earning my degree in EE years later.
If you're a bit more hardcore, you can probably do better with some modular breadboard (you can buy build-it-yourself kits that include complete instructions for the power supply), a good electronics textbook, a multimeter, and a local electronics hobby shop. Avoid Radio Shack like the plague, and ask the EE department at your local university if they have any recommendations for where to buy discrete parts.
Re:200-in-1 kit, link and review (Score:2, Interesting)
I actually found an old exercise book in a closet, from back when I played with that thing when I was 8 years old. I can't believe I was inventing circuits like this:
Two transistor oscillator -> third transistor amplifier to boost output to CMOS capable level -> 4000 series JK flip-flop -> two LEDs from complimentary outputs. Got a decision to make? push the button, the LEDs would toggle back and forth at ~1KHz. Let go of the button, you've got a decision. The following circuit in the notebook used the second half of the JK for two possible outcomes.
I also remember the thing hitting a lot of different subject areas - audio amplifiers (microphone in, speaker out), AM radio, and something using a photocell where the kit would let out a horrible shriek when there was no ambient light which I likely hid in my parents' bedroom. Good times.
Sure enough, I'm an electrical engineer now. I blame that kit