Electronics Starter Kit

street

Hi all, just wondering if you could suggest an electronics starter kit that would be suitable for an newbie to play around with. Would something like this be a good choice: http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoStarterKit ?

Thanks for any help

Cork24

You could buy Bread Boards in Maplin..

and build your self a Half Adder.. and work up to a Full Adder,, You can find step by step guides on the internet, the bread Board would be the dearest part the LED's cost around 50 cent i think the logic gates cost the same aswell.

street

Cork24 wrote: »

You could buy Bread Boards in Maplin..

and build your self a Half Adder.. and work up to a Full Adder,, You can find step by step guides on the internet, the bread Board would be the dearest part the LED's cost around 50 cent i think the logic gates cost the same aswell.

I'll look into that Cork24, thanks. I'd like to do some hardware programming aswell though. The the arduino kit has a fair few components so maybe just buy it and then pick up some extra bread boards and logic gates?

Cork24

The main thing is that you understand what's happening in what your building and programming, if you can understand why that goes their and it does this etc etc.. You will be sorted, I seen so many people just do things cos they have to but fail to really understand why their doing it.

street

Cork24 wrote: »

The main thing is that you understand what's happening in what your building and programming, if you can understand why that goes their and it does this etc etc.. You will be sorted, I seen so many people just do things cos they have to but fail to really understand why their doing it.

Oh I completely agree with you. Look, I'm new to this area so just looking to start off on the right foot. I read that the Half-Adder is the basic building block of all arithmetic circuits, so I'll definitely be exploring that. It sounds important Appreciate the advice mate : ]

Fox Mulder

I bought an Arduino a couple of months ago and I would definitely recommend it. If your looking for a quick and fun way to control your projects I find it ideal. Previously the only experience I had with microcontrollers was with the PIC which for me(casual enthusiast) was tedious as I spent most of my time looking through the data sheets trying to fill out registers. The arduino has hundreds of libraries available online as well as lots of support.

I think radionics is probably the cheapest place to get an arduino when you factor in shipping costs and they also have next day delivery. Personally I think its best to buy a book and buy all the components separately that you expect to use instead of buying a kit as they always come with loads of stuff that you never seem to use.

street

Fox Mulder wrote: »

I bought an Arduino a couple of months ago and I would definitely recommend it. If your looking for a quick and fun way to control your projects I find it ideal. Previously the only experience I had with microcontrollers was with the PIC which for me(casual enthusiast) was tedious as I spent most of my time looking through the data sheets trying to fill out registers. The arduino has hundreds of libraries available online as well as lots of support.

I think radionics is probably the cheapest place to get an arduino when you factor in shipping costs and they also have next day delivery. Personally I think its best to buy a book and buy all the components separately that you expect to use instead of buying a kit as they always come with loads of stuff that you never seem to use.

Yeah I reckon I'll pick up the Arduino Kit, go through all the projects and take things from there. Hopefully it'll give me a good hands-on foundation in electronics and get me used to the various components. Then after this I could buy a book and separate components like you suggest.

I have a question.. Whats the main difference between programming the mcu on the board it comes with vs programming it on a breadboard? Convenience? Thanks for the radionics info btw, I'll probably check out Maplin aswell.

Fox Mulder

street wrote: »

Yeah I reckon I'll pick up the Arduino Kit, go through all the projects and take things from there. Hopefully it'll give me a good hands-on foundation in electronics and get me used to the various components. Then after this I could buy a book and separate components like you suggest.

I have a question.. Whats the main difference between programming the mcu on the board it comes with vs programming it on a breadboard? Convenience? Thanks for the radionics info btw, I'll probably check out Maplin aswell.

The arduino has a programmer for the avr or atmel chip. If you buy a PIC you will need a programmer unless its a development board. The programmer has some circuitry to convert between the usb and spi interfaces.

street

Fox Mulder wrote: »

The arduino has a programmer for the avr or atmel chip. If you buy a PIC you will need a programmer unless its a development board. The programmer has some circuitry to convert between the usb and spi interfaces.

Ah ok cool, thanks very much for the help Fox : ]

street

Quick question guys.. I'm buying some logic gates to practice building adders. I need a 74LS86, 74HCT08 and 74HCT32. I picked up the 74HCT08 in Maplin (all they had), and the model number on it is SN74HCT08N. Asked for a 74HCT08 AND gate chip and thats what I was given. I'm looking for the other two on radionics and am just wondering if it matters what it says before and after the main model number e.g. SN, N, CD, E etc? Is it the same chip, just different manufacturers?

longhalloween

You should be ok. Generally the letters indicate features in the chip though the function is usually the same. Refer to the datasheet of that IC for more info.

street

longhalloween wrote: »

You should be ok. Generally the letters indicate features in the chip though the function is usually the same. Refer to the datasheet of that IC for more info.

Thanks longhalloween, will do.