Where to Buy Basic Electronics/Arduino Kits

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  Gronk on 12/03/2017 - 14:17

  +4

  Sounds like you need a book of some sort, a relative grabbed me this one for Christmas - haven't built anything yet but it seems to be pretty comprehensive in terms of both components and explaining what you're actually doing.

  Practical Arduino

  • 

    justwaitingforamate on 15/03/2017 - 12:43

    Thanks for the tip on the book mate! Looks good so just impulse bought one on Ebay as I think this is a much better investment for me than more hardware ATM and will hopefully stop me from picking up bad habits (sloppy coding) from using many different coding examples and tutorials. I will still be looking at others but will try follow the book first as it would be consistent in terminology and code.

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  sillysam on 12/03/2017 - 14:50

  Element14, littlebird electronics, adafruit, aliexpress

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  [Deactivated] on 12/03/2017 - 17:29

  +1

  Element14 and RS for legitimate kits.
  Texas Instruments and Atmel online stores sometimes have deals.
  ebay junk is actually pretty good for the $2-3 you pay.

  Honestly I have fun out of $3 Arduino micro clone cheapies from China!

  One of the best information resources is the Adafruit or Sparkfun comments section for various components/products.
  43oh.com forum is pretty good for the TI launchpad, including the Arduino equivalent Energia.

  • 

    PurchaseAnxiety on 13/03/2017 - 09:59

    Thanks for the tips. I'll have a look at element14 and RS. Any good ebay sellers that you recommend or are they all pretty much the same?

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  jaybmate on 12/03/2017 - 20:09

  Once you start to know your way around electronics a bit, you will find eBay stuff shipped from China to be 5-10x cheaper than Jaycar/equivalent store prices, and cheaper than other places. eg 600-piece resistor set for $3.00. Quality is usually fine, only downside is shipping is about 3 weeks.

  There are kits of stuff on there too for great prices although i havent checked if they come with 'project instructions'.

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  [Deactivated] on 12/03/2017 - 23:12

  OP, can you give an example of a project you'd like to do, as microcontroller boards have changed things a bit from standard electronic project kits. eg lcd output, flashing LEDs, interfacing to an accelerometer etc.

  I would recommend doing some projects based on older simpler electronics first, maybe some 555 timer projects with LEDs, maybe some other counter ICs, comparators. It's important to learn Watts law early on, and microcontrollers are bad place for that. Blowing cheap LEDs is that place :)

  • 

    retiredfeline on 13/03/2017 - 10:06

    +1

    I used to go through a lot of one shot electrolytic capacitors. :)

    Elektor used to have a joke project now and then, e.g. NED (noise emitting diode) and 0V reference.

  • 

    fryandlaurie on 05/05/2017 - 01:36

    Sorry to hijack this comment but I was hoping you could help me pick components. I saw a recent raspberry pi zero w deal and I had this idea: I want to piece together a device that's connected to the internet which provides real time text to small screen. Eg train a traffic updates, RSS titles, tweets - according to scripts or button presses.

    Would rpi zero w be suitable here or a wireless enabled Arduino clone? Apart from headers, buttons and LCD what else would be required? Planning to program in python.

    Thanks

    • 

      [Deactivated] on 05/05/2017 - 10:38

      +1

      Pi Zero W would be ideal :) LCDs have simple enough interfaces for the Pi IO header. Parallel interfaces have more wires, say 13 for a simple one, but their signal timing is not fussy and the Pi is easily capable. There are even much more advanced LCD interfaces hacked and some nice cheap HDMI Pi screens in the worst case. Your Pi choice is an easy one, and do a lot of research on choosing a well documented suitable LCD for your needs.

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  justwaitingforamate on 15/03/2017 - 12:19

  There are a few branded starter kits on Gumtree ATM (jacar included). I just bought the http://www.banggood.com/UNO-Basic-Starter-Learning-Kit-Upgra…
  Which seems like a good buy but may come into similar issues as you have but Im just keen on a bit of a foundation in the basics so I can choose where to go from there.
  The main reason I am wanting to get into this is building a 10 sensor unit for temp warnings in my old Land Rover (Transfer case, diffs, engine ect). I know you can buy temp alarms for bugger all but wanted just one output screen for the lot. Plus I have many home automation ideas that I would have fun doing but no real urgency.

  Once you have a a grounding in Arduino is it a big leap to raspberry pi??
  Is there anyone here that started with no tech or coding knowledge? if so how long did it take to be able to get creative with it (design own concepts without following instructions)? yes I know its a how long is a ball of string question but thought I would ask.

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 15/03/2017 - 13:34

    +2

    Raspberry Pis are very different to Microcontrollers. Pis are missing most of the IO functionality of a dedicated MCU and the instruction timings are not predictable enough for many uses. The processor on the Pi was designed for a digital streaming set top box. You can still use a Pi for simple home automation, but they are terrible for interfacing with many complex sensors. Microcontrollers only reach about 300MHz, 16 - 100 more typical as they process instructions in a very regimented and predictable way. Microprocessors like the Pi has, use legitimate optimisations to achieve gigahertz+ speeds at the expense of consistency/predictability.

    • 

      justwaitingforamate on 15/03/2017 - 14:38

      Thanks Im starting to grasp the contrast between them. To be honest I had to read your post a few times to understand it (thats how untech I am) but I got there eventually.

      • 

        Gronk on 16/03/2017 - 12:59

        Raspberry Pi's are more geared towards software based solutions while Arduino is more geared towards prototyping and building electrical / electronic gadgets.

        There is some crossover in that there are a range of sensors and other things you can plug in to the Pi, but before you can do any of that you'll need at least some Linux knowledge and a general idea of how it interacts with hardware which will take a fair bit of time in itself if you're starting from zero.

        In a more general sense, if the project you want to make doesn't require a shiny front end (ie: web based control interface) so that the user can interact with it easily, then you're fine with an Adruino.

      • 

        justwaitingforamate on 16/03/2017 - 13:22

        @Gronk:
        Thanks Gronk, Ideally I want to build the 10 sensor unit for temp warnings ect to have a display that would have time ect then either display flashing light (and buzzer) displaying which sensor was out of set range and its status. Also to be able to scroll through all temps when needed. Does that sound like more of a RPi area or could you still run that kind of display with the Arduino? ideally it would be great to have a touch screen for it but Im pretty sure that would = many more months of frustration for me Im assuming??

      • 

        retiredfeline on 16/03/2017 - 14:05

        +1

        @QLDtightarse: If you want more than LED indicators, buzzers and push buttons, you can get LCD displays which are Arduino shields (add-on boards). There will be code libraries to interface with them so you don't have to sweat writing that code.

        Have a look at projects published on the Internet to get an idea of what people have done and what hardware they have used.

      • 

        Gronk on 16/03/2017 - 15:14

        @QLDtightarse:

        For the sensor unit you've mentioned I'd go with Arduino, but I'd probably start off with something very basic rather than go straight for the 10 sensor unit. Have a look around sites like Instructables for mini projects to get yourself up to speed with the process of connecting things to an arduino and interacting with them.

      • 

        justwaitingforamate on 16/03/2017 - 16:35

        @greenpossum:
        Cheers thanks, Im just having a look into them now but unsure of their capability's and limitations. I suppose all will be reveled in time with a bit more reading eh.

      • 

        justwaitingforamate on 16/03/2017 - 16:35

        q

      • 

        justwaitingforamate on 16/03/2017 - 16:37

        dam duplicate posts, cant delete so Ill put this here instead

      • 

        justwaitingforamate on 16/03/2017 - 16:40

        @Gronk:
        Cheers Gronk, yes I plan on working my way up to it as I want to do it right, that and I wouldnt know where to begin. So hello world and LEDs for me for now.

      • 

        retiredfeline on 16/03/2017 - 17:08

        @QLDtightarse: Start small, say one sensor and one LED, then gradually improve it.

  • 

    retiredfeline on 15/03/2017 - 13:58

    +1

    With Arduino you are programming for the bare metal, as they say. What you write is all that runs on the microcontroller.

    With the RPi, you normally run an OS, often Linux, and then your program runs on top of the OS. This means that while access to the bare metal is mediated by the OS, complex tasks, like interacting with the Internet, are easier because the software already exists and you use them as building blocks. RPi was originally designed for learning programming with some hardware interfacing.

    There is a lot of overlap area where either one could do the job. However for the kind of use you envisage, I would start with Arduino.

    There is however no getting around having to learn coding, and some electronics.

    Here's an article I just came across on experiences with RPi.

    http://lifehacker.com/what-i-ve-learned-from-tinkering-with-…

    • 

      justwaitingforamate on 15/03/2017 - 14:43

      Thank you very much, that gives a good overview. I am very keen on learning electronics but coding I will have to force myself until it starts to get more tangible for me.

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  justwaitingforamate on 16/03/2017 - 13:26

  Also found this book in PDF, its more geared to absolute nuubies like me to get an easy intro as the book you have (and I bought) is great but sounds like it assumes some knowledge. With both I think I may have a better chance at getting somewhere.

  http://www.honfablab.org/wordpress/alexandria/technology/get…