| ▲ | nerdsniper 4 days ago | |
I had RadioShack's "ScienceFair"-brand (co-branded with RadioShack) "Advanced Electronics Lab - 300 projects" kit when I was very young. https://www.ebay.com/p/2254341989 I just found it again yesterday at a very old-school electronics shop. The kind of delightful place packed wall-to-wall & floor-to-ceiling with stuff where each category (test equipment, passive & active components, motors, motor drivers, audio, video, hobby-everything) is either super well organized (passive "jellybean" components) or a giant pile of eclectic offerings stretching across 40 years of technological history (test equipment). I bought it for nostalgia, and I might fix it up or even upgrade it to give to my niece when she's old enough. But looking through it confirmed something I'd long suspected: 1) Things like LRC circuits don't make sense without an oscilloscope. I have one now but REALLY wish I had one as a kid, even a crazy-cheap incredibly low quality one would have been amazing. 2) The book was VERY poorly written, seemed rushed and minimally thoughtful - there was no real explanation of fundamentals that could be used to drive creativity and exploration. I wish I'd had a book which explained concepts better. I didn't start understanding electronics in any interesting way until I took calculus-based electromagnetic physics in college. Using the kit was mainly fun for me to blow up old-school red LED's. It gave me familiarity with electronics schematic symbols, breadboards, and some very basic tinkering. That young childhood familiarity made me much more comfortable around electrical pursuits throughout my life. | ||
| ▲ | Animats 4 days ago | parent [-] | |
> Things like LRC circuits don't make sense without an oscilloscope. I have one now but REALLY wish I had one as a kid, even a crazy-cheap incredibly low quality one would have been amazing. Yes. Especially since oscilloscopes now start at $43 at WalMart.[1] $36 on Amazon. There are $12 oscilloscopes on Alibaba. Bandwidth is low, but plenty for audio, motors, etc. Here's an electronics kit recommended on Reddit.[2] That plus a cheap scope and you can do most of the basics. All for under $100. [1] https://www.walmart.com/ip/Osdhezcn-Pocket-Size-Oscilloscope... [2] https://www.reddit.com/r/AskElectronics/comments/1k06mpz/sho... | ||