Hello all! I have posted on this forum a few times and check it frequently. Anyways I need some help. I have been trying to start my own bench but have been unsuccessful due to mostly money problems. All I have is the parts that my tech school gave me which is not much. I need you guys to point me in the right direction on how to get started with a tight budget. Oh and I have not decided which path to go when it comes to pics, robots, amps or whatever. I honestly love them all. It’s hard to stay motivated if you can only use demo software to build circuits.

 

Buy a bag of nails and get wood from old pallets!

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PIC programmer software, and PIC Tutorials at:
http://www.winpicprog.co.uk

 

I guess I had that comming. I need advice on ELECTRONIC PARTS! But thanks I guess.

 

Well, I started with batteries and parts salvaged from broken/discarted electronics (TVs, Radios, tape players, printers...). Built stuff from what I had on hand. Eventually got a multimeter, which helped a great deal. A battery and lamp to check continuity can only do so much...

Surplus is a good source of cheap parts and equipment, but you need to know what they are selling. Sometimes they'll put up new stuff at a very cheap price before they realize its worth a lot more. So of the surplus stuff isn't priced any better than buying new, or there are better option for the same price. Do some research.

A soldering iron and a multimeter is good enough to get by on, the rest depends on what you want to work on. You can build programmers for microcontrollers, have seen a few under $10. With the lack of cash, just have to be resourceful and creative. You obviously have a computer and internet, so money can't be that tight. Work on your priorities, make best use of what you do have. Set some goals for yourself.

I just got around to converting a spare bedroom for my electronics. Most important thing I'm lacking is a power supply. Wallwarts or batteries work well enough, and are usually what power the stuff I build.

 

I guess you have to pick something (or a few things) to focus on then? Or find something you need around the house, and build it!

What stuff do you have? You probably should have a breadboard or something like that.Go to www.glitchbuster.com because he is having a closing sale and buy a bunch of stuff and mess around with it. You can also get samples from companies like Maxim, Microchip, Fairchild, or National. Oh, and don't forget some wire. Maybe a soldering iron if you want to start soldering stuff right away.

Why don't you just buy some $30-$50 BEAM robot kit and solder it together or something? That's what I did. But I'm biased towards robots so...Oh if you do decide to go robots, I got some beginner stuff I have to unload lol.

 

Wow I didnt know you could get samples. Thanks alot for the info! I have a multimeter from school and a soldering iron as well. Oh and I am very interested in robots. Glitch buster web link is a no go.

 

Yea I need a power supply as well. I didnt know that building a microcontroller for under 10 dollars was possible. I would like to do that. What about software wont I need it as well?

 

sorry, it's www.glitchbuster.com - not the plural like I wrote earlier. *FIXED*

For microcontrollers (or robots with microcontrollers) you can start by using a BASIC stamp or a PICAXE which is geared to be simple, or something like the OOPic. These tend to have the software already there so all you need to do is plug them between your PC and you can program them.

If you implement a PIC yousrelf from scratch then you'll need a programmer- either an in-circuit programmer like MIcrochip's ICD2 or the INchworm, or a socket programmer where you use a socket and pull the entire uC out, plug it into the programmer socket which interfaces with the PC, program it, and then stick it back in your circuit. The software for the PICs can be free from Microchip's website as the student version (it just doesn't optimize your code after 30 days so that doesn't mean too much for us). There is also Atmel's AVRs which are some of Microchip's PIC's competitors- also from scratch.

Look at gtlichbuster's $10 El Cheapo programmer. I personally use Microchip's ICD2. Others here also use the INchworm. (which you can also get, along with other stuff at www.dipmicro.com)

You might also want to wander around www.sparkfun.com. THey got some parts, sensors, and other third party programmers (that's what you call the piece of hardware that sits between the PC and uC and lets you program and debug).

 

Sounds great! How about buying the basics like resistors and caps? Is there away to approach this? Say buy in bulk or just buy a starter kit? What would you suggest?

 

Radio Shack isn't very cheap and they don't carry a very large variety of things, but it's they only major retails store I know of that you can go into and pick up varried packs of resistors and caps. They sell 1/4watt resistor packs of a wide ranges of common values and grab bags of caps which include ceramic tant and electrolytics. They also sell transistors diodes and a few basic flip flop and logic gate IC's.
You may have to check a few local stores to find one that has a larger selection of components, it's getting harder and harder to find parts in their stores.

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Just get a bunch of different valued resistors, maybe a few more 4.7k than other kinds. Get 0.1uF and 0.01uF ceramic caps for bypassing, and other various values.

Just buy bulk (of mixed sizes).

 

http://www.futurlec.com/Components.shtml

For basic components, these value packs are good assortments of commonly used parts.

Chip prices are pretty good, and shipping isn't bad either.

 

Very nice value packs. I think I will buy from them. Thanks! Now all I need is a cheap variable power supply.

 

Since you say you want to Learn, BUILD ONE.

There is a Fairly Simple one on my site. Voltage and Current Regulated.
Interested, but Short on Money?
* I can possibly supply you with the circuit board for free.

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Thank you for the offer. I couldnt accept a free board but I thank you for the offer. I will check out your site and look for that power supply tutorial.