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A begginer to circuitry

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Hello there, this is my first post. I'm 17n years old and I'm really interested in circuitry. I have ordered quite a bit of tools and parts for home. I am also taking a class at a local college (that my high school is paying for :D ) called Digital and Computer Electronics, and I love it.

The class is almost over and we messed around with the BASIC stamp 2 microprocessor today. I had a lot of fun.


Would you guys recommend this starter micro controller kit?
**broken link removed**

Anything that I should know?

Thank you for your time.
 
I can only offer you general advice.

A. There are many ways to learn the subject matter. The kit you propose appears to be relatively complete and has lots of extra things that can be ordered to extend the learning. I presume that the manufacturer has worked the bugs out of the kit and various options. Your approach will allow you to focus on the subject at hand and not get bogged down in obtaining parts, construction techniques and lots of other problems. It clearly isn't the lowest cost approach and I presume you have the means to pay for it.

B. Another approach could be to start with a PIC or similar microcontroller and assemble your own system with discrete components. The cost is likely to be lower and in contradiction to the previous paragraph there would be many more things to be learned - you'd learn how to obtain parts, assemble them and how to solve "lots of other problems." This approach might work for some however it might also result in significant frustration for many - frustration to such an extent that they simply give up.

To sum up it seems like a good choice for you. Realize that you are not going to learn everything however this might be just the right sized challenge for you - so that you succeed, have fun and the result is an appetite and enthusiasm to continue. At the right time you must take the time to learn more basic things if you intend to persue a career in electronics. When the time comes it might feel like you are taking steps backward - because after all, you've started part way up the learning curve. Remember that you need a good foundation - the basics are the foundation.
 
Welcome. When I was your age, I confided that I wanted to "get into electronics" but hadn't made much progress yet. Two friends offered advice that I still hear today. One simply said (with great emphasis and some irritation at my hesitation) "well then, GET INTO Electronics!!" and the other said, "get as much education as you can, it will pay off". Good advice, so I pass these on to you in hopes that you keep going.

In my own experience, I started with a 8085 microcomputer development kit way back many years ago but also played around with an Altair 8800 and PDP11 minicomputers too. The most benefit was the Z80 computer that I learned to do assembly coding on. Using assembler can be a pain, everything is hard, but boy you sure learn exactly how the computer works. So, for that reason, I suggest that, while a BASIC stamp is not a bad start, I would rather see you working with a language that is more connected to the machine than BASIC, like assembler or perhaps C+. Trouble is, it will be tougher to get started as these tend to be more complicated than BASIC but at your age it is a reasonable challenge. With that all in mind, I also recommend starting with a microcontroller development kit. My choice would be the STK500 kit from Atmel ($83 at Mouser), based on the AVR series of micros.

PS: loved your work in Knight Rider
 
Wow, 17 and in Knight Rider.. He is faking the name or his age. :)

The STK500 is a nice programmer, there is also a Dragon board I like better and $50 when I got mine.

Mind you it is probably not a starter programmer, but less money and does a lot more chips. The jumpers will drive you nuts..

Just another option.

Also, if you go the Microchip (PIC) way, see www.blueroomelectronics.com for tons of nice kits and projects.


I find the Atmel chips a lot less work, but still lean the pic way most of the time due to all the free compilers.
 
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