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Absolute newb, so just a few questions

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IWT

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I know there is a beginners FAQ, and I will read that, but I just have a few questions to get me started.

1) Is there any difference between American and British electronics. Reason I ask is I noticed several American/Canadian posters, but didn't see any British ones, and I'm from Scotland. Just before I make this forum my home.

2)I bought a basic electronic tool kit, comprising of a soldering iron, multimeter, screwdrivers, wire strippers etc. The whole kit only cost £9.99, and so I know I'm not getting the absolute best quality tools, but I don't want to spend loads of cash, just incase I don't get into electronics/robotics.
Now, the soldering iron comes without a stand, so I know I need to buy one. However, the iron (when at it's hottest I suppose) emmits smoke from the whole rod, even without touching the metal with anything. Is this normal, or do I have a faulty product? The smoke is rather smelly. ( I can post a pic of the iron if that helps)

3) Is there any project you would recommend me to start with? In my local electrical shop, they have robot kits, and other "basic" circuit board type kits, but am unsure of the skill needed. I don't want to try them if they are aimed at 8 year olds (I'm 25). I have absolutely no knowledge of electronics, but am fairly intelligent, so will hopefully pick the basics up quickly. Again, I know there is an FAQ, and I'll get round to reading it all, I just don't want to do loads of reading, and then find that I don't like the practical aspect of electronics.


I think that's all my questions just now.
Thanks for reading, and I look forward to reading your answers.
 
Some of those kits based at the 8 year olds are not so silly to start with.

A good start would be with a few resistors as you will need a range of them for all projects, and a handful of leds.

There is a lot to be said for a optical indication within electronics, and i still add leds to circuits today, for test purposes and when simulating a function.

Some vero board would come in handy too.

Then look for a simple kit that will allow you to construct a project of interest.

Far to many jump into electronics thinking they can dive in the deep end and tackle a major project first up, only to find it didnt work and have no knowledge or skill to trouble shoot why it failed.
Then lose interest, little successes teach far more than big failures.

Pete.
 
Thanks for the reply Pete.

Yeah, I bought a few of the basic kits i.e. a voice changer, an LED dice, an infrared beam kit and a reaction tester kit.
Hopefully they are, as you say, basic enough to allow me to progress on.

I bought an assortment of LEDs also. I'll get the other stuff you recommended.

I suppose first things first, the FAQs.

Oh, is there any difference in electronics between different countries?

Ian
 
Just my two pennies...

I got into electronics - from no previous knowledge - about, oh, two years ago and this forum has been very helpful. I could recommend nothing more fun when getting started with electronics than LEDs. The biggest problems, for me, are threefold... 1) sometimes I don't even know what I don't know, i.e. I kinda know what I want to do, but I don't know that such a part exists to even do it (best example being my hatred of transistors - until I found out about IC-based transistor arrays), 2) it's getting expensive - after buying myself two soldering irons and now a soldering station, a multimeter, a IC extraction tool, a IC leg straightener, about 4 metres of RGB LED strip, various PICs (many of which I killed off in the early days), several breadboards (now I have a nice big one), voltage regulators (before finding out about the really cool ADP667 and the MAX667, a number of wall-wart PSUs and a PIC programmer - it all adds up - now I'm getting into potentiometers and TSOP IR receivers... more expense and, finally, 3) I do get frustrated at this area's lack of consistency... by that I mean most wall-wart PSUs are, like, 9v or 12v but micro-controllers mostly like to work on 5v, some things fit nicely into breadboards and veroboard and some simply don't - again power sockets are the worst. It's not a real moan, more an observation.

Recommendations?

Decide what you want to do and buy all the right bits (in quantity) in one hit - some of the mail order places like to put £15 delivery charges onto orders - only use Maplin when you're absolutely desperate for a component.
Be prepared to spend some money, as you collate more and more crap- get a nice box (or something bigger) to store all this crap in.
Get used to soldering and breaking tracks on veroboard. Consider a small rotary multi-tool.
Decide if you want to do electronics alone, or electronics and programming microcontrollers.
Be prepared to bore people in pubs with your new knowledge and super-human abilities (the colour- and pattern-changing RGB LED hat I made for my Christmas party made people think I was a genuis!).
Ask questions in here... I won't be likely to help, but others will.
 
Haha, the first part has bamboozled me.

Yeah, it's Maplin that I got the starter toolkit from, and Maplin that I've ordered all the kits from so far.
Is it possible to recycle components, from say, a remote control or something? Is it worthwhile keeping oild electronic stuff.

I already have a Dremel rotary tool, so that saves a bit of cash.haha.
 
Mate, electronics are the same the world over, a few terms might differ slightly just like english dose as a language.

Here i am in Australia talking electronics to you in Scotland and so far you have understood quite well.

The USA boys will use strange measurements like ....feet and inches.... and i will use millimeters and meters, but we all understand, same with electronics.

Pete.
 
Haha, cool man.
Just wasn't sure if there was a major difference.

I can deal with the measurement changes, I'm a bit weird and use feet and inches, and millimeters and metres. Depends what I'm meauring, and if it's for anyone else, or just me.

Cool. I'll get onto the FAQs, and will hopefully become a long time member of this forum.


One last question to confirm about my initial post. The soldering iron, is the smoke normal?
 
One last question to confirm about my initial post. The soldering iron, is the smoke normal?

Yes, likely. Just let it sit there and cook for a little while. Sometimes factory new has stuff to burn off. The smoke should cease. Never turn your back on a plugged in iron, trhat goes without saying.

Ron
 
Cool, thanks for all the replies and help guys.
I'll get onto all that reading now.Haha.
 
Haha, cool man.
Just wasn't sure if there was a major difference.

I can deal with the measurement changes, I'm a bit weird and use feet and inches, and millimeters and metres. Depends what I'm meauring, and if it's for anyone else, or just me.

Cool. I'll get onto the FAQs, and will hopefully become a long time member of this forum.


One last question to confirm about my initial post. The soldering iron, is the smoke normal?

What you'll typically see between the US and other countries, is generally part values (and in some cases, schematic symbols) being slightly different from each other; in most cases, it will be the parts values. For instance, here in the US, we'll typically show a value of a resistor as something like "4.7K" for "4700 ohms" or "4.7 K ohms" - but you'll typically see in other countries something like "4K7" on a similar diagram, with the magnitude symbol (K) taking the place of the period. You see this with other parts as well (IIRC, capacitors) - but its generally only for those two classes of passive components (resistors and capacitors); other components don't generally get or receive this kind of treatment.

You'll also get into certain supplier type numbers that are different - for instance, here in the US, the "common" (and classic) NPN transistor (on TO-92 case) is the 2n2222, whereas on European schematics you'll likely see something like a BC337 or similar. When in doubt, google and the forums will help. Typically, if you don't know what a part is or what it is equivalent to, just google "{part number} datasheet" and/or "{part number} equivalent" and similar terms to find out what you need to substitute. Note that on certain circuits, you may need to substitute components that are very close in capabilities in order to get the circuit to work properly, but in most cases, circuits don't have that close of tolerances (until you get into high frequencies and RF circuits, of course).

A good site to learn from for your area: Welcome to the Electronics Club

As far as your soldering iron is concerned, some smell might be considered normal, but it shouldn't smoke from anywhere, except perhaps the tip. I'm not sure I would trust such an iron, especially considering the low cost of the kit (one thing I have learned about tools is you don't go too cheap - or cheap at all - on them; ditch the iron, and go back and spend a bit of money on a cheap 15-20 watt Weller if you have that brand over there).

Make sure that you properly tin the tip of your iron before working with it; you'll also want a damp (not wet) sponge or a brass/copper scrubber pad (make sure it is real brass or copper, and doesn't have any soap or anything on it - some scrubbies are made of plastic, but look like brass or copper - and never use steel wool) to wipe your tip on. If you go the scrubber route, put it in a heavy copper or ABS large-diameter pipe end-cap; don't hold it in your hand unless you wear gloves. Also, be prepared to burn yourself (and -always- wear safety glasses or goggles when soldering - the solder has a core of rosin as flux which, when heated up, will bubble and vaporize, splattering solder around - it can and will hit your face, and maybe your eyes - so protect them; you also always want to wear pants, shoes, and maybe a long sleeve shirt - solder isn't the hottest molten metal to be splattered with, but it ain't pleasant, either!).

If you can, get a proper stand with a metal coiled-spring holder on it to hold you iron; also, never leave your iron running without supervision - always turn it off when not in use, or when you leave the room.

I could mention a ton of other things to keep in mind; too many in my head collected over the years. Really, if you are just starting out with electronics, you shouldn't even need a soldering iron. You just want to get some parts, hookup wire, jumpers, aligator clip leads, a cheap multimeter or two (nowadays, having multiple cheapo chinese multimeters is worth it), some basic tools (flat and phillips head screwdrivers, plus small wire cutters, and small needle nose pliers, mainly) - also a few bare aligator clips (useful as heatsinks for soldering certain components - once you get there), a breadboard or two, a magnifying glass lamp (very, very handy), etc.

Note that electronics as a hobby can get expensive, but its mostly a "bits and pieces" kind of thing; if you really get into it, you'll look back at all your junk and realize you could've made a down payment on a house with what you spent over the years (LOL). Its just like most every other geek hobby out there (I am unfortunate in that I like not only electronics and computers as hobbies, but also robotics and virtual reality, among other concerns - none of this is cheap over time - oh well). One way to keep expenses down is to learn to collect junk; broken household electronics from the trash, stuff thrown away at your workplace (talk to your coworkers and friends, they might junk for you), stuff recycled from junk stores, thrift stores, "boot" sales, etc - those are all ways of getting electronics junk for cheap (also look into finding out if there are any HAM radio swap-meets that happen in your area).

Read the FAQ, keep googling, and read that site link I posted above (it has a TON of great information for basic electronics). Good luck, and enjoy!
 
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hello IWT i am 10 and i do electronics with my dad but he is in hospital for now we are also in the uk we have been doing it for just over a year my dad is better than me but we started with 555 timers leds and comparators to make a thermostat we now use pic micros and program in c its a great hobby but slow learning we recycle all the elctrical stuff we can find and have motors from printers and that collecting bits is great fun we only got one kit to start with then started making our own stuff maybe you should do the flashing led first i think everyone gets told to do the flashing led or maybe thats just with pics i am not to sure everyone here will help you they are realy good with beginners and have helped me and my dad alot
logan
 
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Hi, Ian. Welcome to Electro-Tech!
I got my start when I was about 5 or 6 years old, but that was simply using batteries and lightbulbs I found lying around ;)
I have gathered most of my components from old circuit boards. I would recommend (if you haven't already) getting a desoldering tool, as well as your soldering iron. I have what is called a desoldering bulb, which is just a handheld ball that is used with the soldering iron. You heat up the solder joint on a circuit board until it is melted, and then you just suck it up with the bulb. It works fairly well. They also make desoldering braids and solder vacuums to do this. Anyway, you will also probably want a prototyping board (also known as a solderless breadboard, because you can simply "plug in" components to various holes, and it's not permanent--it doesn't need any solder). This is basically all I started with, and it has worked out fairly well for me since. I hope this helps!
Good luck, and keep posting!
Der Strom
 
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The USA boys will use strange measurements like ....feet and inches.... and i will use millimeters and meters, but we all understand, same with electronics.
Yes, the English started us on the English System of measurements. They were smart enough to change to metric but, so far, we've been too stubborn to do so, at least in any significant way. (What? You want us to change to that "French system" of measurement? No way.)
 
Of course I grew up with the imperial system of measurement (feet, inches, etc.), and I am still working on the transition. I, personally, despise the imperial system as it is a lot more difficult to understand and is not as precise as the metric system, so I'm trying to "train" myself not to use it and use metric instead. I sincerely hope the U.S. decides to stop making it so hard for our youngsters in school and teach them metric measurements instead of imperial measurements!
Der Strom
 
Yes, the English started us on the English System of measurements. They were smart enough to change to metric but, so far, we've been too stubborn to do so, at least in any significant way. (What? You want us to change to that "French system" of measurement? No way.)

We still drive on our roads in miles, and we still drink our beer in pints. Although we do buy a lot of our milk (not all) in litres.
 
Although we do buy a lot of our milk (not all) in litres.

Blame the cows for that, they went metric on you. :D

Obviously there is still a few old cows left that wont give up the pint.

Pete.
 
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