Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with kit

How do I jump into hobbyist electronics?

GilloD — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:38:20 -0800

Soon, I'm going to have a nice cash bonus at work and about two weeks of vacation time. I don't have enough money for a travel-vacation, so I figured I'd turn it into a learning-vacation: I'm going to focus on playing guitar, but also, I'd like to learn some 101-DIY electronics projects. I adored Lego Mindstorms as a kid, then kind of gave it up for awhile. Now I'm looking for something similar. More inside! It all started when I had to do some coding projects at work. It had been years since I touched C or PHP, but I stayed up for a few nights and read a lot of tutorials and asked a lot of dumb questions and, hey!, it felt pretty good. But I kind of wanted to do more with it.

I started to want to make things again. So I poked my nose around and I found a couple of kits like this Arduino kit, the learn to Solder kit, the 101-breadboard kit. So, cool! But I'm still feeling a little. In over my head?

What I'm looking for are your recommendations for books, kits, websites, forums, tools, tips etc etc. on how to jump into this kind of thing. I'm not looking to build a solar powered robot that would squeeze my OJ in the morning, but it'd be great to just have an outlet to, say. Build a little desk sculpture that changed colors?

But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. This 101 kit looked like it could be a nice intro, especially for a dude with no background in this kind of thing.

SO!: Me- Curious Would-be-Hobbyist with 0 knowledge of electronics and maybe a 201 comp-sci credit. YOU- Super genius robot man welder dude. Tell me where you'd tell me to start.

Handprint kit for kids

brandman — Mon, 11 May 2009 08:12:33 -0800

I need some ideas on capturing my kids' handprints, as a gift to my wife. A little help? I'm looking for the best ideas and/or pre-packaged kits out there for making kids' handprints. The basic ones (example) would probably be fine, but if there was something you did/saw that was really unique, cool, special, etc., let me know! I'm looking for a permanent casting type of solution, not a print on a piece of paper.

Recommend me a really good toolbox.

sergeant sandwich — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 12:14:06 -0800

Recommend me a really good toolbox. You know, the kind you put tools in. I want to replace my crappy toolkit with a well thought-out, high quality toolbox that will last. Everything I've looked at so far sucks - plastic junk. Help? What toolbox do you love?

Awhile ago I was looking at mefi's own's website and came across the toolbox design - and loved it. The notion of "first-order retrievability" was finally articulating for me what I found annoying about digging around in the bottom of my toolbox.

So something commercially available that approximates adam's design - maybe with some sort of mechanism for upright storage of tools - would be really cool. Or some other design that has had some thought put into the usability. Please don't limit yourselves to any particular sort of thing if you have something cool up your sleeve!

Also, it should be good sized, but not too large - this kind of thing is too much. Any hope out there?

What could be wrong with this simple radio kit?

jquinby — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 08:45:54 -0800

ElectronicsFilter: Help me figure out what might be wrong with my son's "safe, solderless, exciting, educational and fun!" AM/FM radio kit. My son got one of these solderless electronic radio kits at a recent cub scout meeting - everything mounts on a carboard-box frame via little springs and jumper wires. The instructions say "you'll be amazed at how well it performs!"

Indeed.

It runs off a 9V battery, two transistors, a single diode and half-dozen or so capacitors and resistors. The tuning board is pre-assembled and simply attached the board at the right spot(s). I posted the schematic for the FM variation here - the user-assembled part is on the right. For AM, a couple of extra hook-up wires are added, and the tuner board is attached so that the variable capacitor is working with the ferrite rod.

Our first iteration through the kit got us nothing but a burst of static in the earpiece when power was applied.

I went through it again last night and I think I'm making some progress. I can now hear a varying, AC-type of hum in the earpiece that goes away if I ground the circuit (by touching the spring at point 11 on the schematic). This tells me that I'm receiving...something. But when I turn the knob to tune, I get nothing. No static, no local stations, zilch. This goes for AM and FM alike.

Where might I check next? I've checked and double checked the transistors, germanium diode and single electrolytic cap to make sure that they're connected properly and they are. The battery is also brand new. The back of the variable cap on the tuner board has two tiny trim pots that I've twiddled a little (and restored) to no effect.

This thing is driving me batty because there just isn't that much to this kit and it Ought To Just Work. But it's not, as far as I can tell.

Help an editor get organized with plugs and accessories

captainscared — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 07:43:27 -0800

I am a Final Cut editor working on a first-class Mac Pro. But since I work at a shop with three other editors, I always seem to be hunting for various cords and cables (headphone splitters, rca to quarter-inch connectors, DV deck firewire cables, etc). I'd like to create something like a first-aid bag for myself, complete with all the accessories I seem to lose time searching for - like a CF card reader. My question is what would you put in the bag and what kind of small, manageable bag would you use. Links welcomed. Thanks.

Daddy, can we build the Manhattan Project on page 6?

TigerMoth — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 08:38:50 -0800

SantaFilter: Looking for a fun, durable, relative inexpensive electronics kit/lab for wiz-bang 7-year old girl... I started by looking at the old stand-by Radio Shack offerings, but the majority of reviewers said they break quickly and no replacement parts are available. Beyond that, my web trollings have lead me to believe that there's something even more fun than the standard 100-in-1 snap-circuit make-a-doorbell "lab" out there. Found a Lemon Clock, but, well, meh... Robotic or even remote control would be pretty cool. Come on, MeFi Elf-Geeks: what is it?!

Help me find a sewing-kit-in-a-pen.

ScarletPumpernickel — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:01:14 -0800

Please help me find another sewing-kit-in-a-pen like the one I bought at Brookstone in the 1990s. Back in the 1990s, I went to Brookstone and bought a gadgety-cool yet practical clear ballpoint pen that contained a complete sewing kit. The pen refill held five tiny thread spools, and the remaining space in the plastic chamber held a couple of needles and a safety pin. The sewing kit slid out of the plastic sleeve using the refill as a spindle.

It's been a source of aid and amusement for many years, but it finally grew legs and walked away.

I bought the original as a gift, and I'd like to replace it.

Despite my best efforts at Google-Fu, I cannot find *any* pen containing a sewing kit.

Please help!

Names of childhood toys shouldn't be this hard to remember...

veryhappyheidi — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 20:03:35 -0800

Help me remember a random arts-and-crafts kit from my childhood... with a German twist? I've got another one of those "I can't remember what it's called" questions! When I was little (early 90's) I had an arts and crafts kit that came from Germany. It was a plastic mosaic kit quite similar to "Pixel Hobby" that contained a design sheet, plastic pegboard, and all the plastic pieces. The only difference between my kit and Pixel Hobby was the shape of the tiles: instead of only having 1x1 squares, mine had a variety of shapes and sizes (I can remember 1x1, 1x2, 1x3, 2x2 and an L shape).

Please help!!! And thank you for saving my sanity!!!

May I transfer an XP Genuine Advantage Kit install?

Dave 9 — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:13:03 -0800

A Dell PC was originally equipped with Windows ME. Somebody later installed, instead, an unauthorized copy of XP. The machine was given to me, and I legitimated the XP install by paying Microsoft for a "Genuine Advantage Kit." Will Microsoft let me use that kit's CD to install XP on a different machine (perhaps an Apple) if I get rid of the first machine? Thanks.

Israel National Team away jersey?

joshrholloway — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:54:09 -0800

Where can I buy one of the new '08/'09 season Israel National Team away colors Puma jerseys, like the one pictured here? I'd like to buy one of the new versions of the Israel National Team jerseys that Puma is making for the '08/'09 season in the blue away team colors. I've been to many soccer shopping websites and all I've found are the home color jerseys or ones that don't look quite like the official ones. According to the size chart, I will probably need the XXL size, but XL might work too.

I know this is already a relatively specific request, but if I could find the jersey available at an online store that would allow me to do customizing of the name and/or number on the back as well, that would be awesome, but it's not vital.

And lastly, as a self-hijack, can anyone recommend me the best place to buy soccer jerseys in general online? There are a ton of websites out there and I don't really know who to trust.

Silent Drums for Kids?

asavage — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 20:56:33 -0800

My kid (8 years old) turns out to have a very good sense of rythm. I'd like to get him a drum set for xmas. A *silent* drum set. I've looked at some virtual drum kits online, but the array is dizzying.
Here's what I want.
I'd like him to be able to sit and play on a real sized set, (for him) that plays through headphones. It'd be great if it could also record his jams, and have the ability to play along with other songs. Is there such a product? Does anyone have personal experience with something like what I'm describing?
Oh-- budget is under $300.00

Where are the beginner-level electronic kits to be found?

lekvar — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:12:21 -0800

I need recommendations for beginner-level electronic kits and projects; audio-related kits and projects preferred. I know which end of the soldering iron is the hot end, but not much beyond that. I've done a little exploratory surgery on electronics in the past, but mostly circuit-bending or basic repairs to wiring. Those colorful blobs of ceramic attached to the circuit board? I have only the roughest idea what those are and what they do, but I want to learn.

Even better, I'd like to learn by building audio stuff.

I've wandered about in Frys and RadioShack looking at the kits, but I figure there have to be great repositories of kits, schematics, books, projects, lore, philosophy, and other good stuff relating to electronics.

So where should I start looking?

Enclosure kit question

MostHolyPorcine — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 02:14:25 -0800

Laptop HDD Enclosure kit question. My Toshiba Satellite S2051 recently died. I bought a new computer, and a hard drive enclosure kit, to move my old files to the new machine. However, when I tried to put the drive into the kit, I found out that the HDD is not 40-pin, and is instead a flat, slim connector, making it impossible to connect with the enclosure kit. Is there an adapter out there that will make this hdd connect to a 40-pin hole? Bonus points if you can tell me where to get it in Japan (I live in Nagano, so an amazon link would be dandy....)

Camera and lighting kit suggestions, please.

Brandon Blatcher — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 17:22:39 -0800

If you were going to start shooting pictures for an alt weekly/A&E publication, what kinda of gear would you get? What camera would you get, what filters, what portable lighting system? The sky isn't the limit, say 2k total, so any suggestions?

All of this is for shooting for a weekly publication, usually done on regular and ultrabright newsprint stock.

For the SLR, I mean shoots well in the dark, has complete manual control and good auto settings, more than the usual 3x zoom, comes with a good lens, and enables you to swap out lenses for eventual upgrade to telephoto lens.

For the lighting system, something with a battery and hopefully 3 lights that can be packed down into an included case for getting those beautiful on location shots of the interviewee.

If you can recommend a good handheld flash (the type you stick on the camera and can adjust the angle of the flash) would be cool too.

The camera would be used in variety of settings, from shooting bands, to various events at various speeds at various times of the day.

Help Nuts and Volts make sense!

ph00dz — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 06:52:46 -0800

How to get started PIC programming? I'm interested in learning how to program little things using microchips... and it would appear that there are a ton of options out there.

Here's the thing -- I'm a beginner.

I know how to program (although assembly terrifies me), so I'm looking for something where I can write in basic or some similarly abstract language. I guess I need a kit or something -- something with a set of projects built in, so I can find my way without too much trouble.

My only technical requirement is that the programmer has to have a USB interface.

Any suggestions? Also, any suggestions for little projects I can build would be helpful...

Spy kit

Astro Zombie — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 21:38:28 -0800

What should I put in my spy kit? I've come to the conclusion that, at every moment of my life, I should be prepared to launch into a James Bond-style spy adventure, because you never know when the world is going to demand that of you. Therefore, I have purchased a messenger bag to carry with me always, and now I need to make some decisions about what to put in it, as well as what to carry on my body. Keep in mind, everything I put in it must seem relatively innocuous, because I don't want to be rousted by the fuzz and have them go through my kit and realize I'm a superspy just waiting for an opportunity. But spy stuff that can pass a superficial inspection, such as pens with knives hidden in them, are all right. And I am in Minneapolis, so I can carry a concealed pistol around with me, so don't worry about that part of it -- I'll have my Walther P99 when I need it. But what else?

Nike+Ipod Sport Kit in Ontario, Canada?

cbushko — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 09:11:01 -0800

I am having a difficult time locating the Nike+Ipod Sport Kit in Canada. Apple.ca doesn't have it listed in their store and Nike.ca is just a horrible [but cool looking] website. My google-fu is failing me miserably and I was hoping that someone has seen these around. I called a local [Kitchener] Apple reseller and they say it should be available in 2-3 weeks. My greedy little hands cannot wait that long. :) Can anyone help?

Thunder Dome Goodie Bag

Scoo — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 13:08:45 -0800

What's your 72 disaster preparedness kit like? What with the apocalypse looming and all, what kind of disaster preparedness gear are you stocking up on? This kit looks good, albeit pricey. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it, I suppose, and I like one stop shop, ready-to-go-in-an-instant aspect of it. Recommendations of better stores for this kind of purchase? What else would be good to have? Partially inspired by this previous thread on Ask MeFi.

Tube Amp < $500. Recommendations Wanted.

tommasz — Thu, 22 Apr 2004 11:21:42 -0800

Can anyone recommend a tube (valve) amplifier kit in the ~ $500 (US) range? I was going to buy one of the Passion Audio Kit i11 amps but the company that offered them, Rotac in Quebec, quit selling them April 1st.

What equipment set should I buy to brew a keg of beer?

Keyser Soze — Sat, 10 Jan 2004 15:14:42 -0800

What equipment set should I buy to brew a keg of beer? I want to buy it as a set, but if I can save money buy buying seperate parts I can do that. I am buying the New Complete Joy Of Home Brewing.