(Part 2) Best products from r/electronics

That's a tough one to answer really, but here are a few thoughts on the subject.

If you are looking for the really basic stuff, as in you still need to learn ohms law and how to read a circuit diagram you can start out with the absolute basics;

• 200 in one kit: I started out with this one in 1984 and it's still around. You can also do a search for "electronic bricks", "snap circuits" or some such. It's considered more of a toy than anything else, but it will quickly get you up to speed at least.
  
  
• There is a 2 part lab made to go with a book by Forrest Mims at Radio Shack... Can't find it online, but it's a pretty good kit that goes with a good reference. It's one of the few things Radio Shack offers at a sort of reasonable price.
  
  
• Check out any number of sites for "Basic Electronics Kit". A lot of kit places will separate their kids by skill level. This won't give you an in depth understanding of all things electronic, but it will give you the "learn by doing" experience. You'll build things like larson scanners, and refrigerator alarms, pretty useless, but they are cheap at least.
  
  
• I'm going to add 'any arduino kit' to the list. You won't get ohms law or reading circuit diagrams as part of the lesson plan, but most of these kits will have lessons on how not to fry your arduino and you can pick up the basics by induction
  
  Now, if you already have the circuit reading and ohms law down and you just want to know where to go from there, you've got a lot more choices.
  
  
• Assemble your own kit: Once a person finishes with the above suggestions, they realize that it all would have been cheaper had they just done this at the beginning... Unfortunately, before you go through the basics you probably have no idea what to get for your self assembled kit. Electronix Express has two parts kits and a tool kit. I wouldn't call them the best, but they do have a wide selection of parts at a decent price.
  
  
• Arduino kit. Yes, I mentioned this already, but it's also a good step when "moving up" and learning microcontroller basics. There are better microcontroller boards out there, but arduino is like Ubuntu Linux; lots of community support.
  
  
• Advanced kits. Yes, I skipped intermediate kits. You can still look at those, but really, the difference between basic, intermediate, and advanced kits to me seems to have more to do with confidence than anything else. More parts, more complex diagrams and instructions. These kits will take you longer, but they are no more difficult than any other. One thing they sometimes offer is customizability which offers a great learning experience. I DO suggest that you find a kit that has some kind of support; a forum on the sellers website, or even user made videos on youtube. The instructions you get may not mention things like using blue-tac to hold buttons in place or have other helpful hints that a community may have for you.
  
  Well, lot to think about there. Good luck, and don't forget /r/AskElectronics for help.

Replying so you get the update rather than editing.

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I used some dry film photoresistive laminate I found at my university on a big spool. I do not know which specific type it is, though I'm sure most all the ones you buy on eBay will work fine.

1. With a transparent plastic printable sheet, print out your solder paste and pads layer. This will of course be pure black and white. To clarify: black will be used for exposed copper, and everything white (or clear) will be solder masked. Clean and scuff up your PCB with a scotch-brite pad, water, and your choice of cleaner (i.e. dish soap, windex, alcohol, acetone, etc.) Dry it thoroughly afterwards. Note: If you do not scuff up and clean your PCB, your results may be a very wrinkled.
   
   
2. Cut out a piece of the dry film laminate smaller than your board (overlapping may cause a mess on your laminator).
   
   
3. The dry film laminate has clear plastic cover films on both sides of it (top and bottom). Carefully peel off only one of the sides of clear plastic - be careful not to touch the now exposed blue laminate film uncovered by the clear plastic.
   
   
4. Carefully lay this as flush as possible with as little pressure, stretching, or stress on your PCB.
   
   
5. Run the PCB with the laminate laying on the desired location through the laminator. I used this $20 laminator which works very well (3 mil setting).
   
   
6. With the transparent plastic solder paste print out from step #1, place this on the PCB and align it so that the pads cover pads you want exposed.
   
   
7. While maintaining alignment, place this either in a UV light chamber for 3 minutes (i.e. 35W - 45W) or let it sit in good, direct-sunlight for roughly 10 - 15 minutes.
   
   
8. Carefully peel off the other clear plastic protector from the dry film laminate.
   
   
9. Gently wash and agitate the PCB with the solder mask in a solution of positive developer (1% Sodium Hydroxide).
   
   
10. Done! You will now have a proper, good-looking solder mask if everything was done correctly. Feel free to let the finished board soak up a bit more UV to really ensure full curing.

It depends what you are working on, but if you are working on through-hole and SMT in the under $40 price range I'd go with a Weller WLC100. It was my first iron and I used it for a long time before I finally upgraded (I still use it sometimes).

The stock tip was a little big for my taste so I bought a replacement (ST7) tip. The ST7 is a smaller conical tip. You can also find these on Amazon, but pay attention to the shipping if you order it off Amazon Marketplace, some 3rd party tool vendors will gouge you!

For the Fume extraction you should buy a fume extractor... heh. Pretty simple. I built my first fume extractor from an old PC power supply, an old exhaust fan, an articulating lamp base, some activated charcoal pads, and a length of dryer hose.

You can certainly go that route and build your own. It's nice if you already have the parts on hand, but eventually it became too unwieldy so I bought a Weller Fume Extractor. You can buy something similar for about half the price on Marlin P. Jones, but I was never able to catch them in stock.

Either way, look around, have fun, and good luck!

It's easier than ever to get into electronics these days. Make Magazine (actually, O'Reilly) publishes a wide variety of books, including starter books on electronics and simple computer circuits.
http://oreilly.com/

Also, Amazon sells some kits for folks who want to get their feet wet (tho wet feet aren't a very safe way to work in this field). This one is meant for teenagers who are probably younger than you are, but it will take you to the right part of Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Sports-Cards-MX-906-Electronic/dp/B00005K2SY/ref=sr_1_43?ie=UTF8&qid=1380830249&sr=8-43&keywords=electronics+kit

If you're working from a book rather than a kit, you can order parts, even in ones, from suppliers like Digikey.com For orders under $25, they charge an extra $5. Even so, they're much cheaper than Radio Shack. Also, look up Sparkfun Electronics and their collection of books, kits, and free online projects.

At the minimum, you'll need a multimeter (volts, amps, ohms). Check ebay for these. A soldering iron is a useful tool, but a cheap one can be more trouble than it's worth. Better to use a solderless prototyping board (see Amazon or Digikey) at first.

I highly recommend the Hakko 936 soldering iron Hakko 888 soldering iron, which is still actually available. It's hard to fathom how a $100 soldering iron could be that much better than a $20 one, but once you start doing anything more serious than just sticking some wires together, it's worth it.

As for other tools,

• Standard needle nose, dikes, and pliers set
  
• Tweezers - Additionally plastic ones if you're going to do PCB etching.
  
• Dental Picks - for positioning surface mount parts and pushing wires into molten solder.
  
• Wire strippers - You'll often see people using the combo wire stripper / crimpers. They're not as nice as a real pair of strippers.
  
• +/-12V power supply for basic analog electronics, 5V for digital work
  
• Breadboard
  
• Solder sucker - Copper braid is useful for the same thing, but given the choice of the two, I prefer the sucker to undo soldered joints.
  
• 30x Jewelers Loupe - Mostly useful for surface mount work, but pretty much all soldering is easier when you're able to look at it.
  
  As for components, I've been buying them piece-meal for years, so other's will probably be able to yield you a better recommendation for kits than anything I can find just from a quick search. I do mostly digital work, so as far as passives, my main stock is:
  
  
• 0.1uF and 100uF capacitors, 25V
  
• 100, 330, 1k, 4.7k, 10k, 100k, 1M resistors
  
  If I need any other resistor for a specific project, I'll tend to just buy an extra 10 and keep them in labeled coin envelopes.
  
  Random other pieces:
  
  
• Precut Breadboard jumper wires
  
• 7805 - 1A 5V linear regulators
  
• 1N4007 diodes
  
• 1N4148 small signal diodes
  
• 3V linear regulators if you do low power work (MSP430, etc)
  
• An Arduino - If not for real projects, I use this a lot to hack together crude digital signal generators to test other chips.
  
• LEDs - I found a good deal on bright red ones, but any will do
  
• push buttons, power switches, DIP switches (4 in a tiny package that fits in breadboards)
  
• Copper clad perf board - To make through-hole projects permanent. Be careful because this also comes without the copper pads, which is just more of a pain in the ass to use.
  
• Copper Solder braid
  
  Edit: Fixed the soldering iron model.
  
  Disclaimer: I'm using my Amazon Associate links for all of these, which always feel a little amoral and a conflict of interest, but really, if my apartment were to go up in flames and I could afford it, I'd buy every link on this list right now. Does anyone have strong opinions one way or the other on using them?

I saw a review a while ago where they said the accuracy was reasonable for home use but the author would be leery using at 120v or above.

Good auto-rangers are so cheap these days, it's hard to justify even spending $5 on something like this. Look at this one for $22: https://www.amazon.com/Extech-MN35-Digital-Mini-MultiMeter/dp/B0012VWR20 You can get pretty nice ones in the $50 range.

I don't refer to it often these days, but my old copy is still a best friend. :-) I get more info from my copy of The Radio Handbook though.

https://www.amazon.com/RADIO-HANDBOOK-William-I-Orr/dp/0672224240

A combination of this and this.

I love the Stanley boxes, because if you've got multiple you can mix the trays around in addition to being able to take them out to keep it organized on the table top. The smallest removable boxes in those fit resistors with the reel tape on them still, so I consider them perfect size. The container store ones are just deep enough to fit a concrete power resistor. You could also mount a ton of them on the wall if you've got the room or a bigger workspace.

I built something similar a few years back. I just wanted inexpensive blinking lights to skater around. You probably can't do much better than a 555 timer. A quick search will turn up hundreds of schematics (try terms like this )

One of the best resources would be Forrest Mims. If you "look inside" and go to "first pages" you will see pretty much exactly what you need. And if you decide to dig deeper into electronics you couldn't start much better than Mims. Seriously, the whole book is a gold mine.

Finally, you may want to look at making a custom PCB. I can't find the files anymore, but you can squeeze 6 copies of the complete circuit on a one 2" x 4" board fairly easily. I'll see if I can't find my layout. Sourcing PCBs is really easy these days. I've used these guys before. They were ok but a little pricey but I was only prototyping so it wasn't a big deal.

EDIT: Seconding what jptdrake wrote. Also, if you goal is a few pounds per box, ditch the PCB. Get some perf board and a soldering iron.

The neopixel products are pretty good and Adafruit have a lot of content to get you up and running. However if you're a little more circuit savvy you can save money and get these strips instead.

Since you are trying to do 'lightning' flashes you won't benefit from using the addressable led strips (the neopixels). The one I posted is a longer strip that is either all on or all off. The whole strip does take a lot of current though, so whatever you are using for a portable power supply will have to be pretty beefy. I've used them a lot so feel free to ask me any questions.

As others have suggested, the Ben Eater videos are super useful, and his website has a parts list if you want to follow along exactly. As he says in his first video, he is following the "easiest" design in Digital Computer Electronics by Albert Malvino. There are more complicated designs in that book as well which might be interesting.

Not quite what you asked for, but I recently switched from those sets of drawers to these carrying cases with removable bins:

http://www.amazon.ca/Stanley-014725R-Professional-Organizer-Yellow/dp/B00005QWYF/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417559051&sr=8-1&keywords=stanley+organizer

I also modeled up some replacement bins of non-standard sizes, if you have access to a 3D printer:

https://github.com/BenBergman/stanley_bin

One great thing about these bins is that a standard size breadboard is exactly the same size as four of the smallest bins, so it is really easy to keep all the parts I need for a project together in one place.

I recommend checking out Circuit Specialists. I have their model 2901 station and it works very well--I have compared it to the venerable (and $80) Weller WES51, and prefer the 2901--it heats faster than the Weller and has cheaper replacement tips.

You don't need a facemask to solder, but you should do so in a ventilated area. If you don't have a ventilated area, I strongly recommend a solder fume extractor. If you use leaded solder, lead is definitely a concern, but even if you use lead-free / RoHS compliant solder, the fumes are not healthy. If you absolutely can't afford a fume extractor (or don't want to figure out how to make your own out of a PC fan and a sheet of activated carbon), use lead-free solder and work near a window.

Just a heads up for anyone that doesn't care to watch videos, I believe this design is based on the SAP1 (Simple As Possible) computer design, one of the three designs described in the book Digital Computer Electronics by Albert Malvino. We used that book in high school and it's really good at explaining how computers work. I remember building a simulator for the SAP1 and SAP2 at that time, and it was great fun.

Learn from as many different sources as you can find. I recommend Forrest Mims's books (one) , (two) , (three)

Beware that most SPICE simulators focus on very simple 2-terminal and 3-terminal electronic devices: resistors, capacitors, inductors, transistors. But in today's modern world, we design electronics using VLSI integrated circuits, and these are seldom available as SPICE models.

So you will be able to SPICE simulate transistor circuits like the winkie-blinkie thing you built years ago. You'll be able to SPICE simulate opamp circuits, and 555 timer circuits. But not much more, because you won't have the requisite simulation models. Eventually you'll have to build real circuits in the real world and test them out in reality.

If you're an experienced software engineer then you can handle the calculus-I level math needed to understand "real electrical engineering" as practiced by non-hobbyists. After you get somewhat up to speed designing and simulating and building circuits that work (say, in 9 or 12 months), you can start to read college EE textbooks and begin to understand what SPICE ".AC analysis" actually is & why it's useful. You'll learn what SPICE ".FOURIER" is good for, and what it isn't. And so forth.

I haven't been at this for very long, but so far, I've had great experiences with the Aoyue 937+ Digital Soldering Station and the Mastech Auto-ranging digital multimeter. Both are way under $100 ($54 and $30 respectively, at the time of writing this). The soldering station heats up very quickly and the multimeter has been accurate so far. It has plenty of functions, too.

Precision. $30 meters tend to not have it.

I paid ~$400 for a 6.5 digit meter recently, and it's been worth every penny. Not everyone needs that precision, though, and that's fine. :)

Anyways, if you want a meter in that price range, at least get one with standard detachable probes. That's generally a sign of higher quality. This Extech meter is an excellent choice, for instance.

Copy/paste of a comment I made previously:

For the majority of my components I use 3 ring binders filled with baseball card holders. I took some pictures.

Imgur Album

It works great for small things for which I have multiple different values, like resistors and capacitors.

Here's are the actual bits I used if you want to duplicate:

• Binders
  
• Baseball card holders
  
• Divider tabs
  
  

Consider [this Aoyue soldering station] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006FA481G). It's really great for the price. I've been using one for a couple of years for through-hole and surface mount work, and I've been very happy with it.

I'm hesitant to go against the grain on this one but I've had good luck with this. They also make an analog version.

Thanks!
Here is the controller. There might be some other information on its page!

HiLetgo 2pcs ESP8266 NodeMCU LUA CP2102 ESP-12E Internet WiFi Development Board Open Source Serial Wireless Module Works Great with Arduino IDE/Micropython (Pack of 2PCS) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B010N1SPRK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_c8HDCbK1HZZFS

All these comments are great, but the absolute beginning is here!

Next read the book suggested by ryzic. If you have the money, id buy the companion kits that Make sells for the book.

After reading those two books and doing all the projects, look into some "project kits." Check out sparkfun, The Evil Genius series of books, or my favorite the Nuts and Volts store.

After three or four "project kits" just find schematics and figure out how to buy all the parts yourself. Really the world is your oyester and with enough struggling you can build anything. Some ideas that always get people excited: a Tesla coil, cell phone jammers, tasers, ultrasonic range finders, a robotic arm, mechanized nerf gun, anything you think is cool and can find a schematic for.

From there you a going to find yourself really interested in microcontrollers. And well.. Thats a different comment lol!

Thanks. Here's a link in case helps anyone else. Currently $12.95 and it looks like a gadget that could be used for other one-handed activities. (Now there's a phrase normally used for other activities on Reddit)

mitx.mit.edu

MIT currently offering an introduction to circuits and electronics free on the internet. The book that goes with the course is very good at describing the link between physics and EE.

http://www.amazon.com/Foundations-Electronic-Circuits-Kaufmann-Architecture/dp/1558607358

I went with plastic sheets for trading card games to organize and store my resistors. It works pretty well and is extremely space-saving, and if you secure it with a card board binder and tight elastic bands, I'd say it would also endure some upside-down maneuvers, although I still wouldn't recommend tossing it around.

Aven 17010 Adjustable Circuit Board Holder https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q2TTQEE/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_-VVGwbCQ5C8GA

I got this a while ago and it's pretty good.

https://www.amazon.com/Foundations-Electronic-Circuits-Kaufmann-Architecture/dp/1558607358/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504840018&sr=8-1&keywords=anant+agarwal

It's pretty good for new learners. It's used as a first course of EE in MIT.

I have this rework station and LOVE it for the price.

You probably need to be more specific... like what you plan to accomplish (robotics, microcontrollers, amatuer radio).

For electronic theory I recommend: There are no electrons: Electronics for earthlings

Oh dear god, please buy one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-Piece-Pre-formed-Jumper-wire/dp/B0002H7AIG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345765743&sr=8-1&keywords=jumper+wire+set

http://www.amazon.com/Breadboard-jumper-wire-70pcs-pack/dp/B0040DEI9M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1345765764&sr=8-2&keywords=jumper+wire+set

You are going to injure yourself cutting and stripping wire for your project.

Get something like this to learn the basics:
http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Sports-Cards-MX-906-Electronic/dp/B00005K2SY/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1313696934&sr=1-1

The various parts in there will be useful when you start breadboarding stuff.

and this to learn soldering:
http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-Practical-Soldering-Project-Kit/dp/B0002LUAL6/ref=sr_1_4?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1313696934&sr=1-4

You might have a local hackspace where people would be willing to help you out if you are having trouble with the soldering.

I've been happy with this super cheapie for regular shop repair and prototyping use for a year or two: http://www.amazon.com/X-TRONIC-4040-Soldering-Assorted-MAGNIFYING/dp/B003TC8EQS/ref=sr_1_9?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1319760013&sr=1-9

For the price the heat is consistent and the performance is solid. The only issue I've had is that the ceramic element in the soldering iron is a bit too small for the hot knife tip and should you actually use it the tip can shift which cracks the ceramic. This means you have to use the replacement ceramic that they include earlier than if it just wore out while soldering. I was able to quickly get a replacement tip from the company though.

Using 74AC14 to create a LED lamp that is PWM dimable.

Using three of those you can create a RGB lamp or control a lighting strip such as the one below.

http://www.amazon.com/Ledwholesalers-Changing-LED-Strip-Controller/dp/B0040FJ27S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341724508&sr=8-1&keywords=RGB+LED+strip

>a reflow oven costs a lot of money, and a homemade one might burn down the house. A frying pan on the other hand >.>

You can get a decent hot air rework station (with soldering iron) for under $200.


https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-968A-Digital-Rework-Station/dp/B006FA481G/

Note for the future: Please shorten your shopping links (or use reddit's feature to hide them like this). You can trim about two thirds of the URL:
https://www.amazon.com/Ictouch-300value-2800pcs-Resistor-KIT0148/dp/B01NCKQCYU

Not the exact same brand, but some of these classic kits from the 80s are still available new in box. You can find, e.g., the elenco 130 in one and 200 in one kits on Amazon for very reasonable prices.

They make small heat guns specifically for this. Just borrow/buy one of those. Otherwise good luck destroying everything while trying to desolder that connector.

http://www.amazon.com/X-TRONIC-MODEL-4040-Soldering-MAGNIFYING/dp/B003TC8EQS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374728744&sr=8-1&keywords=solder+heat+gun

like this but you can get a cheaper one.

I know this is over your budget but I think it's worth it http://www.amazon.com/Updated-Aoyue-Digital-Soldering-absorber/dp/B006FA481G/ref=sr_sp-atf_image_1_3?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1407708595&sr=1-3&keywords=aoyue+soldering+station

I have this one and it's served me well for the last few years. There's also an analog version. The digital ones only read in Celsius, if that bothers you. They definitely aren't as nice as a Hakko or a Weller, but it has never let me down.

As far as the fumes go, it isn't the lead that's the problem, it's the flux inside the solder. Lead doesn't vaporize until ~1700C, which your iron is never going to reach. I mention this so you know that lead free solder doesn't solve the problem.

You should either solder in a well ventilated area, or use a fume extractor. Commercial fume extractors are expensive, and you can make your own with fan and a carbon filter (you can get them for normal air filters and cut to size).

Extreme overkill probably, but if you really want to spoil him...Best investment I have made tool-wise.

If he is just getting started I doubt he will need the hot-air rework side of things, but after a while soldering I wanted one for a long time before I actually got around to picking one up...

Mainly posting this here because I am a big Aoyue fan and everything here is Hakko and Weller.

Foundations of Analog and Digital Electronic Circuits by Anant Agarwal in combination with video lectures by the author.

Resistors are REALLY inexpensive. Throw them away and order new ones.

https://www.amazon.com/Ictouch-300value-2800pcs-Resistor-KIT0148/dp/B01NCKQCYU/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?keywords=Ictouch+300value+2800pcs+1%2F4W%2C+1%2F2W%2C+1W%2C+2W%2C+3W+Carbon+Metal+Film+Resistor+%2B%2F-1%25+Box+Kit+KIT0148&qid=1569975286&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmr0