Anyone here into electronics as a hobby?
I feel like I want to start but it seems like it would be really expensive.
>>29921663
what kinds of things could you make?
Get yourself a dev board with GPIO pins (like raspi) or an arduino and you have a central unit you can build fucking anything with. Learn about electronics and all the components.
If you want to get into ICs don't buy a PICaxe or some general purpose IC, as you already have a dev board, instead buy linear ICs. The 555 is pretty fun to fiddle with, it's a neat circuit once you get how it works.
>>29921830
This is some good advice right here. Arduino is really fun, and there's plenty of tutorials around.
>>29921663
Yeah, I'm currently trying to make this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK9en2H7rBA
Probably loads of tutorials online on how to do this shit, but I'm trying to do it without cheating and looking online.
Stole an arduino uno from my school (or rather someone left it in a study room) and gutted some computers for harddrives. It's just a matter of putting it all together now.
Keep this thread going but for latter.
>>>/diy/1021398
Pro tip: Its a slow board. Don't go bumping more than once a day.
>>29921663
>>29921989
But yeah, it can get pricey especially if you want to get fancy equipment like an oscilloscope. A good power supply, soldering station and multi meter would probably run for about $200-300. Obviously you could go higher or lower end but it's a start. You'll definitely want to get a decent developer board like >>29921830 mentioned. The possibilities are endless from there on.
Individual parts are pretty cheap depending on what you need. I have an electronics hobby shop in the town next to me that I buy from, but if I need some harder to find stuff, I'll buy from digikey. Shit usually ships next day which is convenient
>like it would be really expensive
Literally get junked stuff and make things from parts.
>>29922085
Isn't that illegal? I think that's illegal
soldering iron and solder $10
depends what you want to make but things like switches, leds, caps, resistors etc are like $1-$5 for large quantities from china.
>>29923282
are you trying to sell your shit what you build or what
>>29921663
>>29922081
eBay was my go to before I found out about digikey as digikey ships much faster than chink vendors. Equipment is by no means pricey if you're willing to compromise. I left electronics behind as a hobby when I was in high school; I major in something else.
Some suggestions, as >>29921830
noted, linear ICs are the best to play with, particularly op-amps (and 555), very versatile and good for signal processing.
As I said, it isn't expensive, but if you want something that lasts you a lifetime as a professional or a high level hobbyist, you'll have to invest money into it.
Breadboards and a dev board are really useful for hobbyists because you aren't going to design a permenant board 90% of the time. Dev boards are incredibly easy to use, but typically I only use it to substitute PWM circuits. It's a good learning experience to start from scratch and design your own gates with BJT and build your own amps.
Irons/stations shouldn't really come up if it's only a hobby. Cheap 20W irons run for less than 8 bucks on eBay, I found mine at a garage sale for a dollar, but the tips are usually shitted up and the iron plating is way too thin and flaky, susceptible to contamination. You'll find yourself replacing tips a lot if you go cheap, most production one-man soldering units are Hakko/Weller soldering stations (~$50). Reflow need not apply.
When I was in high school, my oscilloscope was a 15 dollar kit from eBay, my function generator was an AD9833 attached to an arduino, and my multimeter was generic garbage from the trash. If you are merely a hobbyist you do not need expensive equipment, soldering stations, or even an oscilloscope. Necessity is the mother of all inventions.
>>29921663
Not worth it. Get some PLC instead like Arduino or PIIC24 or whatever.
>>29921663
oh man, I try to do all of the maintenance on my motorcycles, but just one look at the wiring diagrams for my bikes makes me freak out, may as well be written in chinese. Good on anyone who is clever enough to figure it out though!
Not OP but also looking for a new hobby here, what is a dev board? What kind of projects do you guys make?
Here, read the OP and pastebin and please not spreg out, /ohm/ my favourite place on 4chan
>>>/diy/1021398
