monome

Good Starter Soldering Project?

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  • antiphonantiphon

    It's no monome, but might this be a decent kit to enter the world of DIY? I have never soldered a thing in my life and would love to work my way up to an arduinome, but I have zero confidence.

    http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/06/new_in_the_maker_shed_simon_kit.html

    If someone else has a better idea, I'm all ears. (But Simon? Come on, I loved that game!)

  • narboticnarbotic

    sure - swap in white LEDs and you've got your very own grayscale4!

    haven't actually built that one myself, but it does seem like a satisfying intro to soldering. Plus - looks like you can even add a 6-pin header if you ever feel like reprogramming the chip

  • tinitustinitus

    maplins (in IRL/UK) have lots of little fm/am radios, simple bleepers, and alarm clocks that are perfect for beginner solderers. any equivalent electronics/tech shop should have something similar. g'luck!

  • griotspeakgriotspeak

    Mintyboost from adafruit

  • antiphonantiphon

    Thanks, guys. I appreciate it. Not only do I not know how to solder, I don't know where to look for projects. This one just popped up on my radar and I thought it looked good. I'll check out the other options mentioned before I jump into this. Next up: a soldering iron!

  • MCDELTATMCDELTAT

    Hey some advice on the soldering iron subject: don't go skimpy. About 5 months ago when I wanted to start learning just like you did I just ran down to Radioshack and bought the cheapest one they had. The stand stinks and I actually bent the tip by barely applying any pressure to a solder joint. It'll probably save you a ton of hassle in the long run to just buy a little more expensive one.

  • antiphonantiphon

    Duly noted. I am not against buying better quality hardware when I can afford it. I have wasted enough money on crappy products over the years to know that, within reason, you get what you pay for. Any suggestions for brands/models?