(Part 2) Top products from r/diyelectronics

Arduino is great for plug and play, blink an LED, using code. But if you want to understand electronics I would start here:
Easy Electronics (Make: Handbook) https://www.amazon.com/dp/168045448X/
^you could shoot through this book in a weekend.

After doing that book I would get this book:
Make: Electronics: Learning Through Discovery https://www.amazon.com/dp/1680450263/
You can purchase the parts individually or buy kits specifically made for the books. I found the kits will save you time.
I started like you a few years ago and now have moved on to arduino and am designing my own PCBs. Good luck.

First of all props to you to introduce your son to electronics and ask to find a good method for him to learn it out of interest.

I remember having electronics kits which had a bunch of simple components connected by those metal spring terminals. They often came with booklets to go step by step through simple projects to gain some understanding.

Perhaps you could look at toy shops and see if they carry some educational electronics kits? I remember book shops also sold them though I'm not sure if they'd still.

I found this on Amazon, seems a bit different with magnets snapping together but looks like it goes step by step in explaining: https://www.amazon.com/Snap-Circuits-SC-300-Electronics-Discovery/dp/B0000683A4/. Looks a bit expensive but not sure if that's different in the US.

Oh boy I even found one of those kits with the spring terminals: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000IUD2

Best of luck!

I like your setup. If you don’t have one already, Panavise makes some nice stuff. Like this:


PanaVise Model 201 "Junior" Miniature Vise https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000B61D22/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_986RDbYZT1M85


Also some version of the helping hands;”:

US $5.58 23％ Off | Helping Third Hand Tool Soldering Stand With 4X Welding Magnifying Glass led Adjustable 2 Alligator Clips 360 Degree Rotating
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/Ea8dD8yg

And depending on what you end up doing, a hot air smd rework might be helpful to have. I initially got one to repair my arduino after blowing out a chip on it and have found it useful for heat shrink tubing and other projects that are repair work. Especially since nothing you buy nowadays comes as a through hole board. It’s all smd.


US $25.07 41％ Off | 700W 858D Hot Air Gun Desoldering Solder Rework SMD Station Set
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/Bblg8Wyo

Just gonna straight copy this from a post awhile ago. These are things that I use consistently in my engineering labs. The ones with the will probably be good for you

These are parts I use consistently in my labs
Capacitor kit


Resistor kit


Jumper wires


Bread board(s)


Larger breadboard. Recommended for larger projects but I haven’t used it too much. Best for large IC circuits


*Multimeter. This has all the right features

Other things that can be useful:


•Wire strippers


•Pliers


•Electrical Tape


•Tackle Box or tool bag (to carry everything)


•Flat jumper wires

I had one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Maxitronix-75-in-One-Electronic-Project-Lab/dp/B00008BFZJ

Real easy to use, comes with a bunch of circuits to build, but leaves plenty open to exploration. Biggest thing is if you have a simple idea you can make it really fast and hassle free.

I just did this, I bought a siren, hooked up directly up to a power supply and plug the power supply into a smart outlet. Works fine. the only trick is to match up the voltage and current requirements of the siren with an appropriate power supply.

The siren was this: Honeywell Wave 2 siren
Takes 12 volts, 500 milliamp. Pretty sure I used this power supply (I've been buying a lot of power supplies lately) DC 12V 3A Power Adapter which was gross overkill (I would have been fine with a 1A) but it was handy, and I might hook up a flashing light too.

The siren does want to be hardwired, but I had a bunch of these power jack adapters so I put a female one on the siren so I could swap power supplies or add an extension easily.

Ahh.. that can be beautiful if you can put each LED in a hole with all the wiring below. Those LEDs that you linked to are 12-volts. You can easily run 10 of them on a 1-amp power supply This 12-volt supply comes with a connector for bare wires. You will need to wire the LEDs in parallel for this supply. Be careful of polarity--red to + black to -.

Actually you could probably use a phone charger (5 volts, USB) but your lights would not be as bright since they have built-in current limiting resistors designed for 12 volts.

Hope this helps.

These three books are AWESOME reference materials for beginners:
Electronic Formulas, Symbols & Circuits https://www.amazon.com/dp/0945053304/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_jH83AbPDS160A

Timer, Op Amp, and Optoelectronic Circuits & Projects https://www.amazon.com/dp/0945053290/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_mI83Ab16XQRSG

Electronic Sensor Circuits & Projects, Volume III (Engineer's Mini Notebook) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0945053312/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_II83Ab8BXSKS1

I use the word Edison for incandescent lights too! Anyway, simple dimmers work great on those. Would this do? https://www.amazon.com/Lutron-TT-300H-WH-Electronics-Plug-Dimmer/dp/B0000BYEF6/ref=sr_1_3?s=lamps-light&ie=UTF8&qid=1497088085&sr=1-3&keywords=dimmer+switch

If I'm understanding you right you're saying the piggyback cable I linked and the 3.5mm connectors I linked and wore them together?
Yes you could do that.

Could also get the piggyback cable I linked and something like this:
Female RCA to Female 3.5mm

Agreed with the other comments, don't try to open it unless you really know what you're doing.
Get an RF modulator, which will take any baseband video signal and move it to VHF channel 3 or 4. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0014KKV7W/?tag=synack-20
If you need HDMI, you can get an analog converter that will plug into the RF modulator.
https://www.amazon.com/GANA-Composite-Converter-Supports-DVD-Black/dp/B06W9LQDBB/?tag=synack-20

I run a RaspberryPi through an RF modulator to a very similar Samsung TV. I have a script running on the RaspberryPi that picks random video files from a directory and plays them with omxplayer. Currently, it's a 24x7 Looney Tunes and Futurama mix.

Kits are fun but another suggestion would be to grab the Charles Platt book " make: electronics, learning by discovery" and follow the activities there. I think the book has suggestions on where to buy components too.


Amazon link https://www.amazon.com/Make-Electronics-Discovery-Charles-Platt/dp/0596153740

If you want to keep it permanently mounted, I would adapt influx's idea to a 120v signaling relay, that connects the wire between the tender and the battery. Plug it in, relay closes, tender gets connected. Unplug it, relay opens, tender can't pull juice.

Also, I don't know how many places you plan on charging your bike up but the Delran tenders have detachable cables. When I want to put it on the tender, I untuck the cable from the storage compartment, plug it in, and when I'm done, unplug and tuck again.

In addition, i was planning to use this as a power supply https://www.aliexpress.com/item/NCH6100HV-High-Voltage-DC-Power-Supply-Module-For-Nixie-Tube-Glow-Tube-Magic-Eye/32697870152.html?spm=2114.01010208.3.108.vZwTcL&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_5_10065_10068_10000009_10084_10000025_10083_10000029_10080_10082_10081_10000028_10110_10111_10112_10060_10113_10062_10114_10056_503_10055_10054_10059_10099_501_10078_10079_10000022_10000012_10103_10073_10102_10000015_10096_10000018_10000019_10052_10053_10107_10050_10106_10051-501_503,searchweb201603_1,afswitch_5,single_sort_2_default&btsid=01248acb-17a1-4726-9719-91c4e298ac25 and this as a battery https://www.amazon.com/Energizer-L91BP-8-Ultimate-Lithium-Batteries/dp/B0000DC4EL/ref=sr_1_1_s_it?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1484880138&sr=1-1&keywords=lithium%2Baa%2Bbatteries&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001D708H4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_L5IHDb2HH51GB

The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to the 555 Timer: Build the Atari Punk Console and Other Breadboard Electronics Projects

I used to put nails in boards when I was five and tie little trinkets in between them to make little circuits. I even tried plugging some into the wall.
when I was eight my grandpa bought me this www.radioshack.com/products/elenco-electronic-playground-130 I made a lot of the circuits too without really understanding much. when I was nine I tried making a dynamo for a science fair that didn't work because I didn't know the schematic symbol was just a symbol. my coil was literally a giant bent up piece of wire shaped like the schematic. I even got it to spin between a giant horse shoe magnet that my mom went through hell trying to find for me. it never worked.. My mom and dad had no idea how to help me so it was pretty frustrating. If I saw that contraption NOW I would say damn kid that's a nice model there! even though it was made of boards glue nails and wire , the concept was easy to see for the average person I think. It would have easily surpassed anything else the other kids made but I never took it to the science fair.
what I'm trying to say is he's just not old enough to really "get it" yet. thankfully he'll have some guidance from you. I used to rip apart nearly every piece of electronics we had and it really pissed off my parents. I shocked myself numerous times. even from an old TV once. that was fucking painful and my arm hurt for like a week.
when I was 15 I actually was able to take a electronics class and learn a few simple things from the teacher but the kids were distracting and I liked fucking around too so I would build me and my friends circuits real quick and then we would skip out or just melt solder.
I'm 34 now and starting to get back into it after I found some stuff in the attic. I've been looking around for breadboard and kits. your kid Might like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002AHQWS/

when I was a kid my grandpa also bought me an erector set and an advanced student level chemistry set. He was the only one who seemed see my potential and would get me those things. My parents would just get mad if I set anything on fire. My parents were idiots...

side thought: I need to make my own customized bread board and was thinking of using something like the spring pegs in that radio shack kit. any ideas on what those things are called?

While it looks kind of scary by its size and thickness I like The Art of Electronics (https://www.amazon.ca/Art-Electronics-Paul-Horowitz/dp/0521809266/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1524591686&sr=8-1&keywords=the+art+of+electronics&dpID=51oDPY4SbfL&preST=_SX198_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch) with its lab companion volume (https://www.amazon.ca/Learning-Art-Electronics-Hands-Course/dp/0521177235/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1524591686&sr=8-2&keywords=the+art+of+electronics&dpID=51DvCTSt%252BeL&preST=_SX198_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch).