Electronic kits
Thanks for the comments on the capacitor post yesterday. I thought the video was fascinating.
I grew up with a Dad who loved all things electronic and mechanical. He would undertake almost any project: fixing radios, fixing TV's, repairing cars, home repair, small engine repair, bicycle repair, woodworking, etc. He had this incredibly cluttered workshop with all kinds of things ... including capacitors.
If Dad was a 10 in his interest and ability, I was a 2 or 3. But both my brother and I loved doing his kind of projects. My brother built a TV from a Heathkit. Today TV's are so inexpensive that it would seem a waste of time to do that.
Essentials (for electronic kits) where we were younger: soldering irons, ohm meter, multimeter, etc.
Some of the fun things I built when I was a junior: alarm clock, crystal radios, electric motor, electromagnet, etc. Some of the fun electrical projects I have done: adding outlets to our bedroom (when we set up our water bed), exterior lamps on the house, etc. (Obviously working with 110 is a different thing than DC!). Years ago I helped a guy fix a key on his Apple II keyboard. This involved disassembly and soldering in a new key. Today one would just buy a new keyboard! Also I had an old daisy wheel printer (I think it was a DEC). I was able to bump it up from 300 baud to 1200 baud (a little soldering) and wire up a RS232 connection to my TRS-DOS computer. Another time Kathee (wife) and I soldered in a graphics panel into a Radio Shack TRS-3 computer (she was not pleased to participate in this as I recall). Another project (also involving my wife) was running a new wire up the steering column of our VW bug, installing a new steering wheel, a horn button, and a new horn. Kathee did a lot of the manual work on this.
If you have young children involve them in electronics and kit building. There's a lot to learn and enjoy there!
The times I spent with my grandpa in his workshop are some of my best memories of growing up. I've always been grateful I learned to repair and build - it saves a lot of money over the years! :) I learned electrical things from him, and way more plumbing than I ever wanted to know from my high-school job at Menards (I had an excellent manager who made sure we learned proper plumbing code so we didn't give bad advice).
ReplyDeleteMuch of the reason I got involved in the first place was to do 4-H projects, which is when I also created a radio, electromagnetic buzzer, and a few other simple circuit projects.
Yes,involvment in electronics and kit building gives good knowledege and makes us enjoy as well. Those days my father use to make all the electrical repair on his own,me use to absorbe and now I could manage with few things like bicycle repair,Fan repair,TV repair(inital level),Light fixing and few more..anyway this helps me to save time and money.Its good for everybody learn atleast to some extend.
ReplyDeleteYes,involvment in electronics and kit building gives good knowledege and makes us enjoy as well. Those days my father use to make all the electrical repair on his own,me use to absorbe and now I could manage with few things like bicycle repair,Fan repair,TV repair(inital level),Light fixing and few more..anyway this helps me to save time and money.Its good for everybody learn atleast to some extend.
ReplyDelete