Ever since I’ve gotten into Retro Computing, I’ve been confronted about things like soldering, Circuits and Electrics in general… and it has made me want to try experimenting with my own ideas!
That does however mean that im still pretty inexperienced and thusly don’t have anything to actually experiment with either.
So what kind of Breadboard Kit will give me the best and most things to start getting into this Hobby?
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Ben Eater’s 8 bit breadboard computer project on YT is well explained, and he sells the kits. I forget Ben’s credentials, but he is a professor in CS somewhere. His teaching skill is remarkable.
Some poor sap made a more intuitive set of schematics that also breaks down the kits: https://github.com/Upcycle-Electronics/8-Bit-Breadboard-Computer
That same guy made some chip labels that some people find useful: https://github.com/Upcycle-Electronics/ChipLabels
That last one also has a link to a list of databooks on archive dot org. Get the 1996 Motorola CMOS logic databook as your primary starting point reference. That goes into a lot of the details about cross compatibility and exactly what works and what doesn’t.
This was my first electronics project, and it turned out surprisingly well.
I started coding NES “games” and his video help so much with how to approach something like that. But not just that but basically everything you need grom reading diagrams to setting up a complier to create a rom file with particular structure! Highly recommend it, there is no comparison to my cs prof…
Kits are fine, but they’re kind of generic. I lost interest in making LEDs blink pretty quick.
Some of the best advice I’ve heard is to figure what you want to build, and make that project your first learning experience.
Just noticed that “kit” is not the word I shouldve used. Its more like a builders set. So just a box with all sorts of stuff to go to town with!
Noted. There’s so much different electronics shit. It would be madness to try to have a generic box of stuff.
For example, there’s whole books of surface mount resistor values. I’m sure you could spend 100s of dollars just getting a little bit of a reel of all the common values and tolerance.
Never mind all the different and specific use cases for all the different diodes, and types of capacitors, and… The list goes on.
I think others are pointing you in the right direction of you like retro computing. A Ben eater kit isn’t bad.
I’d still suggest setting your goals higher if you’re up for it. Like rebuilding your own commadore 64 from scratch or something. I didn’t know if there’s kits for that.
I’m building my own flight stick and I’ve learned a lot just stumbling around in the dark without following anyone’s guide. Found more cool discords and resources than I would have just following a kit.
Hm maybe worth a shot. Just a bit worried as I got literally no real tech experience to speak of and pretty much got no clue of what I am doing
I’d buy myself several sets of the preformed wires, a bending triangle, one of those pre-mounted sets of breadboards like the one above, and a cheap power supply like a DC310S. If you want to go really cheap, you can get the breadboard power supplies that fit right on the rail and are powered by a 9V wall wart and deliver 5+3.3V at a low amperage. I’d also grab some duPont wires.
As for components, well that really depends on if you’re planning to do digital or analog projects. I’d certainly suggest a few ULN2003 chips for relay drivers, maybe a couple of ESP32 dev boards.
There are probably better options, but when I was messing with my pico the Adafruit parts pal was great! https://www.adafruit.com/product/2975
How different can they be? Genuine question lol I’ve never seen anything different than my uni had
