Electronics, anyone else do this for fun?

[importaku]

I know theres a few on here that are really good with a soldering iron & doing console mods but does anyone like to build electronic kits for fun? I have slowly become hooked on the things, first one was a mario ? block lamp & now have 2 more coming from a company in CA called evil mad science. I love watching it come together component by component, ordered a very unusual clock & a handheld games console as my next 2 projects, can't wait for them to turn up.

This was my mario [?] lamp that i have done so far, it's touch sensitive so you touch the bottom to turn it on & it makes the pa-ding noise & every 7 or so times you turn it on you get a 1up noise hehe.

[averybluemonkey]

This looks really fun, think I might pick a kit or two up off them next payday. How long did the lamp project take to complete?

[speedlolita]

Where's the fun in a kit.

[importaku]

This looks really fun, think I might pick a kit or two up off them next payday. How long did the lamp project take to complete?

The lamp took about 2-3 hours to make as im still a bit rusty, it's been a while since i went all DIY also needed a hot glue gun to make that one but it was inexpensive. The place that sold the lamp is called 8bit lit, it's a store on the etsy site. The kits i bought from evil mad science are the bulbdial & meggy RGB kits they look rather cool to build.

Where's the fun in a kit.

Well for me the fun is in the construction, powering it up & having it come to life. The kit itself does nothing alone lol

I dont have the skill as of yet to do things on my own so i'm sticking to building kit stuff but it would be fun to build a massive RGB LED array, seen some great projects on youtube using them.

[speedlolita]

Modifying stuff is what I do mostly, most of it's just logic really.

I'm tempted to replace the stock green LEDs in my Filco Majestouch 2 with a red, green and blue LED so it has a sort of RGB vibe.

[importaku]

Most of the kits i have bought so far have the option to modify as they are programmable so it at least gives me the option to mess about once i gain more experience. At the moment just soldering stuff together is fun in itself, although smt stuff looks far trickier than through hole soldering.

[Adrock]

Never done any kits myself but I like to repair/overhaul amps and other bits and bobs. I am also more interested in controls stuff like that.

I've been looking into an arduino to do stuff that would interface with my house. I'm an electrician by trade and did a degree in computer science years back. So the programming of the arduino is of interest and I can obviously do the electrical work needed.

Lighting control with an arduino and lots of relays and all that kind of stuff would be brilliant. Lotsa work though.

[smouty]

I don't make kits but do make projects from scratch. I love stuff such as that found in Make magazine.
I have made an RGB lighting system for the bedroom using lights that I designed and built for example.
I'm looking forward to the Raspi which I'm expecting this month.

[speedlolita]

I just bought a Rapsi myself.

[importaku]

Finally my kits came from evil mad science in california, need to buy a few extra tools before i build but nothing too expensive. I do find it relaxing to build, like a complicated jigsaw hehe. Got more kits coming one is a total work it out yourself yourself as all you get are the pcbs so i shall be led shopping as i'll need tons of the little buggers.

Heres todays fun haul

[JSR]

What is it? Or rather, what will it become?

[importaku]

One kit is for the bulbdial a rather unique looking clock

http://evilmadscience.com/productsmenu/tinykitlist/156

The other is for a meggy jr rgb which is a led handheld that can play rudimentary games

http://evilmadscience.com/productsmenu/tinykitlist/100-meggyjr

[smouty]

Just found some pics of the LED lights.
It is amazing how they change the room. I find myself selecting specific settings per game.

[importaku]

Thats pretty cool Smouty, each colour does indeed seem to give a different feel. Love stuff involving leds, my led flower lamp boards turned up today to do the other project im after. The boards are to make flowers out of leds, tiny circles with enough to make 5 led petals & a central one then solder some wires onto it & then repeat another 50 times, then twist the flowers together till you get a tree. Will look awesome when finished, just need to work out how to amplify the circuit so it will provide enough power for 50 flowers instead of the 20 its rated for.

This is the original that the guy built

http://www.bigclive.com/bonsai.htm

[smouty]

Do a search for an LED calculator which basically helps you work out the resistors required to provide the correct current to drive the array.