Every week, I get an email from Nuts and Volts, one of the few electronics magazines still around. It contains links to articles on their website, and there’s almost always something that I want to read. Here are a couple of articles from recent issues that you might want to read….Dan
How old is old enough?
This is a question we almost all have faced. How young is too young to get a kid interested in electronics. Of course, it depends on the kid, but the author says that even 8 or 9 years old is old enough:
If you’re looking to introduce electronics to an eight or nine year old, I’m a big fan of the Snap Circuits series which is sort of like LEGOs with embedded components. The entry-level model is around $30 from Amazon. With color-coded LEGO-like components, you and your youngster can build over a hundred different circuits — from a water alarm to a timer.
I started playing around with stuff when I was about 10 or 11, with some guidance from my dad, who built a couple of hi-fi kits, and a raft of Popular Electronics and Electronics Illustrated magazines.
Repairing circuit boards
Repairing the complex circuit boards in our transceivers may be beyond the skills of most hams, but there’s still an awful lot of electronics that we use on a regular basis that is fixable. This article explains how to do that.
For example, the author points out that performing a visual inspection should be your first step:
Visual inspection is an essential first step in troubleshooting. Check for loose connectors or components in sockets, which can often get dislodged in shipping. Look for burned or damaged parts, or solder bridges causing a short circuit of signal or power lines.
You might be surprised at how many problems you will find by just looking!
I’m a big proponent of trying to fix something before just tossing it. You’ll learn something by doing so, and if you can fix whatever it is you’re trying to fix, you’ll save money in the process, too.
walter says
The requirements for the Electronics Merit Badge are pretty well tuned to the abilities of your average 10-14 year old. This is a good baseline.
http://usscouts.org/mb/mb044.asp