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Learning Electronics Section
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The best way to learn electronics depends on your own personal learning style. Some people don't like starting anything without a thorough understanding of the underlying theory. The best starting point for this kind of learner is usually a good book such as those listed under Recommended Electronics Books in this section or in our complete Books section. Other people, especially kids, need to see results more quickly in order to remain motivated. For this kind of learner consider one of the activity kits in this section or the Learning Robotics section. Because motivation is so important, lots of beginners successfully start learning by building a robot kit or electronic kit that interests them. While formal learning is necessary in the long run, a good book doesn't teach anything if it just sits on a shelf. Don't be afraid to jump straight into our Robotics kits or Electronic Kits if that's what it takes to get you started.
| Activity Kits for Kids | |||||||||||||
| While younger kids generally aren't ready to learn much electronic theory, that doesn't mean that they can't start learning basic concepts and vocabulary. These kits are easy and fun to put together and produce devices that are fun to play with. Even after the device gets pushed to the back of the closet, your child will remeber that they can actually build and fix things themselves instead of being a passive consumer. Some parental guidance and help to read the entire manual is needed to make these kits a truly educational activity. | |||||||||||||
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 | Action Kit Lab This kit contains everything you need to build a working electric generator, motor, bell and meter. While building you will learn how these basic electric components work and practice your mechanical building skills with basic hand tools. The four kits can then be used together to conduct a number of simple experiments. Recommended for ages 10 and older. Can be the start of a great science fair project. Catalog number: 10124. Brand: Maxitronic. Brand's Part Number: MX-902. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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 | AM/FM Radio Kit This kit contains everything you need to build your own AM/FM radio. Its easy, fun and safe. The easy-to-read Illustrated manual shows you how to build the radio and explains the basics of radio theory. Can be the start of a great science fair project. Catalog number: 10140. Brand: Maxitronic. Brand's Part Number: MX-901AF. The manufacturer recommends this product for ages 8+. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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 | Deluxe RC SNAP ROVER Have FUN building your own RC Snap RoverTM using the colorful Snap Circuits parts that come with this kit. There is no soldering required as all the parts snap together with ease. Once completed, you will be able to navigate your surroundings with the easy-to-use Snap RoverTM remote control. Catalog number: 43174. Brand: Elenco Electronics. Brand's Part Number: SCROV-50. The manufacturer recommends this product for ages 8+. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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 | Motor & Generator Kit This kit contains everything you need to build a working electric generator and motor. While building you will learn how these basic electric components work and practice your mechanical building skills with basic hand tools. The two kits can then be used together to conduct a number of simple experiments. Can be the start of a great science fair project. Catalog number: 10736. Brand: Maxitronic. Brand's Part Number: MX-902T. The manufacturer recommends this product for ages 10+. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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 | RC SNAP ROVER A build it yourself, educational non-soldering model kit (over 30 colorful parts that snap together). With the wireless , 27MHz multi-channel remote control, you can navigate your finished Snap Rover to the left and right, forward and backwards. Operating LED headlight; red and blue side lights. Sound effects. Pre-assembled Rover body. The clear side frames allow you to view the colorful moving gears. The R/C receiver is a specialized radio circuit with a channel switch that allow you to race up to 3 Snap Rovers at the same time. If you have Snap Circuits Snap Circuits 300 Electronics Learning Kit you can also build a Night Sound Rover, Six Function R/C, and R/C Motor with this kit. Full color assembly manual with over 20 projects! Catalog number: 40675. Brand: Elenco Electronics. Brand's Part Number: SCROV-10. The manufacturer recommends this product for ages 8+. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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 | Snap Circuits 300 Electronics Learning Kit This is a really fun kit that lets kids snap circuits together before they have the fine motors skills and attention span needed for either soldering or solderless breadboards. Most kids really enjoy the ability to make their own circuits that buzz, light up, whirl or send flying saucers into the air. These are also great demonstration devices for teachers introducing basic electronic theory. Many students get lost in the translation from neat schematic diagrams to the wire maze of normal circuit building. With this kit you can build and demonstrate circuits that physically look like the schematic before proceeding to messy breadboarding. Contains over 60 parts. Build over 300 exciting projects. Catalog number: 12310. Brand: Elenco Electronics. Brand's Part Number: SC-300. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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| Snap Circuits Electromagnetism Compare an electromagnet to a normal magnet! Have lots of fun while learning about electricity and magnetism. Easy-to-use, and will make kids smarter. Catalog number: 46268. Brand: Elenco Electronics. Brand's Part Number: SCP-08. More Product Details ... | |||||||||||||
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 | Snap Circuits Extreme This is a really fun kit that lets kids snap circuits together before they have the fine motors skills and attention span needed for either soldering or solderless breadboards. Most kids really enjoy the ability to make their own circuits that buzz, light up, whirl or send flying saucers into the air. These are also great demonstration devices for teachers introducing basic electronic theory. Many students get lost in the translation from neat schematic diagrams to the wire maze of normal circuit building. With this kit you can build and demonstrate circuits that physically look like the schematic before proceeding to messy breadboarding. Contains over 80 parts to build over 750 experiments. Includes everything from SC-500 plus experiments in solar, electromagnetism, vibration switches, and 70 computer interfaced experiments. Catalog number: 43216. Brand: Elenco Electronics. Brand's Part Number: SC-750. The manufacturer recommends this product for ages 8-108. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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| Snap Circuits Flying Saucer Kit Catalog number: 42093. Brand: Elenco Electronics. Brand's Part Number: SCP-06. More Product Details ... | |||||||||||||
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| Snap Circuits FM Radio Kit Catalog number: 42069. Brand: Elenco Electronics. Brand's Part Number: SCP-02. More Product Details ... | |||||||||||||
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 | Snap Circuits Jr. Electronics Learning Kit This is a really fun kit that lets kids snap circuits together before they have the fine motors skills and attention span needed for either soldering or solderless breadboards. Most kids really enjoy the ability to make their own circuits that buzz, light up, whirl or send flying saucers into the air. These are also great demonstration devices for teachers introducing basic electronic theory. Many students get lost in the translation from neat schematic diagrams to the wire maze of normal circuit building. With this kit you can build and demonstrate circuits that physically look like the schematic before proceeding to messy breadboarding. Contains over 30 parts. Build over 100 exciting projects. Catalog number: 12302. Brand: Elenco Electronics. Brand's Part Number: SC-100. The manufacturer recommends this product for ages 8+. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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 | Snap Circuits Motion Detector Kit Build your own motion detector, and whenever somebody walks in front of it, the sound of a laser comes out of the speaker and a red light flashes! Build different circuits with electronic blocks that snap onto a clear plastic base grid. 6 additional circuit projects can be done with this kit:
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| Snap Circuits Music Box Kit Catalog number: 42077. Brand: Elenco Electronics. Brand's Part Number: SCP-04. More Product Details ... | |||||||||||||
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 | Snap Circuits Pro This is a really fun kit that lets kids snap circuits together before they have the fine motors skills and attention span needed for either soldering or solderless breadboards. Most kids really enjoy the ability to make their own circuits that buzz, light up, whirl or send flying saucers into the air. These are also great demonstration devices for teachers introducing basic electronic theory. Many students get lost in the translation from neat schematic diagrams to the wire maze of normal circuit building. With this kit you can build and demonstrate circuits that physically look like the schematic before proceeding to messy breadboarding. Pro Version - Contains over 75 parts including voice recording IC, FM radio module, analog meter, transformer, relay, and 7-segment LED display. Build over 500 experiments. Catalog number: 43208. Brand: Elenco Electronics. Brand's Part Number: SC-500. The manufacturer recommends this product for ages 8-108. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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| Snap Circuits Space Battle Kit Catalog number: 42085. Brand: Elenco Electronics. Brand's Part Number: SCP-05. More Product Details ... | |||||||||||||
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| Activity Kits for Teens and Adults | |||||||||||||
| These kits consist of a bag of parts and a book of instructions for building a wide variety of electronic circuits. Even if you just follow the pictures and assemble the circuits you will learn the basic vocabulary of electronics, learn how to identify basic electronic components and get some basic building experience. By carefully reading the manual as you work, you can get a good overview of electronic theory. These kits emphasize hands-on activity more than teaching theory, so for deeper knowledge they should be accompanied or followed by studying one of the books in our Recommended Electronics Books category. | |||||||||||||
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 | 130-in-1 Electronics Playground Learn basic electronic by building real circuits. This kit uses the spring-clip method for attaching all components, so the only loose parts are strips of wire. Catalog number: 44388. Brand: Elenco Electronics. Brand's Part Number: EP-130. The manufacturer recommends this product for ages 12+. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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 | 130-IN-ONE Electronic Project Lab This "Electronic Science Lab" introduces you to electronics from A to Z. You'll learn about electronic parts, reading schematics. and following wiring diagrams. All this while building up to 130 different projects. This kit uses the Spring Method for wiring so you simply slip pre-cut wires into special springs for a safe, secure connection. All electronic components (except an earphone) are built into the project base so they are easy to identify and hard to loose. Catalog number: 43182. Brand: Maxitronic. Brand's Part Number: MX-908. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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 | 300-in-1 Electronics Lab This lab includes a solderless breadboard, dozens of electronic components and an easy-to-read, illustrated, lab-style manual demonstrating 300 exciting electronic projects using both digital and analog circuits. Projects include: transistor radio, multiple counter, rain detector, organ, digital light dimmer, voltage drop alarm, burglar alarm, tone burst generator, logic checker, delayed timer, audio signal tracer, function generator, electronic game, electronic candle, voltage controlled amplifier, optical Volume, Voice level meter and many, many more! This is a great learning kit to get you started designing and building your own circuits. Once you finish the exercises, you can continue to use the kit indefinitely as a handy prototyping tool for testing circuits you design or discover in books or on the WEB. Catalog number: 10066. Brand: Maxitronic. Brand's Part Number: MX-908. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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 | 50-in-1 Electronics Playground Learn basic electronic by building real circuits. This kit uses the spring-clip method for attaching all components, so the only loose parts are strips of wire. Catalog number: 44370. Brand: Elenco Electronics. Brand's Part Number: EP-50. The manufacturer recommends this product for ages 10+. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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| Basic Electronic Components This kit contains over 45 common electronic and hardware components and a short pamphlet that describes each component including its basic purpose, construction and identifying marks. This is a great orientation to electronics components for someone who wants to jump into electronic kit building. Catalog number: 16675. Brand: Elenco Electronics. Brand's Part Number: ECK-10. 24 pages. More Product Details ... | |||||||||||||
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 | Basic Electronics Experiments Kit w/Breadboard and Parts This is a great little kit to get you started learning about electronics. It includes a 72 page manual which describes the theory and application of each component and provides 50 experiments to show how these components are used in practical circuits. The kit includes a solderless Bredblox for assembling your circuits and all the resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors and other components needed for the experiments. The experiments include: Electronic Keyboard, Water alarm, finger touch lamp, electronic kazoo, battery tester, magnetic bridge, voltmeter, Morse code and a lot more. Catalog number: 10199. Brand: Elenco Electronics. Brand's Part Number: PK-101B. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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 | Electronics Workshop 2 from Thames & Kosmos The intricate world of electronics becomes tangible with the hands-on circuit building experiments in Electronics Workshop 2. This advanced science kit is designed for the older child or adult hobbyist with a serious interest in circuitry, constructing electronic devices, and investigating the digital world. Catalog number: 46219. Brand: Thames & Kosmos. Brand's Part Number: 615611. The manufacturer recommends this product for ages 12+. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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 | Electronics Workshop 1 from Thames & Kosmos Discover the digital world with this unique introduction to electronics. Follow the story of Robert M-3, a young robot in the year 2069, who is beginning his education in electronics with an apprenticeship to Sirius Armstrong, the chief electrical engineer on an enormous space station orbiting Earth. As you read about Roberts lessons in electronics, you will conduct experiments alongside him using your Electronics Workshop console. Catalog number: 42291. Brand: Thames & Kosmos. Brand's Part Number: 615512. The manufacturer recommends this product for ages 10+. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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 | Radio Ace from Thames & Kosmos Build a nostalgic radio with a real vacuum tube and explore the airwaves as they did in the 1930s! Historic technology comes to life again with 30 engaging experiments. Assembling this radio is a fun project for radiomen, tinkers and gadget-buffs of all ages. Once your radio is up and running, hunting for radio transmissions becomes a fun challenge. While learning how the radio works, you will discover the fundamental parts of electrical circuits. Catalog number: 46326. Brand: Thames & Kosmos. Brand's Part Number: 620219. The manufacturer recommends this product for ages 12+. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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 | SMT Soldering Training Kit: Decision Maker Project Soldering is an essential skill if you want to build or repair your own electronic circuits. The latest electronics components utilize Surface Mount Technology (SMT) to reduce circuit size by putting componments in tiny packages with minimal soldering surface. This kit provides a comprehensive, hands-on introduction to manual SMT soldering. It includes a printed manual that that explains soldering theory and practice and shows how to identify the most commonly used electronic components. The kits includes a nicely made printed circuit board (PCB) and all the components needed to build an electronic decision maker as your first surface mount soldering project. The kit includes a tube of solder and a strip of desoldering braid. You need to provide your own soldering iron, such as Basic Soldering Tool Set or Solder Wick, and a 9v battery such as Alkaline 9v Battery - Pack of 1. Catalog number: 21030. Brand: Elenco Electronics. Brand's Part Number: SM-200K. 16 pages. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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 | Soldering Training Kit: Blinking LEDs Project Soldering is an essential skill if you want to build or repair your own electronic circuits. This kit provides a comprehensive, hands-on introduction to soldering for electronics. It includes a printed manual that that explains soldering theory and practice and shows how to identify the most commonly used electronic components. The kits includes a nicely made printed circuit board (PCB) and all the components needed to build a blinking LED circuit as your first soldering project. The kit includes a tube of solder and a strip of desoldering braid. You need to provide your own soldering iron, such as Basic Soldering Tool Set or Solder Wick, and a 9v battery such as Alkaline 9v Battery - Pack of 1. Catalog number: 21022. Brand: Elenco Electronics. Brand's Part Number: SP-3B. 16 pages. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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 | Soldering Training Kit: Siren Project Soldering is an essential skill if you want to build or repair your own electronic circuits. This kit provides a comprehensive, hands-on introduction to soldering for electronics. It includes a printed manual that that explains soldering theory and practice and shows how to identify the most commonly used electronic components. The kits includes a nicely made printed circuit board (PCB) and all the components needed to build an electronic siren as your first soldering project. The kit includes a tube of solder and a strip of desoldering braid. You need to provide your own soldering iron, such as Basic Soldering Tool Set or Solder Wick, and a 9v battery such as Alkaline 9v Battery - Pack of 1. Catalog number: 20800. Brand: Elenco Electronics. Brand's Part Number: SP-1A. 16 pages. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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 | The Dangerous Book for Boys: Essential Electronics from Thames & Kosmos Based on the bestselling childrens book The Dangerous Book for Boys, this kit presents electronics every kid should know through fun, engaging, and impressive experiments and activities. Catalog number: 46201. Brand: Thames & Kosmos. Brand's Part Number: 600002. The manufacturer recommends this product for ages 8+. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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| Recommended Electronics Books | |||||||||||||
| We list just our top recommendations for beginning electronics books here. Check our Books section to see our complete list of books. | |||||||||||||
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 | Practical Electronics for Inventors Author: Paul Scherz This book provides an in-depth introduction to practical electronics for readers with a reasonable working knowledge of college level math and science. In relatively few pages the author takes you from fundamental concepts to advanced circuits, thoroughly (but densley) explaining both theory and practice every step of the way. The book includes hundres of illustrations and sample circuits to support the text. Catalog number: 15115. Brand: McGraw-Hill Books. Brand's Part Number: 0070580782. 606 pages. ISBN: 0070580782. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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 | Teach Yourself Electricity and Electronics (3rd Ed) Author: Stan Gibilisco This excellent book provides a comprehensive introduction to electronics that is aimed at hobbyists and technicians who want to understand and use electronics without getting bogged down in complex math or unnecessary theory. The author starts without any expectation of prior knowledge and progresses through a comprehensive explanation of common components including resistors, capacitors, inductors and transistors and common analog and digital circuits. The book includes over 500 illustrations and circuit diagrams. Catalog number: 15107. Brand: McGraw-Hill Books. Brand's Part Number: 0071377301. 728 pages. ISBN: 0071377301. More Product Details ... | ||||||||||||
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| Learning Electronics Section Menu |
| Activity Kits for Kids |
| Activity Kits for Teens and Adults |
| Recommended Electronics Books |
The content on this page was updated on 01/31/2012