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  • fiat_lux@kbin.social
    1·
    1 year ago

    I’m thinking about going the colour LED home lighting route + IoT + sensors. But the non-proprietary options often include things like microphones… and God knows what the apps and protocols are doing.

    The software part is not a problem for me, anything unix is fine. Unfortunately I have zeroish experience with physical electronics work or PCBs, but would love to learn. I was considering buying the components and some entry level welding kits / electronic tools.

    Anyone got any suggestions for what supplies I should be buying for DIY low-voltage electronics learning? Any words of wisdom for an electronics newbie, especially around safety and not destroying expensive bits? I’m trying to not start fires or create more electronics waste or make my health worse.

    • jtk@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      For bread boarding with basic electronic components, Ben Eater has a handful of kits for sale at eater.net and very detailed video series to go along with them. He also has a 10 video playlist called Digital electronics tutorial that is a great start to understand the basic components you would likely get in a “starter electronics kit” you can buy from any place electronic components are sold. There are tons of other great videos there too.

      Along side that, learning how to program and use something like an Arduino or Raspberry Pi is essential. There’s all different types of boards, the bigger ones with lots of IO pins will probably be most convenient while bread boarding, but you’d want a smaller version for permanent builds. I have the one from Ben Eaters shop “Mega 2560 Arduino-compatible board” and it’s been real fun to play with. There are TONS of video on learning how to use them, I wouldn’t even know where to suggest you start.