Resources
These are the existing books, kits and sites we borrow from. None of them covers this whole
course, but several are worth owning.
Books
| Book |
Use it for |
Units |
| Charles Platt, Make: Electronics (3rd ed.) |
The best sequenced, hands-on book. Its numbered experiments make great "side quests" between our units. |
1–9 |
| Charles Platt, Make: More Electronics |
Its sequel: logic, op-amps, sensors. |
5–10 |
| Øyvind Nydal Dahl, Electronics for Kids (No Starch) |
Kid-level explanations. Good reading for the 8 y.o. |
1–5 |
| Forrest Mims, Getting Started in Electronics |
Classic hand-drawn explanations of how parts work. |
1–5 |
| Forrest Mims, Engineer's Mini-Notebook series (555, op-amp, sensor projects) |
Circuit cookbooks. The Punk Console comes from here. |
4–5 |
| H. Ward Silver, Hands-On Radio Experiments (ARRL) |
A sequenced set of radio experiments. |
2, 13, 15 |
| ARRL, Ham Radio License Manual (Technician) |
License study. |
13 |
| Wes Hayward W7ZOI et al., Experimental Methods in RF Design |
Manhattan-style RF homebrew. For the parent. |
15 |
Free, online
- Soldering Is Easy comic (Mitch Altman, Andie Nordgren, Jeff Keyzer). Read it
before Unit 1.
- Adafruit Learning System (learn.adafruit.com): guides for the MAX98357A, the Pico and servos.
- SparkFun tutorials: "How to Solder: Through-Hole", "Voltage Dividers", "Pull-up Resistors".
- buildelectroniccircuits.com: Øyvind Dahl's site, with kid-friendly circuits.
- HamStudy.org: license exam practice with spaced repetition. Free.
- homingin.com: Joe Moell K0OV's radio direction-finding and fox-hunting site
(offset attenuator, antennas, event ideas).
- WB2HOL tape-measure Yagi: the classic fox-hunt antenna design. Search "WB2HOL tape
measure beam".
- Phil Schatzmann's ESP32-A2DP (github.com/pschatzmann/ESP32-A2DP): the Bluetooth
audio library used in Unit 11.
- Scoppy (Android app plus Pico firmware): turns a Raspberry Pi Pico into a
2-channel scope. Used in Unit 8.
- KiCad (kicad.org): free PCB design software.
Kits worth buying
| Kit |
Why |
Units |
| Elenco learn-to-solder kits, Velleman MiniKits |
Cheap, graded through-hole practice |
1 |
| Circuit Classics (Star Simpson) |
Forrest Mims circuits as beautiful PCB kits |
1–4 |
| Solarbotics BEAM kits |
Solar robots |
3 |
| JYE Tech DSO138 / DSO150 |
Solder-it-yourself oscilloscope |
8 |
| 4 State QRP Group kits (Pixie, Cricket) |
Simple CW transceivers |
15 |
| QRP Labs QCX-mini / QDX |
Well-documented HF transceivers |
15 |
Suppliers
- Parts, US: DigiKey, Mouser, Tayda (cheap basics), Jameco
- Speakers: Parts Express (Dayton Audio drivers, passive radiators, enclosure kits)
- Modules: Adafruit, SparkFun, Pololu (motors and robot parts)
- PCB fabs, for when a hand-etched board won't do: JLCPCB, PCBWay, OSH Park
- A local ham radio club. Many run kit-build nights, fox hunts and youth programs, and
hold license exam sessions. Probably the best "curriculum" for Units 12, 13 and 15.
- ARRL Kids Day (January and June): a good first on-air event.
- A local makerspace, if you want access to a laser cutter or CNC for enclosures.