NEW PRODUCT – Hacking Electronics by Simon Monk – You don’t need an electrical engineering degree to start hacking electronics! This intuitive guide shows how to wire, disassemble, tweak, and re-purpose everyday devices quickly and easily. Packed with full-color illustrations, photos, and diagrams, Hacking Electronics teaches by doing–each topic features fun, easy-to-follow projects. Discover how to hack sensors, accelerometers, remote controllers, ultrasonic rangefinders, motors, stereo equipment, microphones, and FM transmitters. The final chapter contains useful information on getting the most out of cheap or free bench and software tools.
Safely solder, join wires, and connect switches
Identify components and read schematic diagrams
Understand the how and why of electronics theory
Work with transistors, LEDs, and laser diode modules
Power your devices with a/c supplies, batteries, or solar panels
Get up and running on Arduino boards and pre-made modules
Use sensors to detect everything from noxious gas to acceleration
Build and modify audio amps, microphones, and transmitters
Fix gadgets and scavenge useful parts from dead equipment
This 300 page book is a nice review of the most common skills and techniques a maker needs to hack electronics, and the color photos are awesome.
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Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.