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Teaching Your Kid Electronics

D

D from BC

Jan 1, 1970
0
Would you give a kid an electronics kit like the old Radio Shack 75
inOne with the little springs..
Or..show'm LTspice :)

Son: "Daddy..what does a real transistor look like?"
Father: "Google for a picture."
Hours later....
Son: "Daddy..what do real boobs look like?"

D from BC
 
C

colin

Jan 1, 1970
0
D from BC said:
Would you give a kid an electronics kit like the old Radio Shack 75
inOne with the little springs..
Or..show'm LTspice :)

Son: "Daddy..what does a real transistor look like?"
Father: "Google for a picture."
Hours later....
Son: "Daddy..what do real boobs look like?"

D from BC

The one I had used terminal strips.
was in its own plastic case wich was a bit like a lunch box,
with speaker, tuning capacitor , vol knob, on off switch etc.


Colin =^.^=
 
B

Bruce Varley

Jan 1, 1970
0
D from BC said:
Would you give a kid an electronics kit like the old Radio Shack 75
inOne with the little springs..
Or..show'm LTspice :)

Son: "Daddy..what does a real transistor look like?"
Father: "Google for a picture."
Hours later....
Son: "Daddy..what do real boobs look like?"

D from BC

I did some electronics with my 9yo nephew. The main problem was that his
expectations were driven by what he could buy in the toy shops. Things built
on matrix board like light operated switches and AM radios with earpieces
didn't cut it at all. He wanted to build things like a radio controlled car.
I'm not sure what I could have done better. Any suggestions for next time
would be appreciated.
 
E

EdV

Jan 1, 1970
0
I did some electronics with my 9yo nephew. The main problem was that his
expectations were driven by what he could buy in the toy shops. Things built
on matrix board like light operated switches and AM radios with earpieces
didn't cut it at all. He wanted to build things like a radio controlled car.
I'm not sure what I could have done better. Any suggestions for next time
would be appreciated.

Buy lots of relatively inexpensive toys and then start prying them
open and hack stuff together. Then put a PIC in there somewhere.
 
D

D from BC

Jan 1, 1970
0
I did some electronics with my 9yo nephew. The main problem was that his
expectations were driven by what he could buy in the toy shops. Things built
on matrix board like light operated switches and AM radios with earpieces
didn't cut it at all. He wanted to build things like a radio controlled car.
I'm not sure what I could have done better. Any suggestions for next time
would be appreciated.

When I was a kid, there wasn't high tech toys (that my parents could
afford) so I didn't have much competing with the 75inOne electronic
kit..
These days...
An electronic kit is really lame compared to XBox, PS4 and RC cars (as
mentioned).
It's not impressive to make an LED blinker or whooper sound effect.
It also doesn't make you the cool kid on the block.
An intro to electronics is going to need flash, bang and zoom to
capture attention. AFAIK there isn't anything like that.

I wonder how well Mechno and Leggo are doing..Sales dropping over the
decade?
D from BC
 
D

D from BC

Jan 1, 1970
0
Buy lots of relatively inexpensive toys and then start prying them
open and hack stuff together. Then put a PIC in there somewhere.

lol..

Father: Ok son..today were going to crack open "Tickle Me Elmo"
Son: Noooooo!

Tickle Me Elmo can be seen on

Those electronics designers must have had lots of fun.
D from BC
 
B

Bob

Jan 1, 1970
0
These days...
An electronic kit is really lame compared to XBox, PS4 and RC cars (as
mentioned).
It's not impressive to make an LED blinker or whooper sound effect.
It also doesn't make you the cool kid on the block.
An intro to electronics is going to need flash, bang and zoom to
capture attention. AFAIK there isn't anything like that.

I was at a barbecue a few weeks ago and the 9-12 yo set was getting a
lot of mileage out of a remote controlled fart generator.
Place transducer under chair
Wait for lady to sit on chair
Push button to activate fart.
Peals of laughter, rolling on ground clutching sides etc.

You have to work to your audience.

Bob Stephens
 
D

D from BC

Jan 1, 1970
0
I was at a barbecue a few weeks ago and the 9-12 yo set was getting a
lot of mileage out of a remote controlled fart generator.
Place transducer under chair
Wait for lady to sit on chair
Push button to activate fart.
Peals of laughter, rolling on ground clutching sides etc.

You have to work to your audience.

Bob Stephens
Was it a kit ?
Or was it a Frankenstein project, say MP3+amp+speaker+garage door
opener?
D from BC
 
B

Bob

Jan 1, 1970
0
Was it a kit ?
Or was it a Frankenstein project, say MP3+amp+speaker+garage door
opener?
D from BC

One of the kids' dad imports wholesale lots of electronic junk from
the far east, so this was probably a packaged product. It wouldn't be
hard to kit one up though.
This one consisted of a wireless fob and a small black box containing
electronic farts!

Bob Stephens
 
M

Michael Heydon

Jan 1, 1970
0
I did some electronics with my 9yo nephew. The main problem was that his
expectations were driven by what he could buy in the toy shops. Things built
on matrix board like light operated switches and AM radios with earpieces
didn't cut it at all. He wanted to build things like a radio controlled car.
I'm not sure what I could have done better. Any suggestions for next time
would be appreciated.

I used to love capsela, sort of like lego but bigger and with wires,
lights, motors, etc. I used to have a simple computer so you could program
things like:

forward polarity to motor 1 and 2 for 1 period
forward polarity to motor 2 for 1 period
lights on for one period
reverse polarity to motor 1 and 2 for 3 periods
etc

Obviously it didn't talk about polarity, it was just backwards and
forwards, but you quickly realised that by swapping the red and blue wires
you achieved the same thing.

I imagine that by now there would be some sort of remote control.

It also gave an introduction to mechanics, 1 gearbox went fast but wouldnt
move any weight, another one was slower but could carry stuff.

-- Michael Heydon
 
E

Esther & Fester Bestertester

Jan 1, 1970
0
Son: "Daddy..what do real boobs look like?"

Son, viewing the monthly fold-out of dad's adult literature:
"Dad, what's a rack?"
Dad, snatching away the magazine:
"It's a country, son..."

FBt
 
M

Michael A. Terrell

Jan 1, 1970
0
D said:
Would you give a kid an electronics kit like the old Radio Shack 75
inOne with the little springs..
Or..show'm LTspice :)

Son: "Daddy..what does a real transistor look like?"
Father: "Google for a picture."
Hours later....
Son: "Daddy..what do real boobs look like?"


Father: Google for a picture of Phil Allison.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida
 
J

jasen

Jan 1, 1970
0
One of the kids' dad imports wholesale lots of electronic junk from
the far east, so this was probably a packaged product. It wouldn't be
hard to kit one up though.
This one consisted of a wireless fob and a small black box containing
electronic farts!

sounds like this one:

http://jaycar.co.nz/productResults.asp?FORM=KEYWORD&keywords=GH1088

Jaycar do some kits that hack this and use the transmitter/receiver
pair for other purposes.

Bye.
Jasen
 
J

James Arthur

Jan 1, 1970
0
I did some electronics with my 9yo nephew. The main problem was that his
expectations were driven by what he could buy in the toy shops. Things built
on matrix board like light operated switches and AM radios with earpieces
didn't cut it at all. He wanted to build things like a radio controlled car.
I'm not sure what I could have done better. Any suggestions for next time
would be appreciated.

A crystal set, ideally with an inductor self-wound on a toilet-paper
center. Nothing compares with the magic of getting audio from ether.

Cheers,
James Arthur
 
M

Michael A. Terrell

Jan 1, 1970
0
D said:
Dare you to name boob #1... :)
D from BC


I thought we hammered that out a long time ago. Homer is the #1
boob, of course. OTOH, If he ever finds work that will make him a boob
job. He shares the title with Phil. Homer has the Northern hemisphere,
and Phil has the Southern hemisphere. You know how big boobs sag,
without support.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida
 
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