1 Getting Started
In this first chapter, we will investigate some of the tools and techniques needed to hack electronics. We will start with a little soldering, and wire up an old computer fan to help keep the solder fumes out of our lungs. As it says in the title, this book is all about “hacking electronics.” The word “hacking” has come to mean many things. But in this book, “hacking” means “just do it!” You don’t need a degree in electronic engineering to create or modify something electronic. The best way to learn is by having a go at it. You will learn as much from your mistakes as from your successes. As you start to make things and experiment, you will likely want to understand more of the theory behind it all. Traditional electronics textbooks are pretty terrifying unless you have a good grasp of complex mathematics. This book strives to, above all else, enable you to do things first and worry about the theory later. To get started, you will need some tools, and also find out where to get components and parts to use in your projects.
Getting Stuff In addition to buying components and tools, there are lots of low-cost and interesting electronic consumer items that can be hacked and used for new purposes, or that can act as donors of interesting components.
Buying Components Most component purchases happen on the Internet, although there are local electronic stores like RadioShack (in the U.S.) and Maplin (in the UK) where you can buy components. At traditional brick-and-mortar stores like those, the product range is often limited and the prices can be on the high side. They do, after all, have a shop to pay for. These stores are invaluable, however, on the odd occasion where you need something in a hurry. Perhaps you need an LED because you accidentally destroyed one, or maybe you want to look at the enclosures they sell for projects.
2 Hacking Electronics
HowTo-Color (8) / Hacking Electronics / Simon Monk / 236-3 / Chapter 1
Sometimes it’s just nice to hold a box or look at tools for real, rather than trying to size them up from pictures on a web site. As you get into electronics, you will likely gradually accumulate a set of components and tools that you can draw from when you start a new project. Components are relatively cheap, so when I need one of something, I generally order two or three or even five if they are cheap, enough that I have extras on hand that can be used another time. This way, you will often find that when you start to work on something, you actually have pretty much everything you need already. Component buying really depends on where you are in the world. In the U.S., Mouser and DigiKey are the largest suppliers of electronic components to the hobby electronics market. In fact, both of these suppliers sell worldwide. Farnell also supplies pretty much anything you could want, anywhere in the world. When it comes to buying ready-made electronics modules for your projects, the SparkFun, Seeed Studio, Adafruit, and ITead Studio web sites can help. All have a wide range of modules, and much enjoyment can be had simply from browsing their online catalogs. Nearly all the components used in this book have part codes for one or more of the suppliers I just mentioned. The only exceptions are for a few unusual modules that are better to buy from eBay. There is also no end to the electronic components available on online auction sites, many coming direct from countries in the far east and often at extremely low prices. This is frequently the place to go for unusual components and things like laser modules and high-power LEDs that can be expensive in regular component suppliers. They are also very good for buying components in bulk. Sometimes these components are not grade A, however, so read the descriptions carefully and don’t be disappointed if some of the items in the batch are dead-on-arrival.
Where to Buy Things to Hack The first thing to consider, now that you are into hacking electronics, is an effect that your household and friends will have on you. You will become the recipient of dead electronics. But keep an eye open in your new role as refuse collector. Sometimes these “dead” items may actually be candidates for straightforward resurrection. Another major source of useful bits is the dollar/pound/euro (delete as appropriate) store. Find the aisle with the electronic
CHAPTER 1: Getting Started 3
HowTo-Color (8) / Hacking Electronics / Simon Monk / 236-3 / Chapter 1
stuff: flashlights, fans, solar toys, illuminated cooling laptop bases, and so on. It’s amazing what can be bought for a single unit of currency. Often you will find motors and arrays of LEDs for a lower price than you would the raw components from a conventional supplier. Supermarkets are another source of cheap electronics that can be hacked. Good examples of useful gadgets are cheap powered computer speakers, mice, power supplies, radio receivers, LED flashlights, and computer keyboards.
A Basic Toolkit Don’t think you are going to get through this chapter without doing some soldering. Given this, you will need some basic tools. These do not have to be expensive. In fact, when you are starting out on something new, it’s a good idea to learn to use things that are inexpensive, so it doesn’t matter if you spoil them. After all, you wouldn’t learn the violin on a Stradivarius. Plus, what will you have to look forward to if you buy all your high-end tools now! Many starter toolkits are available. For our purposes, you will need a basic soldering iron, solder, a soldering iron stand, some pliers, snips, and a screwdriver or two. SparkFun sells just such a kit (SKU TOL-09465), so buy that one or look for something similar. You will also need a multimeter (Figure 1-1). I would suggest a low-cost digital multimeter (don’t even think of going above USD 20). Even if you end up buying a better one, you will still end up using the other one since it’s often useful to measure more than one thing at a time. The key things you need are DC Volts, DC current, resistance, and a continuity test. Everything else is fluff that you will only need once in a blue moon. Again, look for something similar to this model from SparkFun (SKU TOL09141) or the slightly higher specification meter shown in Figure 1-1. Solderless breadboards (Figure 1-2) are very useful for quickly trying out designs before you commit them to solder. You poke the leads of components into the sockets, and metal clips behind the holes connect all the holes on a row together. They are not expensive (see T5 in the Appendix).
sequel....
simon monk