On Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:46:03 +0000, stuart noble wrote:

I suppose these days most of the interesting stuff has to be soldered.
It's a shame there aren't collections of plug-in components that the
younger ones could mess around with, like an electronic Meccano

You mean like:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=98971

B-)

--
Cheers
Dave.

"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.net...
On Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:46:03 +0000, stuart noble wrote:

I suppose these days most of the interesting stuff has to be soldered.
It's a shame there aren't collections of plug-in components that the
younger ones could mess around with, like an electronic Meccano

You mean like:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=98971

B-)

--
Cheers
Dave.


My 7 year old son has a set of that stuff and loves playing around with it.
It does seem expensive but he has got a lot of value out of it.

Cheers

Mark

In message et, Dave
Liquorice writes
On Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:46:03 +0000, stuart noble wrote:

I suppose these days most of the interesting stuff has to be soldered.
It's a shame there aren't collections of plug-in components that the
younger ones could mess around with, like an electronic Meccano

You mean like:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=98971

B-)

We have a couple of those sorts of sets for our daughters (now aged 7
and 4 - I guess we got the first one when the eldest was about 3)

It does have things like diodes, LEDs, resistors,light sensors etc. as
well as units that do things like make sounds. Though probably Stuart
means something more where there are more electronic-y bits to make more
complex electronic circuits.

They do enjoy the kits though, it comes with a good booklet of circuit
diagrams, which match the pieces in the kit, so making it easy to
translate, so she was able to follow the diagrams from a fairly young
age (though some bits require reading)

They also of course love just playing with all the bits and making up
their own circuits etc. Though really for that sort of thing it doesn't
come with as many simple things like bulbs (being very much aimed at
what the national curriculum says for the relevant age group)

We also have a box of bulbs, wires, bizzers, croc clips etc. which they
love to play and experiment with.

Though the most probably the most exciting thing they did recently was
dissect hearts :-) (We home educate, so have plenty of time to do such
fun things :-) )

--
Chris French

On Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:27:22 -0000, Mark Spice wrote:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=98971

My 7 year old son has a set of that stuff and loves playing around with
it. It does seem expensive but he has got a lot of value out of it.

Thanks your and Mr French's feedback, I think the lad (8) has just got
another Christmas present. B-)

Either this snap stuff, which does strike me as easily expandable but
expensive or one of the other type with springs and lengths of real wire
to join things together. I think a trip to Maplin is in order...

--
Cheers
Dave.

Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:27:22 -0000, Mark Spice wrote:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=98971
My 7 year old son has a set of that stuff and loves playing around with
it. It does seem expensive but he has got a lot of value out of it.

Thanks your and Mr French's feedback, I think the lad (8) has just got
another Christmas present. B-)

Yup, got a set of that - wery good.

Either this snap stuff, which does strike me as easily expandable but
expensive or one of the other type with springs and lengths of real wire
to join things together. I think a trip to Maplin is in order...

Waitrose have some of those (first time I have seen them for years) -
only about £15 as well.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In message et, Dave
Liquorice writes
On Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:27:22 -0000, Mark Spice wrote:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=98971

My 7 year old son has a set of that stuff and loves playing around with
it. It does seem expensive but he has got a lot of value out of it.

Thanks your and Mr French's feedback, I think the lad (8) has just got
another Christmas present. B-)

Either this snap stuff, which does strike me as easily expandable but
expensive

It is pretty expensive, but it's well made, and of good quality, all the
pieces are sturdy, (they have yet to break anything), the diagrams are
clear.

or one of the other type with springs and lengths of real wire
to join things together.

We've got a couple of old one of those (look like they probably date
from the 1970's or something), I think they prefer the other a sort, the
spring ones seem more of a fiddle to them

I think a trip to Maplin is in order...

We have the Cambridge Brainbox version

http://www.cambridgebrainbox.co.uk/

We started with the Primary Plus kit, and this year picked up a
Secondary one from Ebay pretty cheaply (a good source for expansion
bits)

For an 8 yo I'd look to getting a Secondary kit if I was buying one, it
has some extra bits, more bulbs, a multimeter and stuff.

I also note they have an explorer kit which seems to be more electronics
focused.

They are available from various places (good old Google), though getting
a bit late maybe for online.

As an aside, I've heard good things about this:

http://www.windmillweb.co.uk/KIDSTUFF/apprentice.htm

The Electronics Wizard Apprentice.

Basically it a postal electronics course where they send out kits every
month. Aimed at 10 yo plus.
--
Chris French

"Owain" wrote in message
et...
Andrew Gabriel wrote:
... For his 2nd birthday, I
bought him an LED torch, one of the ones you shake to charge up (partly
chosen as it didn't disassemble into small pieces), and that generated
more interest than many of the toys.

Some of those LED torches can have very concentrated outputs - gently
sanding the front lens to diffuse the light a bit might be advisable?

the three aa cell led maglite in screwfix is very bright and focuses well.

In article et,
"Dave Liquorice" writes:
On Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:46:03 +0000, stuart noble wrote:

I suppose these days most of the interesting stuff has to be soldered.
It's a shame there aren't collections of plug-in components that the
younger ones could mess around with, like an electronic Meccano

You mean like:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=98971

Looks interesting.
Can you easily replace, say, the transistor on it's plastic
piece after it's been connected the wrong way around?

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article et,
"Dave Liquorice" writes:
On Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:46:03 +0000, stuart noble wrote:

I suppose these days most of the interesting stuff has to be soldered.
It's a shame there aren't collections of plug-in components that the
younger ones could mess around with, like an electronic Meccano
You mean like:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=98971

Looks interesting.
Can you easily replace, say, the transistor on it's plastic
piece after it's been connected the wrong way around?


Does look interesting, but a bit expensive for the younger ones. If it's
a base they can build on later using cheaper components, I guess you
simply regard it as an investment rather than a present. So, are there
generic bits and pieces you could add, or would they have to be
specifically for that board? Getting tied into overpriced add-ons would
kind of put me off and, in a way, would be getting away from your
original idea of building stuff from odds and ends.

We have a couple of those sorts of sets for our daughters (now aged 7
and 4 - I guess we got the first one when the eldest was about 3)

It does have things like diodes, LEDs, resistors,light sensors etc. as
well as units that do things like make sounds. Though probably Stuart
means something more where there are more electronic-y bits to make more
complex electronic circuits.


No, actually I meant for younger kids. This sounds ideal.
My grand daughter (6) thinks mostly about shoes, but I have high hopes
for the lad (3) who instinctively gravitates to the toolbox.

They do enjoy the kits though, it comes with a good booklet of circuit
diagrams, which match the pieces in the kit, so making it easy to
translate, so she was able to follow the diagrams from a fairly young
age (though some bits require reading)

They also of course love just playing with all the bits and making up
their own circuits etc. Though really for that sort of thing it doesn't
come with as many simple things like bulbs (being very much aimed at
what the national curriculum says for the relevant age group)

We also have a box of bulbs, wires, bizzers, croc clips etc. which they
love to play and experiment with.

Though the most probably the most exciting thing they did recently was
dissect hearts :-) (We home educate, so have plenty of time to do such
fun things :-) )

On Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:29:02 UTC, "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:

On Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:27:22 -0000, Mark Spice wrote:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=98971

My 7 year old son has a set of that stuff and loves playing around with
it. It does seem expensive but he has got a lot of value out of it.

Thanks your and Mr French's feedback, I think the lad (8) has just got
another Christmas present. B-)

Either this snap stuff, which does strike me as easily expandable but
expensive or one of the other type with springs and lengths of real wire
to join things together. I think a trip to Maplin is in order...

Or a nice little breadboard and some 'normal' components...ISTR I had
one at about that age. Breadboard has the advantage that it's expandable
at low cost (components and even another board).

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

stuart noble wrote:

Does look interesting, but a bit expensive for the younger ones. If it's

I am not sure the one pictured matches the price - I think I bought
either the middle or the big set and paid about £40 for it (well £30 in
reality since I have mate who works for them and can get a staff
discount ;-)

a base they can build on later using cheaper components, I guess you
simply regard it as an investment rather than a present. So, are there
generic bits and pieces you could add, or would they have to be
specifically for that board? Getting tied into overpriced add-ons would

You can't easily add stuff to it, but the larger sets have a fair
selection of components. A prototype board, ordinary components, and
some small crock clip leads however would allow you to add more
capability later if you want.

kind of put me off and, in a way, would be getting away from your
original idea of building stuff from odds and ends.

The main attraction of the set is that you can build stuff without
needing to worry about getting reliable connections, and the parts are
designed to be reused without the lead ends getting all bent out of
shape. I think its probably only a starter - but it may encourage them
to get into "proper" electronics later.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In message , Owain
writes
chris French wrote:
Though the most probably the most exciting thing they did recently
was dissect hearts :-) (We home educate, so have plenty of time to do
such fun things :-) )

Was the biology lesson followed by home economics by any chance?

:-)

I did suggest it, but we two of the families are vegetarians and the
meat eating family didn't fancy the idea of heart
--
Chris French

Mike wrote:

their biggest mistake is that the
earth core stops short of the brass terminal!

I saw the diagram as:- the earth wire had not yet been "pushed home"
(hence the arrow of what the wire was to do before the screw "clamp" was
done up).

On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 14:04:07 +0000, John Rumm wrote:

I am not sure the one pictured matches the price - I think I bought
either the middle or the big set and paid about £40 for it

Agreed the picture does not do either the small or large Snap Electronics
sets justice. I got to Hull early on saturday morning so dropped into the
Maplin there. Looked at both plumped for Snap Electronic Extreme. The
springy thing didn't really have much in the way of bits by comparison,
the springs are a fiddle to use and it looked made down to a price. The
Snap Electronics board is about the size of A4 sheet, a good range of
components and in theory 750 experiments but I expect marketing has got at
that figure, changing one resistor is another "experiment"...

You can't easily add stuff to it, but the larger sets have a fair
selection of components. A prototype board, ordinary components, and
some small crock clip leads however would allow you to add more
capability later if you want.

Well you could just buy another set or smaller one and adjust the
component values if needed.

kind of put me off and, in a way, would be getting away from your
original idea of building stuff from odds and ends.

True but to start I think having a set of instructions for experiments or
projects that are very likely to work is essential to provide that
positive feedback. An electronics breadboard and load of bits isn't much
use if you don't know what a resistor is...

I think its probably only a starter - but it may encourage them to get
into "proper" electronics later.

It will be interesting to see what happens on Christmas Day, will the Lad
be into it, will No.1 Daughter dive in and take over, will Dad?

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Thu, 18 Dec 2008 10:21:29 +0000, John Rumm
wrote:

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
John Rumm wrote:
I recall seeing advice that suggests it is actually better to use a
crimped bootlace ferrule on stranded wire prior to using in a screw
terminal... I think this particularly applies to terminating fines
stranded cables, or termination into terminals like U saddle clamps that
otherwise are poor at gripping smaller wires.

Oh indeed - there are plenty of apps where they're a good idea. But as I
said the chances of a prepared cable with them having the correct lengths
for a plug is remote. The other question is how well they work with
something like the MK Safety Plug which has wrap round terminals rather
than the hole type.

Yup the MK plug would be a problem... not ever been that fond of those
though (don't like wrap around terminals, and the things are rather wide).

Yet in over 25 years of using them I've never had one fail through
overheating or other failures. One I ran over in the car was still
usable - I binned it though. The number of other suppliers plugs I've
had to bin over that period due to defects - cable grips, knackered
screws, cracked mouldings and general wear and tear is well into
double figures. While I'm on about plugs don't get me started on those
stupid plugs (duraplug?) where you had to thread the cord through the
top before you started terminating - 99% of them on the planet have
been cut with a stanley knife just to complete the job!

YPMV

Your plug may vary


--

"Owain" wrote in message
et...
Mike wrote:
... While I'm on about plugs don't get me started on those
stupid plugs (duraplug?) where you had to thread the cord through the
top before you started terminating - 99% of them on the planet have
been cut with a stanley knife just to complete the job!

It's when you carefully remember to put the flex through the top before
you start ... then find you put it through backwards ... that you really
start swearing.

Or is it just me?

Yes - failed many times (and swore) through forgetting, never put one on
backwards.


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

Mike wrote:

[Re MK plugs]

Yet in over 25 years of using them I've never had one fail through
overheating or other failures.

Funny you should say that. I just had my first ever MK plug fail the other
week, the threaded terminal post sheared off as I tightened it.

While I'm on about plugs don't get me started on those
stupid plugs (duraplug?) where you had to thread the cord through the
top before you started terminating - 99% of them on the planet have
been cut with a stanley knife just to complete the job!

.... and the only replacement I could lay hands on the time was like that
and, yes, I did forget to thread the flex through first.

I remember Strand Electric stage lighting supplying Duraplugs ready cut in
the 1960's.

--
Mike Clarke

"Bob Mannix" wrote in message
...
"Owain" wrote in message
et...
Mike wrote:
... While I'm on about plugs don't get me started on those
stupid plugs (duraplug?) where you had to thread the cord through the
top before you started terminating - 99% of them on the planet have
been cut with a stanley knife just to complete the job!

It's when you carefully remember to put the flex through the top before
you start ... then find you put it through backwards ... that you really
start swearing.

Or is it just me?

Yes - failed many times (and swore) through forgetting, never put one on
backwards.


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

Not just me then sigh of relief

Did S.Firth teach you the swear words or did you already know them?

Adam