low power laser modules are fantastic value. I bought some 3mW red laser modules for about £12 ($15) for eight a while back. Sorry don't have a link, but they do turn up quite a lot.

Ditto mini-servos for peanuts.

OK, not that many of us. I almost used an emocion then!

So as the newbie here, do any of you other Brits ever meet up? Hijack a HAM radio rally or anything?

Si.

Added

I'm just curious about how many Arduino people there are in the UK and where they are.

Nah - they kind of clean the bit - but I enjoy the hiss of a hot iron on a damp sponge!

Eventually, you'll loose most of your finger prints!

Ah, the smell of singed flesh.

Seriously - stick it straight under a cold tap (faucet) and leave it there for a minute.

Yes, I guess so.

Maybe its a sign of my age. I used to do electronics as a teenager in the late 70's and then you just followed a design in 'Practical Electronics' etc. I certainly did't think about straying from the design. Then I went to uni and learnt how to do it properly only to go and work in software for 20 years!

I come back to it now for fun and find people ready to just give it a try! Bend the electronics to their will, mod things anyway they like.

Its great to see really. The 'fearless - if it breaks it breaks' attitude.

Perhaps I was just a very cautious teenager.

I actually enjoy the design part - drawing schematics, mulling over different approaches, minimising the component count. But if you dont have the training, there is a lot to learn and part of the way you learn is by getting stuck in and trying things out.

The other thing to consider is what is the cost of failure. There are not many components that you are likely to use that cost more than a few dollars. Even if you think you have killed your Arduino board, its quite likely you have just killed an output transistor on the AT Mega ($5). Erm yes I have done that.

If its just a project for yourself and its never going to be built by anyone else, then there is not much harm in overdriving components and exceeding their tolerances. If the project fails after a while, then that just means you get a chance to play with it again and improve it.

You'll also learn something too. Even if its just 'do a bit more design to avoid frustration'

Si

True, although its nice when its the exception rather than the rule.

Its a bit like swearing - if you do it all the time it loses its impact.

Si.

Engineers are naturally cautious - electronics does not lend itself to hacking.

Having said that, I have a friend who scares the hell out of me doing really stupid things with electronics - massively overdriving transistors, virtually no design other than vague ideas from forums and he does get away with it a remarkable amount of the time. I have tried to make him at least apply V=IR and P=IV but he's too impatient.

Needless to say he destroys a lot of components.

Electronics 'Hacking' seems to be a new thing - to me at least - anyone else know people like that?

Si

Levitate.



Si.

How about IDE as an Eclipse Rich Client Platform?

Open, extensible, powerful.