I just registered. I'm Peter and I'm almost 18 years old. I live in Greece and just finished school. I ill be studying electrical engineering in a few months at the university. So my friend who is aware of my interests, is 1 year older than me and learned how to code in C and just found out about arduinos. He doesn't own one yet, so he invited me to start learning together. The problem we faced is that we don't know where to start. We want to order 2 arduinos that are able to cover our beginner and a bit advanced needs. Where can I get the things I need to both learn basic stuff and start a project ( like mounting an LCD on the arduino and write with computer commands ) ? Thanks in advance.
There are a number of Arduino models and clones on the market, but you really won't go wrong starting with the standard Duemilanove.
If you want something with more features suited to larger projects, you could also look at the Mega. However, it costs 2x the Duemilanove, and the microcontroller chip can't be easily replaced if you damage it somehow.
There are several suppliers in Europe that you can oder from, and many probably have kits. If you can afford one, Earthshine Electronics in UK has a couple of nice kits that go along with an ebook that they wrote. If their kits are too much, you can always download the ebook and use it as a guide for projects and collecting parts.
I would recommend you just go with a duemilanove (not a cheap copy off ebay either) as then all shields will work and everyone will know exactly how to help. You will find that no matter which you buy now, as soon as you get onto more complex things, you will be purchasing/making new ones anyway
I would recommend the 'getting started with arduino' book from MAKE.
The ebook from earthshine is also very good though and there's the added benefit that it's free
I started out with oomlout's starter kit - which was great.
It comes with an arduino duemilanove, breadboard, perspex mount for those two and a load of components. The guide is good and easy to follow, and pretty much everything you can order from oomlout.co.uk comes with a circuit diagram and a link to download example code and instructions.
Keep in mind that orders from other european countries incur lower import duties (if they incur import duties at all).
Some research should be done though, might vary from country to country.
One thing is sure, you're bound to get a hefty customs charge when ordering from outside of europ.
One thing is sure, you're bound to get a hefty customs charge when ordering from outside of europ.
I've ordered various bits from china and not paid import - I got three 8x32 LED displays, 100 RGB LEDs and some other bits in one package (split into two boxes) and it was fine.
I've ordered various bits from china and not paid import - I got three 8x32 LED displays, 100 RGB LEDs and some other bits in one package (split into two boxes) and it was fine.
On UK import, as things are almost always declared as a gift, you only have to pay customs if it's declared as over £38 or something. Even then you don't always get charged.
