beginner friendly electronics kit build
pileofstuff
[{'start': '0.240', 'end': '7.280', 'text': "today's kit build is assisted by Return to Helios\xa0 milk stout from Fort Gary Brewing in Winnipeg\xa0\xa0 their tasting notes include roasted coffee dark\xa0 chocolate and a light sweetness from the lactose\xa0\xa0 in it hm sounds like an interesting beer for this\xa0 so it's been several months since I've done a kit\xa0\xa0 build uh I always do a bunch of them in December\xa0 and I figured I would just uh do one just to chill\xa0\xa0 out and enjoy myself today so I reached into my\xa0 box of kits and found this one that I could not\xa0\xa0 remember what it was when I ordered it or what uh\xa0 it was supposed to be so I will uh do that tonight\xa0\xa0 it looks nice and simple based on the schematic we\xa0 have three NPN transistors driving three clusters\xa0\xa0 of uh six LEDs each and some capacitors in\xa0 between them what is going on here so when\xa0\xa0 this one gets pulled low that one charges okay so\xa0 basically just the capacitors create a time delay\xa0\xa0 between the turning on of each that is nice and\xa0 simple and should make for a very mellow kit build\xa0\xa0 it looks like I ordered this one uh anticipating\xa0 doing it for Valentine's Day but then I forgot\xa0\xa0 about it I guess all right um well better wait\xa0 than never I suppose as usual I will be using my\xa0\xa0 uh my favorite board holder i've tried a whole\xa0 bunch of them and this is just the one that I\xa0\xa0 settled on it works really nicely uh for for any\xa0 size of board or most sizes of boards anyways\xa0\xa0 yeah that's a nice looking board as cheap boards\xa0 go you know since this kit doesn't really have\xa0\xa0 any instructions it just has the schematic i\xa0 will follow my usual pattern of doing things\xa0\xa0 which is to put in the lowest profile uh least\xa0 likely to be damaged by my stupidity components\xa0\xa0 first which is almost always the resistors um\xa0 then probably the switch and then capacitors\xa0\xa0 followed by the transistors and then the LEDs\xa0 or the LEDs and the transistors depending on\xa0\xa0 which one is least less likely to get in my\xa0 way so it looks like there are two different\xa0\xa0 values of resistor there's 300 ohm ones and\xa0 three 4.7K the kit comes with two clusters\xa0\xa0 of three resistors each and if I wasn't color\xa0 blind I could tell you what the value of them\xa0\xa0 is just by looking at them but since I am\xa0 color blind I will use the meter to tell me these ones are the 4.7K so let's start\xa0 with those like a lot of the uh reasonably\xa0\xa0 decent kits they've actually got the component\xa0 values marked directly on the board which is nice\xa0\xa0 they've also got uh designators for instance\xa0 that 4.7K there is R5 which is this one right\xa0\xa0 here i like having booth references available even\xa0 though once you lose the schematic or if you don't\xa0\xa0 happen to have it which also happens on a lot of\xa0 these cheap kits then the uh component designation\xa0\xa0 doesn't matter but having the value screen\xa0 printer on the board certainly does make things easier so the only reason I bend the leads\xa0 over on the back of the board is just to hold\xa0\xa0 them in place when I flip it over so that\xa0 they don't fall out on me you could hold\xa0\xa0 it other ways and I will probably hold some\xa0 components in other ways later on in this kit i guess we should double check just\xa0 to make sure that the other resistors\xa0\xa0 that they sent are in fact the 100 ohm\xa0 as they're supposed to be and yes they\xa0\xa0 are that doesn't happen very often but it\xa0 only takes once to really mess up your day yeah that board is taking solder quite nicely i'm\xa0 impressed nice shiny pads well done whoever made\xa0\xa0 this kit next I think I will put in the switch\xa0 which is just a single pole double throw switch\xa0\xa0 but I'm guessing that they're only using one\xa0 side of it oh I guess we can check yeah they're\xa0\xa0 only using one side of it so the pole on the\xa0 opposite side just isn't used so that's the\xa0\xa0 off position cool for this I am just going\xa0 to bend the outside legs just a little bit\xa0\xa0 and they are connected to the shell anyway so\xa0 they are intended as mounting pins but even\xa0\xa0 with bending them I will still hold it in while\xa0 I'm soldering those mounting pins down and they\xa0\xa0 take a fair bit of heat because they are connected\xa0 to that large well relatively large chunk of metal\xa0\xa0 that is the frame of the switch there so it\xa0 sucks away a lot of heat from your soldering iron the electrical contacts on the other hand\xa0 don't pull a lot of heat and they solder quite\xa0\xa0 quickly i'm just going to add a little bit more\xa0 solder to those mounting pads just to make it\xa0\xa0 nice and secure it's a lot more blobby than\xa0 you want an electrical connection but that's\xa0\xa0 fine they're not electrical connections now\xa0 then I think I'm going to switch this around\xa0\xa0 uh how the board is being held just to get the\xa0 grippers uh taking up a little bit less space\xa0\xa0 on the board so that I'm not interfering with\xa0 myself kind of like that so I will put in the\xa0\xa0 capacitors next i think I'll leave the transistors\xa0 for last because as you can see the board holder\xa0\xa0 is kind of interfering with those so I think yeah\xa0 I will carry on with capacitors according to this\xa0\xa0 they are all 47 microfarad electrolytics being\xa0 electrolytics they are a polarized component the\xa0\xa0 negative lead is indicated on the uh package there\xa0 but also the positive lead is the longer one and\xa0\xa0 that matters because if you put them in backwards\xa0 they have this bad habit of exploding in certain\xa0\xa0 applications i'm not sure whether they would\xa0 in this one because they have current limiting\xa0\xa0 resistors in between the positive voltage and the\xa0 negative voltage or at least they get switched to\xa0\xa0 the negative voltage to the transistor so they're\xa0 not going to have a lot of current through them\xa0\xa0 so if you put them backwards in this application\xa0 there's pretty good odds that they won't explode\xa0\xa0 but why would you take that chance on the board\xa0 the positive is marked with a positive sign and\xa0\xa0 the shaded area is the negative so it just makes\xa0 it nice and easy to keep it straight the one\xa0\xa0 downside about flipping the grabbers like that\xa0 is that they get you a lot further away from the\xa0\xa0 board uh sometimes when you have to work around\xa0 them this isn't a super busy board so it's not\xa0\xa0 that bad to work around but there are some times\xa0 when your tools can get in your way so next is all\xa0\xa0 the LEDs and they are also a polarized component\xa0 there's a couple of different indicators on them\xa0\xa0 uh one side has a little flat on the package\xa0 which is this side here which is the negative\xa0\xa0 that's also the shorter lead the longer lead is\xa0 the positive just like the capacitors and on the\xa0\xa0 board they have a positive and negative marked out\xa0 so just drop these in here i think I'm going to do\xa0\xa0 maybe half of them at a time just so that the uh\xa0 forest of component leads doesn't get in my way oh\xa0\xa0 these ones are oriented to the positive to the top\xa0 side these ones are oriented with the positive to\xa0\xa0 the negative side so always pay close attention\xa0 he said probably failing somewhere in this kit\xa0\xa0 build to pay attention because I'm too busy uh\xa0 talking to you guys and not paying attention to\xa0\xa0 what I'm doing it i hope this time not to fall\xa0 into that trap we shall see place your bets in\xa0\xa0 the comments below now then I could leave these\xa0 LEDs spaced up off the board a little bit that\xa0\xa0 one's bent so I'm going to straighten it out\xa0 uh or I could slam them right down flush and\xa0\xa0 I think that's what I'm going to do because it\xa0 makes it easier for me to make them all uniform\xa0\xa0 and of course I'm going to give the leads a bit\xa0 of a bend so that they don't fall out of the\xa0\xa0 board while I'm doing this and another trick that\xa0 I've picked up over the years for components that\xa0\xa0 uh you want to be in a nice uh orientation\xa0 is to only solder one leg of them initially and then flip the board over and get everything\xa0 aligned so that it uh all looks nice and happy\xa0\xa0 make sure that they didn't slip some of them\xa0 did see that guy back there slipped so we'll\xa0\xa0 push down on it reheat it melt the solder let it\xa0 cool and there it is this one's another one that\xa0\xa0 needs a little bit of an adjustment and that one\xa0 i'll just go through and get them all visually\xa0\xa0 where they need to be nice and flush to the board\xa0 and then we'll continue on and solder the other pad and of course clean up the forest of leads to\xa0 make room for doing the second half of the LEDs\xa0\xa0 and I didn't pick the ones that I did in any\xa0 particular order they're just alternating to\xa0\xa0 keep them out of the way of the next operation\xa0 here because if I had them all in at the same\xa0\xa0 time then all the leads would get in my way on\xa0 the backside while I'm trying to solder and it\xa0\xa0 would just make this less of a fun experience\xa0 and the whole point of doing this is to enjoy\xa0\xa0 tinkering around and uh and playing with my\xa0 hobby here which is really the entire point\xa0\xa0 of this entire channel i just happen to bring you\xa0 guys along for the ride and some of you seem to\xa0\xa0 enjoy it and keep coming back so that is just a\xa0 bonus and same as before solder one leg of each LED refflow any of them that need to be\xa0 pro seated better and then solder down\xa0\xa0 the second pin of each one you see how\xa0 even with only half of the LEDs on the\xa0\xa0 uh wires are still kind of getting in my\xa0 way a little bit imagine if they were all\xa0\xa0 on there simultaneously at full length and then\xa0 a quick haircut i'm not being too careful if it\xa0\xa0 was super delicate components you might want to\xa0 take a little bit more time and do them one at a\xa0\xa0 time but these LEDs are fairly robust and I don't\xa0 think I'm going to break anything by doing this i'm sure somebody is going to uh have a\xa0 difference of opinion and they can feel\xa0\xa0 free to comment down below right all that's\xa0 left is the three transistors according to\xa0\xa0 the schematic they are NPN transistors i'm just\xa0 going to give them a quick test just to make\xa0\xa0 sure that I didn't get completely dud ones or\xa0 anything like that i doubt I will but yeah why\xa0\xa0 not yep just a basic NPN transistor 7 volt uh uh\xa0 base emitter junction which is completely typical\xa0\xa0 same again and same again within the margin of\xa0 error anyway absolutely close enough probably\xa0\xa0 didn't need to do that but why not since I've got\xa0 the thing and if you don't have one of those you\xa0\xa0 can easily use just a diode test meter on your\xa0 multimeter and do the same thing just massage\xa0\xa0 the leads a little bit here and get them in place\xa0 uh transistors are of course another polarized\xa0\xa0 component and in order to place them correctly\xa0 they have conveniently given us a shape on the\xa0\xa0 uh silk screen which approximates the shape\xa0 of the package of these things so as long as\xa0\xa0 they have done their job right and I have no\xa0 reason to assume that they haven't then this\xa0\xa0 should work just swimmingly just like that that\xa0 one goes this way and the middle lead which I\xa0\xa0 believe if I remember from a few seconds ago is\xa0 the base goes up that way come on this is a bit\xa0\xa0 of a dance getting these in here but there we\xa0 go let's get them all roughly the same height\xa0\xa0 doesn't matter for function it's just aesthetics\xa0 and those leads are bent and springy enough that\xa0\xa0 they are holding everything in place so I\xa0 don't have to do any further bending on them\xa0\xa0 but I will still do one lead at a time and just\xa0 make sure that they're not uh knocked too far to position they look reasonable and they're not\xa0 part of the display so it doesn't really matter\xa0\xa0 other than for artistic points when it's in\xa0 operation it's not going to change anything\xa0\xa0 take it out of the holder for this because that\xa0 is the last components to go on and that way the\xa0\xa0 gripper is not in my way although I do need to\xa0 put some power wires on there so let's grab it\xa0\xa0 quickly back in there and deal with that and\xa0 for power wires I'll just grab something out\xa0\xa0 of the box of miscellaneous lengths of wires\xa0 here just salvaged wire from random places\xa0\xa0 and that goes in there which one of\xa0 these should I make the positive i\xa0\xa0 think we'll make that one the positive for\xa0 no apparent reason just what I want to do is programming 3 volts into my power supply\xa0 here because that's what it uh says it wants\xa0\xa0 it'll probably run on more or less but might as\xa0 well give it three and I'm going to current it\xa0\xa0 down a whole bunch just in case there is a problem\xa0 or a short circuit so that I don't cook anything\xa0\xa0 initially anyways and then what did I say for\xa0 a color code that's the positive one that's\xa0\xa0 the negative one i do like these knockoff wiggle\xa0 connectors let's see turn the power supply on okay\xa0\xa0 there we go we have flashing we have two of the\xa0 three circuits flashing and one of them is not why\xa0\xa0 is that why do you suppose did I make a mistake\xa0 let's see if we can spot it on the back here which\xa0\xa0 one is it it is that one that one so it's not\xa0 that one let's follow these it's not that one\xa0\xa0 was over here oh yeah i'd say that's a problem\xa0 but it's an easily fixed problem just melt that\xa0\xa0 bridge out of there do I need to get extra toolage\xa0 in here yeah maybe a bit of solder sucker action\xa0\xa0 there now did that pull too much out yeah it's not\xa0 beautiful but it's not shorted anymore either does\xa0\xa0 it work now oh yeah there we go so all three\xa0 of them are flashing the flash rate is ever so\xa0\xa0 slightly different between the three circuits so\xa0 the difference in the flash rate between the three\xa0\xa0 circuits comes down to the natural variability\xa0 of the values of the cap of the components the\xa0\xa0 4.7K resistors are not going to be exactly\xa0 4,700 ohms the capacitors are not going to be\xa0\xa0 precisely 47.00 microfarads uh so the charging and\xa0 discharging rate of the three capacitors is going\xa0\xa0 to be different based on that um the voltage the\xa0 uh base emitter voltage on the three transistors\xa0\xa0 is slightly different it's really close as we saw\xa0 but it's slightly different so all those things\xa0\xa0 combined is going to impact the speed at which the\xa0 capacitors charge and discharge which is going to\xa0\xa0 affect the amount of time it takes uh for the\xa0 voltage at the base of each of the transistors\xa0\xa0 to get above or below the turnon threshold which\xa0 is you know 6 volt or 7 volts between those two\xa0\xa0 points so that's why we have the variance in the\xa0 flashing rates on all three of these circuits\xa0\xa0 and if we look at just three of the LEDs uh on\xa0 three separate circuits you'll notice that they\xa0\xa0 are kind of chasing through and the on time\xa0 and off time of the three of them is slightly\xa0\xa0 different d18 in the middle has a shorter on time\xa0 than the other two so it's a neat little circuit\xa0\xa0 and you could go as many sections as you want\xa0 with this you could do with just two which would\xa0\xa0 essentially be a flip-flop you could go 10 or 50\xa0 or 100 or whatever you wanted and it would just\xa0\xa0 keep rippling through uh just like that fun\xa0 little circuit nice beginner friendly circuit\xa0\xa0 if you are getting into electronics and just\xa0 starting off absolutely take a screenshot of\xa0\xa0 that and throw it onto a breadboard and play\xa0 with it i assure you that you will have fun\xa0\xa0 with it optionally you could just go and uh\xa0 try and track down this kit i will see if I\xa0\xa0 can put find it and put a link down below if I\xa0 find it otherwise as I said it is a very simple\xa0\xa0 schematic you don't need all of the LEDs you\xa0 could just do it with one LED per transistor\xa0\xa0 then you would realistically have just two\xa0 resistors one capacitor one transistor and\xa0\xa0 one LED per section and as I said you can go\xa0 as many sections as you want i hope you found\xa0\xa0 that interesting i certainly found it amusing and\xa0 relaxing and even a very easy little troubleshoot\xa0\xa0 uh thanks for watching questions and\xa0 comments down below i'll talk to you later"}]