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If you feel uneasy thinking about prototyping, don’t worry. I am sure that the following five hints will help you get yourself safe, without spending your money and wasting your time. Try to proceed step by step, experiment after experiment you will reach the level you are seeking. And then you will realize how fun it can be. If you follow there five useful hints you will start electronic prototyping the right way.

Knowing the basics is a necessary condition, but unfortunately it’s not a sufficient one. As long as you spend your time trying to work with pre-tested circuits, everything will look easy, but you will soon realize by yourself how limiting the circuits for beginners are. A good electrical engineering manual will be a good starter.

What you want is not always what you need. The initial excitement is the engine that will take you around, but it hides a numer of drawbacks: the easier kits can be completed with no need of an advanced equipment. If you become a serial accumulator of generic tools, you will find yourself with much less available space and money . Money that should be invested buying other kits instead, and to strengthen the basics. Theory and practice go hand in hand, don’t forget it!

“C’mon, it’ìs so easy, hold and weld!“. How many times did you hear such sentence? Here, there is nothing more wrong. Open your kit, take every component out of the box and check out the list with what you have. Is there everything you need? The electrical scheme is provided? No? Go to the producer’s site and download it. The scheme should be learned by heart. Divide your components by type and always verify the polarity. Always work on a table and use a comfortable light.

Revisiting a basic kit it a good exercise to start walking alone. What would happen if I add a LED? And a switch? The breadboard is your friend, you can endlessly mount and unmount. Don’t be afraid to do it! Rimember that the best engineers are those who did more experimentation.

 

“Don’t be cheap, be smart!”. When you jump from the paper to the components, you need to have perfectly clear what you want to do and where you want to get with your project. Ask yourself “Can I do it spending less?”. Learn a completely new definition of “Saving”. Don’t give up quality, simply aim to less expensive design choices. Optimizing your project is fundamental to avoid that your costs go loose.

Follow there five useful hints if you want to start electronic prototyping.

And if you want to avoid annoying issues, read here!