Mallette Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 The PAW snagged a 300 in one Rat Shack project kit at a garage sale a will back for a couple of bucks. All seemed to be there, but when I finally got it out yesterday I found batteries had been left in and the battery case was mostly gone. My seven year old engineer was very disappointed, so after a couple of hours of cutting strips of beer can and burnishing them to ensure conductivity, then folding the strips and inserting them to provide the missing contacts, we had power. I'd hunted up a 9 volt (there had been six AA's) power supply, but closer inspection noted that the kit had taps to get 1.5, 3, 4.5, 6. 7.5, and 9 volts. Anyway, dad was the McGiverian hero. Thank God for beer! We started with a transistor radio. A bit much. Couldn't get it to work so went back to very basics. Lighting an LED. Required several wires and a single resistor. Once verified that the thing did, indeed work, I turned it over to Thomas and he went to the next item, adding a second resistor in series such that when you moved the switch back and forth, the LED would go half bright. Frankly, I was surprised he really thought it cool. So I explained about resistors and what they did. At the moment, he is working on a capacitor LED circuit by himself that will show what a capacitor does by lighting an LED from stored energy that will gradually dim. Before he started, I had him recite what the dual switched series resistor circuit did and he had it down cold. This is cool. I am learning too. Can't wait to have him design and build me a SET amp of advanced design... Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oblio Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 Cool. We are still at the Thomas stage, I need to be a bit more active in the rail yard and do more than buy the copper top ore to run things. I look forward to lots of projects such as yours if it interests him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted January 2, 2010 Author Share Posted January 2, 2010 It's really awesome. He completed the parallel capacitor circuit and it didn't work. I examined it and realized they were calling for electrolytics, not ceramics. So, I taught him the difference and how to tell the polarity (which, of course, counts with electrolytics) and we got it to work. We discussed how the capacitors charge, then discharge and light the LED until the charge is dissipated. Not exactly rocket science yet, but the kid really got it and he may someday invent the warp drive. He can name it after me...seriously warped. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 I turned it over to Thomas and he went to the next item, adding a second resistor in series such that when you moved the switch back and forth, the LED would go half bright. Frankly, I was surprised he really thought it cool. I haven't figured out why some engineers don't know they could do this with all those blue LEDs that are showing up in all the equipment these days. They are usually way too bright. It would be an easy fix, even if it would void the warranty.I'm glad he is enjoying it. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted January 2, 2010 Author Share Posted January 2, 2010 OT - Let me know if you are ever out this way, Bruce. Love to have you and that beautiful lady here for a few days... Both of you are keepers. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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