Kit Name: Basic Electronic Components
Model No: ECK-10
Manufacturer: Elenco Electronics, Inc.
Manufacturer Website: http://elenco.com/
Author: Arthur F. Seymour MSEE
Vendor: Elextronix Express
Vendor Website: http://www.elexp.com/
Vendor Part No: 3200ECK10
Price: $7.95
The point of this kit is to introduce the parts and pieces in basic electronic circuits, a “these are the people in your neighborhood” kind of review. It has a 25 page booklet and a representative collection of parts. The booklet covers resistors, capacitors, inductors, and basic semiconductors like diodes. It even throws in an example printed circuit-board. For each of these you get information on what they do and how they are made but not much on why and where they get used in circuits. To figure out how much you understood you get short self-tests, small practicums reading the markings of the various examples included, and “extra credit” assignments that seem to mostly be thought experiments. Only one of them, the LED extra credit assignment, actually involves applying current and having the part do what it does.You can get really good explanations of different components on the internet for free, so strength of this kit is the practice distinguishing between the different versions of the same component type included in the kit. It would also cost you more than $7.95 to get the same collection of parts a-la-carte. However, If you just want to immediately get your hands dirty making things that do stuff you’ll be frustrated by the lack of functional applications.