Product Review: ELEGOO UNO Project Basic Starter Kit with Tutorial and UNO R3 Compatible with Arduino IDE

 

This is a kit that has a good selection of components (jumper wires, LEDs, resistors, etc.) to go along with the Arduino R3 Uno board and a very tiny breadboard. The breadboard is basically the same size as the Arduino board (about 3" by 2") so you may want to get a larger breadboard depending on what you would be using it for. 

It comes with a CD that has an older version of the Arduino software. The software is what you use to code the "sketches" (which are what Arduino programs are called), and a PDF file with a lot of basic projects to get you started using the board. All in all, a relatively good, inexpensive kit.

Product Review: Haitronic 120pcs 20cm Length Jumper Wire/Dupont Cable Multicolored(10 Color) M to F, M to M, F to F

 

This is a set of jumper wires that will get you every possible connection type. If you are just connecting components on a breadboard, you get a set of wires with M-to-M connections. If you are connecting to an Arduino or Raspberry Pi, you get a set of wires with M-to-F connections, and you also get a set of wires with F-to-F connections for the times you need those. You get 40 wires of each connection type, which will be plenty for most people's needs. If you are an electrical engineering student and have to do circuit labs, especially at home, these are invaluable and much better than the jumper wires you will get with most kits. I definitely recommend them.

Product Review: SainSmart IIC/I2C/TWI Serial 2004 20x4 LCD Module Shield For Arduino UNO

 

The meager instructions that came with this (at least when I purchased it back in 2017) are pretty useless and incorrect. If you dig around online or look at the Amazon reviews you can find the correct instructions to get it to work. Basically, you have to check the l2C address (which is wrong in the instructions), check that you are using the correct l2C address, if your Arduino has more than one, and make sure you are giving it 5V of power.  Once you get it working, it works as it should. I used it for a build for an independent study project, and once I got everything set up correctly, it worked as expected to display a message based on the amount of vibration detected from a piezoelectric sensor. 

Product Review: Parallax 605-00004 Piezo Film

 

I used this to build a vibration sensor for an independent study class when I was working on an electrical engineering degree. It has ends that allow you to mount it to a breadboard or solder it to a printed circuit board. It worked well and was able to pick up vibration. The only issue, however, is that if it is on a breadboard that is somewhat thick, it may not pick up vibration through the breadboard. If you can work around that, it does work as it should.

Product Review: uxcell 100 Pcs 10K Ohm 3% Temperature Measurement NTC Thermistors

 

I needed a couple of Thermistors for one of my electrical engineering labs. Although I would have liked a package with far fewer than 100, they worked for what I needed them to do, and the price for a pack of 100 is good.

Product Review: Velleman Sa Electronic Decision Maker Kit

 

During my introduction to electrical engineering class, we had to do a couple of small soldering projects. This is a small kit that requires a push-button, some capacitors, resistors, etc to be mounted/soldered to a very small circuit board. The instructions are okay, but not the most well-written instructions. But, they are not impossible to figure out. Basically, you push the button, and either a green LED (representing "yes") or a red LED (representing "no") will light up, randomly. The board is so small that it can be difficult to work with to get the components mounted, and you will need to be careful to keep your fingers out of the way when you are soldering. It is a fun project that can be put together fairly quickly.