Back in the day when I was staring out I used to make up a variety of electronic circuits on breadboards and even designed my own PCBs, the would be logic circuits, power supplies and 555 timer circuits. Nowadays you can buy complete kits with the PCBs and all required components for very low prices. These are ideal for beginners and also kids for learning, even for someone more experienced like me I still find them fun to make.
I have purposely chosen kits with no SMT components, lets get started
Digital Watch Electronic Clock Kit
A nice and simple watch which is based on a STC microcontroller, comes with all required components, board and case. Its a bit small for an adult but its a fun little kit that only costs $4.40
Diy kit Watch the clock DIY big microcontroller LED kit
89C2051 electronic clock kit
This is an AT89C2051 based electronic clock kit, it requires 3 to 6v. So you will need a battery pack or power supply. Its an easy kit to make that will take minimal time to build and comes in around the $1.50 making it a real bargain for beginners. The manual is in chinese and the 89C2051 is already programmed.
C51 4 Bits Electronic Clock DIY Kit
Adjustable Power Supply Kit
This is a power supply kit based on a LM317, I remember building one of these when I was learning electronics and creating my own PCG. Now you can buy a kit easily with all the components you need – for under $1. Its amazing really. Here are some specs of the actually PSU
Input voltage: AC≤17V DC≤25V
Output voltage: DC 1.25 — 12 V adjustable
Output current: 1A
LM317 Adjustable Power Supply Kit
Electronic DIY Kit 8×16 Dot matrix game
This is another simple kit that when assembled allows you to play 4 fairly simple games on a dot matrix display, it uses an STC microcontroller which is already programmed. Slightly more complex but not too difficult kit, this does not have a case but you can buy one with a case. This version comes in at under $8.
Electronic DIY Kit 8×16 Dot matrix game machine Diy Kit Electronic
LM386 Audio Amplifier DIY Kit
This is another evergreen chip, the LM386 which I remember using as it was a very easy audio amp which required very few components. This kit requires 3.5-12V. Again you can get one of these kits for under $1 for the pcb and all the components.
LM386 Super Mini Audio Amplifier DIY Kit
3W Speaker Box DIY Kit
This kit costs about $14 – for the price you get 2 speakers and PCBs with cases to fit the parts. The speakers are capable of delivering 3W per channel. You need 5v to power the speakers. The kit uses the popular KA2284 to display the audio level on various LEDs and an 8002 audio amplifier
Mini 3W Speaker Box DIY Kit With Transparent case
Infrared Parking Sensor kit
This is a 555 timer based circuit which is ideal for learning about that chip. At only $1.50 its another low priced kit.
Electronic Hourglass DIY Kit
I’ve classified this as a beginners kit as its not complicated but it does contain a lot of parts as it has 30 LEDs and resistor combinations among other components so it will take a little time to make. It can be bought for $4
DC 5V Blue LED Electronic Hourglass DIY Kit
flashing LED Electronic Kit
CD4017 + NE555 based kit which flashes 3 different sets of coloured LEDs
CD4017 + NE555 Flash Light Explosion-flashing LED Suite Self DIY Electronic Kit
Digital Clock Time Thermometer DIY Kit
Another STC microcontroller based kit, all components are supplied and also a neat case. There is also an LDR which is used to control the brightness and a very basic thermometer which will display the temperature on the display. This kit comes in at a reasonably priced $7.50
Electronic Clock Microcontroller Digital Clock and Thermometer DIY Kit
LED turntable kit
This is another 4017 and 555 timer kit which basically flashes a different LED after a button is pressed. The kit requires 3 to 6v for power and costs about $2
diy electronic kit set Electronic lucky turntable
TDA7297 electronic diy kit
For under $1 you get a far more audio amplifier than th eprevious LM386 kit, this particular kit uses a TDA7297 which can supply 15w and requires minimal components. It requires 6 to 18v for power.
TDA7297 amplifier 15w electronic diy kit
