Thanks to Eclectic!

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Blazemaguire

Senior Member
Sorry for 'spamming' the forum with something un-technical, but I just wanted to say a big THANKS to Eclectic on this forum.

He has posted my school (completley free of charge) several boxes of usefull components / half finished projects and other goodies that are really going to help out my teaching and the kids in my electronics class and lunchtime club. - Absolute legend! - And all through meeting him on the forum! - I dont even know the guy! - sometimes the kindness of strangers amazes me.

Just wanted everyone to know what a bloody nice bloke he is!

Rob
 
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manuka

Senior Member
Brendan et.al: It looks good in theory, & most schools worldwide indeed run pitiful ~0$ budgets for electronics teaching, BUT their actual course related needs are often far removed from the technologies of donated gear. For starters full class sets of matching items are usually essential. Teaching handouts usually specify EXACT items, & odd ball gear can be a pain - YOU may be able to work around this but many learners can NOT.

I've been at places where a donated truck load of old PCs/radio gear/TVs/VCRs/CRTs will end up just being an cursed encumberance. This is often compounded by negligible storage of course. Health & safety issues arise from mains powered gear or imploding CRTs & lead, & unless fully supervised many parts will just be used for crazy "EXPLOSIONS"- electrolytics especially.

It's fair to say that many schools would most welcome coloured HOOKUP WIRE,followed by AA & 9V batteries, storage cabinets & hand tools!
 
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BrendanP

Senior Member
Thanks Stan.

I've got a lots of new R's, caps, V regs, etc. I bought R's in boxes of 1000 and V regs by the dozens from Mouser when the au dollar was high. I look though the bags of stuff I've bought and think, what the hell did I buy that for.... oh yeah for that project or that facet of the project and then didn't do it that way or only used a few of the parts and the rest are still there.

I bought a 100 DS18B20's from DS in the Phillipines.

I don't keep any old clapped out gear. Parts are so cheap it isn't worth messing around with I find.

Your suggestion re. hook up wire is a good one.

A lot of people have helped me on the forum, I don't mind putting something back in.

Any teachers need parts?
 
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Blazemaguire

Senior Member
manuka said:
Brendan et.al: It looks good in theory, & most schools worldwide indeed run pitiful ~0$ budgets for electronics teaching, BUT their actual course related needs are often far removed from the technologies of donated gear. For starters full class sets of matching items are usually essential. Teaching handouts usually specify EXACT items, & odd ball gear can be a pain - YOU may be able to work around this but many learners can NOT.

I've been at places where a donated truck load of old PCs/radio gear/TVs/VCRs/CRTs will end up just being an cursed encumberance. This is often compounded by negligible storage of course. Health & safety issues arise from mains powered gear or imploding CRTs & lead, & unless fully supervised many parts will just be used for crazy "EXPLOSIONS"- electrolytics especially.

It's fair to say that many schools would most welcome coloured HOOKUP WIRE,followed by AA & 9V batteries, storage cabinets & hand tools!
Click to expand...
-That last statements is quite true! - - Soldering Irons in particular dont last 5 minutes with kids (constantly 'steaming' them on the sponges despite being told a million times), and due to health and safety we have to use the expensive 'low voltage (12V)' versions in case they decide to cut the wires. - This is irritating paying £12 a pop, when you can buy a prefectly good and longer lasting soldering iron from the local pound shop that runs off mains for about £2.

Luckily, my brother worked for a wirless alarm company and everytime their brand new duracell PP3 batteries went past the sell by date I got a load of them! - I must have been donated about 300+ PP3 batteries about 2 years ago.... i've now got about 20 left! but at least they were free...... - unfortunatly my brother has since been made redundant from that place.

Anyhow - Eclectics 'goody bag' that he sent me was geuninly usefull - lots of PIC proto boards / PICAXE chips - resistors and caps in value I diddnt have (but diddnt want to waste £5 on postage getting from rapid) - robot chasis, ultra sound modules / I.R reciever setup for PICAXE etc, Stepper motors. - All REALLY usefull stuff. - And the half finished projects are gonna save me a lot of time building demonstrators for my teaching (dimming LEDS's - bi colour/tri colour LED circuits etc).
 
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