We tried to keep the cost of the projects in this
book to under $100; in many cases, the materials and parts will cost you
under $50 or so. Depending on what you have lying around the house
already, you might not have to invest in some of the basic tools, such
as pliers or a screwdriver. You will probably have to spend $50 or so
for electronics-specific tools and materials such as a soldering iron,
solder, and a multimeter like the one shown in Figure 1-3.
If you want to get really
fancy, you could spend a couple hundred dollars on fancy testing
equipment such an oscilloscope, but you don’t have to have that
equipment to get through these projects, by any means. Of course, in
the world outside this book, projects can cost you hundreds of
dollars. Like any hobby, you can spend a few bucks to dabble or
mortgage your house to get into it in a big way. To get your feet
wet in electronics, though, the investment is not that great. Keep
in mind that you can reuse some of the parts of one project (such as
a breadboard) in another and cut your electronics budget further.
See Gathering tools for information about the
parts and tools that we recommend you get to build your basic
electronics workshop.
Space . . . the final frontier
One thing you do need to
leap into the world of electronics projects is space. That doesn’t
mean you have to take over your living room and build a fancy
workbench. In most cases, a corner of your garage or laundry room
stocked
with a shelf where you can keep parts and a card table works just
fine.
We do advise that you find a specific space
for your projects. In short order, your workspace will be filled
with tools and parts and all kinds of (useful) junk (see Figure
1-4). See "Avoiding shocks" section for advice about safety when working with all
this stuff. For example, stock your workspace with safety glasses
that protect you whenever bits of wire go flying, and find a place
where you can keep your soldering iron in a stand so it doesn’t roll
into your lap.
We also recommend finding a spot that you can
close off if there are others in your household — especially small
children or pets — who could topple your work surface or eat tiny
electrical parts and do themselves damage. Electronic projects don’t
happen in a day, and you might work on a single project over a
matter of weeks. If you have a small room with a door to keep others
out, great. If not, use your common sense about what you leave out
on your work surface overnight.