Beginner Question

[DCMagnuson at aol.com]

In a message dated 1/15/01 9:35:24 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
aiwaz at netzero.com writes:

> Greetings, thanks for the response.
>  
>      I'm not a complete beginner, I've been doing kits for quite awhile.
>  My first problem is that kits get boring.  Slip this in here, solder there,
>  cool I'm done....But did I really learn anything? Second, I'm really
>  attracted to the idea of modules, because it's something I can build up off
>  of.  Integrate other designs into my first project and (forgive me for the
>  expression) give me something I can grow with.  I would be interested in
>  any ideas/help or schematic/plans from folks on the list for reliable
>  projects..
>  

Admittedly, kits are a lot less "fun" to build than scratch-built designs.  
BUT you can still really modify a kit as you build it (or afterwards).  It's 
generally quite easy to add patch points to most kits, making them 
semi-modular.  I hardly ever assemble any of the modules that I buy in their 
stock form... almost all of them get customized at some point.

Try buying some completed PCBs (EFM, Chris MacDonald, Tony Allgood, etc), and 
expand on them as you build.

Dave Magnuson