Arduino and Electronics links

  Arduino
 We will start with arduino in a few weeks.   You should order your Uno board now and get acquainted with some of the basics.      If you have a laptop,   I would reccommend downloading the arduino software and bringing this computer to class when we start.

 arduino.cc- this is the the main site for arduino.   Where you can download the software and do some basic tutorials

You will each need an Arduino UNO board.   There are a lot of options and it can be overwhelming.  Basically there are 'real' Arduino-made ones that should cost about $25-33 and there are knock-offs that cost anywhere from $4-20.   They are all the same, electronically but may look a little different, colors, layout, etc.   Beware of the super cheap ones.   They are usually shipped from China and can take 2 months to arrive.   It is much better to pay a little extra$ to get it from a US seller.   Here are two that I found on ebay:
 Arduino UNO on ebay
Another one

If you think that arduino and/or electronics are something you would be really into and would like to explore on a deeper level, you may want to purchase an "arduino kit."  Ask  Charlie for recommendations. 


 DIY Electronic Audio and Effects
There were a few request for info on analog electronics and DIY audio effects....
Here are a few:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?board=2.0
DIY Stompboxes is  user forum on all things DIY effect-related.   Can get a little deep, but there is a lot of good info here and some really brilliant member who can help you out if you are in a jam.   Use the 'Search' feature first, tho' ! 


http://www.tonepad.com/  

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/

These two site are filled with complete projects-  mostly versions of classic guitar effects pedals.  You can buy complete kits,  pre-made circuit boards,  or just get the schematics, parts list, and layout for free and make it all yourself.    Tip: Start out small.


 http://www.geofex.com/
This site can be little obtuse difficult to search   (and it looks like a geocities site from the 1990's ) but it has a ton of info on audio electronics and how stuff works.