Practice Kit
The practice kit is a learn-to-solder kit that is based on a programmable microcontroller. So not only do you practice soldering and making DMM measurements, but you also practice programming. There are 24 components to solder into the professionally made PCB. The battery snap is strained relieved to prevent the wires from breaking off during normal use. A digital multimeter (DMM) is now included with the kit.
The Practice kit requires students to make the following measurements with a DMM.
- The resistance of resistors (practice reading the resistor color code and verifying the resistors are within tolerance)
- The operation of a voltage regulator (input and output voltages) and how it maintains a constant output voltage
- The voltage drop across three different color LEDs and how it depends on the color of the LED
- The changing voltage of a photocell-based voltage divider
The Practice kit has the following programming exercises
- Bits, bytes, and counting
- Digitizing an analog voltage with the READADC and READADC10 commands
- Detecting when a button is pressed
- Operating a bi-color LED
After learning the four simple programming tasks, they are combined into more complex programs.
- Night light or light level indicator
- Button-toggled light
- Button click counter
The price for the Practice Kit (PractKit) is $33.00 plus $4.00 S&H. However, the Practice Kit is shipped free if purchased in conjunction with any other NearSys kit.
Instructions for Practice Kit