Hello

@mike-parsons Hi Mike, welcome to the forum. Don't worry, I have over half a century of experience and still ask lot's of 'stupid questions'. When you are ready, find the appropriate forum/sub-forum if any and ask away.

Thanks, Ron. I'm still trying to find my way around the site, but I'll get there.

@mike-parsons

Welcome Mike. There are some regulars here that would be happy to answer your beginner questions.

I assume you mean turning on a LED with an Arduino sketch?

I also don't know anyone, and never have, who is the least bit interested in electronics. It was all a self taught hobby from books as was learning to program.  I worked on the family citrus/vine property so I guess I was also a gardener of sorts.

I would be interested in any future posts you might have on any electronic projects that might interest you.

The spell checker has improved my ability to spell as well!

John

Thanks John. I was only joking about the two LEDs, but yes, Arduino has been my main focus till now. I've asked Santa for a few Raspberry Pi modules for Christmas and now I can't sleep at night with the excitement. I'm also trying to learn a bit about more pure electronics, as sometimes I feel that using a microcontroller for simple projects (like lighting) is a bit of overkill. I have a little musical project that I will share just as soon as I find out how. It's very much a beginners' project, but hopefully someone will get some enjoyment from it, and there's certainly room for some improvements.

@mike-parsons Watch out for the Pi5, it has a few differences from the Pi4. If it's not too late, a Pi4B 4 or 8 GB is a good start.

VERY important, learn the differences between an MPU like a Pi, and an MCU like an Arduino or esp32. Google is your friend.

@robotbuilder You keep saying you never knew anyone interested in Electronics. Every year in my high school and probably the other half a dozen other high schools there were at least 4 classes of between 20 and 30 students each who were studying electronics for about half the school day (1pm to 4pm). That was from about 1958 to 1961 and the program started at least in 1945 and ran for many decades thereafter before the school admin idiots stopped it. I hear they are restarting those classes since we are being beat by other countries overseas now. After high school we continued in a 3 year college class and they are still running now, over 60 years later. Maybe you spent your HS and college days in a 3rd world country?

Thanks again Ron. Sadly, I think Santa's already ordered them from Amazon, using the link that I sent him. I opted for Pico W. I made my selection purely on the basis that Paul McWhorter has a series of online lessons on them. As I learnt most of what I know about Arduino from him, I thought I'd give it a go. I'm off to Google right now to check out that advice you gave me about the differences. At least I'll know better next time. Thanks again for that.

@mike-parsons No problem, if you get serious, you will end up with one or more of every MCU and a few MPU's.

BTW, although the PICOW carries the Raspberry Pi name, it is an MCU, not an MPU.

MPU is a computer or Micro Processor Unit as in Raspberry Pi 4, 5, ZERO, and many others

MCU is a controller or Micro Controller Unit as in arduino, esp family (01, 07, 12, 8266, 32 etc) and RP2040 or PICO. There are literally hundreds of these although many are similar.

@mike-parsons Don't be surprised if you don't find the differences as in incompatibilities. It's in the deep techie stuff to do with GPIO and interrupts. Many of us think the Pi foundation has lost their way and the 5 is a step in the wrong direction. The Pi got famous because it cost under $50 for a working computer whereas now it's well over $100. They need to go back to their roots. I can buy a mini Win box for a little more than a Pi5 now, and in fact have 2 of them although one will have Windows erased in order to install OMV, the other I need for a couple of Windows only software I can't live without. Yes I know I can use VM's, and do have Parallels on my Mac but I like to keep things simple especially since the cost is so low.

Hello again. Just got back from Google.  Took quite a few pages to explain what you've just explained in a few lines, and now my head is on fire. Thanks again for you information. I've only been on this forum for a few hours and I'm delighted to have found it. It seems very friendly, and not judgemental. Hope I can keep up.

@mike-parsons Good to here. As far as non judgemental, I have a few sayings that may give you a clue.

The best steel comes from the hottest fire, and after first place is first loser.

😀

@mike-parsons

Hi Mike

Welcome to the forum, a very useful resource when learning the craft.

It's nice to see the UK membership, and other nationslities, slowly growing, makes the community so much richer for everyone.

Good luck on your ventures and remember, there are no dumb questions.

BTW, even I would have got Kerchhoff wrong!!😂

Have a great Christmas and Hogmanay .

Ron Bentley

(Stafford, UK)

Thanks Ron. And yes, I saw what you did there. I've been quite a good boy this year, so if Santa's true to his word, I should have enough components to build a space rocket by Hogmanay. Hope you have a good one too.