Electronics Merit Badge

This page provides materials and information for Scouts in Troop 149 working towards earning Electronics Merit Badge.

	Introduction — Basic information
	Class Handouts
	Sites for Purchasing Kits
	Resources — Books & Magazines
	Links

Introduction (top)

Mr. Curt Pepe will lead the troop in preparation for earning the Electronics Merit Badge during the December "Electro-Outing" at Camp Lowden. Starting at the September 30, 2008 troop meeting, Mr. Pepe will begin working with Scouts in groups of 3-4 to begin learning the material and soldering. The course material will be covered in four classes plus the Electro-Outing in December:

Class 1	AC Power Sources	Class 2	Components — Passive and Active
	DC Power Sources		Ohms Law
	Voltage, Current and Resistance		Ohms Law Tool Kit
	Build Circuit with Light, Buzzer and Switch		Transistor Logic
			C Logic

Class 3	Binary Logic	Class 4	Solder Theory
	Binary / Hex Tool Kit		Solder Practice
	LED Circuit Design		Build LED Kit

Outing	Safety Precautions
	Drawing Schematics
	Testing Equipment
	Career Opportunities
	Built Kits (sites to purchase kits)

Class Handouts (top)

Electronics Merit Badge Class 1 (Acrobat )
AC Power sources, DC power sources, oltage, current and resistance, Build circuit with light and buzzer
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Electronics Merit Badge Class 2 (Acrobat )
Componenets - passive and active, Ohms law, Ohms law tool kit, transistor logic and IC logic
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Electronics Merit Badge Class 3 (Acrobat )
Binary logic, Binary/Hex tool kit, and LED circuit design
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Electronics Merit Badge Class 4 (Acrobat )
Solder Theory, solder practice and build an LED kit.
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Electronics Merit Badge Outing Class (Acrobat )

Review of final requirements to be completed at the December Electro-Outing.

Requirements in blue are complete. Requirements in black will all be done at the outing

Includes resources for purchasing your project kit for the outing.

All project kits must be approved by Mr. Pepe before purchasing.
(Get approval at the Dec. 2 troop meeting to allow time for delivery if you plan on purchasing over the Internet)

Includes several sample ideas but you may chose any project that meets requirement 4 A, b or c.

Sites for Purchasing Kits (top)

Some kits do not complete with everything you need such as a separate power supply. Read the descriptions carefully. Look for kits that run on batteries. If you want a kit that requires a separate power supply, check with Mr. Pepe for help. Remember Mr. Pepe needs to pre-approve your selected kit for the merit badge before you buy it.

Hobbytron.com
Has several good entry level kits. Note that some of the kits are solderless, which DO NOT qualify for the merit badge requirements. So read the descriptions carefully before selecting. (remember to pre-approve your kits with Mr. Pepe before ordering)

Bakatronics
A model railroad hobby site with lots of inexpensive kits. The kits are intended for railroad layouts but many are fun on their own, such as the monkey sound effect kit and LED dice games.

	Sound Effect Kits — Includes monkeys, cows, roosters, and many more
	LED & Lighting kits — Browse through the pages to find some fun LED light games, like roulette
	Radio Kits — Small AM and FM Radio kits
	General Interest Kits — Metal detector, rain alarm, and more

Carl's Electronics
Has some entry level kits but also some more advanced (and more expensive) kits. Includes some interesting kits not found on the other site such as a car alarm simulator, sound effects, and a voice changer.

Resources (top)

Books

Electric Gadgets and Gizmos: Battery-Powered Buildable Gadgets That Go!
Bartholomew, Alan.
General Distribution Services, 1998.
    Includes directions for an assortment of electronics.
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Science Fair Projects With Electricity & Electronics.
Bonnet, Bob.
Sterling Publishing, 1996.
    Includes nearly 50 projects on electricity and electronics.
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Eyewitness: Electronics.
Bridgman, Roger.
DK Publishing, 2000.
    Traces the history, discoveries, and devices of this fast-moving science.
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Electronics.
Chirico, Joann.
NTC Publishing, 1995.
    This book explores career possibilities in electronics and electricity.
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Electronics Projects for Young Scientists.
Leon, George deLucenay.
Franklin Watts, 1991.
    Introduces the basic principles of electronics and includes project ideas such as a crystal radio, an intercom, and a pair of electronic dice.
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Digital Electronics Guidebook: With Projects!
Predko, Myke.
McGraw-Hill, 2001.
    Introduces the nuts and bolts of digital electronics.
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TAB Electronics Guide to Understanding Electricity and Electronics.
Slone, G. Randy.
2nd ed. McGraw-Hill, 2002.
    A learn-as-you-go guide for readers of any electronics skill level.

Magazines

Nuts & Volts
430 Princeland Court
Corona, CA 92879

Toll-free telephone: 800-783-4624
Web site: http://www.nutsvolts.com

Popular Science
P.O. Box 6001
Tampa, FL 33660-0001

Toll-free telephone: 800-289-9399
Web site: http://www.popsci.com

Links (top)

101science.com (External Link )
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American Microsemiconductor Inc. (External Link )
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ePanorama.net (External Link )
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ESFI (External Link )
Description Goes Here
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Howstuffworks (External Link )
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Revision3.com Television
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Episode 81 - Soldering Your Own Headphone Amp
December 8th, 2008 - Learn to solder by building yourself the most excellent Chu Moy headphone amp. It sounds great but cheap enough to give away as holiday stocking stuffers.
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A 30 minute streaming video on how to build a headphone/earbud amplifier out of about $30 parts and an Altoid tin. This shows you the kind of cool stuff you can as a follow up project after you complete you first project this weekend. It adds a little to the basics you are learning, including using a proto board. But the basic soldering technique and schematic reading are the same. (BTW, this episode has some nice soldering technique tips). I suggest that if you want to try this that you first ask Mr. Pepe for his suggestions, and that you do it with a buddy or two. That will save you some money when ordering parts as you can share shipping costs. It also will let you help each other out when you get stuck.
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Be sure to read the Show Notes. The instructions and more information are found at this site (http://tangentsoft.net/audio/cmoy-tutorial/). The link for the proto board layout is sort of hidden in the Assembly section so I'm posting it here as a separate link (http://tangentsoft.net/audio/cmoy-tutorial/misc/mini-cmoy-layout-0150.pdf). The instructions can seem a bit intimidating, but I think that most of what you see ties into what you have been learning from Mr. Pepe these past few months. So if you take it one step at a time, plus watch the video, you'll find you know more than you think.
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Episode 18 - Obey the Laws (of Power) (http://revision3.com/systm/powerlaw/)
September 24th, 2007 - Calculating resistance and power isn't hard... and, as David explains, knowing Ohm's Law and the Power Triangle can be darn useful when you're designing a project, sorting out power supply issues, or want to keep from burning your car down.
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This is more of an educational video from the same site. It's a little boring but I think their explanation of the Power Triangle is a very useful way to remember the basic calculations. This would be good for review after you're done with badge and might be a bit fuzzy on remembering some of the material.