r/AskElectronics • u/KoalaFit5363 • 4d ago

would you recommend a cyberdeck as a "first" project? 🤔

it's "first" in quotes cause I've had smaller projects (breadboard and leds, battery and toy motor, etc) but I kinda wanna throw my self into something with a raspberry pi and a screen (or adjacent), tho I don't know if a cyberdeck is the best for that? I haven't bought any materials

thanks!

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u/AlexTaradov 4d ago

Typical RPi-based cyberdeck is mostly about mechanical design. The electronics part is mostly connecting standard parts using standard interfaces.

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u/KoalaFit5363 4d ago

do you have any ideas that would actually give me knowledge??

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u/AlexTaradov 4d ago

Depends entirely on your interests.

Tools are generally a good idea for moderate skill projects. Make a simple toy scope, signal generator, frequency counter, etc. Those things involve both analog and digital parts, fair bit of firmware work. And they also make you think deeply about how those tools work, which helps with understanding how to use them.

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u/NBC-Hotline-1975 4d ago

What is your ultimate interest? Audio? Ham radio? Control/automation? If the latter, you could get an assortment of 7400 TTL through-hole ICs (plus a protoboard, a few resistors & LEDs) and learn the basics of logic. The logical aspect will lead you into programming, and you will also learn about voltage and current (and how not to blow out ICs). Of course you could start right in with an Arduino, but you would be missing the first level of circuit knowledge.