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One day, my friend Marwa wanted to know why we were always busy on Thursday. My dad called her dad and asked for permission for her to join in engineering day. This is what Happened.
Resistors first
This is Marwa placing a resistor on a board for the very first time.
Project view
This is all of the parts for the Menorah project - some resistors, some LEDs, a capacitor, a switch, a battery box, some leads and a stand.
Marwa's very first solder
Marwa has a steady hand for soldering and got the idea of how it is done quickly.
First Solder Done!
Like mine, her first solders were a little too much solder, but they are clean and melted well.
More resistors
Marwa and I traded off one at a time finishing the resistors. When one of us was working, the other would be watching... and eating cookies.
We finished the resistors together
Tho some of the resistors weren't "flush" or flat on the board, all of the resistors got done in our first sit-down together. Many Ostrovitsky's Bakery rainbow cookies were used as "fuel."
Marwa had to leave...
The time went really quickly, and Marwa left after the resistors were finished. Here in this picture you can see the finished circuit board.
Stand and Battery Pack
This is the finished menorah. This project had better instructions, was more clearly marked, and had better components than the velleman kits.
Evil Mad Scientist’s menorah kit is a great kit for kids. We had no trouble following directions. This kit made it really easy for me to teach my friend Marwa how to solder. It was also a very simple circuit, the resistors were all the same kind and there was only one capacitor.
It’s still important to know how to do all of what this kit does in other ways. I’m glad I learned on velleman kits too, because you can “see” more of how it works.
It wasn’t as complicated as the velleman kits, and the flow of the circuit is all hidden inside the “chip” that is a lot like a little raspberry pi “make it blink” program. It’s not clear what the extra holes on the board on the opposite side from the resistors are for. Their website also doesn’t say.
What kind of solder do you use again? Looked like it was 60Sn/40Pb. Do you know what Elements those are? Which one causes Dain Brammage? Wash your hands after handling solder! Where do I get the funky LED Menora??
I always use lead-free and non-toxic solder. I use a few different widths of them. This menorah is sold at the Evil Mad Scientist Website : https://shop.evilmadscientist.com/tinykitlist/44-menorah they have a few others. Evil Mad Scientist is a company owned by one of my friends Lenore Edman, I first met her at 2016 Maker Faire and she was there again this year with a 6502 processor that she hand built with a big circuit board and transistors.