On Sat, 26 Jan 2019 17:33:58 +0000
Peter Percival  wrote:

> My apologies for an off-topic post, but there seems to be no Usenet
> group for Arduinos as there is for Raspberry Pis, and I'm confident
> plenty of readers here will have experience of them.
>
> My question is, where should one begin with Arduinos?  Just looking
> at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arduino#Official_boards there are so
> many of them!
>
Don't worry about getting genuine Arduino, clones are mostly fine.
Start with something like this
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152988247870?hash=item239ecf673e:m:mCwaRWQMo_u_pfmPC
PvlwfA
(cheaper are available from China, but this is hardly expensive)
and you can get started with writing and loading programs, handling
input (switches) and output (LEDs).  Once you've got the hang of that
add some sensors (a potentiometer is the simplest analogue input device,
but light and temperature are popular starters) and some more
interesting outputs like stepper motors.  By the time you've fiddled
with those you should have ideas for practical projects and know what
to buy next.
If you have a basic understanding of the electronics and buy components
from Chinese eBay sellers rather than pre-packaged modules you'll save
money, but having said that even the most overblown deluxe starter kits
aren't /that/ much, although you may be more likely to find useful
applications if they cost under a tenner.

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