Arduino Build Your Own Uno Kit - Make Your Uno Kit Accessories

Definitely a great a great product. IF YOU HAVE NEVER SOLDERED BEFORE: please be weary, it is very challenging to make sure your board is being soldered correctly as you are learning to solder. Tech team is great for troubleshooting but this is NOT A PROJECT for those that are not willing to put in more than a few hours to learn soldering. Also if you are not willing to accept that your work may have to be redone over and over, this is not for you!

I really enjoyed building this project. It took me a lot longer then an hour for each circuit but I felt it was informative. My have 2 small critiques. 1 has to do with the shield, the instructions have you assemble the speaker to the board but later it shows the cardboard in place when that would involve un-assembling some parts. 2nd critique, if possible, i think it would be nice if you could explain the purpose of each part. (Why it’s important). Thanks guys!

I'm teaching myself electronics at a mature age, and this kit is a great introduction. There are a couple of things that I would have liked to see though:1) There is a step-by-step of how to solder components in the right place, but it doesn't explain what the components are and why they are placed where they are. A very brief explanation would make the learning experience MUCH reacher than it is now.2) I got an error at the end of when uploading the software to my board, and there's no troubleshooting for it. Upon searching online, I found that many people had the same issue, but there was nothing about it in the official Arduino or Arduino IDE documentation:"avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt of 10: not in sync: resp=0x00"I still haven't found a solution ... MoreI'm teaching myself electronics at a mature age, and this kit is a great introduction. There are a couple of things that I would have liked to see though:1) There is a step-by-step of how to solder components in the right place, but it doesn't explain what the components are and why they are placed where they are. A very brief explanation would make the learning experience MUCH reacher than it is now.2) I got an error at the end of when uploading the software to my board, and there's no troubleshooting for it. Upon searching online, I found that many people had the same issue, but there was nothing about it in the official Arduino or Arduino IDE documentation:"avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt of 10: not in sync: resp=0x00"I still haven't found a solution for it...

Don't buy this edition with the soldering station because it's cheap, climsy and the tip oxidyzes pretty quickly. But the arduino kit itself is great and very interesting to make. So buy the regular edition with some extra tools and better soldering station with stabler base, better materials and a metal sponge instead for a regular one.

No instructions are included with the soldering iron. The only manual is the one from MakeYouUno. Despite following the steps there exactly, the soldering tip was blackish after a few minutes and no longer usable. The soldering tip did not get warm anymore.Since I can not solder without a soldering iron, I can not say anything about the MakeYouUno kit itself.

It was easy to assemble. I am experienced in assembly of pcb’s. With the added 3d screens it would make an easy interactive teaching tool. I taught a class for a semester using the beginner kits. I had 20 students. I purchased the kits for the school. Using 3d tools all of your kits would be a hit. Thanks for continuing to improve the customer experience.

I really love this kit. You can practice soldering and afterwards, you can programm your newly build development board. I never saw any usefull kit like this ever before.But why only 3 stars?- The packaging is not okay. My Atmega328 had some legs folded to the bottom of the chip, because the socket was on exactly the opposite side of it (which caused bent pins on the socket, too)- My clock crystall did not work. I do not know, if I killed it during soldering or if it was doa, but it was frustrating to find the cause of the functionless board. I had some spares, so it was no problem to substitute it, but I would have liked it, if there would be a spare in the kit.Without my knowledge and other spare parts, it would have been impossible to fix this board. The ... MoreI really love this kit. You can practice soldering and afterwards, you can programm your newly build development board. I never saw any usefull kit like this ever before.But why only 3 stars?- The packaging is not okay. My Atmega328 had some legs folded to the bottom of the chip, because the socket was on exactly the opposite side of it (which caused bent pins on the socket, too)- My clock crystall did not work. I do not know, if I killed it during soldering or if it was doa, but it was frustrating to find the cause of the functionless board. I had some spares, so it was no problem to substitute it, but I would have liked it, if there would be a spare in the kit.Without my knowledge and other spare parts, it would have been impossible to fix this board. The error the IDE was by the way, that it could not communicate withe Atmega328. It will retry it 10 times and cancel the programming afterwards. If you power on the board and the LED on pin 13 is not blinking, it might indicate a broken crystall or capacitor next to it (the yellow/brown-ish ones).Everything else worked fine and I was surprised to see, how handy the PCB with the LED and resistor was, to find the faulty crystall.

The Uno and Audio Shield themselves are fun to build with clear instructions given on the website (address provided with Uno kit).However the supplied soldering iron has low quality tips that oxidise rapidly at the optimum temperatures for soldering.I would recommend buying the Uno kit and sourcing the tools (especially the soldering iron) seperately. Reliable soldering iron brands include Antex and Weller; their tips will have a much longer life.