 Snap Circuits SC300 Kit
Snap Circuits SC300 Kit
DescriptionThe Snap Circuits SC300 Kit includes over 60 pieces:
- Plastic "circuit board"
- wire
- resistors
- speaker
- battery holder
- motor fan
- red led, and
- lamp module
Note: the set requires 4 "AA" batteries (not included).
The projects are organized by levels of difficulty, and each project teaches an objective such as "To show how
electricity can only pass in one direction through an LED."
Snap Circuits SC-300 colorful and easy-to-follow format of the instruction manual
makes circuit assembly stress-free and fun.  All parts are mounted on plastic modules and
snap together with ease. From this educational kit more than 300 projects may be built. For
example, kids can learn how transistors and capacitors function, and how to make time-delay circuits. The
picture to the right, shows a simple flying UFO which took only a few minutes. Or create your own complex
inventions, see picture lower right, using parts such as the fan motor, alarm speaker, and over 60 other
pieces. Other Projects could involve an AM Radio, Burglar Alarm, Radio Announcer and more.
 Snap Circuits SC-300 Makes Electronics Fun and Easy
The
Snap Circuits SC-300 set aids learning about electronics concepts. The projects are
organized by levels of difficulty, and each project teaches an objective such as "To show how electricity can
only pass in one direction through an LED."
The included electronics kit instruction manual offers 305 projects ranging from a simple light
switch to a noise-activated burglar alarm. The color-coded instruction manual makes the set clear and easy to
understand.
The manufacturer recommends the set for ages 8+; younger engineers should be able to easily follow the diagrams
for each project, but will probably require their parents to help explain how everything works. So a word of
warning to parents: Brush up on your high school physics!
Surface-mount technology (SMT) is a method for constructing electronic
circuits in which the components (SMC, or Surface Mounted Components) are mounted directly onto the surface of
printed circuit boards (PCBs). Electronic devices so made are called surface-mount devices or
SMDs. In the industry it has largely replaced the through-hole technology construction method of
fitting components with wire leads into holes in the circuit board. Snap Circuits
electronic kits take SMT development to a new higher
level. History (Source - Wikipedia)
Surface-mount technology was developed in the 1960s and became widely used in the late 1980s. Much of the
pioneering work in this technology was by IBM. The design approach first demonstrated by IBM in 1960 in a
small-scale computer was later applied in the Launch Vehicle Digital Computer used in the Instrument Unit that
guided all Saturn IB and Saturn V vehicles. (See Saturn Launch Vehicle Digital
Computer article for a description of this type of electronic packaging as of 1964.) Components were
mechanically redesigned to have small metal tabs or end caps that could be directly soldered to the surface
of the PCB. Components became much smaller and component placement on both sides of a board became far more
common with surface-mounting than through-hole mounting, allowing much higher circuit densities. Often only
the solder joints hold the parts to the board, although parts on the bottom or "second" side of the board are
temporarily secured with a dot of adhesive as well. Surface-mounted devices (SMDs) are usually made
physically small and lightweight for this reason. Surface mounting lends itself well to a high degree of
automation, reducing labor cost and greatly increasing production rates. SMDs can be one-quarter to one-tenth
the size and weight, and one-half to one-quarter the cost of equivalent through-hole parts.
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