Can someone help me build an amp?

[Simon]

be very careful on the veroboard, I wired up a pair of TDA2009's as bridged amps and ended up with a very poor quality and hot running amp that just happened to be oscillating at 6 MHz

[david77]

Well, the same could happen with a PCB if you don't know what to look out for.
For one off's and prototypes I really like Veroboard.
I prefer the variety with individual solder pads rather than the stripes. The striped Veroboard can
be problematic if you don't cut off excess traces!

[haglered]

theres nothing wrong with starting with a kit...  something like this: link. then if you have questions, someone here can offer answers as to why this or that.  

kits are a great intro imo even if you don't know all the how's and why's. assembling something with your own hands and seeing it work beats staring at a datasheet trying to figure out what all the cryptic symbols mean and ending the day with nothing but frustration.

i would start with the kit. my 2¢ fwiw.
-sj

That looks like a good option. I think I will order that (next payday) and build it. I will also find a preamp to build as well.

I will post it on this forum when I get it and begin the build process. Expect a lot of why questions when I am building it.

[sonicj]

if you want to learn a lot of "whys" then they have more complicated kits on that site, including kits with pre-amps built in (for the same or about the same price). the kit i linked is VERY simple. not much to lurn from that one, it was just the first one i came across that met your requirements.

i definitely think you'll be satisfied with a kit as a starting point. even the more complicated designs will be ok as you don't have to fully understand them to assemble a working unit.
-sj

[haglered]

I assembled an FM transmitter kit before and I didn't understand much about that at all.

I should probably get a bench iron, even a cheap one to put this project together. I'm not sure how good a job I will be able to do with my radio shack iron.

I know you have to make good solder connections and that is a weak area of mine.

I am not good in Algebra either, maybe that's why I never learned what I wanted to know about electronics in general. 

I went out to my shed and dug up some old electronics parts including som resitors and a couple of capacitors I had thrown in an old box. They were still in their packaging from radio shack.

I used to want to about learning enough about electronics to tear aprt old radios and tape players to reuse the parts from them. I still have a collection of old electronic equipment in that shed. I brought some of what I found today into the house. There isn't much there still useable but hopefully I will learn more than I have in the past.

[sonicj]

stripping old electronics for parts can be fun. for me, it hasn't been a great a return on the effort, but has helped many times with that one or two components i need to complete a project. the best resource i've found for building up a inventory of parts is the "grab bag" type deals from places like electronic goldmine. sorting through one of those is fun and will yield way more usable goodies than stripping junk electronics (for the most part).

the aoyue 936 / 937 soldering iron (hakko clone) is a decent starter station for around $50.

[DJPhil]

the best resource i've found for building up a inventory of parts is the "grab bag" type deals from places like electronic goldmine. sorting through one of those is fun and will yield way more usable goodies than stripping junk electronics (for the most part).

I love those assortments, I always thought they should offer a quarterly or monthly subscription option.

[sonicj]

yea. i want to order another one, but im waiting a bit in hopes of getting a different mix of goodies. sorting through one of those boxes is like a scratch-off lottery for nerds.

the $7.95 assortment would cost approximately $1.2 million usd if purchased separately at radioshack.

I always thought they should offer a quarterly or monthly subscription option.

thats a great idea! kinda like a record pool. i would subscribe!
-sj

[JohnS_AZ]

@sonic ... So which grab bag did you buy, and what sorts of things were in it? Any grand treasures?

[sonicj]

i got the $8 assortment + some of their smaller assortments (led, switches, etc.) and some individual items i wanted. in retrospect, i would order the assortment before ordering any small quantity stuff as a lot of the $1 for 3 type items were in the assortment!

basically, i completely filled one of those 39 drawer storage bins with mostly usable parts for less than $50. way more useful values and sizes than i expected. no diamonds in the rough, but a super value non-the-less!

heres a good example of the loot you can expect:
http://blog.freesideatlanta.org/2010/01/mystery-unboxing.html