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Tron-Club, a monthly circuit-building kit
- chazu 11y agoFantastic - I'll definitely be subscribing. I imagine that having a forum for users to discuss projects would be a good idea, have you considered adding one? I'm having trouble with the order form, however - it doesn't seem to be loading at all, clicking 'Subscribe' does nothing for me. I'd give you more diagnostic info but I'm occupied at the moment - perhaps later. In any event thanks for sharing and best of luck.
- skimmas 11y agoHmmm could find pricing info and the subscribe button does not seem to work.
- sdrothrock 11y agoI had to turn off adblock for it to work. Payment via PayPal or Bitcoin. Regular: $14/mo plus 5.99 shipping Prepaid: $150/yr plus 69.99 shipping (breaks down to 12.50/mo and 5.83 shipping) Edit: if I'm reading this right, it's not a bad deal at all considering you seem to get a breadboard + all parts every month in addition to the circuit. So if you do it, you'll end up with whatever knowledge you accumulated from doing the 21ish circuits per month, plus a TON of parts.
- gerardnll 11y agouBlock was causing problems, had to disable it.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- midnightmonster 11y agouBlock killed subscribe for me, too. Didn't occur to me until I saw others mention it.
- cmrx64 11y agoExcellent, I love this idea, subscribed. This will be great to do with my young cousins.
- sanswork 11y agoIs there a way to see international shipping prices or is it US only?
- robbiep 11y agoSeconded
- harel 11y agoI'm in the UK and I see the prices in Pounds, so it seems to be not US only.
- monk_e_boy 11y agoI was so excited when I saw that £
- i_don_t_know 11y agoThe FAQ says they're Canadian and they ship overseas. But you are responsible for customs, import duties, and local taxes if any should apply. To get to the FAQ and other information: Scroll all the way to the bottom and click on "Terms".
- abrugsch 11y agowell as long as the actual raw value of the components is listed on the customs declaration, each packet is unlikely to hit the import duty threshold (of the UK. can't speak for other countries)
- jonathonf 11y agoHow about a circuit-only subscription for non-US people or those who already have parts (or easy access to some)? This could make for a good school club/activity.
- rasz_pl 11y agoYou want to pay for something that is FREE in every library? Dont you have hobby electronics magazines in your country? or electronic kits?
- jonathonf 11y agoIt's for a curated set of circuits with increasing difficulty that have a known (and ideally cognitively linked) purpose. People sell this sort of thing all the time even though you can find it for free if you know what to look for - it's the curation you're paying for.
- tronclub 11y agoYour feedback has been noted.
- empressplay 11y agoCool concept! A couple things: 1) Using 'Tron' could be a bit problematic if Disney's lawyers get bored. 2) You might want to drop the annual price a bit, and maybe work on your shipping costs.
- notum 11y agoDictionary to the rescue! All they need to do is to include a piezo pressure sensor in the fist kit. tron (trɒn) n: a public weighing machine [C15: from Old French trone, from Latin trutina, from Greek trutanē balance, set of scales]
- rlevy 11y agoAmazon and google are also words to find in a dictionary but that doesn't get in the way of enforcing their trademark
- okamiueru 11y agoGoogle is in the dictionary? Since when? Maybe you are thinking of 'googol'?
- schappim 11y agoYup, it's in the Oxford English Dictionary. I don't know when, but I'm guessing after September 4, 1998.
- coroxout 11y agoThe online version says for me "This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, March 2006)" for capitalised "Google", meaning "To use the Google search engine to find information on the Internet." It also has a lower-case "google", in a cricket-related meaning, from 1933; so it has that in common with Amazon, whose meaning in the OED is still unrelated to the company. Of the ball: to have a ‘googly’ break and swerve. Of the bowler: to bowl a googly or googlies; also (trans.), to give a googly break to (a ball).
- frenkel 11y agoInstantly signed up 😊
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- bananaboy 11y agoThis looks great! It's like a modern day Dick Smith Fun way into Electronics (for the Aussies out there)!
- jimmcslim 11y agoDick Smith Funway was awesome! I suspect I may still have those books (I think it was a three-part series) around somewhere...
- bananaboy 11y agoYeah! I still have mine. Volume 1 was the plastic blue breadboards (well they were plastic when I started - I think the earlier models weren't), and volumes 2 and 3 were PCBs (so I bought the Dick Smith orange soldering iron).
- batou 11y agoThe only killer value here is the material and there's little of that on display at the moment. What appears to be there is stuff you can find for nothing on the web with a little googling ( http://allaboutcircuits.com/ http://allaboutcircuits.com/ http://electronicsclub.info/ http://electronicsclub.info/ for example) The parts are worth little to nothing; less than $30. You can get bagged kits from bitsbox.co.uk with everything you need for $24. I can't see the value proposition and it seems to be an attempt at monetizing something. I get that you've got to eat, but you'll only manage that if you keep that material flowing.
- Fradow 11y agoWhat you get is basic knowledge about electronics using concrete circuits, and the parts to experiment yourself. I don't think the main value proposition are the parts: if you know where to look, parts are very cheap. It's more about learning in an easy way. You might say there are already tons of resources on the Net. The problem is that those resources don't come with parts, which might be problematic to choose when you are a beginner, and you might not know where to order.
- falcolas 11y agoI'll second this. In theory, I can get any part I need from DigiKey or similar, in practice, navigating their site and finding just the right part is very challenging. Sparkfun and Adafruit are better in this regard, but that comes with a higher cost and spotty availability.
- notum 11y agoExactly, the value is in the fact that it's bundled: instructions and everything you need to make the circuit, exactly the same components used in the manual. As for getting assorted components to complement these bundles or other projects: SparkFun makes it easy for the US. But being in the EU (and caring about ROHS and CE) I use these to fill the gap: http://www.exp-tech.de/ http://www.exp-tech.de/ https://www.tinkersoup.de/en/ https://www.tinkersoup.de/en/ http://www.watterott.com/ http://www.watterott.com/
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- gergles 11y agoI really really really hate the separate shipping cost. We can't get it without shipping. Don't quote prices that are impossible to achieve. The pricing, BTW, is $20 a month or $18.33 a month if you pay a year in advance.
- jordan0day 11y ago> We can't get it without shipping. Don't quote prices that are impossible to achieve. This, exactly. When I first glanced and thought "Oh, $150 a year? That's not too bad." Then I looked closer and saw the shipping cost was extra. It's not that the extra shipping cost was necessarily prohibitive, it's just that there's some sort of psychological effect (sticker shock, I guess?) where you think you know what the price of something is, and are disappointed to learn that's not really the price at all.
- metasean 11y ago"... it's just that there's some sort of psychological effect ..." For me it feels like a bait-n-switch.
- peeters 11y agoThis assumes that the shipping rates will be the same anywhere that they serve. That's usually an incorrect assumption. This format allows for variations in the shipping while keeping the same unit price. Edit: Although, I am confused that they send me through the Paypal service before collecting my shipping address. Are they actually quoting me a price based on IP geolocation? That's kind of a dumb assumption; I send half of my traffic through a private VPN. I could probably save quite a bit of money by switching to U.S. East coast server for the payment processing.
- jordan0day 11y agoYou're not wrong, but it just seems like bad design. Why do they still show shipping rates at all, if the separate price/shipping prices are meant to deal with the uncertainty of shipping fees? I'm not sure if they're altering the page based on geo-ip or not, but what I'm seeing on their page is "$14/mo (plus low 5.99 shipping) and $150/yr (plus 69.99 shipping)." Why not just say $20/mo or $220/yr (additional shipping fees may be required for non North American customers)? It seems like that would be less likely to cause the sort of complaint had by gergles.
- glenk 11y agoI like the idea, but I'm not real sure about the price and the shipping cost. It says you get a breadboard every month and I assume this is a decent part of the weight. I already have a couple breadboards and how many breadboards does one really need? Maybe just have a breadboard as an add-on or a separate item? I'd be fine never getting a breadboard in any of the kits.
- tronclub 11y agoYour feedback has been noted.
- wishinghand 11y agoI'd be for getting a breadboard my first time and then have it be an option to receive it after that. Soylent has a similar option with their pitcher and measuring scoop.
- Altay- 11y agoI think its safe to say we've reached peak monthly-subscription-startup...
- hga 11y agoNo, no, not at all. I'm 54 years old, played this sort of game in the early '70s in elementary school with kits from Radio Shack, but it didn't really take (science and later computers was my thing), and I'm seriously considering subscribing. I'm potentially interested in doing the projects, but definitely don't want to spend a lot of time on the net gathering the parts and info, although it would, as others note, be cheaper.
- Randomplayer 11y agoThis sounds like the box you would be mostly interested in: Hackerboxes.com You can find them on Kickstarter here: kck.st/1LbXJtB
- hga 11y agoNah, I've done plenty of that sort of thing, am quite handy with a soldering iron. What Tron-Club indicates they're doing is exactly what I want, smallish circuits on these newfangled white plastic breadboards, which per Wikipedia were invented in 1971. I potentially want to understand (further) the circuits, not, at this moment, make anything in particular.
- RALaBarge 11y agoYou can purchase the official Arduino starter kit for less than what the yearly price costs, not to mention the shipping fees from Amazon. As someone who works for a SaaS and pays for a Barkbox subscription, I do think the idea is good, but the pricing combined with the lack description on the page is probably going to be a huge road block.
- zokier 11y ago> You can purchase the official Arduino starter kit for less than what the yearly price costs I would expect Tron-Club to provide far more comprehensive set (in a year) than what the Arduino starter kit is. Of course I have no way of actually knowing that.
- snom320 11y agoI like this idea. And it's the perfect present for anyone you know that are curious about getting into electronics.
- king7532 11y agoThere is a new Kickstarter project called Hacker Boxes which does this on steroids: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/207210015/hackerboxes-the-subscription-box-for-electronics-h https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/207210015/hackerboxes-t...
- Timsalabim 11y agoOnly ships to United States. So disappointing steroids :)
- tronclub 11y agoWe ship worldwide :)
- Timsalabim 11y agoNoticed that. Very interested. Just need a bit more convincing as I commented elsewhere. At the moment I'm in the "bookmarked will be a late adopter if it takes of" camp. So good luck, hope that I'll be able to throw money at you at a later point! :)
- Timsalabim 11y agoOk, full disclosure. I'm such a whimp. 40 years old and still buckle under the slightest peer pressure. Showed it to a friend of mine and he was instantly enthousiastic and said "let's both do it and have a monthly nerd session!" So you go two subscriptions from Amsterdam the Netherlands half an hour ago :)
- jlonglaw 11y agoThank you for the mention. Please keep in touch. We want to hear feedback on our boxes from all subscribers, but definitely the HackerNews crowd! -Joe, Founder http://www.hackerboxes.com/ http://www.hackerboxes.com/
- dave84 11y agoI signed up. The link to terms on the subscription confirmation page is broken. There's an extra slash at the end.
- tronclub 11y agoIt has been fixed. Thank you.
- Arnor 11y agoThough I agree with others that the price is a bit high, I want to see where this goes. I hope a strong community can grow around it and folks come up with interesting ways to combine previous kits. It would be really fun if some of the monthly projects consisted of compositions of previous projects. That may break with the model of each kit containing everything necessary for each project so maybe it would work better as a monthly challenge on Reddit or something. Anyway, here goes nothing :)
- zokier 11y agoI would hope that the kits do include more advanced/useful stuff than the LED blinkers they are showing on their page. Compare and contrast to something like old Heathkits.
- codezero 11y agoThis looks really interesting but I won't buy unless the poster engages with the commenters here to address some of the questions.
- Randomplayer 11y agoThe HackerBoxes King7532 was talking about look neat. I already pre ordered and I can't wait until they ship! Check them out here: hackerboxes.com
- jlonglaw 11y agoThanks Rando!. We appreciate your support. Please keep in touch and let us know what things you like or not about the first boxes as they start arriving. www.HackerBoxes.com
- firephreek 11y agoI was going to sign up, but no way to pay without paypal or bitcoin. Don't have the latter, won't deal with the former. Too bad the only way to contact them is 'on their social networks'. Seriously?
- tronclub 11y agoFeel free to email us at hello@tronclub.com
- iamchmod 11y agoDo you think this would be a good birthday present for 9 year old? Or is it too challenging for that age range?
- jhawk28 11y agoYou might want to start with Snap Circuits.
- krallja 11y agoI had a "150-in-One" breadboarding kit from Radio Shack when I was 9 years old and greatly enjoyed it. This seems similar, but using the monthly subscription model.
- linuxlizard 11y agoLittle Bits are very fun, very simple. littlebits.cc
- jlonglaw 11y agoThis is a very cool idea. We have a project along a similar vein at HackerBoxes. Tron looks like great basic circuit education/exposure, while we're doing things more on a project level. These could even be complimentary, so some may want to subscribe to both. Either way, please keep in touch with us over here at HackerBoxes. In order to gauge what users find more or less interesting, we definitely want to hear feedback on our boxes from all subscribers, certainly the HackerNews crowd! Hack the Planet, Joseph Long, Founder http://www.hackerboxes.com/ http://www.hackerboxes.com/
- Timsalabim 11y agoHere's some feedback: International shipping!
- jlonglaw 11y agoOnce HackerBoxes.com goes to standard subscriptions (post-Kickstarter) there will be international shipping options. It is a high priority so your point is very well taken!
- fit2rule 11y agoHere's some more feedback: Get some projects from the other Kickstarter projects - e.g. I'd love to see an Oscilloscope Watch in your curriculum. :)
- hga 11y agoI submit that while what you and I now see thimble.io are doing is very worthwhile (I found it fun back in the '70s), Tron-Club is doing a fundamentally different and also worthwhile thing, teaching basic electronics, or as they say "Over 252 Circuits per year". Although I sincerely hope they're going to do plenty of analog as well as the two digital ones in progression they showed on their page; that would be key to my signing up.
- codezero 11y agoI'm definitely interested in following this, do you have a newsletter or notification I can subscribe to when the Kickstarter completes?
- peeters 11y agoTo the founders: why are you collecting payment before asking me where I live? Are you cool if I sign up through my American VPN and then choose a Canadian shipping address? Edit: I see now that it's leveraging Paypal for shipping information too. Still, I wonder how the price responds if I start from a U.S. IP.
- mluskind 11y agoIt’s awesome to see so many teams working on making it easier for people to get into the hardware maker space! To that end…. since everyone is showcasing their projects, I’d like to introduce everyone to http://thimble.io/ http://thimble.io/ Our aim is to make it much easier to learn and expand your skills in a more structured format. We’re working on a learning app and monthly hardware subscription kit. You get all the parts you need to assemble an entire project - the first month will be a wifi-enabled robot. We’ll be running weekly webinars every month in order to field questions aside from the community forum and slack group. We’re also working on incorporating a competition element for those interested in pushing their skills. Every month a panel of judges from the industry will choose the top submissions - customized beyond the basic kit (naturally cool and useful prizes and accolades will ensue - cool hardware stuff + software subscriptions). SHIPPING: We’re working with fulfillment houses to hopefully be able to ship internationally from the get go. Volume will dictate how much we can drop the overall price of the kit by. I can say that it’s a priority for us to do so and drop the price through better vendor partnerships and preferential rates from fulfilment houses to make Thimble more accessible. Pricing: $70-80 for our first robot kit. We're looking for feedback on the first kit and from there we’re going to adjust price/kit complexity. Would love to know what you guys think. Thanks, Michael
- fit2rule 11y ago>It’s awesome to see so many teams working on making it easier for people to get into the hardware maker space! Along the same lines, albeit I am not at all associated with this group (just a happy customer), there is also http://www.hackerspaceshop.com/electronics.html http://www.hackerspaceshop.com/electronics.html I mean, there are a lot of ways one can fulfill the desire to get into more electronics/DIY .. don't forget the Synthesizer guys! (https://www.google.at/search?q=synth-diy&tbm=isch https://www.google.at/search?q=synth-diy&tbm=isch)
- StoneTable 11y agoI love all these hardware hacking options! I wish someone would do a project-based one for the raspberry pi, though.
- mluskind 11y agoWe'll be doing that through the learning app. Not only are we going to put together project-specific course content that will teach soldering, coding and how to work with the components in a structured way but we'll be opening up the platform so that makers can create their own kits and courses. We're focused on the learning aspect - useful, structured course content so you don't have to spend hours online on multiple sources. With some semblance of progression built in so you can move onto more ambitious projects or learn a new skill in the field - think TeamTreehouse or CodeSchool but for Hardware.