Espruino Basics

At this point, you have your Espruino board and can't wait to get started. Here are some additional things that will make getting your project up and running a lot easier.

Electronics Basics

Foundation Just about all the documentation assumes that you have some knowledge of components like resistors and transformers, and which way to solder on a diode. If you need to go beyond one of the tutorials, you'll need to know the basics (and it'll make just about everything more fun). Pick up a good electronics introductory book and knock it out in a few nights. Here are some good books.

Advice If you get stuck, there are some very helpful people in the forums. Create an account and don't be shy.

Things You'll Need

You won't be able to do much more than executing some javascript without these basics. They are not specific to Espruino and any self-respecting inventor should have them on hand anyway!

Good soldering iron with a sharp tip You'll need to attach your gizmos to the Espruino board for them to work. The better iron you have, the easier this will be. You can pick these up at any decent electronics store (or Ebay, Amazon, Parts Express, etc) for about US$15-25.

Pin Headers You'll notice that the board has holes everywhere for attaching your components. For wires, soldering things on directly can be a bit dodgy, especially if you need to move things around later. The best solution is to add pin headers to the board. Basically, the idea is to solder pins into the holes, which allows you to use connectors to attach things rather than solder. You should get the pin headers and a bunch of pre-wired connectors. Pin headers are discussed here.

Voltmeter Many times you'll attach something and it won't work right away. The best way to troubleshoot is to use a voltmeter on your connections to verify that you have power. This will save you a lot of time and frustration. These can also be picked up at any decent electronics store for about US$15-25.

Some other tools that you might find useful are listed on the Tools page.