It really bothers me that SparkFun decided to not use a genuine Arduino. I bought the original SIK 2 years ago on Amazon and it used a genuine Arduino. Honestly, the RedBoard doesn't add any real value for the customer (other than saving them a few dollars), but it does more harm by not giving Arduino any money so they can continue to develop their IDE to support these RedBoards. I'm honestly a little disgusted at SparkFun for this after being a loyal customer for 2 years.

You guys are all young and have good eyes, but I'm an old guy who teaches middle school kids, and while I love the pricing and support that accompanied the classroom package of SIKs I bought last year, I have to tell you that troubleshooting circuits on these translucent red breadboards is tough sledding.

The transparent breadboards look cool, but I sure wish you had included plain white ones instead.

Does this work with ArduinoDroid Android app?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=name.antonsmirnov.android.arduinodroid

If so what are the settings? I tried Pro/328/5v but it doesn't seem to finish the code upload.

Please update this product to show that is has been replaced by the 3.1.

I'm having the same problem as Frederic(Member #501184). When I try to upload the sketch it says the "programmer is not responding".

I just buy this kit and when I try to upload the circuit 1 program, I obtain this message:avrdude: Version 5.11, compiled on Sep 2 2011 at 18:52:52 Copyright (c) 2000-2005 Brian Dean, http://www.bdmicro.com/ Copyright (c) 2007-2009 Joerg Wunsch

    System wide configuration file is "/Applications/Arduino.app/Contents/Resources/Java/hardware/tools/avr/etc/avrdude.conf"
    User configuration file is "/Users/fsarry/.avrduderc"
    User configuration file does not exist or is not a regular file, skipping

    Using Port                    : /dev/tty.usbserial-AM01VA4S
    Using Programmer              : arduino
    Overriding Baud Rate          : 115200

avrdude: Send: 0 [30] [20] avrdude: Send: 0 [30] [20] avrdude: Send: 0 [30] [20] avrdude: ser_recv(): programmer is not responding avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding

avrdude done. Thank you.

I am working with the program Arduino 1.0.5 and I have chosen in the tools: Arduino and in the serial port : dev/tty.usbserial-AMV01VA4S

Can you help me?

Sincerely yours,

Frederic

This is an amazing product and a must-have for any educator in Tech Ed or Instructional Tech. The sheer value in this kit is mind boggling. It has a breadth of hardware that will give students a perfect primer to Arduino and Microcontrollers as a field of science. The SIK Instructional Guide itself is an invaluable and well written educational document.

I only have a couple recommendations for Sparkfun with regards to this product -

1. Source a new vendor for the Arduino / Breadboard Mounting Plate. Even after getting a new shipment, these boards are still arriving with significant amounts of warp to them.
2. Provide a third screw for mounting the Arduino. The board tends to torque ever so slightly over time with just 2 mounting screws.
3. Change the Color or Transparency of the breadboard. While the Translucent Red matches your company's color theming, the actual 'sockets' are very difficult to see due to Translucency, making it a bit difficult to use.
4. Choose a Breadboard in which the Bus Terminals align horizontally with the Breadboard Row Terminals. This not only helps aesthetically, but gives a bit more 'intuitiveness' to beginning students unsure of what s/he is doing.

Thanks again SparkFun!

I've always been able to take things apart, never really great at putting them back together. :) This kit has been extremely user friendly, all the circuits work without issue, a little extra light solves the ability to see the numbers clearly. I have never had a course in electronics, or anything related and find that my knowledge base has grown drastically. Thanks, when I create my million dollar idea, I'll make sure to give some shout outs to SparkFun!!!

=-)

I see plans to make zero units. Should i not wait for it to come back in stock? Please let me know if i need to source these items seperately or elsewhere. Was really looking forward to this kit.

would it be cheeper to buy all the parts in this kit seperatley or buy it like this?

I teach adults, some retired from the Navy. They had some pretty salty comments last month about trying to use the red breadboard. When will we know that kits we order (I need 15) will ship with white breadboard?

Two small suggestions: On web page for #1127 (old ver) add note that out of stock is because EOL and include link to the product you want to sell. As soon as shipping, revise product photo to show white breadboard.

And for the next revision, if price goes over $100 then sell as a basic kit around $70 and an add-on pack for another $50. I start to get blow-back at about $80-90 for the kit for first-timers. But once they take the intro course they are gung-ho to buy more & take more classes.

Much thanks for your effort to not just sell a bag of parts but to help instructors organize a class.

• John

Thanks.

Has anyone experienced any trouble with circuit 12 (circuit with DC motor)? I wired everything as the guide says, made sure I used a transistor and not a temp sensor, Made sure I used a 330 ohm resistor, made sure the diode and transistor were wired properly and checked if I used the stable arduino version (1.0.5). The motor doesn't respond at all after uploading the sketch for circuit 12.

I just got this kit. No matter what I tried I could not get circuit 4 to work. I then tried it on a white breadboard. What a difference I could see everything much more clearly and it took me a fraction of the time to assemble the circuit. It worked first time. I don't know it there is a fault with the breadboard or it is just really difficult to see with slightly less than perfect eyesight (even using an illuminated magnifying visor). I will stick to the white breadboard from now on.. Other than that fairly major issue everything seems good so far.

PLEASE please please produce a WHITE breadboard version of this kit -- if not make that the standard. I fully support the switch to the new Sparkfun RED board, for all the sensible reasons you've mentioned. It looks cool (in red!) and now makes it easy to stick to the name and great image of the, "RedBoard", while switching to a WHITE breadboard that people can SEE and work with. (They have a red line on two bus lines. So white is not THAT far off target, yeah? :-P)

Not everyone has youthful, clear eyesight. The red breadboard just doesn't work, for a lot of people. This kit is clearly aimed at making Arduino EASY to learn. Making it HARD to see is not making it easy. You just need to read other people's feedback to know this, right?

Heck, make the base board red if you want to, as well. Just not too bright a red, but a cool, matching red with the RedBoard itself. But the breadboard HAS to be WHITE. Please? Pretty please? OMG ... p l e a s e ... ?

If not, then at least tell us exactly where to get a decent WHITE breadboard that will fit perfectly in your base board slot. THANKS for listening. Cheers.

P.S: WHITE -- not translucent, which is just as, if not more difficult to work with. ;-)

you need to translate this guide to spanish, is excellent for schools! greets from Chile!

Curses! I should have ordered it yesterday when I saw this via email! Now it's backordered... :)

Great. The week after I buy the old SIK a new one comes out.

This new kit looks really great! Really excited about the LCD module and upgraded motor/

Feedback: The next kit should absolutely upgrade the servo to at least the SparkFun medium (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10333). The small servo that has shipped in the kit since I can remember is poor quality—it's range is limited to about 10°-160°.

Does the RedBoard ship with StandardFirmata pre-flashed (as the Arduino UNO, Leonardo and Mega)? In the last year or so, I've been involved in hardware hacking events that have been the source of many very large quantity orders (both single retail units and bulk). Generally, this has been a great experience because the Arduino UNO boards are flashed with StandardFirmata and ready to go.

I really like how far the new SIK has come. The addition of an LCD screen was a good idea, learning to use one way back when wasn't the easiest thing to accomplish (there's a library for it now.)