“The kit itself is OK, but the instructions are poor. To begin with there are none provided in the kit itself and the address and QR code on the card provided are no longer valid and result in a 404 when you try to use them.
The instructions themselves can be found by searching on the proto-pic website, but these are not the best. Two stages (solder the light and solder the transistors) have been merged into one making it easy to miss that you've only done half the job when you've done the first part, and the instructions are in the wrong order if the intention is to solder the "smallest parts first", resulting in a tricky operation to solder the battery holder after the capacitors have been fitted.
The battery holder also came in two parts, requiring a tricky operation to fit the negative terminal into the holder before soldering the part to the board. Whether this was deliberate or a faulty part I'm not sure, but the force required to refit the terminal suggests to me that it was packed in this way and had not separated in the post, so if not intentional suggests issues with quality control.
As a "beginners" kit, it would also be useful to have access to a circuit diagram showing the circuit being created, ideally with an explanation of how it works.
So, on the whole, a cheap and cheerful little fun project to get some soldering practice in, but I can't recommend it for the absolute beginner or for children who will get frustrated with its shortcomings.”
“Fantastic introduction to soldering suitable for everyone. My 11 year old jumped straight in to it and within about half an hour had a working lighthouse. Recommend this to anyone looking to build a fun project and improve skills.”
“Was very well received as a gift for my partner who learnt how to solder at university but this was his first attempt at soldering at home. Great for a beginner.”
