I just bought a soldering iron thinking I would need it to wire my case but I ended up just using butt connectors. So now I have a soldering iron and I kind of want to mess around with PCB and making something. What's a good project to start out on? Maybe a "Nightrider" type board that can be fitted into a 3.5" slot or a switch bus?
Just think of what you're comfortable making and go one step higher. The best way to learn that I've found for both electronics and programming (they're kind of the same logic) is to just set yourself a project that's slightly above your skill level. By the time you've finished it you'll have learnt new things
Buy a few 555 timers and see where you can go from there. Try a basic monostable circuit and then graduate to astable. From there, you can go to audio frequency circuits or counters.
I started with a fanbus, basically soldering a few switches to make a 7v/off/12v fanbus, it'll teach you the basics of soldering.
Have a look at some of the solder kits you can get from maplin. Basically supply you with everything you need in a little bag to make a project board of some sort. Electronic dice, Xmas trees, that kind of thing. Its a good way to learn what different things do, and practical aspects of using them. Thats how I started out (well not strictly true, I did a lot of reading to start with). Also check out some mod sites with how tos on stuff, like the link from Meblin's site on how to make an infared receiver for your pc. Nice handy little mod
