@KitRedgrave
Hmm, if you're not satisfied with that, does your library carry electronic project books? Audio projects can be especially productive since their interface is relatively straightforward, and involve general-purpose components you can easily repurpose in later projects.

Though, "put this thing together" projects can nonetheless give you some level of insight into the anatomy of a functional project! though ofc watch your budget

Also, if you can't make it to the space's open house hours, do they have contact info you could use to arrange a meeting/introduction of some sort to the space, at an alternative time?

@KitRedgrave
ah my apologies, in the way I worded things i accidentally made the assumption you have access to a library, mbad

well *if* you do I think it'd be a good idea

@marlyn I think if I do anything, it would probably be radio related or making my own simple processor out of a bunch of chips. All of these project ideas I read on the internet are like "hey attach a cell phone to a robot" or "hey attach a thumbprint scanner to something" and i'm like

these seem like toys i'd never really make use of after i'd build them. and they depend on pretty much pre-made blobs that seem to me more interesting but not feasible to do yourself

@KitRedgrave
Yeah that is super fair.
Have you looked into getting Amateur Radio certification where you live? That might be a good avenue towards explorations in RF circuits.
(If you live in the US, this would be where you'd look)
http://www.arrl.org/find-a-club

@marlyn I got the handbook but still haven't gotten around to reading it yet

@KitRedgrave
Oh, if you're interested in creating a simple processor, perhaps you could try something with VHDL/Verilog and an FPGA of some sort? Those allow you to easily reconfigure digital circuits, which allows for designing more elaborate systems with ease. The big drawback I'm aware of rn though is that all the FPGAs I know of require proprietary software to re-program.