4 ms·

The 65-in-1 kit was one of my treasured childhood experiences (circa 1974). I ended up with a degree in electrical engineering, though I was probably on that pa

The 65-in-1 kit was one of my treasured childhood experiences (circa 1974). I ended up with a degree in electrical engineering, though I was probably on that path anyway. The highlight was when I was futzing with a slow oscillator and accidentally discovered that using using the speaker transformer as a voltage step up I could get the inductive voltage spike when the relay switched to give a painful shock. I wrote down that wiring diagram so I wouldn't lose it. One of my brothers had built a 9V variable power supply in a high school shop class, so we made use of that to create a pain game: hold the two leads and turn up the 9V supply output until you gave up. Whoever got the voltage knob the highest won. Our arm muscles would be involuntarily twitching, like a TENS unit. The other game was one person would hide it in the house somewhere, say a closet, and the other person would use an AM radio to locate it, as the spike would release broadband RF energy which could be picked up by the radio. The closer one was the louder the clicking would come out of the speaker.

JohnFen 3y ago
Oh, boy, I had that 65-in-1 set too. It was transformative and is why I'm a dev now, in an indirect way. That kit made me interested in electronics, which got me to take a digital electronics class, which is where I was exposed to programming. As a kid in a very poor family, I couldn't afford to buy parts, but I had access to a mainframe computer for free -- so I shifted my focus to programming. I still do hobbyist electronics to this day.
- 1letterunixname 3y ago
  Nice. 65-in-1 & 200-in-1 Ratshack. Dad and grandfather, who were both auto mechanics by trade, did a bunch of HeathKit projects including oscilloscopes and a color TV. We were effectively poor and didn't go on vacations because dad was tight with $. HSC and Ratshack parts were somewhat affordable. Fast forward 35 years, I bought a JBC clone soldering station, a proper fume extractor, a Siglent scope, Agilent PSU (I refurbed it), and a trinocular microscope w/ polarized light from China during the pandemic. Only thing splurgy was a Fluke 289 (before they hiked prices) since I've never had a proper DMM that wasn't a $10 POS. And some Louis Rossmann flux. |-:] Managed to teach myself microsoldering even with monofixation syndrome and tremors. Sweet. I had no such access to remote computing power except over ZMODEM for some minutes of friends' BBS sysops machines running DesqView. 90% of my minimum wage money went to computer books at Computer Literacy Bookshop of San Jose because there was no Google'ing for datasheets, specifications, or APIs back then as some of us old codgers remember. ;]
  - JohnFen 3y ago
    > Only thing splurgy was a Fluke 289 (before they hiked prices) since I've never had a proper DMM that wasn't a $10 POS. Heh, once I had the money, I bought a very nice bench DMM too, for this exact reason. Not because I really needed it, but because I had an emotional need to counter decades of cheap multimeters. > I had no such access to remote computing power I had no remote access from my home. To use the computer, I had to take a 45 minute ride on the city bus. It's funny how I get more nostalgic of the rougher times than the easier times.
joquarky 3y ago
> The highlight was when I was futzing with a slow oscillator and accidentally discovered that using using the speaker transformer as a voltage step up I could get the inductive voltage spike when the relay switched to give a painful shock. I remember that! In some versions of the manual, this was specifically listed as an experiment, but I think they later removed it. I just checked, if you go to page 51 (project #43, "High Voltage Generator") of the 160-in-1 manual and you'll find that exact experiment.
- dylan604 3y ago
  We learned/discovered that an Atari 2600 cartridge was the right size for a 9v and step transform to house in a snug little package after removing the game cart itself. After adding a couple of leads to the open end, a button on the back side, you could "show" some unsuspecting friend your new game while leading up to the shocking game play. Thinking back, we were really bored
  - zengargoyle 3y ago
    Back in middle school, like 1981-ish I had this hardback book with a title of something like "A Shocking Story". The inside was hollowed out to hold about the same but it was rigged to go off when you opened the book. It got confiscated.
  - JohnFen 3y ago
    Never underestimate the creative and intellectual power of boredom.
intrasight 3y ago
I got one for Christmas in 1975. It was a "toy" that I got enjoyment from for at least 8 years.

JohnFen 3y ago

Oh, boy, I had that 65-in-1 set too. It was transformative and is why I'm a dev now, in an indirect way. That kit made me interested in electronics, which got me to take a digital electronics class, which is where I was exposed to programming. As a kid in a very poor family, I couldn't afford to buy parts, but I had access to a mainframe computer for free -- so I shifted my focus to programming. I still do hobbyist electronics to this day.

1letterunixname 3y ago
Nice. 65-in-1 & 200-in-1 Ratshack. Dad and grandfather, who were both auto mechanics by trade, did a bunch of HeathKit projects including oscilloscopes and a color TV. We were effectively poor and didn't go on vacations because dad was tight with $. HSC and Ratshack parts were somewhat affordable. Fast forward 35 years, I bought a JBC clone soldering station, a proper fume extractor, a Siglent scope, Agilent PSU (I refurbed it), and a trinocular microscope w/ polarized light from China during the pandemic. Only thing splurgy was a Fluke 289 (before they hiked prices) since I've never had a proper DMM that wasn't a $10 POS. And some Louis Rossmann flux. |-:] Managed to teach myself microsoldering even with monofixation syndrome and tremors. Sweet. I had no such access to remote computing power except over ZMODEM for some minutes of friends' BBS sysops machines running DesqView. 90% of my minimum wage money went to computer books at Computer Literacy Bookshop of San Jose because there was no Google'ing for datasheets, specifications, or APIs back then as some of us old codgers remember. ;]
- JohnFen 3y ago
  > Only thing splurgy was a Fluke 289 (before they hiked prices) since I've never had a proper DMM that wasn't a $10 POS. Heh, once I had the money, I bought a very nice bench DMM too, for this exact reason. Not because I really needed it, but because I had an emotional need to counter decades of cheap multimeters. > I had no such access to remote computing power I had no remote access from my home. To use the computer, I had to take a 45 minute ride on the city bus. It's funny how I get more nostalgic of the rougher times than the easier times.

joquarky 3y ago

> The highlight was when I was futzing with a slow oscillator and accidentally discovered that using using the speaker transformer as a voltage step up I could get the inductive voltage spike when the relay switched to give a painful shock. I remember that! In some versions of the manual, this was specifically listed as an experiment, but I think they later removed it. I just checked, if you go to page 51 (project #43, "High Voltage Generator") of the 160-in-1 manual and you'll find that exact experiment.

dylan604 3y ago
We learned/discovered that an Atari 2600 cartridge was the right size for a 9v and step transform to house in a snug little package after removing the game cart itself. After adding a couple of leads to the open end, a button on the back side, you could "show" some unsuspecting friend your new game while leading up to the shocking game play. Thinking back, we were really bored
- zengargoyle 3y ago
  Back in middle school, like 1981-ish I had this hardback book with a title of something like "A Shocking Story". The inside was hollowed out to hold about the same but it was rigged to go off when you opened the book. It got confiscated.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  Never underestimate the creative and intellectual power of boredom.

intrasight 3y ago

I got one for Christmas in 1975. It was a "toy" that I got enjoyment from for at least 8 years.