5 ms·

How we learned about electronics pre-Arduino days

32 points by avinassh 12y ago

avinassh 12y ago
Here are some more vintage kits: http://searle.hostei.com/grant/ElectronicKits/index.html http://searle.hostei.com/grant/ElectronicKits/index.html source: http://np.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/3325f8/how_we_learned_about_electronics_prearduino_days/ http://np.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/3325f8/how_we_learne...
jlarocco 12y ago
Heh, I had one of those, along with the 200-in-1 version. I got them as Christmas presents as a kid. I think mine were from Radio Shack. Hard to believe it was 20 years ago. Surprisingly, it appears there's a company still selling them: http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-Electronic-Playground-Learning-Center/dp/B0035XSZDI http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-Electronic-Playground-Learning-... http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-200-in-One-Elecronic-Project-Lab/dp/B0002AHR04 http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-200-in-One-Elecronic-Project-La...
- avinassh 12y ago
  70's COSMAC 1802 is still available for sale at $19 - http://www.sunrise-ev.com//membershipcard.htm http://www.sunrise-ev.com//membershipcard.htm
- raverbashing 12y ago
  Ha! This Elenco 200 in one was pretty great. And it kept on giving when using it as a platform for other experiments (you can use the VO meter, speaker, etc) (However I remember paying around $50 for it in a Radio Shack in NYC, around, oh my, 20 years ago!!)
fit2rule 12y ago
I keep expecting a revival of the Denshi block system to occur: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denshi_block http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denshi_block http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gakken_EX-System http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gakken_EX-System It seems like an idea ripe for revolution, at least in the Arduino/maker space. I know there are similar systems - but I think very little competes with Denshi block in terms of form factor and its appropriate use by little fingers. Come on, hackers! Make a 21st Century Denshi block system! :)
walshemj 12y ago
Mine was the lady bird book on how to make a radio http://www.amazon.co.uk/Making-Transistor-Radio-ladybird-make/dp/0721403247 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Making-Transistor-Radio-ladybird-mak... Though my dad did take over a bit - we actually used a gas powered soldering iron he had from the 40's - you heated it up over a gas burner
- rjsw 12y ago
  That was my introduction to electronics too, I don't remember it needing any soldering though. After this, my grandfather taught me how to make PCBs and more complicated radios.
  - walshemj 12y ago
    I think the book used a bread board - eventually we moved the radio to some stripboard which is where the 40's soldering iron came in
shasheene 12y ago
In Australia, a popular introductory kit was "Fun Way Into Electronics" (http://goughlui.com/2014/11/09/tech-flashback-dick-smiths-fun-way-into-electronics-vol-1/ http://goughlui.com/2014/11/09/tech-flashback-dick-smiths-fu...) by the Radio Shack-like electronics retailer Dick Smith. Unfortunately I personally went through highschool from mid-2000s, apparently a bit too late for a strong electronics curriculum (beyond learning basic soldering and building a small project in the electronics part of the 'tech' subject, with woodwork and metalwork being the other units)
- cam_l 12y ago
  cool, I never saw the fun way books. but I remember buying the kits with pocket money I saved up. I still have one I built in a box somewhere..
fnordfnordfnord 12y ago
A lot of trial and error, mostly error, and Forrest M. Mims III books.
- HeyLaughingBoy 12y ago
  Oh god yes. I owe my career as an EE (and now embedded SW) to Forrest.
ourmandave 12y ago
I could only afford the 20-in-1 kit with my b'day money (after begging for the 75-in-1). I also had a grandfather that would give me various things like a transformer and a complete photoelectric sensor with the wall control box. I also disassembled most my toys to see how they worked (could never get them back together again).
protomyth 12y ago
Radio Shack and Heath kits were a pretty good way to start.
- hcrisp 12y ago
  I remember making LED circuits and small wheeled robots from kits. Was it Heath or something like a Graymark catalog? I can't recall the name.
  - protomyth 12y ago
    I bought a nine pin port (Atari joystick), cables, and two photocells from radio shack and soldered them together then mounted it in plywood. It worked just like paddle controllers for input (more light higher number). I doubt I could do that with modern USB.
shortoncash 12y ago
The pre-Arduino days were just expensive. I was using HC11 development boards quite a bit, and when I did something wrong, it would burn a hole in my pocket. Also, good books or people who knew what they were doing were hard to come by. This went for software development too. A book would cost me $30-$50, a development board would cost $80, there were no reviews to know whether what I was buying was even worthwhile. Kids these days have it really, really good. I'm jealous of them.
- joezydeco 12y ago
  The development boards were crazy expensive, too. I was an early developer on the TI OMAP1, we had a number of EVK boards that TI lent us to to get the BSP up and running. I recall they were charging $7,000 each for these things and you could only get them if you had a serious inside channel with a TI FAE and promised big orders later. I thought Pandaboard was a great leap forward (especially for TI). We've taken 2 or 3 more since then.
bcl 12y ago
Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar articles in Byte, and later his magazine.
webnrrd2k 12y ago
Anyone remember TAB Books? I know they are still around, but that was pretty much it when I was a kid.
tzs 12y ago
Radio Shack P-Box kits were interesting: http://my.core.com/~sparktron/pbox.html http://my.core.com/~sparktron/pbox.html

32 points by avinassh 12y ago

Here are some more vintage kits: http://searle.hostei.com/grant/ElectronicKits/index.html http://searle.hostei.com/grant/ElectronicKits/index.html source: http://np.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/3325f8/how_we_learned_about_electronics_prearduino_days/ http://np.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/3325f8/how_we_learne...

jlarocco 12y ago

Heh, I had one of those, along with the 200-in-1 version. I got them as Christmas presents as a kid. I think mine were from Radio Shack. Hard to believe it was 20 years ago. Surprisingly, it appears there's a company still selling them: http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-Electronic-Playground-Learning-Center/dp/B0035XSZDI http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-Electronic-Playground-Learning-... http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-200-in-One-Elecronic-Project-Lab/dp/B0002AHR04 http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-200-in-One-Elecronic-Project-La...

avinassh 12y ago
70's COSMAC 1802 is still available for sale at $19 - http://www.sunrise-ev.com//membershipcard.htm http://www.sunrise-ev.com//membershipcard.htm
raverbashing 12y ago
Ha! This Elenco 200 in one was pretty great. And it kept on giving when using it as a platform for other experiments (you can use the VO meter, speaker, etc) (However I remember paying around $50 for it in a Radio Shack in NYC, around, oh my, 20 years ago!!)

fit2rule 12y ago

I keep expecting a revival of the Denshi block system to occur: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denshi_block http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denshi_block http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gakken_EX-System http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gakken_EX-System It seems like an idea ripe for revolution, at least in the Arduino/maker space. I know there are similar systems - but I think very little competes with Denshi block in terms of form factor and its appropriate use by little fingers. Come on, hackers! Make a 21st Century Denshi block system! :)

walshemj 12y ago

Mine was the lady bird book on how to make a radio http://www.amazon.co.uk/Making-Transistor-Radio-ladybird-make/dp/0721403247 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Making-Transistor-Radio-ladybird-mak... Though my dad did take over a bit - we actually used a gas powered soldering iron he had from the 40's - you heated it up over a gas burner

rjsw 12y ago
That was my introduction to electronics too, I don't remember it needing any soldering though. After this, my grandfather taught me how to make PCBs and more complicated radios.
- walshemj 12y ago
  I think the book used a bread board - eventually we moved the radio to some stripboard which is where the 40's soldering iron came in

shasheene 12y ago

In Australia, a popular introductory kit was "Fun Way Into Electronics" (http://goughlui.com/2014/11/09/tech-flashback-dick-smiths-fun-way-into-electronics-vol-1/ http://goughlui.com/2014/11/09/tech-flashback-dick-smiths-fu...) by the Radio Shack-like electronics retailer Dick Smith. Unfortunately I personally went through highschool from mid-2000s, apparently a bit too late for a strong electronics curriculum (beyond learning basic soldering and building a small project in the electronics part of the 'tech' subject, with woodwork and metalwork being the other units)

cam_l 12y ago
cool, I never saw the fun way books. but I remember buying the kits with pocket money I saved up. I still have one I built in a box somewhere..

fnordfnordfnord 12y ago

A lot of trial and error, mostly error, and Forrest M. Mims III books.

HeyLaughingBoy 12y ago
Oh god yes. I owe my career as an EE (and now embedded SW) to Forrest.

ourmandave 12y ago

I could only afford the 20-in-1 kit with my b'day money (after begging for the 75-in-1). I also had a grandfather that would give me various things like a transformer and a complete photoelectric sensor with the wall control box. I also disassembled most my toys to see how they worked (could never get them back together again).

protomyth 12y ago

Radio Shack and Heath kits were a pretty good way to start.

hcrisp 12y ago
I remember making LED circuits and small wheeled robots from kits. Was it Heath or something like a Graymark catalog? I can't recall the name.
- protomyth 12y ago
  I bought a nine pin port (Atari joystick), cables, and two photocells from radio shack and soldered them together then mounted it in plywood. It worked just like paddle controllers for input (more light higher number). I doubt I could do that with modern USB.

shortoncash 12y ago

The pre-Arduino days were just expensive. I was using HC11 development boards quite a bit, and when I did something wrong, it would burn a hole in my pocket. Also, good books or people who knew what they were doing were hard to come by. This went for software development too. A book would cost me $30-$50, a development board would cost $80, there were no reviews to know whether what I was buying was even worthwhile. Kids these days have it really, really good. I'm jealous of them.

joezydeco 12y ago
The development boards were crazy expensive, too. I was an early developer on the TI OMAP1, we had a number of EVK boards that TI lent us to to get the BSP up and running. I recall they were charging $7,000 each for these things and you could only get them if you had a serious inside channel with a TI FAE and promised big orders later. I thought Pandaboard was a great leap forward (especially for TI). We've taken 2 or 3 more since then.

bcl 12y ago

Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar articles in Byte, and later his magazine.

webnrrd2k 12y ago

Anyone remember TAB Books? I know they are still around, but that was pretty much it when I was a kid.

tzs 12y ago

Radio Shack P-Box kits were interesting: http://my.core.com/~sparktron/pbox.html http://my.core.com/~sparktron/pbox.html