Electronic Project Kit Shootout! New Elenco Vs. Vintage Science Fair

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  • Опубліковано 12 кві 2020
  • Oh Joy! In this video I take a trip to the past with something new - the Elenco Electronic Playground 130 project kit that is definitely in the form and spirit of the classic Science Fair 150-In-1 kit that I had as a kid. I do a side by side comparison of the features of both kits, and give the Elenco 130 a try by doing a simple project. Enjoy!
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  • Наука та технологія

КОМЕНТАРІ • 569

  • @MTSVW
    @MTSVW 4 роки тому +11

    It’s funny, I’m almost 40 and appreciate this kit now more than when I was a kid. I had no idea how expensive they were! The first kit I was given was too advanced-it assumed the user already knew what an ohm, a transistor, and a capacitor was, and how to read schematic symbols, so I never used it. I put it away thinking I’d learn the terminology some day and come back to it when I was older, but that never happened. I assumed I’d learn it in time but alas they didn’t teach this stuff in school and it was too complicated for me to grasp solo. Soon after getting that kit an aunt gave me one of these beginner 130-in-one kits with the spring connectors. I think I made the police siren and that’s it. I didn’t grasp that the point was to appreciate exploring the magic of the circuitry-I just thought the goal was to assemble the different toys for their own sake. I didn’t understand that the journey WAS the destination. I think my problem was I was too young, and the instructions lacked a lot of abstract “why” & “how” that would’ve let me better appreciate the concepts. That kit ended up in the closet too. Then the next year my aunt sent THE EXACT SAME KIT for my birthday which I exchanged at Radio Shack for a weather radio. I really wish I had taken more time to understand and appreciate these kits, especially since I was given three of them. I genuinely wanted to get into them some day, but always felt like I lacked too much background knowledge to grasp what I was doing. You would’ve been a fun big sister to ask all those questions! Thanks for doing these!!

    • @ObscureStuff420
      @ObscureStuff420 2 місяці тому

      Same. I kind of want one now that I have the patience to use it

  • @charlieb9502
    @charlieb9502 4 роки тому +79

    The green wires were for the ground and antenna for the radio projects.

    • @T3hBeowulf
      @T3hBeowulf 4 роки тому +3

      I remember winding the green wire around a tinker toy rod to make the antenna more compact. "Compact" was the only problem that solved. 🙃

    • @jrstf
      @jrstf 4 роки тому +2

      Once I started to get bored, I would have been inclined to run the long wires into the electrical outlet. Like Fran says though, too bad no relay.

    • @qwertykeyboard5901
      @qwertykeyboard5901 4 роки тому +2

      @@jrstf *BANG*

    • @datafilehunter1682
      @datafilehunter1682 4 роки тому +1

      @@qwertykeyboard5901 that's what happens if you make a bridge rectifier using 1N914 diodes, connecting it to 120ac, and no load on the output.

    • @therugburnz
      @therugburnz 4 роки тому +1

      @@datafilehunter1682 fun and dangerous smoke

  • @vehasmaa
    @vehasmaa 4 роки тому +17

    I had one of those electronics experiment kits when i was child. Kick started my interest in electronics in how with so few components and changeing arrangement you can build so many different things.... It had like 75 experiments.

  • @grahambrown5874
    @grahambrown5874 3 роки тому +2

    My father bought me one as a child and it formed the basis of my career in electrical and electronic engineering.
    In think mine was older than this because it didn’t have and LED. It did have two transistors. What i remember that made my kit unique was it had a 6ft ribber/tape aerial, a germanium diode for for crystal radio, and there was no wooden frame.
    It had a captivating picture on the box showing some kids building a project. It must have been made in the 1960’s.
    I always wanted to buy one as it links to memories to my father when he was alive.
    Thanks for sharing.

  • @kingey71
    @kingey71 4 роки тому +18

    They sold these at Tandy stores in Australia. Still got mine and recently replaced a few bad parts and now my son is getting enjoyment with it.

  • @BixbyConsequence
    @BixbyConsequence 4 роки тому +29

    My favorite was the light-triggered "alarm clock". It let me sleep longer on rainy days :D

    • @parteibonza
      @parteibonza 3 роки тому

      I remember making that also. I don't think it worked very well though...I think it drained its batteries after a day or two.

  • @manthony1956
    @manthony1956 4 роки тому +2

    Those Radio Shack Science Fair kits were cool! For me, I believe it was a low power AM transmitter that we built. Many of my school friends became electronic engineers and technicians. I have often had young people today tell me that they see no value in these kits, these discrete circuits, as everything today is digital. I counter, that integrated circuits are actually an assembly of discrete components, miniaturized, of course, having actually seen the lay-ups at open houses (I had relatives who worked at Fairchild and National Semiconductor). In the Eighties I worked in magnetics and power supplies, and high voltage power supplies and digital did not mix. Power supply and magnetic design is as much a specialty as anything electronic.

  • @WolfePaws
    @WolfePaws 4 роки тому +24

    20:02 Keep a logbook! Probably the most important piece of advice to any budding electronics enthusiast or maker of any type.
    Jotting down what you did, what didn't work, what you did to solve the problems is so valuable in learning the troubleshooting process.

    • @Tocsin-Bang
      @Tocsin-Bang 4 роки тому +5

      When I started my first job, in a UK government lab in the mid 60s, the first thing they gave you was a notebook and pencil, even before you got a lab coat. I kept it up for years.

    • @atlantic_love
      @atlantic_love 2 роки тому

      Or just create a better system from the outset, and spend less time "troubleshooting" and "logging".

  • @stevet6676
    @stevet6676 Рік тому +2

    So cool to see your enthusiasm for these electronics kits. I was a high school chemistry / physics teacher in Chicago for 7 years ending in 2014. Our school had a robotics team, and I was the faculty advisor. The hands on work the student did inspired more of the team members to go to engineering school than any class. Nice work, thank you.

  • @circuitsandcigars1278
    @circuitsandcigars1278 4 роки тому +16

    When I saw the Elenco, two words popped in my head: Mini Moog

  • @MatthewHolevinski
    @MatthewHolevinski 4 роки тому +91

    absolutely awesome, kinda depressing tho, makes me miss the "old" radio shack.

    • @TommyHelgevold
      @TommyHelgevold 4 роки тому +10

      It's not so bad, we live in the most awesome of times. Back in our days, we'd pay a weeks salary for a handful of components, today you can get thousands of assorted ones for pocket change, what a time to be alive!

    • @Kylefassbinderful
      @Kylefassbinderful 4 роки тому +4

      ​@@TommyHelgevold so true. It used to be hard to get certain components like variable capacitors and inductors. We can romanticize about Radio Shack all we want but those were components that they rarely ever carried and if they did they weren't exactly cheap like they are these days.

    • @llary
      @llary 4 роки тому +9

      @@Kylefassbinderful in Taiwan we still have independent electronic stores. You can buy almost anything from obscure ICs to passive components at Internet prices. Fricken awesome when you are in the middle of a project and want to get that part right away. Good to see them packed with young people at the weekend too.

    • @kenmore01
      @kenmore01 4 роки тому +3

      There's still a radio shack in business in Tehachapi Ca! I was there about a week ago and thought what?

    • @marlinbially9628
      @marlinbially9628 4 роки тому +4

      It was all those free batteries they gave away that did them in... ;)

  • @MrRedwally
    @MrRedwally 4 роки тому +1

    I used to have a Mykit System 7 Electronic Project Kit when i was 12 or so, it was great fun and i learnt a lot from it. Great video, brought back memories

  • @randyriegel8553
    @randyriegel8553 3 роки тому +1

    I had a similar project back in the 80's. Loved it. I didn't go into electronics but instead went into computer science and write applications and web pages to this day. But a few years I got back into electronics as a hobby with breadboards, components, and such with Arduino's and Raspberry Pi's. Now I have a whole bench with soldering station, hot air station, bench power supply, and some stuff I'll probably never use :) Still looking for oscilloscope for decent price since I don't want to pay tons for just a hobby but still want a reliable one.

  • @jameslehr9868
    @jameslehr9868 4 роки тому +8

    The "bird" sent my cat running lol

  • @KC9KEP
    @KC9KEP 3 роки тому +1

    I had the Heathkit JK-27 “lab” as a Christmas present. Man, did I have a great time learning with that kit! 😁

  • @chuckh.2227
    @chuckh.2227 Місяць тому

    Hi Fran I'm 55 and I also learned electronics from a All in One Radio Shack kit in the late 70's early 80's
    I wish I still had it today
    This episode brings back a lot of memories
    Thank you Fran

  • @gustavfenk4021
    @gustavfenk4021 4 роки тому +4

    Scottish company "Thomas Salter" used to make similar electronics kits for sale in the U.K., along with other science stuff like chemistry sets, microscope labs and even fingerprint kits. I had all their stuff when I was a kid. Hours of fun and you learnt a lot.

  • @miketayse
    @miketayse Рік тому +1

    I'm 67, I had a 100 in one Knight kit, back in the 60s and It came with a tube and 3 transistors! Lots of fun. I also built some kits, walkie talkie, radio, etc. I also built a digi-comp, an early mechancial computer. I had one of the kits you had in the vid in my classroom for awhile(schoolteacher). Not that many kids liked to play with it, but some did, so I kept it around and eventualy gave it to a student. I still keep a box with some soloar cells, aVOM, some chargable batteries, small motors and the like. Some kids still like that sort of thing, kind of heartening. Love the channel, thanks for all your work!

  • @Solocat1
    @Solocat1 4 роки тому +1

    I wish we had the old Radio Shack stores back! I had the shortwave radio kit, worked great heard the BBC in a distant English voice and it was amazing! Great memories thanks...

  • @pileofstuff
    @pileofstuff 4 роки тому +3

    I had a slightly earlier version of that radio shack 150-in-1 kit was my start in this weird world of electron herding. (mine didn't have the 7 segment, but it did have a morse code key)
    I pulled mine out a couple of years ago and it still had a circuit set up on it leftover from my teenage years.

  • @vincentaurelius2390
    @vincentaurelius2390 4 роки тому +2

    Nice comparison and cool concept for a video. Enjoyed watching.

  • @angrydove4067
    @angrydove4067 4 роки тому +12

    When I was a teen, I had the blue plastic Radio Shack model, I think it was 200 projects, I made a voice activated switch to turn on my pinball machine. :-)

    • @PSKResearch
      @PSKResearch 4 роки тому

      That 75 in one were blue. But they had mods for each project so could equal 100-200 with the mods.

  • @Petertronic
    @Petertronic 4 роки тому +7

    I wanted to see the Meowing Cat! Great that these kits are being made, I loved it.

  • @samberlyrocks
    @samberlyrocks 3 роки тому

    As soon as I started watching, it brought me back to my youth. My first thought “That had to be “77!”. Yes!! Love your channel!!

  • @BrightBlueJim
    @BrightBlueJim 3 роки тому

    I LOVED the kit I got when I was around 10. It was a Knight Kit 100 in 1, which my aunt had bought for my cousin, but after a year or so he had shown no interest in it, so she gave it to me. The difference between the Knight Kit and kits like these, is that it had a piece of pegboard, and the springs were mounted on plastic plugs that fit into the holes in the pegboard. Most of the components - the transistors, diodes, resistors, and capacitors, were loose, and you put circuits together by plugging the springs into the pegboard, then connecting the components to each other between the spring connectors, using wires where necessary. This allowed you to lay out circuits similarly to the schematics, which made it much easier to be sure you had wired it correctly. It also allowed you to add components that weren't included. The more specialized components - relay, photocell, panel meter, tuning capacitor, and many other things, were mounted on panels, similarly to your kits. I learned a LOT from this.

  • @ltdees2362
    @ltdees2362 4 роки тому +1

    Hi Fran...I got my start "slightly" farther back in time than you...LOL...Dad was a ham, in more ways than one...ham radios but more of a jokester, never a dull moment around our hose, drove mama crazy. He was a radio operator on the B-29 during WWII...
    Our home was full of every kind of surplus war tube radio you could dream of, they were my "kits." Yep...I was hooked from the late 50's to this day...soldering when I was six...70 years later; I still have all his beloved Hallicrafters, Hammarlund, Drake and Collins gear. But his prize was a home-built tube 3K linear transmitter that afforded us a surprise visit from the FCC one day...he thought it was pretty funny...mama...not so much! Seems a neighbors reported him cause he was screwing up TV's around the neighborhood when he would key-up on CW...
    I got my first class FCC license at 15...1965...I helped dad build A Heath-Kit color TV that year...When I graduated from High-School dad gave me a Heathkit SB-101 transceiver kit with the matching speaker kit, still got it...thanks dad...K4BQS 💗
    Hey...keep the videos coming, they are a pleasure to watch 😎

  • @EricMcKearney
    @EricMcKearney 4 роки тому +6

    What an incredible blast from the past... I love that you mentioned the Fish Caller... I recall my mom being VERY upset when she came upstairs and found wires and a speaker running from this thing into the fish tank! I don't recall it working well to attract fish....

  • @josephcote6120
    @josephcote6120 4 роки тому

    For Christmas of 76 I got the 75-in-1 kit, and played with it to death. So much so that they brought me the 150-in-1 set for my birthday that summer. Thanks to a family friend who was knowledgeable in electronics I started to understand the parts and how things worked. My first perf board projects were circuits that I had built on the kits but wanted to keep, pretty much all of them were noisy ones. Great memories.

  • @Leo_Davis_
    @Leo_Davis_ 3 роки тому

    This 150 in one kit is the exact kid that got me into electronics, and teach me to read schematics. Later, becauae of this, I got into radio, antenna building, amplifiers and ham radio license, all because of this kit I got when I was about 8 years old. Its nice to see it again, and brings back some memories

  • @SteveEh
    @SteveEh 4 роки тому +7

    So many memories!, I had a 130- in one in the mid-late 80's The wire colors were the same, I seem to remember never having enough of the "long" yellow wires.
    Great video as always!

    • @wich1
      @wich1 4 роки тому +2

      Me too, I was thinking, that set has exactly the same stuff on it that I had on my 80s version.

    • @ArcticNemo
      @ArcticNemo 2 роки тому

      I started salvaging wire and clipping extra bits to have enough for bigger and cooler circuits.

  • @chrisknowles
    @chrisknowles 4 роки тому +7

    Up until last month I had the "Science Fair 130 in one electronic projects kit" from the late '70's. The Elenco is almost an exact clone of the kit I had right down to the Digit display with the resistors mounted beside.
    The daughter of my co-worker expressed an interest in electronics, so I gave her my kit. The first project she completed was an alien sound which, of course, used the oscillator :)

    • @tookitogo
      @tookitogo 4 роки тому

      Chris Knowles You mean through-hole resistors, right?

    • @chrisknowles
      @chrisknowles 4 роки тому +1

      @@tookitogo You are correct! :)

  • @fredderf6491
    @fredderf6491 4 роки тому +12

    In the mid '60s I cut my engineering teeth on the Philips Electronic Engineer kits. They were similar in the use of springs, but actually had individual project cards with the actual schematic printed on them which was mounted on to a pegboard with the springs at the circuit nodes. You then connected up the nodes using the actual component which overlaid its schematic equivalent.

    • @TommyHelgevold
      @TommyHelgevold 4 роки тому +2

      I had those too, still have parts left of one of them (EE2003), which one did you get? 60s? Must have been the 100x series?

    • @fredderf6491
      @fredderf6491 4 роки тому +3

      @@TommyHelgevold I had the basic EE8 kit. I used the parts from the 2 transistor radio and soldered them on a tag board. My dad made me a box to house it and a battery and that was my first portable radio - albeit only with a crystal earpiece output! Took it to school with me and played it on the bus. Kind of steered my whole career through college and an apprenticeship analog/digital design and then FPGA's which I have been using for the last 35 years. Retired now of course!

    • @TommyHelgevold
      @TommyHelgevold 4 роки тому +3

      @@fredderf6491 OOoh, FPGA's, always wanted to get into that, but went other ways in life. But electronics is still a hobby for me, it's like marriage (and no divorce, because once bitten...) it will follow us to the grave. Like Fran, I get all nostalgic about it, and collect some stuff from my childhood.

    • @DanielPalmans
      @DanielPalmans 4 роки тому +4

      Me too. In the sixties I started with an EE5, then later the EE10. These were wonderful. The manuals explaining all electronic components with water analogy was incredibly smart. That's how I started loving electronic got an EE degree and worked all my life with electronics. When I loved a project I would buy the components and make a permanent réplication, cr Eating my own pseudopods printed circuit.

    • @gcewing
      @gcewing 4 роки тому +3

      One of my friends at school had a kit like that. It came with a little flag-shaped piece of metal for clipping onto a transistor that he said was a "heatskin". It was a while before I found out it was actually called a "heatsink".

  • @paulromsky9527
    @paulromsky9527 Рік тому

    For the STEM class I teach, I made component modules: I took nice finish pieces of 1/8 inch plywood, printed symbols and info on paper, a super thin layer of wood glue to hold it down and not seep through the paper, some light coats of clear acyric, then tapped in brad nails as contacts, and finally mount the component to the board. I put velcro underneath and I have a large 2ft X 2ft velcro mounting board. I use tiny alligator clip jumper sets of different colors/lengths. As I expand it (making new component modules as I need them), it will be eventually a 1000+-in-1 kit. I even put an Arduino UNO on a board with nails to each pin.

  • @RussTanner
    @RussTanner 4 роки тому

    THAT is exactly the kit I had as a kid. I have not seen that in years. Brings back memories.

  • @stavinaircaeruleum2275
    @stavinaircaeruleum2275 4 роки тому +6

    Reminds me of Snap Circuits. Spent hours messing around with Snap Circuits when I was younger. Good times.

  • @ADRIANHEAD55
    @ADRIANHEAD55 3 роки тому

    Brings back great memories of my childhood. Thats how I started in electronics too.

  • @NillKitty
    @NillKitty 3 роки тому

    As a kid i've blown up every component in this kit and have gone through several of this exact same kit. The diodes were the easiest thing to blow out followed by the transistors. I remember shorting out the "Control" once and seeing a red glow coming from behind the board. On this board the LEDs were very resilient to full voltage due to the integrated current-limiting resistors; I only remember burning out LEDs once I moved onto the 250-in-1 or whatever where they don't force you to use the resistors.

  • @nyki7fykxtjxyi
    @nyki7fykxtjxyi 3 роки тому

    I loved those spring board electronics kits. You learn the frustration and joy of electronics.

  • @Big_Computer
    @Big_Computer 4 роки тому +1

    Fran really is the sweetest person

  • @XenonJohnD
    @XenonJohnD Рік тому

    Had a Philips version in 70's with springs the components clipped into. Parents not convinced. Went to good but somewhat old-fashioned school later where keen young maths teacher ran a side-course on basic electronics which I loved. I believe he was told to stop by the headmaster as it wasn't a proper subject like Maths, Physics, Chem, Latin, Greek etc but more of a technical school skill. Since then of course the electronics and computing geeks have inherited the earth :) I still make electronic projects now. The school redeemed itself in my eyes though as the computer seemed literally awesome to an 11 year old. It filled a room with core memory cabinets, hummed menacingly (multiple cooling fans running in and out of phase), had optical tape readers on a central control desk and a bank of golf ball head teleprinters like in the film Billion Dollar Brain.

  • @meowcula
    @meowcula 4 роки тому +10

    I started on a similar one, a 70-in-1 I think. It was so much fun.

  • @Xeddyhime
    @Xeddyhime 4 роки тому +1

    I was mentoring a friend's kid in electronics a while back. Elenco has tons of great kits like this. We started out with their Snap Circuits, then went onto this 130-in-One kit. From there, we dove straight into Arduino, but these kits were a great foundation for making those fundamental concepts stick!

  • @realSethMeyers
    @realSethMeyers Рік тому

    It was fun watching you enjoy this, just like you did when you were a kid. Must be a visceral blast from the past.

  • @Someoldguycoding
    @Someoldguycoding 4 роки тому +5

    Never had one of the spring connector kits. If I had, like you, I wouldn't want to take it apart to build a new project. Dad would pick up old junker tube radios to take apart. I hate to think of it now...

  • @asciimation
    @asciimation 2 роки тому

    When I was 10 I went to the UK for a visit and was lent one of these kits but no instruction book but that started me off. Back in NZ I was then into the old Dick Smith Funway into Electronics kits then finally I found out about breadboards where I could make my own things and never looked back. Was very lucky that a friends father was into electronics and he encourage and helped me a lot. Later on holiday jobs as an electronics tech helped me pay for school and university then payed for my OE when I went back to the UK in my early 20s. I ended up a software guy but electronics is still a big hobby.

  • @davidtindall196
    @davidtindall196 3 роки тому

    I was given a Science Fair 150-in-1 kit when I was about 10 or 12 years old. I became obsessed with electronics during my teenage years. Now I'm in my 50's and I'm a qualified RF and IT tech :-) These kits stimulate a young persons brain!

  • @dougkubash8673
    @dougkubash8673 2 роки тому

    I love these kits. My folks bought a smaller one for my daughters when they were younger and they had lots of fun!

  • @toyfreaks
    @toyfreaks 4 роки тому

    Awww.... My dad got us the Science Fair 100 in 1 EPK. I wore the springs off that thing! Of course, when I was 10 years old, I loved anything that made loud noises. But it was enough motivation for me to start building all the projects. I was completely mesmerized by the Cds cell !! Thanks for bringing back some great childhood memories.

  • @orlandokaraoke3002
    @orlandokaraoke3002 4 роки тому

    I picked up the 150 in one kit at the local thrift when I was like 10 yrs old. Basically the same as my brothers new 160 in one. Back then it was an arms race to see how much cool stuff we could put on a hat. The 'hat phone' or 'hat radio' as it were. Later in life around late 30s in age I came across the 200 in one with a breadboard in the middle and even chips to build stuff around. Unfortunately I fell on hard times and sold it on eBay. Some guy in Germany is enjoying it right about now I bet. The fm transmitter was the coolest. It sparked the idea of mini spy microphones. We must have planted dozens around the house. We found coils made with good thick Guage wire and condenser mics worked extremely well. Most normal kids probably got a new basketball for Christmas. We got a soldering iron and voltmeter. Fond memories 😃 I used the cds cell in a 'burglar alarm' circuit. Beam of light from a flash light connected to a power supply. Connected to the joystick port on the IBM pc. Wrote a program that polled the port for activity. So when someone went into my room when I was at my friend's house, the computer would use the modem to dial and ring his phone. Come back home and tell mom hey someone went in my room at such and such time. Only to hear yea she was putting my clothes away for me.

  • @rredd7777
    @rredd7777 4 роки тому +1

    LOVE THIS!! I had a couple of these. One of my favorite things as a kid. One time when I was little and was sick, I wanted to try to build an electric bell and asked my Dad to pick stuff at R.S. he came back with this instead. He had a habit of getting the wrong thing sometimes.But this time, he knocked it out of the park! I loved it! Great memory, Thanks Fran!

  • @marc6340
    @marc6340 4 роки тому

    I had the 150-in-1 set. Loved it because it had those springs for attaching the wires. My favorite was the dc generator that I used to shock all my friends!

  • @1_lens_view
    @1_lens_view 4 роки тому +1

    Loved these when I was a kid. Funny how many of us seem to part them out for some reason. No idea where mine went. Maybe I built a time machine with it and went back to before I owned it. Don’t remember.

    • @parteibonza
      @parteibonza 3 роки тому

      when you think about it...there's some value in it if you sold each of those components separately.

  • @joeaugustine9629
    @joeaugustine9629 4 роки тому +3

    Interestingly, Elenco (or whatever company is behind Elenco) always made those kits for RadioShack. You can go into older RadioShack catalogs and actually see the 130-in-one kit you are showing right now under the RadioShack brand. The long green wire is for use as a radio antenna. Thanks for showing Fran!

  • @TexDrinkwater
    @TexDrinkwater 4 роки тому +1

    Wow, I had that kit waaaay back in the '70s.

  • @JCBeastie
    @JCBeastie 4 роки тому +1

    Omg the nostalgia! I had a Science Fair 130 in one, mid nineties, I could follow the instructions and make working projects but I never really understood it, I'd learn more from this kit nowadays I reckon!

  • @derekchristenson5711
    @derekchristenson5711 Рік тому

    I have that exact 150-in-1 kit! I got it as a hand-me-down from my cousin. 🙂 I already had the (very similar, but slightly updated) 160-in-1 kit that I got in the 80's (brand-new), and I remember doing some larger projects by combining the two. I'm glad that someone is making similar kits again.

  • @iowahawkeye6
    @iowahawkeye6 4 роки тому +1

    150 in 1 was my introduction as well, 1976 I believe. Thanks for sharing!

  • @rgarito
    @rgarito 4 роки тому

    That 150-in-one kit is what started my career in electronics. I was about 5 when I got it.

  • @jaytm2574
    @jaytm2574 4 роки тому

    Had a similar Science Fair myself. I think the best kit from them was the Microprocessor one - only 4-bit but you could program at the machine level. Count on the display, play music, etc. Just got my youngest an Elenco 'snap' 130 project kit. Most (if not all) of Elenco electronic lab kits are 'snap' now. It gets rid of the spring clips and wires. The pieces are mounted on plastic backings and have metal 'snaps' like clothing has on the ends to connect one to the other. Works really well.

  • @KeritechElectronics
    @KeritechElectronics Рік тому

    Hey, Cynthia linked it to me and just watched this one for the first time :)
    Nice vintage reissue, - like with pedals or amps, some things are better, others (like doing away with the wooden box) not really so, plus a slight circuit redesign to modernize it and make it cheaper too.
    Reminds me of my brother's "Elektronika" experimenting kit I played with as a kid. Made in the USSR in the '70s/'80s, I couldn't understand the instructions in Russian but schematics are international, haha! The kit was a white plastic case with spring contacts just like the Elenco. No 7-segment LED display coolness there, but it had your regular RC stuff, a bunch of transistors and diodes, one or two ICs with five transistors or so in a DIP package, a LDR with plug, a switch, a LED (with a hidden serial resistor making it harder to blow it up, haha), a ferrite antenna, a transformer, a speaker and a relay. All the wires were white solid core. Of course I took it apart in my teens... and now nostalgia gets to me, haha.

  • @atschirner
    @atschirner 4 роки тому

    Fran, Christmas 1972 and a Science Fair experimenter under the tree. December 26 I had been through the code buzzer and siren so on to ad-hoc projects. Well when you combine a fresh 9 volt battery, the code key, audio transformer and an unwitting brother in law you get fireworks. Great physics lesson on collapsing magnetic fields and the resistance of a wet tongue. His, not mine. I was on the key. Thanks for reminding me of the good old days.

  • @darylsuess8990
    @darylsuess8990 4 роки тому +4

    Hi Fran, this brings back memories for me. Back in the early 70's my dad bought me a Mykit System 7. Got me hooked on electronics to this day.

    • @Chris_Goulet
      @Chris_Goulet 2 роки тому +1

      It had a cool console shape with vertical and horizontal sections. The see-through 'IC' was unique.

    • @realSethMeyers
      @realSethMeyers Рік тому +1

      @Chris Goulet that classic console shape is so beautiful to me. The Midas M32 mixing console is one modern example of this gorgeous horizontal/vertical design. Another is the Soundcraft Vi3000.

  • @DanielBull
    @DanielBull 4 роки тому +6

    Yep I had that kit! Pretty sure I still have some of the components I liberated from it!

  • @eldontyrellcorp
    @eldontyrellcorp 4 роки тому

    I found two of these kits on flea markets. I think I have the same 150 in 1 science fair.
    As a kid, I spent countless hours on these. Specially with the radio circuits (I had a science faire crystal radio kit, which I think I still have somewhere). I quickly got hooked to radio technology. Later I passed my ham radio licence. And now I'm repairing old tube radios...
    Continue to flood us with such nice videos ! :)

  • @KingNast
    @KingNast 2 роки тому

    My grandfather gave me the 150 in one kit when I was about 5.. 45 years later, I still have 21-23 22-24 ingrained in my memory

  • @tomlavin1603
    @tomlavin1603 3 роки тому

    Thanks for doing that. Back in the early '70s (10th grade for me) I had an electronics class and my project was a 5 tube radio from Heathkit. I remember putting it all together and it didn't work. That experience taught me patience and neatness. The teacher said my radio looked like a rat's nest and had I routed the wires carefully using right angles where I could, troubleshooting would be a breeze. On another note, sad that shop-type classes are a rarity these days.

  • @joelowens6862
    @joelowens6862 2 роки тому

    Thanks Fran! Yep, lots of fun and definitely some good learning there!

  • @kevinmccool3719
    @kevinmccool3719 3 роки тому

    Remember the old tweety bird cb noise toys from the 70's? I modified the bird project in my old 150 in 1 kit as a kid to use on the cb. Then bought the parts at radio shack and made a homemade tweety bird in an old racquetball can. Learned a lot from those kits.

  • @sambra1979
    @sambra1979 2 роки тому

    I got the one from my childhood off ebay a couple of years ago, I'm hoping when my kids are a little older they will take an interest. I found a smaller version of it in a charity shop for £2. I snapped it up and did expect it had problems, they had left batteries in it and they had all leaked and messed up the battery compartment, I cleaned it up using vinegar to soak it overnight and it worked like new. I offered it on Facebook for the price I paid for my friends but nobody wanted it, so my kids will use when they are old enough. These kits are excellent.

  • @justinbrain
    @justinbrain 11 місяців тому

    I got that same model Science Fair as an xmas prezzie when I was around 10. One of my best memories along with a chemistry kit. Turns out I'm more right-brained or whatever, but I loved playing with those things.

  • @peterweingartner4364
    @peterweingartner4364 4 роки тому

    Wow... that 150 in 1 kit is a nostalgia trip for me. My wonderful parents gave that to me for Christmas one year. I spent so many hours with it, I can't even begin to count them. I loved building the radios, as there were some local stations I could pull in pretty easily, and the crystal radio especially seemed like magic. How could something make a sound with no batteries? I still have my kit, although it's a bit worse for wear. There is no way I can part with it, as it was one of those gifts that changes the course of a kid's life.

  • @VulpisLarvalis
    @VulpisLarvalis 4 роки тому

    I got an electronics kit when I was a kid, probably one of the best gifts I ever got. I spent many hours with it and even applied it for actual uses like making a door alarm for my room to alert me if my sister tried to get in and take my stuff

  • @MartinBurtonGuitar
    @MartinBurtonGuitar 4 роки тому

    So many memories, I had that 150-in-1 kit as Xmas present from my grandparents when I was maybe 11 or 12. That started me on a lifelong love of electronics and eventually into my career in computing. I spent many happy hours building the circuits in the book and then adapting them and combining them. Started taking apart old appliances (TVs/radios etc.) to salvage the components to build my own stuff. I owe my grandparents and that kit a lot.

  • @tammymakesthings
    @tammymakesthings 3 роки тому

    I had one of those 150-in-1 Radio Shack kits as a kid, too, and I also bought one on eBay a few years ago. So great!

  • @johncasey5594
    @johncasey5594 4 роки тому +1

    I had the 200 in 1 electronics kit. It was awesome.

  • @MandrakeDCR
    @MandrakeDCR 4 роки тому +3

    I used to have one of those my Dad bought me from Radio shack! I had a ton of fun with that thing! :)

  • @scottwolf9914
    @scottwolf9914 4 роки тому +9

    I had the Science Fair 160-in-one kit (my father had bought it for himself and I guess grown bored with it quickly), slightly different layout of the components.

  • @geoffmooregm
    @geoffmooregm 2 роки тому

    Ahhh memories. I got one for Christmas from my parents one year. Had no idea what it was at first. But my dad showed me how to read the schematics and hook up the wires. I made so many things. I remember making a small amplifier and running the included microphone into the games room so I could hear what was going on in there and even hear what TV show someone was watching 🤣

  • @RinksRides
    @RinksRides 4 роки тому +1

    My late uncle bought me the 130 in 1 from radioshack circa 1990, sparked a lifetime love affair with blinky lights.

  • @aramboodakian9554
    @aramboodakian9554 Рік тому

    I had the Philips/ Norelco Electronics Education kit when I grew up in the 60s, but also played with the neighbor’s Radio Shack kit similar to yours hours of fun. I learned my resistor color code and got me started in my electronics career.

  • @StumblrNoE
    @StumblrNoE 4 роки тому

    My dad had the Science Fair 150 in 1 kit as a child and I got to play with it as a child myself. Learned a lot from all those projects. It was a blast, and probably helped me get as interested in technology as I am today. I wonder what we ever did with it.

  • @erykfreethinker7147
    @erykfreethinker7147 4 роки тому

    Thank you so much for sharing this and your enthusiasm Fran. When I was young in the 1950's there was no money for things like this but in the UK there were Army Surplus stores. I knew someone who had a project board a bit like this but with less scope as some things on yours were not common but it had a crystal radio and various other things like morse. I copied his setup with bits from the surplus store and a pair of bakelite headphones from the same place. Wire was stripped from a transformer and it was all very bodged up but it taught me a lot. Connectors were made from the pins of broken ancient mains plugs using the screw connection and pin went through the hardboard. This taught me that I could make my own items using lateral thinking if I could not afford shop bought and this has helped me all my life. I love your enthusiasm and I wish I could do more than like and subscribe. Thank you Fran. Keep well and may your workshop thrive.

  • @dentakuweb
    @dentakuweb 4 роки тому +2

    I just watched the new documentary on ARP instruments this morning and those kits always remind me of semi-modular synths like the ARP 2600.

  • @frankpitochelli6786
    @frankpitochelli6786 2 роки тому

    I love Fran's music...so cool with that Jazzy 😎 touch...!!😉

  • @Kylefassbinderful
    @Kylefassbinderful 4 роки тому

    As a kid I liked the older kits because they had relays and Cd's cells. I had a voice recorder kit as well. It had a chip that when wired up correctly would let you record and playback your voice, I think up to 10 sec. Later I had a 500-1 kit with a bunch of key switches, a couple potentiometers, a breadboard that came with a lot of components, speaker, and 10 LED's. The whole thing was in a sturdy plastic housing with no cardboard. It was def pricey but toward the end of Radio Shack they had it clearanced at around 20 bucks so i grabbed it.

  • @Pwaak
    @Pwaak 4 роки тому

    Great video and subject Fran! I appreciate companies realizing all the educational potential within these Retro units, and, going the distance to re-make them!

  • @stavinaircaeruleum2275
    @stavinaircaeruleum2275 4 роки тому +1

    Yay new Franlab video to watch while I eat breakfast! Good morning Fran! 💙

  • @Pyridox
    @Pyridox 4 роки тому +1

    Thanks so much for sharing, it brought back some memories. I had the Radio Shack Science Fair project kit (150-in-one), that my parents gave me for Christmas when I was a young lad. I spent a lot of hours using that kit, especially on rainy days, etc., I learned a lot using it. That Elenco kit looked like it was nice, I like that it had the more modern silicon transistors & logic chip, etc. as opposed to the Germanium transistors in the RS 150-in-1 set.

  • @michaelwall3401
    @michaelwall3401 3 роки тому

    I can't even believe how much this reminds me of my intro to electronics. So good. I had that same mr. wizard magnetic block thing but had totally forgotten it! Thank you for doing this.

  • @mtdavis9568
    @mtdavis9568 2 роки тому

    I have scored a couple of these "Learning Labs"! This posting is SO COOL! Thank you!

  • @CharlesVanNoland
    @CharlesVanNoland 4 роки тому

    Had an Elenco like that as a 90s kid, a little smaller - I think it was something more like an 80 or 100 project kit, it lacked the 7-seg display and the NAND logic, but did have the OPAMP on there. I was able to cobble together an AM radio schematic that I found in a 1984 edition World Book Encyclopedia on it, but didn't have a variable cap so it just made a tone that seemed to be picked up on all frequencies on my pocket radio that I tested it with. I think that was more just RF leakage being picked up because the radio had to be extremely close rather than the radio picking up whatever frequency it was actually transmitting at, which in hindsight must've been outside the tunable range of a typical AM radio. What a throwback!

  • @lordmuntague
    @lordmuntague 4 роки тому +3

    Wow, I had that kit! It was from Tandy in the UK, helped me pass my physics O Level back in 1982!

    • @paulbennell3313
      @paulbennell3313 4 роки тому

      Yes, I remember seeing them in Tandy. God I loved that place! Late August when the new catalogue came out was always a big deal to me.

  • @acutee2
    @acutee2 4 роки тому

    I had this original kit too! My father got it when he was too old so he never used it but he saved it and found it when he cleaned out his mom's so I got it...some how I rusted parts so in one of my moves we threw it away. Great video, I am so glad to know there is a modern version!

  • @johnepperson8867
    @johnepperson8867 4 роки тому

    I LOVED those kits back in the seventies!!!!!!!!!!

  • @OPTIONALWATCH
    @OPTIONALWATCH 2 роки тому

    I always wanted to learn electronics. I'm 50 years old. I should start doing a kit. I relate to Fran a lot. She enjoys the things I enjoy and music and guitar is one of them. I followed through on the guitar but Fran's got me on the electronics. I haven't started that yet.

  • @ches74
    @ches74 4 роки тому +13

    That's so cool! I've still got my Science Fair 200 in 1 from the 80's.
    Still has its uses today, how else would one prototype anything on a Raspberry Pi or Arduino?

  • @albertstadt9853
    @albertstadt9853 4 роки тому +1

    I had the 150 in one! I loved it! Made just about all of the projects

    • @albertstadt9853
      @albertstadt9853 4 роки тому

      My memory was false. Actually, I had the 75 in one kit. It didn't have the display or the IC. I did play with a 150 in high school later

  • @DrunkenUFOPilot
    @DrunkenUFOPilot 3 роки тому

    When I was around maybe 7 or 8 yr old, I had an experimenter's kit not like these. The springs and abillity to connect arbitrarily was great on those kinds of kits, but the thing Santa gave me when I was 8 wasn't like that. I'm guessing this was around 1967 or 1968.
    It had a gray plastic cabinet or console or whatever it ought to be called, with several parts hidden inside. An array of holes in the front panel let you shove stripped solid 22g wires in to connect the parts. Metal clips underneath connected to the actual parts. The holes were labelled by row and column. Two knobs adjusted a variable resistor and a variable capacitor. One PNP transistor, a germanium diode, and a few resistors and capacitors. Also a ferrite core AM antenna much like in the spring-based board kits in the video. The whole thing was a kit to be put together. Once that's done, you can wire up projects. The manual gave list of connections to make, like connect A2 to C5, A4 to B3, something like that. You could build an AM radio, an audio oscillator, a few other things, but with only one transistor (as I recall) there was no way to learn what a "multivibrator" is - that remained a mysterious magical thing described in books and magazines.
    At the time I was thrilled, of course, as I was with anything mechanical or electronic. But it wasn't the best, not just for too few transistors, but hiding the parts under a panel connected with a grid of holes isn't such a hot idea for learning.
    I've not been able to find any photos, or any info, on this one kids' electronics kit.
    Does this thing sound familiar to anyone?

  • @demonjas
    @demonjas 4 роки тому

    I had the "75 in one" version of the RS kit when I was younger. I have collected a lot of these types of vintage kits including a Soviet era Russian one which I picked up a few years ago on Ebay. I had to reverse engineer the experiments from the schematics but the same fun of springs and wires were to be found. I have a 75 in one, 150 in one, 20! in one, and the russian 50 in one.
    Thanks for the memories!

  • @williamvaughan1218
    @williamvaughan1218 4 роки тому

    I was lucky enough to have been given the 150 in one kit when I was 7. I absolutely loved it. The only problem I had was the npn transistor was bad. Likely my fault. So therte were a lot of circuits I couldn't build mostly logic ones at a time when basic logic circuits and the understanding of them would have been very usefull. Oh well. This video almost brought a tear to my eye remembering all the fun I had so many years ago. I'm going to get this kit for my daughters my 6 year old watched the video and shes excited to make some circuits. I'm looking forward to teaching her what I know about electricity she always wants to help
    . I love your videos. Thanks so much and god bless