Philips Electronic Engineer Kits Starter for You?

[Andrew2]

Originally Posted by ppppenguin

Slight confusion here. An LDR is a light dependent RESISTOR. Usually based on cadmium sulphide. Doesn't generate any electricity at all. The middle cell in my photo is a selenium cell which generates a tiny amount of electricity. I expect the solar powered garden lights to use silicon based solar cells which are a lot more efficient than selenium.

Surely the garden light would need both? An LDR to sense the onset of darkness (to switch the lamp on), and a 'solar cell' to charge the battery?

[ppppenguin]

Originally Posted by Andrew2

Surely the garden light would need both? An LDR to sense the onset of darkness (to switch the lamp on), and a 'solar cell' to charge the battery?

If I was designing these things down to a price I would try to make the main "power supply" photocell do double duty as the light sensor and avoid the cost of a separate device.

Back to the Philips EE sets, I've just found a small bag of the springs. 2 types, a hairpin that you stuck through the baseboard and a coil which fitted over it. I've also found one of the speakers, fitted in my "Ian Loveday Soundbox", the design of which was discussed in another thread https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...ad.php?t=13678. Ian based his design on a Philips EE set.

[Welsh Anorak]

Hi
ORP 12 - that's the little fella!
Thanks for the memories...
Glyn

[Cobaltblue]

I have just taken a picture of a couple of the LDR's from EE8's one still on the yellow card. Neither of these examples have a number on them but they do have Holland moulded into the top edge.
It seems Philips didn't want to give these a number.

[Sideband]

I'm fairly sure they were ORP60. When I worked at Philips and had been there for some years, I remember working on a light sensor for an alarm and the LDR looked exactly like the one used in the EE kits. That's how I remembered it.



SB

[francois33]

Hello to all,

happy to find this forum about Philips EE boxes !
I had my first one EE20 for Christmas 1967 (French version with MW and LW coil). EE2003 later.
In the last years , with Ebay, I bought also NOS : 2004 2005 2006, ,2016, etc . . .

I would be very interested with the manual of EE1007/1008 specially (translated version) in French ! (found the original German version on the Library of Tor Gjerde, super site !)

Merci !
Francois du 33 (St Aubin de Medoc , France)

[neon indicator]

I got one about the time I got interested in SWL. Germanium transistors.

Connections always poor. Corroded springs? When my 1st attempt didn't work I thought the resistor tolerance bands indicated polarity, but I realised eventually it was just bad connections.

But it started me off while I was still at primary school.

[Herald1360]

Originally Posted by ppppenguin

If I was designing these things down to a price I would try to make the main "power supply" photocell do double duty as the light sensor and avoid the cost of a separate device.

Double duty is exactly what the solar cells in the cheap ones do.... not sure if LDRs are kosher these days either (CADMIUM sulphide )


http://members.shaw.ca/novotill/Sola...ight/index.htm



I only had an EE8. The A20 add on was too expensive to go with it

[neon indicator]

very hard to get CdS cells. Saw one on a cheap plug in "night light" a few years ago.

For garden path lights you can use

• the lack of volts from solar panel
• LED as light sensor (ALL leds work as rubbish photodiodes, (think about it, nearly ANY PN junction will have photo diode action if illuminated)
• Some have a photodiode!

[threeseven]

This thread has bought back the disappointment I felt when I opened a large, promising looking box and discovered not the Philips Electronic set I wanted but the Mechanical Engineer set instead !! Was my dads fault, despite his reasoning for that decision I suspected it was so he could 'help' me with the projects in the kit. He was more inclined to mechanical than electronic !

[crackle]

Hello
Does anybody remember those electronic kits available in the early 60’s where each component was in a colourful plastic case with brass pins. The components plugged into printed circuits with small eyelets for the pins to fit in.
The kit I had came with a good range of projects from intercom, electronic keyboard, (sounded like a Stylophone,) morse buzzer, and radio receivers from crystal to 3 or 4 transistor regeneration circuits.
What were they called? I have a sneaking suspicion they were Trionics but my memory is vague now..

Mike

[gingpeakin]

Weren't they Denshi kits or something like that?

Ging

[Station X]

Does anybody remember those electronic kits available in the early 60’s where each component was in a colourful plastic case with brass pins. The components plugged into printed circuits with small eyelets for the pins to fit in.

It was indeed Trionic made by Triang. The only problem was that the projects worked first time, so there was no real scope for learning or experimentation unlike the Philips kits.

[Billy T]

This is what started me back in 1954/55. I really would have preferred 'The Radio Technician' but I was not consulted and my father bought 'The Young Electrician' instead, probably because he thought he could be more help with that.

It made a very deep impression on me and 55 years on, I haven't lost my love of electrical (and electronic) devices.

It is a German Kit, and he was working at a major department store at the time, so it may have been a Traveller's sample. I would be interested to know if any members have seen these in the UK.

Cheers

Billy

[Herald1360]

I had an electrical kit which included a shoock coil made by ESL I think. I can't remember the make but it didn't look like anything on here so far.

Later I acquired a kit a bit like the one above, but I think it was called "The little Electrotechnician", though it may have been "Der kleiner Elektrotechniker"- it was definitely German maybe East German since the quality was a bit iffy.

[XTC]

Originally Posted by crackle

Hello
Does anybody remember those electronic kits available in the early 60’s where each component was in a colourful plastic case with brass pins. The components plugged into printed circuits with small eyelets for the pins to fit in.
The kit I had came with a good range of projects from intercom, electronic keyboard, (sounded like a Stylophone,) morse buzzer, and radio receivers from crystal to 3 or 4 transistor regeneration circuits.
What were they called? I have a sneaking suspicion they were Trionics but my memory is vague now..

Mike

There were some called Trionics with the components encaspsulated in plastic modules and plugging into a PCB, and I think they were sold by Tri-Ang who also made model trains and other things,

I had one but it would only build two radios and a crystal set. I didn't know they made them to cover other projects.

The Philips EE set was the best, probably the most educational and the most popular, but there were all sorts of others sold even up to the present day. One or two of the kit radio places started to go in for them when the kit radio business was 'maturing'.

Pete.

[paolo]

Originally Posted by Herald1360

I had an electrical kit which included a shoock coil made by ESL I think. I can't remember the make but it didn't look like anything on here so far.

I think I had the same kit and am having the same blank when it comes to the brand. I am thinking "Merit" for some reason however I really can't remember much about it. I think it came with some bulbs and switches and perhaps you could make a morse code key with some bits of it. The only thing that truly sticks in my mind is the electric shock part of it. It was a green coil that had an adjusting screw that when properly adjusted gave a fair old belt through a couple of metal hand grips. Shocking stuff

The piece of equipment in the top right of this picture is similar to what I recall, albeit a much older version of it.

Paul

[Herald1360]

Sounds the same. Definitely a green (shiny cardboard) tube over the coil with the ESL logo in the middle. Construction was rather better than the KAY one ISTR. I remember using the same 4 1/2V Bell battery pictured with it (albeit a later style case one). It went even better on a 6V lantern battery

[Herald1360]

Found this picture of the induction coil.

No luck with the set yet though. Possibly made by SEL which was apparently an associate brand of ESL....

[Valvepower]

Hi,

Yes, my first set was an EE8, which was bought for me by my parents back in 1967/68, and I’ve still got memories of listening to the Ten O’clock news on Radio 4 (could have been Home?). It was a great set and gave me a feel for working with real parts. I remember the AF116 being very fragile and having to get a replacement from the local radio shop.

The next set was a Radioinc Set 3, which had a 250mW push pull amplifier, the radios ranged from a crystal set to a double reflex radio with re-gen, which worked really well with the amplifier. The parts were mounted on plastic bases with 6BA stud connections mounted on a Perspex panel. A year later I was bought the Set 4 add on kit, which enabled me to build a superhet radio, which was fantastic. I’ve still got memories of listening to RNI in between the jamming in 1970 using this radio. I recently built the superhet radio and I could post some pictures if anyone is interested?

I remember seeing the series “E” E/508 Radioinc digital computer at my Secondary School in the early 70’s. All right it was a computer in the loosest sense of the term but it did demonstrate digital methods using cascaded Eccles-Jordan Bistables, the data was inputted by a telephone dial!

I’ve recently come by a Philips EE8, Radionc Set 4 and Radionc Series “E” set.

Terry.