1960s electronics kit

[PaulR]

Can anyone remember an electronics kit form the 1960s aimed at ages 12+? It consisted of pegboard through which was pushed wire hoops. Springs were then put over the top of the hoops to form a fastening and the component leads were trapped between the top of the hoop and the spring.

You could make many projects ranging from a Morse sounder to a basic radio.


Paul

[Cobaltblue]

I remember it well indeed the Philips Electronic Engineer Kit

I got mine Xmas 1964 an EE8

I got the A20 add on kit for my birthday the following year

Tons of stuff on the Web about these

http://norbert.old.no/kits/ee20/ee820.html

http://images.google.de/imgres?imgur...V8BS0QrQMIHjAA

Cheers

Mike T

[PaulR]

That's the one. I remember the picture on the box. Thanks Mike

[Goldie99]

I was actually thinking of, and searching, exactly this topic about 5 hours ago !

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?t=107563

I too had the Philips EE8 for 'xmas one year, like many others. I'm guessing, but it must have been about 1965 - it was one of my favourite presents for a long time......

Until I got a chemistry set.... !!

Alan

[mole42uk]

I bought a couple of EE8's on ebay in 2014 just to revisit my childhood. It was my childhood favourite in about 1964/65. This time I managed to get an A20 add-on kit as well - I always wanted the two loudspeakers!

[paulsherwin]

Most of us now in our 50s and 60s cut our teeth on these.

[Goldie99]

Originally Posted by mole42uk

I bought a couple of EE8's on ebay in 2014 just to revisit my childhood.

Haha... I bought some Sinclair stereo 60 amps / pre-amp / etc., on ebay in 2015, just to revisit my youth...

I had one with lockfit transistors on PCBs, same springs, must have been 1970 or so.

[TonyDuell]

I remember the Compact Electronic Engineer EE1050 which had a small pegboard baseplate and a pair of Lockfit transistors (BF194 and BC148 I think). There was an audio add-on kit EE1051 that added another BC148 and a speaker; and an RF kit EE1052 that added a diode, a ferrite rod and coil and a tuning capactor. With all 3 kits you could make a 3 transistor MW radio with a speaker.

There was also the EE1003 which was essentally those 3 kits on a much larger baseplate. That had the EE1004 audio add-on kit with a matched pair of AC132s and driver and output transformers. And the EE1005 RF kit with a double-ganged tuning capacitor, long-wave aerial coil, IF transformer and oscillator coil, and IIRC another BF194. With that you could make superhet radios. I remember you could make both 'classic' AF signal generators. With the EE1003 + EE1005 you could make the 2 RF oscillators beating to give an audio signal. With the EE1003 + EE1004 you could make a wien bridge osciallator with a lamp to stabilise the amplifiier gain.

In continental Europe (not sold in the UK, and I have never owned them) there were more add-on kits including the amazing EE1007 (containing a CRT mounted in a box with HV power supply, you got to make the deflection amplifiers) and EE1008 (contained TV tuner, IF module, etc). You can guess what all the kits together could make.

Later on there was the EE2000 series, again not sold in the UK, which had plastic 'pegboard' baseplates. The EE2013 series (and add-on kits) included ICs, FETs, LEDs, varicap diode, etc.

The ME kits (mechanical engineer) and CL (Digital logic modules) can wait until another time...

I seem to remember you can download the excellent manuals for most of these kits. Do a google search, something should turn up.

[paulsherwin]

Mine had Ge transistors - AF117, AC126 and AC128. I remember the 3 transistor intercom worked very well, though I had trouble getting the radio designs to work.

[TonyDuell]

I think that's the EE8/A20 (together known as an EE20) series. Didn't the transistors (and diode?) come in little cardboard boxes?

[paulsherwin]

I can't remember that. I know I managed to blow up the AF117

[ionburn]

I managed to blow the AF 117 as well - If I remember correctly I went into Birketts in Lincoln and got an AF147 to replace it.

I still have some parts of my kit around somewhere and I know I still have the Cadmium Sulphide LDR. I also have the manual but may haave fun finding it

[Cobaltblue]

My EE8's are in Exeter but I do have my un-played with add on Kit A20 here in Poole so here is a couple of PIC's

Cheers

Mike T

[greg_simons]

those pictures bring back happy memories of long ago when i had mine, should have kept it, i also blew the af117.
greg.

[Tractorfan]

Hi,
I had the Tri-ang Tri-onic kits when I was nobbut a lad. Alas, my parents unwittingly bought me the add-on kit for Christmas and I couldn't build anything until they could afford the starter kit.
I still have them.
Cheers, Pete.

[Nymrod121]

Gosh, yes, EE8... that's how it all started for me as well.
I recall transferring the reflex radio circuit (AF116/AC126) onto Veroboard - I didn't map out the component layout beforehand so definitely a case of 'busking it'! - even so, it worked first time. The manual was exceptionally well written and easy to follow.
Best wishes
Guy

[trsomian]

Not merely do I remember them, I still have my Compact Electronic Engineer EE1050/1051/1052. That is where I started electronics etc. In those days one could build an MW radio, and listen to somat interesting on it; hardly possible now. In those days I lived where I could see the Brookman's Park mast out of my bedroom window, so reception was good

[Andrew2]

Originally Posted by Tractorfan

I had the Tri-ang Tri-onic kits when I was nobbut a lad.

I had the Tri-onic one, a Christmas present in 1964 or 65 IIRC. It could make several things, but I only ever bothered with the radios, which I fiddled with endlessly!

[jez_145]

This takes me back !

It's how I started in electronics too, when my parents gave me a Philips Electronics Engineer kit for Christmas. I think mine was a later version (orange/yellow/green box I seem to remember ?) and the number EE1050, mentioned by trsomian, definitely rings a bell. They later gave me an add on kit (EE1051) which included a speaker so you could listen to the radio without using the crystal earpiece. The kits were based on perforated hardboard through which you inserted spring clips from the underside. On the top face you placed a punched card containing the circuit diagram over the clips and then fitted coil springs over the clips from the top side. Then you could wire the circuit with standard components by pushing the spring coils down and inserting the component leads or wires through the clip loop at the top. The transistors were mounted on a small PCB, probably about an inch square, and the pads on the underside made contact with the springs they sat on top of. As mentioned by TonyDuell, the kits came with an excellent manual. I remember one of my uncles being so impressed with it that he ordered a copy directly from Philips for himself. Sadly, I think the kits got thrown out by my mother whilst I was at university. Imagine Philips selling something like this now !

Funnily enough, only a few weeks ago I was thinking about my kits and ended up buying a similar "200 in 1 experiments kit" off eBay - just for old times sake. See attached photo. This is uses a similar approach to the Philips kits but the other way round in that the components are already mounted in place and you just need to wire them together by jamming wires into the coil springs. I think this is a good way of doing it as it doesn't involve constantly bending the component leads and there are no loose clips and springs to mislay. Sometimes it's fun to go back to basics! It's also handy for testing small circuit ideas without having to use up your component stock with a breadboard.

Jerry