Memories of electronics..

[c2cthomas]

Originally Posted by nigelwright7557

I got my first taste of electronics when attempting to fix an old black and white TV.

Yeah - we actually had a tube tester at the local grocery store!!!! You could go in and test your tubes and buy new ones right on the spot!!!

Then there was that antenna up on the roof - that was always an adventure.

[popilin]

Originally Posted by M Gregg

The Phillips engineer kit,

Was this the one with a perforated chassis and you pushed the spring retainer through the holes with a spring on the other side.. you depressed the spring to put the component legs in?

Regards
M. Gregg

I had to build on a piece of wood, with bridges and wires, and praying that does not spill germanium from transistors...

[DF96]

Yes, perforated board with spring clips pushed through to define circuit nodes. I may still have some of the parts somewhere - I hate throwing stuff away!

The advantage of this method is that you get to use real components, rather than the little boxes of some other kits (Radionics?).

[c2cthomas]

Originally Posted by popilin

I had to build on a piece of wood, with bridges and wires, and praying that does not spill germanium from transistors...

germanium xsistors could get blown if you handled them wrong - similar to blowing the old FET's with just the static from moving your body around and have a charge on it.

I loved it when the silicon xsistors came around!!!!

[M Gregg]

Originally Posted by DF96

Yes, perforated board with spring clips pushed through to define circuit nodes. I may still have some of the parts somewhere - I hate throwing stuff away!

The advantage of this method is that you get to use real components, rather than the little boxes of some other kits (Radionics?).

Interesting Link:

Electronic Engineer EE-20 Kit Philips; Eindhoven tubes inter


Regards
M. Gregg

[popilin]

Originally Posted by c2cthomas

I loved it when the silicon xsistors came around!!!!

Me too, but BC148 had the pins so short...

[M Gregg]

Originally Posted by c2cthomas

germanium xsistors could get blown if you handled them wrong - similar to blowing the old FET's with just the static from moving your body around and have a charge on it.

I loved it when the silicon xsistors came around!!!!

I remember the AF117 <<think it was..went open circuit... if you tapped it with a screwdriver it would work again for a few seconds. It had a screen which made it difficult to substitute...we did have a silicon replacment but I can't remember what it was..

Regards
M. Gregg

[SY]

Originally Posted by M Gregg

Electronic Engineer EE-20 Kit Philips; Eindhoven tubes inter

That was the exact one I had! I apparently remembered the transistor numbers correctly, a miracle.

[DF96]

I don't remember Ge transistors suffering from static. Temperature was a killer, so a heatshunt when soldering was useful. Later on some developed tin whiskers.

[popilin]

Originally Posted by DF96

I don't remember Ge transistors suffering from static. Temperature was a killer, so a heatshunt when soldering was useful. Later on some developed tin whiskers.

I agree, push a pin with pliers, and with a 100W soldering iron, was not the simplest task.