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

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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[@grahambrown5874]

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.

[@manthony1956]

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.

[@charlieb9502]

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

[@T3hBeowulf]

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]

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]

@@jrstf *BANG*

[@datafilehunter1682]

@@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]

@@datafilehunter1682 fun and dangerous smoke

[@miketayse]

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!

[@MTSVW]

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]

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

[@vehasmaa]

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.

[@kingey71]

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.

[@stevet6676]

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.

[@WolfePaws]

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]

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]

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

[@BixbyConsequence]

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

[@parteibonza]

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.

[@pileofstuff]

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.

[@Big_Computer]

Fran really is the sweetest person

[@MrRedwally]

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

[@MatthewHolevinski]

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

[@TommyHelgevold]

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]

​@@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]

@@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]

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

[@marlinbially9628]

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

[@randyriegel8553]

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.

[@ltdees2362]

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 😎

[@RinksRides]

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

[@gustavfenk4021]

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.

[@EricMcKearney]

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....

[@vincentaurelius2390]

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

[@johncasey5594]

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

[@chuckh.2227]

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

[@angrydove4067]

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]

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

[@circuitsandcigars1278]

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

[@rredd7777]

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!

[@BrightBlueJim]

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.

[@fredderf6491]

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]

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]

@@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]

@@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]

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]

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".

[@Solocat1]

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...

[@meowcula]

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

[@samberlyrocks]

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!!

[@chrisknowles]

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]

Chris Knowles You mean through-hole resistors, right?

[@chrisknowles]

@@tookitogo You are correct! :)

[@bobfitz7169]

So much fun

[@albertstadt9853]

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

[@albertstadt9853]

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

[@SteveEh]

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]

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

[@ArcticNemo]

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

[@erykfreethinker7147]

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.

[@jaytm2574]

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.

[@joelowens6862]

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

[@Pyridox]

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.

[@MartinBurtonGuitar]

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.

[@dougkubash8673]

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

[@nyki7fykxtjxyi]

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

[@Xeddyhime]

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]

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

[@RussTanner]

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

[@KC9KEP]

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

[@josephcote6120]

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.

[@Someoldguycoding]

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...

[@joeaugustine9629]

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!

[@darylsuess8990]

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]

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

[@realSethMeyers]

@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.

[@Petertronic]

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

[@jameslehr9868]

The "bird" sent my cat running lol

[@KeritechElectronics]

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.

[@JCBeastie]

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!

[@ADRIANHEAD55]

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

[@eldontyrellcorp]

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 ! :)

[@dhpbear2]

13:00 - It would be great of the 14-pin and 8-pin IC as well as the transistors, were *socketed*! :) I can't tell if they are or not. It would make a cool upgrade!

[@uni-byte]

Astute! And I agree absolutely. That would expand the scope of this kit virtuously endlessly.

[@VintageTechFan]

@@uni-byte When I was a kid, I had a KOSMOS kit with a 4011 NAND-Module. After the first time I killed it (old CMOS were quite ESD-sensitive and I also may or may not used it in reverse polarity...) my father installed a socket and gave me a few 14pin logic-ICs to try in it. And his databook.

[@Leo_Davis_]

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

[@aramboodakian9554]

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.

[@marc6340]

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!

[@iowahawkeye6]

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

[@sambra1979]

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.

[@toyfreaks]

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.

[@tomlavin1603]

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.

[@robertlowe8843]

Oh wow, so much nostalgia! I had the Radio Shack variant of this same kit back in the 80's. My kit was a tad wider with the batteries being on the right side instead of the back. Otherwise, this is exactly the same layout I had. Also, it really did have a key. Just a plastic tab on a piece of spring steel with a screw on the backside to make the momentary contact. One thing I really liked about this as a kid is that it started off with the diagram, schematic, and connection list. In later sections of the manual, it is just the schematic and connection list. In the final part it just gives you a schematic. At least, that's how the 80's manual was. It slowly transitions you into following schematics on your own. I spent many happy hours building these projects. It had a profound impact on me, as I am now a Computer Scientist / Roboticist! My next step after this kit was Forrest Mims "Getting Started in Electronics" which taught me to build permanent circuits.

[@peterweingartner4364]

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.

[@NillKitty]

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.

[@lynsnyder9165]

FRAN!! What a coincidence! I had that Radio Shack 150in1 kit, too! I had so much fun with it in the late 70s!

[@michaelwall3401]

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.

[@ano_nymouse]

25:36 had the same problem. good advice that i got was to keep a graph paper book to draw all the different circuits i wanted to keep and make shopping list for parts. i used to go to the local shack every other weekend and spend my allowance on parts and perf boards to make all the neat circuits i liked.

[@ches74]

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?

[@atschirner]

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.

[@derekchristenson5711]

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.

[@williamvaughan1218]

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

[@mtdavis9568]

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

[@prenticedarlington2720]

I grew up with the Gakken EX-150 electronics kit.

[@orlandokaraoke3002]

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.

[@scottwolf9914]

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.

[@paulromsky9527]

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.

[@XenonJohnD]

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.

[@MandrakeDCR]

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

[@RonanCantwell]

I had that very same 150-in-1 kit as a kid. I spent countless hours on that thing building and experimenting. It was a fantastic introduction to electronics with the perfect mix of hands-on and theory. I remember wiring up the crystal radio and then realising I could also build the little transistor amplifier project at the same time and have a "proper" radio!!! That started a life-long journey with electronics and radio. Happy days 😁

[@tammymakesthings]

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!

[@stavinaircaeruleum2275]

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

[@GBlunted]

Oh man, I remember having one of those! I remember that instruction booklet because seeing all those wiring diagrams when you flipped through yours just brought back all the memories!! I was so young, not sure how the kit got in my house. But I distinctly remember working on a radio circuit with the coil on there and trying to tune it in. I think that was likely my first experience with 9V batteries I remember that went with the kit. Also remember missing lots of parts for some reason and being kind of limited to the projects I could do.. Oh man those spring connectors sure bring back memories too!!

[@asciimation]

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.

[@stavinaircaeruleum2275]

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

[@olddisneylandtickets]

I had this exact kit in 1977 when I was 12 Fran! It had the same impact on me. What a joy to revisit it. It was really well done for back then. Thank you so much!!!

[@TommyHelgevold]

I bet it shaped many careers out there, it shaped mine. Different kit, but same story. Got an EE2003 from Philips back then, 5 years later I was working as a service tech!

[@eccremocarpusscaber5159]

You’ve encouraged me (in a rather roundabout fashion) to purchase a crystal radio kit. I’ve not played with one in 30 years - I’m 42 now - I used to love making them really tiny and taking them to school. Where I was mercilessly bullied as it was the 90s, not the 50s and I wasn’t into power rangers or game boys, or girls for that matter. Happy days - in memory at least! And probably a bit cringeworthy too. Thank you Fran, you’re one in a million 😊

[@acutee2]

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!

[@jonnyjetstreamer997]

I had the time of my life with my electronics projects kits. It was a great learning experience. I still have both of them from the seventies.

[@NickGibbs-VK5NG]

Talk about bringing back happy memories! I bought the 150 in 1 back in '77 when I was in primary school. I probably spent hundreds of hours playing this. Definately kick started my interest in electronics which continues to this day.

[@Brian-L]

What a blast from the past Fran! I had several of these RS x-in-1 kits saving up my allowance for each one. My very first one being the crystal radio kit and the first song I ever tuned in on that kit was Stevie Wonder, I Just Called to Say I Love You. Some 40+ years later I still play, but with Raspberry PIs, Arduinos, SDRs, environmental sensors and epaper displays! 🤓

[@Kylefassbinderful]

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.

[@jonfranklin9361]

My brother had one of these kits in the mid 80’s. Brought back some good memories .Thank you😀

[@davidtindall196]

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!

[@petegreenwood2793]

Great video. Had a 150 in 1 kit back in the day, from Tandy here in the UK, but my first ever kit was a Philips X40A - great times!

[@justinbrain]

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.

[@imqqmi]

I too had went through several of these kits. At some point I got a copy of a Phillips kit manual and a breadboard and some components and wire. I drew up some schematics to preserve my tinkering. Great fun! It's important to move away from kits onto breadboards and schematics at some point. And to solder your project to perf board before starting to use ecad software and send them off to a pcb manufacturer or diy etch a board yourself.

[@dentakuweb]

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.

[@StevenS757]

I had a similar Radio Shack kit growing up. Based on this video, I went ahead and bought the Elenco kit for my kid. Electronics aren't going anywhere, so the more kids know about them the better.