I built every 555 circuit in the Forrest Mims Engineer's Mini Notebook - Part 1

Thanks to PCBWay.com for sponsoring this video. Interested in getting these PCBs, you can buy them at my shared project.
www.pcbway.com/project/sharep...
The book is available in a new format at amzn.to/4cZtYgy
or you can by Mr. Mims' Memoir, Maverick Scientist: My Adventures as an Amateur Scientist at amzn.to/3WeabD5

[@alfabsc]

I had a book called 555 Cookbook. That book, and a bunch of CMOS chips set me up for a career. No PCB or breadboard, I wire wrapped everything. Personal computers were coming out (late 70s) and I started writing code. That PC got me a job writing a custom accounting program. Fast forward 40 years and I retired as an IT manager. Thanks for reminding me of where it started.

[@imnhtp2006]

Ditto, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Lancaster

[@stringlarson1247]

Yep. I have this little space between my front teeth that is perfect for stripping those small wires.

[@alfabsc]

@@stringlarson1247 🤣🤣

[@sandasturner9529]

Wonderful success story

[@bobahnjr]

You Sir, have described my early days of electronics ! Forrest Mims is a name , when you mentioned it , brought such a flow of nostalgia to me . However, I am now retired from the electronics industry, (72 years old), and I remember those books from much earlier ( late 60's). I later went on to work for Radio Shack after a tour in the Air Force as a repair tech. ( in the service as well as Radio Shack )Thanks for the tour down memory lane !!! Sincerely, BOB AHN 😄

[@BillAnt]

OMG I still have most of these notebooks from the 80's, got me started building little circuits, and later computers. :) Radio-Shack was my home away from home, lots of fond memories.

[@mar-tin702]

Are you a millionaire? Is it worth it learning this shit while Others are making millions

[@billphillips110]

You, Sir, are onto something big here!! I'm a 60 yr old chemical engineer who has recently taken a keen interest in electronics as a hobby. My initial searches for resource material invariably mentioned books by the legend himself, Mr. Mims. So I collected nearly every one of his publications. However, I focused all of my attention on the one book that started it all... "Getting Started In Electronics". BUT, as a newb, my circuits didn't always work out as expected or just left me puzzled. So I once again returned to the Internet but was dismayed to find that no one has taken ANY of the Mim's publications from "book to video"...until I came across your video! For your next video project, please consider doing a video series on the "Getting Started in Electronics" book. I truly believe that it would "light a spark" in young minds to consider a field in electrical engineering!

[@AnotherMaker]

Thank you so much for the kind words. I will definitely check out that other book. I've talked to some other creators and it sounds like their may be some more Mims content coming out.

[@spasticjackson9578]

I had the 150 in 1 kit from RS back in my youth. I can still remember it vividly. The 80's was a fun time to be a kid.

[@Alan_AB]

I remember these little books the first time that they came around. They were such a brilliant resource along with my monthly copies of Everyday Electronics and Elektor. Thank you for the memories.

[@lohikarhu734]

1976, I built a special reflective sensor, while working as a technician at Kodak; they had an expensive problem with slide film being hacked up when the slide mounts jammed in the track, so that the film being fed from a reel into the slide mounts would jam against the jammed slide mounts, the mounting cycle continued, and the cutter would cut through the middle of a customer picture!! Big "oops"... So, I built a sensor to monitor the slide mount advance through the track, and it would stop the cycle short... Ok, so, I used a 555 timer to monitor the phototransistor output, using the nice comparators and drivers to get to clean signal with adjustable level and hysteresis... 555 to the rescue!

[@AnotherMaker]

haha. That's really fun. To this day when people show off their fancy creations over on hackaday, one of the first comments is usually that they should have used a 555 instead of that fancy microcontroller.

[@erygion]

I've been out of the "lab" for a couple years but have recently started up again with new fiery passion. I've been catching up with your videos and have been learning a bunch, thank you for your time and work.

[@AnotherMaker]

Thank you so much. That means a lot that you would take the time to watch and comment. I appreciate it and hope you're enjoying the hobby. Some other binge-worthy content is PileOfStuff, Gadget Reboot, and Simple Electronics.

[@unfeathered]

"...raking in tens of pennies..." Very good, Sir, very good :) Plus you described my experience with the Mims books exactly. Had the books, never had the components. I keep telling myself I'll done it one day. I used to live almost next door to a big Maplins (UK Radio Shack) but life was still getting in the way. When I retire, perhaps.

[@MFEeee]

I have all of these books saved up for years. Developed a passion for electronics. I now build robots for fun and will one day make electronics. Thank you!

[@bryankreinhart]

Once upon a time, I, too, had those booklets. I had also purchased many of the Tab books on electronics and circuits. I would collect old TV's, radios, etc to pirate parts from to build my projects. I had learned so much by time I was 18 that I would design my own circuits, such as radios and shortwave receivers, and then build them. I would often wind my own coils and sometimes make my own capacitors. The 70's and 80's were a great time...

[@BillAnt]

Radio-Shack and Walden book in New York (Queens) were some of my favorite hang-out spots after school. At least it kept me out of trouble. hehe

[@tripplegracing8276]

yes please!!! this is the stuff dreams are made of and inspires

[@AnotherMaker]

Thanks so much! I think I'll keep making them.

[@ImnotgoingSideways]

These little notebooks defined my childhood and I still have a couple of them along with a copy of Craig Anderton's Electronic Projects for Musicians. I even still have the vinyl 'page' with sound samples for each project. Great stuff, those. One other thing I was always able to appreciate was that the notebooks are all hand-written. That ain't Comic Sans. It's Mims' actual penmanship.

[@sky173]

Oh wow. I still have these books also. I was 13 when I got my copies. Great memories. Thanks for sharing,.

[@AnotherMaker]

Thanks so much for watching and commenting!

[@JarheadCrayonEater]

Oh man, you're making a 46 year old feel like a 6 year old again! Which is just what I needed!

[@Rody_le_Cid]

This is a cool project, hope you continue making the circuits. I still have the books I bought, small breadboard I got with it, and even still have the Armatron from Radio Shack. Now I'm an electrical engineer with a PhD, published in IEEE journals, and I design micro-chips! I would thank Forrest Mims if I could. btw, my local Radio Shack was right next to Pizza Hut where we would also get a pizza, drink from red plastic cups, play video games while waiting and have the parmesan cheese and pepper flakes shakers on the table. The 80s were the best.

[@pileofstuff]

Great job. can't wait for the next instalment of this series.

[@AnotherMaker]

Thank you so much!

[@grandrapids57]

I had forgotten about those books at Radio Shack: what a treasure they were!

[@JudahCrowe-ej9yl]

I had every one of these as a kid. Excellent mini notebook collection Lots of good times

[@jdhtyler]

Many TANKS for doing this. In the UK I still have some of these books. One of my experiment kits was made by Phillips in the 1970s far more complicated than the poor kits for kids today. The transistors were mounted on a 1 inch PCB and held on the circuit card by a clip and spring designed to hold a contact wire. I also have a multi legged chip that produced sound effects. Back in 1992 I made a caving lamp (for emergencies ) 1200lm red LED. My friends laughed and look what happened with LED torches ;-)) In 1983ish in Blackburn Lancashire I remember seeing a blue LED in an electronic shop ;-) they said it was ON but you could not tell it was lit ;-)) all the best

[@AnotherMaker]

haha good memories. Yeah. I remember when blue LEDs weren't a thing. Seemed funny to my young brain. I love that the stuff can be made somewhat understandable. I'm definitely nostalgic for the old project but grateful for the crazy amounts of information we have access to now.

[@SunriseLAW]

imho: the LED that started coming out in the mid-1990's is the greatest invention in human history. Prior to that, all was dark.

[@MechanicaMenace]

Re: the "poor kits for kids today." I don't think they're poor, just things have changed so they're different and complex in other ways. Relatively good MCUs are now jellybeans and my youngest niece's latest kit is based around an FPGA... These kits generally have a few projects just using discretes and basic ICs (for example at least one 555 and a few 74 series chips are always involved) so they get to learn the fundamentals but if you showed them how to make a radio out of a few transistors in a lot of places there's nothing they can listen to using it so the "wow" factor of stuff like that is gone. So instead they make their own Bluetooth speaker etc. Ok, yes the wireless side is already made for them but there's still plenty to implement themselves plus they learn some embedded programming. Where the kits really are abysmal nowadays is the instructions though, possibly with the exception of Raspberry Pi stuff but their focus is more the computer side. Luckily though datasheets are much more easily accessible and the internet has lots of kid friendly forums but I that side needs to be fixed.

[@alwinleerling]

I wanted to spend the money I earned from my paper route on a race car set. My mother convinced me to buy one of those Phillips experiment kits instead. It was my start in electronics at age eight. My first PCB layout software (Layo1) ran on DOS, I think it was the mid 80's. Now, at 55, I still tinker with electronics, program micro controllers and recently started FPGA development. All because of a Phillips kit brought by accident.

[@jdhtyler]

​@@alwinleerling the kit I had was on a wood base drilled with holes and the circuit was printed on cards with holes where you pushed up a clip (a bit like a hair pin) and then you put a spring over the top this is how the components were connected trapped by the clip and spring. The two transistors were mounted on a small square of PCB that were held by the same spring and clips. I was interested in electronics but the family business was blacksmithing and welding. When I left school I did an apprenticeship in engineering in 1984 I ordered a "BBC basic" rack mounted commercial computer with cards for measuring voltages and control cards, this was used to build a computerised gas test rig for Thorn EMI instantaneous water heaters. The animated graphics I did using BBC mode 7. We interfaced commercial testing equipment for Gas leakage / flow , platinum resistance thermometers and water and gas flow controlled by compressed air actuated ball valves. We had to solve many problems like making sure the natural gas pressure and flow complied with the standards required. BTW I was not that clever I just had a lot of perseverance. all the best, thanks for nudge to remember what I used to be able to do. I still mess with electronics but nothing serious. My engineering interests are satisfied by working on very old sewing machines.

[@robertlowe8843]

I built many of Forrest Mims II's circuits when I was a kid! I had the engineering notebooks as well as his "Getting Started in Electronics." I graduated to these after the Radio Shack 130-in-1 electronics lab kit. I did not build all of them, but I built quite a few of them. I built up a few of his circuits in permanent form, especially things like his transistor checker.

[@sdrc92126]

I was obsessed with my 150-in-1 electronics lab kit I got in the second grade and was always taking it to school to show off projects

[@howardiko7156]

I used this and other books to launch the classes as a shop teacher. Mid to late 70's. I had the trill to have a printer overhead camera that launched the class to make our own boads.

[@ScottGrammer]

I had most of these books back in the day. Now that I'm old, I have given several of them to my apprentice.

[@AnotherMaker]

That's so awesome. That's kind of my thing...to introduce these to another generation.

[@davidnightingale2260]

I have every one of these books. I bought them over 30 years ago. I loved them.

[@markae0]

A real magic book to teach you.

[@metalpachuramon]

Thank you for the memories, I have actually one of those booklets on my desk, it belonged to my grandfather but I kept it after he passed away. These books weren't part of my childhood contrary to many here, but I find refreshing that, after studying a whole career, these booklets explain so succinctly many of the circuits that once puzzled me during my student years, definitely a nice view into the world of electronics. Very nice video! Looking forward for the next part

[@michaelrtreat]

Great stuff. I learned electronics from these books. Great to see the books memorialized in PCB’s.

[@user-mm6qd7bo9q]

I have built a good number of Mr. Mims projects and still use his note's\books for reference. The first H-bridge I built and actually worked was a direct copy of his schematic and listed parts.

[@AnotherMaker]

That's really fun

[@DouglasColgan]

Nice video, takes me back! Thanks for the time and effort you dedicated to it!

[@JanineBrandywine]

Amazing video! I’m a little jealous this video wasn’t available for my fall digital logic class. I still enjoyed the video, I always enjoy refreshing my memory and learning more. Thank you 😊

[@danahoward316]

Nice job on this. Brings back a lot of memories. I have all of the little books but also couldn’t afford to actually build the circuits u til way later in life. But the references always came in handy. Your circuit board idea is excellent to honor these circuits.

[@BilalHeuser1]

I really think a lot of the older classic books should be scanned so that more people can enjoy them ...

[@SunriseLAW]

1:50 "earn literally tens of pennies from this video" 😂😂😂😂🤣🤣

[@mitchellmnr]

Something to think about for next iterations :) Have a look at panelization - basically you have cutouts to build a bunch of boards the same way - they would panelize your boards onto a big panel in order to do the printing. But, if you create 'shark bites' between your boards - basically make your little board a panel of the smaller circuits. Add the pwr input on each, but have the central power panel with your jumpers to switch which board you power up. The logic here is it would look/function the same, bar a couple of unsoldered pins on each board. But, if you wanted to actually use a circuit, you can break off that circuit and use it by itself :) So if you did sell kits, you can sell the above and singles (if people wanted specific circuits) But by default they'd get the batch of panels. So say someone wanted to use a specific circuit from their pack, they can break it off and actually use it.

[@GwynDelight]

Well done! Thank you for this installment. I, for one, appreciate your work and would enjoy seeing more of these. Peace and Love to ALL!! 😉

[@AnotherMaker]

Thank you so much! I look forward to doing more!

[@Yonni6502]

OMG! You had the same idea I did, but you actually pulled it off! I'm super impressed! Thank you so much for making this video! The series I wanted to do was the "Transistor Projects" books. I think I have them on my book shelf (ordered from the Ebay), but then didn't actually do anything with making videos (or even really building the projects). This video is AWESOME! I love that you made PCB boards for these projects! I used the 555 book as a reference for circuits that I built while in college in the late 80's. The college didn't teach anything about the 555, but I ended up often needing a little digital oscillator to clock digital circuits (which were discussed at great length). Seriously, love this video. I'm now a new subscriber! Thank you so much!

[@AnotherMaker]

Wow. Thank you so much for the kind words. It took me a year or 2, but I finally did it. I started breadboarding them all but it was kind of hard to show with all the wires all over the place.

[@frnno967]

Great video! Very informative and looks like you'll have a great demand for the PCBs as educational tools.

[@AnotherMaker]

Thank you. I hope people get as much out of it as I have.

[@RyCorp77]

Good stuff man, would love to see more!

[@AnotherMaker]

Thank you! I'm hoping to release one of these a month. It's 7 boards total and I'm finished making the 4th one now, so I should be able to stay on schedule.

[@dereketnyre7156]

I went through many of the Heathkit electronics trainers back in the 80’s. Would be cool to go back through them

[@battlecoder]

Forrest Mims books are a gold mine of clever ideas and reference circuits. But it's exactly as you say, I did spend more time dreaming about building those circuits, that actually building any of them. Those books weren't widely available where I live (outside the states), but I knew someone who had a couple of them, and I photocopied several pages for myself. They were my treasure when I was a kid, and they surely sparked my imagination and my interest in electronics for decades. When I grew up I finally bought a couple of the books from online stores. I love the idea of finally going through the circuits in the book and building them. Would love to do something like that, although I'd probably just build them on breadboard first, and only the coolest, or most useful projects would get a board. Finally, selling pre-made boards is great idea. Perfect for people who own the book and would love to quickly try the circuits. I have no idea why no one thought of that before

[@phaZed9]

I still have those very same books! The 555 one was crucial!

[@bondjovi4595]

Forrest Mims really did a great job writing those books. He was definitely an inspiration to me growing up. But, I'm convinced those designs were simply takin' from other sources. The light sensing circuits don't ever use diodes. Diodes make a greater difference in voltages. In turn, it makes the circuit work better when going from lite to dark, or vise versa.

[@MattBaker1965]

Great video dude. I loved these books and learned a shed load from them.

[@AnotherMaker]

Thank you so much!

[@portblock]

At first I was skeptical about your efforts, and I apologize to your sir, as you have informed me that you did speak with Forrest, I think your efforts are wonderful. It would be great to see a reprint of this work along with your pcb's - What I like most about his work is it taught me by doing rather than force feed me all the theory that makes no sense... By doing hands on and seeing results, that to me is when a person can relate the theory to it. When I first learned transistors, it was from his work, I only knew little operation of them, but I could make stuff, and when stuff wasnt working right, thats when I dove into theory and learned more about bias etc. At the time, 1976 my great uncle was an engineer for RCA and when he started teach me some tube stuff, I had small foundation to better understand them. - I see so many "makers" who grab 3 modules and say I made a thing, sure cool, but what about the people who make those modules? if we dont keep learning at this level, the we will lose it and who will make future modules because todays people are only connecting devices and dont know how to make devices - ok sorry for rant, I just feel your work here extends Forrest work and has so much more to offer than people realize

[@JohnSmith-gm4fj]

Very cool! I had those back in the day.

[@thomasgrellner-or1ti]

A kit with one of each would be great. Still have my books too.

[@AnotherMaker]

I think it would be fun. And not super hard to source the components if you're doing it in bulk. A few of the cheap resistor/transistor/capacitor kits would do it.

[@thomasgrellner-or1ti]

@@AnotherMaker I actually just bought a Radio Shack kit off Ebay, no idea where my old one ended up. I think it will be fun to use again.

[@JaredElliott1]

I have that book. Bought it when I got into electronics. Love it!

[@GCKteamKrispy]

That is sooo cool, I wish I had something like this when I was 14-15. Or even now, they look cool

[@maxvideodrome4215]

I built a few dozen when I was a kid. I liked the Hartley radio transmitter. The hard part for many of the projects that interested me was I didn't have tools to built enclosures and supports for many of the parts other than taping things to the desk/etc. Learned a lot. Didn't learn so much from those spring board things 150-in-1 type of kits.

[@AnotherMaker]

I do want to go back to my spring kits and find out what I can learn from them today. There's a lot more documentation so you never know. I remember that transmitter. Such a cool looking device.

[@maxvideodrome4215]

@@AnotherMaker I was able to get up and down my block hearing it. Then, one day, it de-tuned. I couldn’t find it on my AM/FM radio. Tossed it. Think I used a plastic soda straw to make the coil.

[@JimSky]

Great idea. Keep up the good work - subscribing now.

[@AnotherMaker]

Thank you so much!

[@manitoba-op4jx]

that was the best era of electronics. simple and reliable. sure your modern CPU is fast but when it's dead it's gone forever.

[@AnotherMaker]

Yeah. There are definitely pros and cons, but I think as a human race, we were better off when we had to struggle a little bit more to figure things out. Knowledge comes so easily now, it seems like it goes easily too.

[@DesignedbyWill2084]

Learned so much from those from middle to high school. Put me onto a good path.

[@AnotherMaker]

That's so good to hear. The guy was a legend.

[@drescherjm]

0:08 I remember having a few of these. I always loved when my dad took me to Radio Shack and Olsens across the street.

[@AnotherMaker]

Yeah. Such good memories. I spent a lot of my age 10-16 years in a radio shack.

[@DancingRain]

Well, I'm tempted to subscribe just for this series. Wonderful nostalgia!

[@AnotherMaker]

I added a playlist that I'll put these in. My channel is kind of all over the place. Whatever hits me on a given day, but all these boards will be in a playlist if you don't want to sub to everything.

[@Dad-ij2qy]

Good that you corrected your sentence in post-production. Thank you for showing us that four of Mims's 555 circuits work and how. I guess I'd call the "frequency divider" a "pulse counter" since it only triggers on every third pulse of the trigger down-up transition, as shown in Mims's illustration.

[@AnotherMaker]

Haha. It's surprisingly hard to talk and film at the same time :) And I think that's a fair title.

[@thegreyfuzz]

Wow, I build all of those projects, dead bug style on perfboard......some 40+ years ago. I still have that 555 book and a few more around here somewhere.

[@onecircuit-as]

Great stuff! 👍😀

[@AnotherMaker]

Thank you!

[@RoboArc]

Omg the 90s ❤ 🥰 this was all me and my grandpa did. Omg the learning lab 🥰 core memory unlocked yo

[@AnotherMaker]

I really want to dig back into that lab. It's been a long time.

[@CharlesHess]

What a great collection!

[@AnotherMaker]

Thank you!

[@zilog357]

Oh yes, I love those. I bought a few back in the 80's but now I have the whole collection (12 books) in PDF.

[@mauricepetit9986]

Oh wow!!!! Do you think it would be possible to give me the link for those 12 books pdf!!! It would be so much appreciated!!!! Thank you.

[@zilog357]

​@@mauricepetit9986 KZbin does not allow links :{

[@zilog357]

You know where to look. I cannot say the exact keywords because this reply would be deleted.

[@AnotherMaker]

I link to one book in the description. They're all there.

[@jessecollins8539]

I heard about you from Simple Electronics Podcast!! Great interview, btw.

[@ANIXElectronics]

Great video !

[@AnotherMaker]

Thanks!

[@TheSmokeySky]

this deserves more views :P nice video

[@AnotherMaker]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@MarkSpohr]

The 555 is a wonderful chip. I built lots of stuff with these. Most useful was a tachometer for my Vega (yes, I owned a Chevy Vega). Worked great.

[@Sir-Dexter]

Luv the books ....nice one ...child hood dreams ....

[@hadibq]

wonderful encounter!! Love those books. I still have some from radioshack labs ❤ new sub indeed!

[@Ceagon]

I love this idea, this is very cool

[@AnotherMaker]

Thank you. I'm having fun with it.

[@WOLFPACKED]

thanks for doing this!

[@AnotherMaker]

You're welcome. It was fun. More to come.

[@WOLFPACKED]

@@AnotherMaker I'm kinda new to this field I've been buying soldering kits off amazon but it doesn't teach much beyond the skill of assembly. This now is the next level for me as it is educatintg more.. so please keep it up!

[@transmitterguy478]

I have all of those books also(I'm 65). I have built some of the circuits and modded them for other uses. Great video. I would buy your circuit boards if you offered them. Thanks.

[@daveash9572]

I am clearly very like you. I had the exact same experience in the uk equivalent shop, known as Tandy (they sold Radio Shack, Archer and Vellman branded items). Sadly Tandy went bust about 1996, but then a mail order component company known as Maplin branched out into high street shops. These were very similar to tandy, except they generally had a much larger stock of components, but still carried the das blinkenlights toys and gimmicks. I learned so much from these books, especially one about the NE555 and another one about the 741 opamp. Thank you for tickling a part of my brain which hadnt awoken for a few decades!

[@AnotherMaker]

Absolutely! That's so fun. I think another creator I know is coming out with some of the 741 opamp stuff, so that should be fun.

[@daveash9572]

Oh wow, that would be amazing. Which creator, I'll give them a follow? Keep doing what you're doing.

[@AnotherMaker]

@@daveash9572 Thank you. No pressure on him to actually make the video, but he's worth following any way... Gadget Reboot.

[@drumboy02]

I have that electronics learning lab! I really love the 2 books it came has really wonderful illustrations

[@AnotherMaker]

I need to do more with it. That may be next on my list :)

[@lightspeedwarrior1024]

You sir, have another subscriber.

[@Aim54Delta]

So, hear me out... I was talking to myself two days ago about how versatile the 555 was and that there are probably a million and a half applications of the swiss army knife of circuit design.... And then youtube plops this in my feed, today. I am certain I have my phone set to not record things, but we all know how effective settings are in software, these days. Anyway, great video, I appreciate your work, and for those struggling with problems, talk to your phone about it, you never know when the algorithm will connect dots and make things happen. "What if WE are the algorithm...."

[@AnotherMaker]

haha. It's pretty insane how that works. And thank you! I will try to channel your thoughts before my next video.

[@teadrinker7098]

We didn't have the Internet back then. We had to walk uphill both ways to a place called a "library". Sometimes they even had a book about something called a " transistor".

[@NeneRomanovaBGC]

I still have four of the notebooks from Radio Shack. I love those

[@douglas2lee929]

EXCELLENT! THANK YOU!

[@AnotherMaker]

You're welcome!

[@lander1591]

I love it.. I would maybe add some silk screening to show the circuit layout on the PCB better though, also instead of the screw posts I would use maybe pin headers or sockets similar to the Arduino.. also I would look at making some Arduino shields for further experimentation.

[@weerobot]

Thesse Books are Legend...

[@videosfromhell]

Love the video and would like to see more along the same line and would be interested in buying boards and kits. Thanks

[@AnotherMaker]

Thank you so much. I'm making progress on the others.

[@pjosephlthewonder5082]

Ok, you dated yourself here, so will I. I did, and do in fact have all of the Mini Notebooks among others as well. Back in HS when they were new I started with the OP Amp, then the 555 and completed every one of those circuits. I learned to make the perf board into to the circuits. Made them and learned soldering. ( I hole several IPC Certs and get high prese on my abilities with a soldering iron.) I have not made the PCBs, but just might. I have even used several of the simple circuits to do simple experiments and teach things in electronics as well. I took the 'simple color organ' and created a six channel device that is still in use today. Though it has been repaired and redesigned a couple times. Maybe I will ask the sister that has it to make a short video and sent it to you. It is part of a Christmas display I did for her. Anyway I like the idea of these might make teaching the BSA Electronics Merit badge easier. Peace

[@AnotherMaker]

Wow. All that stuff sounds so fun. If you really do want to get into the PCB design, I did make a quick and dirty 45 minute tutorial that will at least get you pointed in the right direction. I'm having so much fun doing the boards.

[@MK-ge2mh]

I’ve got all of those books also. BTW, almost all of those 555 circuits came from the application sheets from the manufacturers.

[@tubeDude48]

I have them all, and tested many of the circuits. I did, however, found many mistakes, so I have them pretty well marked-up!

[@AnotherMaker]

I found a few while I was designing them...which I was pretty surprised since it was a later edition. And I think I found one that made its way to a board. If you want to share any notes, I'd always take them!

[@tubeDude48]

@@AnotherMaker - Sorry, can't give them up. I know, I know!

[@brucewayne-cave]

How Awesome !!!

[@AnotherMaker]

Thank you!

[@gorak9000]

Usually when you want to have interchangeable parts on a PCB, you'd use an IC socket, and you can just push the components in just like on a breadboard. The "machined" sockets are better than the spring contact sockets, but the spring contact sockets allow for different lead sizes on the components. Less fumbly than screw terminals. Phoenix Contact (and generic clones) also have push-in wire to board connectors, with a little release button you can press with a jeweler's screwdriver

[@AnotherMaker]

Yup. And I think they're 5.0mm (or at least the ones I saw were) so they'd fit on this PCB. I'm using a ton of them, so trying to keep costs down a bit.

[@AnotherMaker]

Actually I think they have a second set of feet, so maybe not.

[@lowelljeff]

Very interested. Would love to get the boards.

[@johnelectric933]

I just used 2 555s i the last circuit I designed 2 years ago before I retired. If you have a GFCI on your power cord, you got them.

[@AnotherMaker]

That's so cool.

[@marjon1703]

Here in UK Tandys was the weekend go to figuring out the next project (within pocket money) The books are still on my shelf and I still refer to then now and then.

[@AnotherMaker]

Such fun memories. I did some of the kits as a kid. Wish I would have done more from the books. I loved them though.

[@markae0]

Real Magic books!

[@AnotherMaker]

Absolutely!

[@electronron1]

I still have all the books except for the opto electronics projects and although I didn't build all the circuits I did build many of them. If I were to design a electronics lab kit these days I would incorporate an oscilloscope like the DSO138.

[@macdaddyns]

Great idea, I think you should partner with the school systems and provide this cool resource to kids taking electronics. Or resell them thru one of the kit companies. People can experiment and get soldering skills at the same time. Maybe a subscription service where every week you get a new board and components delivered to your door?

[@AnotherMaker]

I was thinking something along those lines. I was debating if I wanted to be in the kit business. I have a lot of yt friends who may want their kits distributed too, but it's a lot of stocking of parts. Still thinking this one through. Probably going to offer 8 or so bundles first and see what happens.

[@tookitogo]

I somehow vaguely recall that someone did such a service a few years ago.

[@VanguardSys]

holy radio shack - had all of those

[@chrismoore1932]

I had all of the mini notebooks. The power inverter circuit got me in trouble at one point.

[@jkammueller]

The 555 timer IC always holds a place in my heart as I used a schematic I found online powered by the 555 timer IC to generate AC voltage from DC voltage for the -12v rail in my project back in 2013. Although the voltage came out to somewhere around -11v, it was still ok since the voltage was regulated down to -5v anyway. Without the 555 timer ciruit, it would've been odd to find a way to generate the needed -12v. I never did try to see if a person could cheap out in the build and swap polarities. Here's a link to my video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eKWkZ3-QqdeIa7csi=4_0n3oc1CQVv1AJ4

[@daviddevillers6790]

Thanks for this, Dan. I ordered some boards - for the 2P screw terminals, will the 5 mm type fit? I measured the pins on the boards and it looks like 5mm center to center. Thanks again!

[@daviddevillers6790]

Duh! Just saw a link to them on your PCBWay project page.

[@aaronbrandenburg2441]

Hey Mainely click on this video to comment this. I actually do have this book still it was in a bunch of my other stuff actually going to be putting some of these circuits to use. By the way I had a bunch of those old dual LED flasher Blinky circuits that are used for aquarium ornaments the ones that had the green cable and the glyptal or whatever it is. The help make things waterproof around the LED ledds. 1/8 in Stereo phono Jack for power to the LEDs. And I noticed that the plastic was pretty brittle of course on the chassis for the battery box and controller. I was very much expecting this to be driven by a 555 timer. Then again it was driven by 4.5 volts. However when I stripped one of them down which was going to do anyways turns out it was actually some sort of relaxation oscillator! Or one could say multivibrator potentially. Or some sort of non stable circuit not sure of the exact terminology little bit Rusty on this. It was just if I remember correctly two transistors few resistors in a couple of capacitors Pretty ingenious and low component count may have been cheaper than the 555 timer chip itself even in quantity potentially! I still remember the old LED flasher chip. that Radio Shack used to sell. Supposably this is one of the lowest power usage circuits for flashing in an LED there is. Could operate off a single 1.5 volt cell as well. Even building something individual components supposedly really could not get down to the lower levels of power usage using a circuit with this chip. Eye doctor is really an economical source of these things being available still if anyone knows if there's a source of these readily. Please chime in on this

[@CaptainDangeax]

KZbin is really tracking me. I looked inside this book not later than yesterday evening, to use the monostable implementation. I wanted to check this particular case: what happens if the trigger pulse is longer than the threshold charge circuit time? Answer: the 555 switches at the trigger release time. How to fix? Add a diode to discharge the capacitor through the trigger

[@AnotherMaker]

Ahh. Very fun. I feel like that's covered in a slightly different way in one of the other circuits. I'll have to look that up.

[@R.B.]

A missed opportunity to use the astable circuit to drive the frequency divider circuit. Why use one 555 when you could use two?

[@tookitogo]

4:07 I would use modern spring-cage or lever terminals from WAGO or Phoenix Contact. For example, Phoenix LPT 2,5/ 2-5,0.

[@AnotherMaker]

I think they're the same footprint, so they can be swapped in.

[@tookitogo]

@@AnotherMaker Should be. Highly recommended. :)

[@kyleallred984]

The astable should have frequency in an out headers for integration with the divider circuit.

[@AnotherMaker]

I may add that in the next revision. They're all getting little tweaks to add some extra labels and change a footprint here and there.

[@tedbastwock3810]

Im actually making all the circuits. Not in those books, but in the workbook 1 that came with the radioshack electronics learning lab that I bought years ago but never actually used until recently. Im about halfway through workbook 1, will def do all in workbook 2, and also Mr Mims Getting Started book. Although I have all the mini notebooks, not sure if I will do them all or slide off into my own projects, which are the reason for me learning this in the first place. But, just so you know, not in the 8Os but today Im actually making all the circuits in one of Mims books 🤓

[@AnotherMaker]

Yeah. There are some tweaks, but most of this stuff is just as useful now as it was then.

[@tedbastwock3810]

@@AnotherMaker Absolutely it is, and that's a good point. It actually surprised me at how relevant it all still is. I guess I was expecting at least some of it to be outdated. But the stuff there .. in the books I'm going through at least, I cant really speak to all the mini notebooks yet ... but the stuff there is so fundamental that it hasn't changed in decades. Biggest changes, if any, might be some small thing like one of the ICs has a slightly updated version, although the manufacturer calls the one used in Mims book obsolete the old one and new one both work and are basically the same.

[@plinker439]

how these mini notebooks followed each other in chronological order? In what order to read them?

[@AnotherMaker]

Engineer's Mini-Notebook: 555 Timer IC Projects (1984) * Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Op-Amps (1985) Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Optoelectronics (1985) Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Basic Semiconductor Circuits (1986) Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Digital Logic Circuits (1985) Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Formulas, Tables & Basic Circuits (1988) Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Schematic Symbols, Design and Testing (1988) Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Communication Projects (1985) Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Science Projects (1990) Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Environmental Projects (1995) Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Sensor Projects (1996) Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Magnets and Magnetic Sensor Projects (1998) Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Solar Cell Projects (1999)

[@plinker439]

@@AnotherMaker Great, thank You!

[@nR-kv7xo]

to save people could also add female pin headers, smaller footprint!