Still have my 150-in-1 kit I got for Christmas in the '70s. Even after not touching it for over 40 years it still works.

The "65 in 1" kit is what started me in electronics as a kid.

I can’t tell you how much I miss the local Radio Shack. I was devastated when they closed.

I’m about 1973, my older brother had a MykitSystem 7 and a crystal radio kit. I had a weird little kit consisting of a 5” plastic sphere with clear removable dome and round board that had maybe 15 setups. It included an LED.

This thing right here and a Commodore 64 are why I can afford to live in the nicest house on my street. Tried to get my kid into stuff like this, but he's decided to play life in hard mode.

I just purchased a 300 in 1 projects lab version from Goodwill.

The most cherished possession of my youth! It once had a bluish acrylic dust cover which would keep things neat when I ran around to show projects off to relatives! And right off the bat I blew all the LEDs and the flip-flop IC which my dad then replaced - along with a crucial parts spec lesson. I learned a lot electronics knowledge because many of the circuit examples had to use compromise combinations of remaining parts, like hacked diode-transistor logic variations, when the 4 NANDs and 2 flip-flops weren't enough or design suitable. Anyone like myself over the years, add circuits above the 200? I made a pretty good iambic mode-A CW keyer a few years back.

Superb memory with this gift that I got at Christmas 1981 I think....I spent hours discovering electronics...Thank you for this video

I had this and the Radio Shack 150-in-1 kit, as well as another kit from a different manufacturer that had all the components in plastic squares that could be arranged like a schematic on a grid. My bedroom was in a basement and I lived in a very rural area so the radio never picked up any stations. However I did learn how to transmit bursts of RF static using the relay in "non standard ways".

I still have the manual from my 300 in one kit, with each experiment showing schematic and plugblock layout. In fact I never bought the kit itself but instead asked the Radio Shack shop whether I could buy a replacement manual. They were happy to oblige, and I put my own kit together. Enjoyed your vid. :-). ❤😊

I bought a similar kit for my son about 20 years ago. We made the AM radio project. No matter how we tuned the variable capacitor it picked up the strongest station around (580 CFRA) with some interference from other stations. Fun anyway and we still have it. It is wired into a simple amplifier with a speaker. We listen to Christmas songs on it every Christmas :-)

My parents first bought me the 30 in 1 *Solar* project kit, which eventually led me to pestering them to get the original 200 in 1 kit (not this newfangled plastic cased thing). There was an article that came out much later describing how Radio Shack could get away with terrible quality control on these kits, as the number of people who would actually discover the fault and then actually try to return or exchange the defective kit was diminishingly small. Still was a great treasure of mine as my parents weren't going to get me a computer.

I had one in Australia in the early 1980s - You didn’t need to strip the wires they were tinned ready to go. I spent ages wiring up some projects to disappointedly find they wouldn’t work. My favourite project was AM radio broadcaster, I would sticky tape the earphone/ mic to a record playing tone arm and broadcast my Paul McCartney 45 rpm single across the house!😂 Also loved making crystal sets and building an amp. The digital stuff was a little beyond me but I think I did an LED chaser? Wonderful memories ❤

Back in the day that I found this in a Tandy shop, I waited until it was on offer for half price. I picked one up and as kids do wrecked it almost immediately. I think I went back to swap it under warranty 2-3 times lol! I remember as a kid that I wanted to build one of the most complex ones, probably something like an FM radio. I forgot to remove the batteries while building. About half way, and it was getting dark, I couldn't see very well and forgot to turn on the lights. At some point a loud bang was heard and sparks flew a meter high. One of the transistors was blown. That gave me quite a scare there and learned a valuable lesson. Always unplug whatever you're working on, unless you know what you're doing. I must've had a later model as the pot knobs were better looking, better fitting the case. I've also owned a few other but smaller ones, one with a radio theme with an 'opamp' which was built using discrete components. One of the few where the radio actually worked reasonably well. I soon transitioned to a breadboard, a stack of components and a photo copy of the Philips EE2000 series kits (which were even more expensive and more geared towards schools), which was a much more educational works. I actually learned a lot from that. I still have bits and pieces of those components and breadboards as well. But the 200 in 1 kit hasn't made it. I've taken out most of the components that disappeared in other projects. I think I still have the manual for it though. Those transformers were not for the radio per say, but for impedance adaptation of audio signals, one for the crystal earphone and one for the 8 ohm speaker iirc.

Now that's the original 200in one I remember. Got this for Christmas when I was 8. Loved it, had it for years. That got me on the digital electronics path. So many memories. Had to replace a transistor and LED over the time 😊 And if I remember correctly, the original LEDs were so dim... 70s LEDs 😂

These HeathKits were in the magazines about a year -- maybe two -- before the plugable prototyping boards. A few years later these kits were no longer advertised. I don't know whether the protoboards were invented in the late '70s or not, but that is the evolution I remember.

i had a simpler kit and one of these kits, it really was my favourite "toy" .. proved very useful when messing with electronics well into later life. all long gone now tho (forced house move etc) looking back feel so privileged to have had such an education and inspiring toy.

I had the 50 in One, and the 100 in one. Loved them. Great fun. I used them for years. Love the videos, thanks for sharing with us. 73

My jam was the Cosmos Electronics Experimentation Kit. They used breadboard-like metal clips with holes in them to stick the leads in. I learned the hard way that with transistors orientation matters, and that you can't switch a ringer with *just* a BC547....

This brings back memories! I had that exact same kid when I was a kid.

This reminds me of my "Le Jeune Radio" (young radio operator) projects box, when I was 12. There was an EF89 low voltage tube that was fascinating, to build all kind of radio things: transmitters and all sorts of receivers. Later I became an electronics engineer and amateur radio, guess why 😁

How I lusted after these as a kid! We couldn't afford one, I hope my kid has interest in this when they're old enough .

I had the 300 in 1 from radio shack and now have the offbrand of the same kit. More digital than that one. It also had a breadboad in addition to the spring terminals.

I still have mine from 1987 - '88. Looks identical; from Australia.

I took my 150 in 1 to school and would sit in the bleachers. I remember wiring up a bird chirping circuit there. It was a hop skip from there to seeing an Altair in a Popular Electronics in the library and flipping through all the ads and picking out a Vic20. As soon as they hit the local Kmart or JCPenny I took my $450 savings and bought one plus casette drive for 65 plus space invaders catridge. Bleeding edge baby. A year and a half later every bloody kid had a C64 including me too.

Yes, I think it was under the Philips branding. I can still remember the cards to guide the circuits and doing all the circuits on Christmas Day, including the AM radio - no mean feat for a 9 year old. I had to get mg Dad to thread the tuning cord though. I can still remember my fascination with the LDR. Fun times.

I had something comparable here in germany in the 80s: Kosmos x4000. It also had a very good manual and experiments... Hmm, maybe I should get one from ebay again 😛

I'm in the UK and I remember the Philips Electronic Engineer kits well. There was also a kit called Trionic which had the components in plastic carriers which plugged into eyelets on circuit boards. More jigsaw than electronic construction.

Sulfur in the cardboard in a closed environment has attacked the metals in the wire over the years.

Yes I had a philips kit with germanium transistors. Still have the manual from it.

I'm feeling pretty special then, because that is the exact model I got as a kid. I had so much fun with that thing. I eventually burned up all the parts in it. About a year ago I was feeling nostalgic and bought another one just like it on eBay! Super lucky too, since the one I just got was complete and working, so I suppose I didn't get it from a kid like me. :D

I had a modular set of speakers and amplifier(s?) that could be configured in a few ways, including using one speaker as a microphone and the other as a speaker. A little hazy as that was around '68. It was just wired with quick connects and hookup wire. I don't recall the 200-in-One but don't recall even knowing about Radio Shack until I received that kit.

Oh the memories! I had built most of them. What a pity every time you have to take them apart to try the new one. And yes, I remember what you are pointing out, the frustration that still you haven't learned anything, especially with the more advanced ones involving the ICs.

Those were the days… Might have to dig mine out & follow along… 😜 My 200-in-1 kicked off a career in robotics, computing, IT and InfoSec…

yep, had one. loved it. Took it to pieces years ago and all the parts when into other projects. But I'm still using the relay in a running project. Brilliant.

I had the 150 in 1 as a kid, loved it!

In later years they did make a 300 in 1 kit.

I once had a kit like that blow up and shoot a carbon rod (out of a Zn/C battery) at my arm when my mate accidentally shorted a battery. It left a mark on my arm. I was eating a mini apple pie at the time and the jump scare made me squish the apple pie in my face. Nobody could figure out what happened at first, and they all thought my apple pie exploded in my face. It was forever known as "The Exploding Apple Pie Incident". 😂

That's so cool! I never had one either but I spent a lot of time drooling over them! I'd love to see you clean it up and do a few of the projects.

I had the 150 in 1 and loved that thing.

I had that also! That was a lot of fun to look at again. I think I eventually took mine apart too. I recall violating the agreement on the back of the book when I tried building a pirate radio station using the AM broadcasting circuit with a long antenna up into the attic, good times🤣

Just what you would expect from Radio Shack!

I got one of these things in 1987, and still have it. The parts don't look corroded on it, so I am curious if the battery gases did it. I built pretty much everything in there, and then started to making new things, and hooking in external parts. the LEDs still work and I didn't burn any of them out. lol. The method of learning was pretty nice, where they start out showing how the circuit is wired, then change to schematics later on. all of the projects were easy enough to wire, you just followed the numbered connection list at the bottom. after awhile the wires kind of wear out, so I was relegated to using lengths of green wire stripped from old xmas strings.

Brings back memories for sure. I didn't have a 200 in 1 kit. Probably 50 or 100 but the idea was the same. I used it for years. I worked in electronics and eventually taught electronics in college. It sure sparked an interest.

As a kid, I had the 160-in-1 kit.

I had the 150 in 1. It was great. Never understood transistors tho when I was a kid, but I did make all the projects in the book. I always enjoyed the project where you could zap yourself. lol

I have the exact same kit! Used to love Radio Shack when we had them decades ago. Loved it so much that i passed it on down to my son.

Brings back good memories. Had something similar when I was a kid in the 70’s, but a smaller one, something like 100 circuits. No IC’s, single NPN and PNP transistor, and so on. Had great fun with the thing

Those were re-badged from Elenco, who are still in business and they still make one of those spring kits called "Electronics Playground" with about 60 projects. They still have that AM/FM kit Radio Shack used to sell.

I had that! I blew up an LED almost immediately, it took ages to get a replacement. Mom remembers me making it into a transmitter...

160-in-1 for me. I received a EET BS, so it probably contributed in part to my growth and development.

I had either the 100 in 1 or the 150 in 1 as a kid, I can’t remember. But it was a great learning tool, then it because a source of parts until I started taking apart stuff… I didn’t have a lot of money back then so taking apart boards became a necessary first step to projects. Eventually I found surplus parts places like Poly Packs. Ah, what fun! I do think I built every damn circuit in the book, though… HATED those stupid wires…

I had this EXACT one. Was my favorite. There was smoke from it a couple times lol.

I got one I bought with my newspaper route money in the early 80s. Don't recall how much it was but it's how I got started with electronics. It was fun. Gave it away to a friend when I moved away. Wish I had saved it

Next steps would be the Forrest Mins III notebooks. You should try to get the 'xtal' radio to work.

Philips electronic engineer kit here, ah, happy days.

I had the shack 50 in 1 when I was 13yrs old. To me I was on my way into an electronics career. Loved it and still have the manual .

I had the exact same one as a kid and I loved it. Possibly my favourite toy ever as all my toys came apart so I could use the electronics for something else.

I had the lafayette 60-1 Electronic Project Kit. It had pretty good assembly instructions. Burnt up both transistors.

The older version of this kit had a wooden frame that looks exactly like the mascot.

Early 70’s we had a Lafayette in a nice wooden case. Don’t recall if it was 100:1 or 150:1.

A very enjoyable video.. 🥳 Radio Shack and Heathkit were great for a kid on the farm to learn about the magic of electronics before the WWW came along. 😎 Thank you.

Ha! When you opened the book, you turned right to my favorite circuit, the spark gap transmitter! I had hours of fun interfering with my siblings television watching playing with that thing. I learned very little about electronics from it though. The pedagogical part of those kits left much to be desired. The sad truth of the matter is, without a scope, it's difficult to get an intuitive sense of what you are doing. In that way kids have a big advantage today: you've shown some handheld chinese scopes on this channel that most parents could afford to buy their kid for christmas. Getting them interested in this stuff OTOH is infinitely harder. Plus, the whole "well just use a microcontroller" sort of short circuits all the important thinking parts.

Have you ever talked about the Forrest Mims books that Radio Shack used to sell? I used to read these religiously as a kid… My local radio shack was actually useful back in the 70’s/80’s and I got a lot out of those books before I ever got into courses at school…

Wow you had me worried, I bought a 150 in 1 project for my grandson off of ebay to give to him in a few years and I was scared it was all corroded like yours. Fortunately I took it apart and it seems ok. I had one over 60 years ago.

I have the exact same one of those in the shed somewhere along with a few others. An earlier one, maybe 50 in 1?, I had as a child ~60 years ago that is still there with the others. The other ones were acquired at garage sales, flea market or similar type junk sales and were all found in Australia. Maybe I'll have to go dig them out? Cheers VK3AIF

Had a 160 in one version. Played with for a long time. Looked through my junk hardware and saw I still have some of the springs saved ;)

I had one, but it came with a tube (valve). I believe it was an Allied Radio version, and came with Fahnestock clips.

Corrosion is most likely copper carbonate. Best way to clean it that I have found is a clear diet soda, maybe diet Sprite or 7-Up. Make sure the soda is diet. The citric acid in the soda reacts with the corrosion to produce copper citrate, which is water soluble. Works pretty well on battery contacts too.

I have the Science Fair 130 in 1 from arround 1993, stil have the original 6x AA Philips batteries that came with it, these batteries look like new and still have some juice in it. If you compare that with the rubbisch of Duracell these days. Back in the days i burned a few LED's and transistors of this kit by experimenting without the manual and had to replace those on a regular basis.

I had a precursor to one of these kits back in the early 70's. Didn't have any ICs in it as I recall.

Yep, I started at 10yrs old in the mid 80's with Dick Smith Funway Into Electronics #1 basic kits. They were just a plastic board with a bunch of pre-drilled screw holes and you would photo copy, or simply cut out a paper overlay for each circuit out of the project book, then wire up components wrapped around screws, screwed into the plastic board, and wire things up to match the paper overlay. These kits progressed to #2 and #3 kits, which ended up with you stuffing and soldering pre-printed circuit board projects, and if memory serves me the #3 projects required you to design, draw up and etch your own circuit boards with ferric chloride, and the projects got into using ic's etc. I also had one of those Tandy spring terminal kits with a bunch of projects, not as fancy as your's (maybe only 50 in 1) It was something I bought 2nd hand at a swap meet, also similar to your's it was missing a heap of stuff and wasn't in very good condition, so I never did much with it😁👍🇦🇺

I spent so many afternoons and evenings building things with this very one.

Way back in 1973 I was given a Radio Shack (Yep! known as 'Tandy' here in Australia) 100 in 1 Project Kit. It even had a Solar Cell which to 10 year old me was mind blowing. No LEDs or anything 'digital' though... None the less, I reckon it was responsible for a lifetime fascination with all things electricity. 🙂

I had thae 160 and the 200, and also the AM/FM SW1&2 which was my first. After that I got a breadboard and started scavenging any parts I couldn't buy at radio shack, but the 200 is still under the bed somewhere, lol

I had the 160 in 1. It was the biggest at the time I got it.

My parents bought me one ca. 1985 or so for Christmas. I had no idea about it (and I don't think my parents figured out I would go nuts over it). I think it was the original 150 in 1, and boy did that send me on a career path. I remember playing with that thing for hours on end. I did get the 200 in one a few years later but it looks completely different - the batteries were moved from the bottom to the top (2 rows of 3) and the front panel was angled upwards. And it didn't come with a cover - nope, no cover at all. Somehow I don't think whoever created those things realized how many lives it would influence - they probably were just figuring out how to make it cheaply despite them actually costing a lot of money (I think the 200 in one was over $100 in the day - and you look and it's really only about $20 worth of components and $5 worth of cardboard and plastic.

I still have this kit in my garage. Forgot when I got it, probably mid-teens. I'm in my 50's now. Don't know if I still have the manual. I kept it as I thought I'd use it for experiments in place of breadboard. I had a breadboard type of kit or two, always lost parts.

I loved these! Just wished that besides the spring connections , they would go into detail about test points and what each section does with the fundamental theory behind it.

What a blast from the past! Something I drooled over, too, but couldn't afford :P

I had the 90s version of this exact kit.

That corrosion is probably a result of the battery chemicals wicking along the wires. I have seen leaked battery fluids wick inside of wires, hidden by the insulation.

I had the Heathkit Electronic Workshop. Much more kid-proof than the Rat Shack one made of cardboard.

Oh man i had that exact one in the 80s

My uncle bought me the Heathkit experimenter's kit back early to mid 60's. Last month I graduated to honorary mad scientist. I loaned a local theatre company a couple pieces of test equipment for Young Frankenstein lab scene.

I had an older one like this when I was very young. Me and my cousin played with it for hours messing with the radio function and we somehow cobbled together a live feedback echo. So much fun until we broke it beyond repair. I ended up buying a much more modern one when RS was going out of business. The available components and manual with circuits was far more limited than the older kit.

Still have one. 300 in 1 was the biggest.

I had/have this exact one. I found it in the closet in my dad's office when I was a kid. I also had a later one, maybe released around 1998 or 1999, with two books written by Forrest Mims III

Yea that's the deluxe model! I had the 150 experiments model, all flat on the top no front edge controls. I'm sure the quality of components and manufacturing was crap but the book that came with mine was actually pretty good. Explained the circuit theory and offered up suggested modifications to gain an understanding of what was going on.

I worked for 45 years teaching calc physics in a CC. We had 25 of these. They were nice for DC labs in that each student could wire their own circuit and have their own work. None of this mooching data off your partner.

Mine was the "150 in 1" which I rewired to suit my purposes;)

i had quite a few of them kits in the 90's i would save up for a month to get one

Got one maybe a 50 or 100 kit by (I think) Alinco, no digital stuff. Had all the components on plastic carriers with posts and a peg board. You could layout your project and wire it with jumpers that had C clips on each end. Yup I burned out the signal diode and had the guy at the TV store rolling in the isle when I asked for a replacement geranium diode.

I had that exact kit when I started to learn electronics in my 20s.

Yep, had that exact one!

I saw one of these at a friend's house when I was a child. The springs I thought were a good idea.

I got the Pilips kits from my brother. But I already had tried a NE555 siren on cardboard which I did not manage to get working 😅

I had one when I was way too young--definitely burnt my finger a few times randomly connecting wires having no idea what anything was

Whoa I still have one of these

I had that one in the early 80s