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Member's Forum What was your first electronics project?
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  • first electronics project
Related

What was your first electronics project?

dougw
dougw over 1 year ago

What was your very first electronics project?

Why did you take it on?

I think my first successful, non school-related electronics project was an electronic doorbell that would randomly play one of a whole (fixed) suite of sound effects and melodies or jingles.

After brief use as a doorbell, it eventually got used as toy, but "someone" couldn't stand the kids playing it non-stop, so it got tossed out....Disappointed

I built the project because I thought it was such a cool chip, (I still think it was cool) but it was many years ago and I can no longer recall the chip I used or find something that seems similar.

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Top Replies

  • javagoza
    javagoza over 1 year ago +5
    When I was a child I did many projects with my father, especially with electromagnets, bells and cranes to pick up things, and a galena radio. My father was very fond of electricity but my grandfather…
  • fmilburn
    fmilburn over 1 year ago +4
    It was a crystal radio in the late ‘50s. The antenna ran from the bedroom window I shared with my brothers out to a tree. I wound the coil myself and my recollection is that I did a neat and tidy job.…
  • battlecoder
    battlecoder over 1 year ago +3
    That's a great question. I'm sure a bunch of my first experiments where just hooking things to a battery and a switch, or putting together circuits from a "learning kit" onto a breadboard, so I won't be…
  • fmilburn
    fmilburn over 1 year ago in reply to dang74

    These are great stories. I made a ”ray gun” from a toy cap pistol which in and of itself would be considered dangerous today. My younger brother and I had found a discarded clothes iron with a frayed cotton braided electrical cord behind a house. Removing the cord we somehow attached it to a toy gun which was probably made from cheap pot metal. You can see how this is going, 5 year old me was going to plug it in while my 4 year old brother directed the ray. Fortunately he wasn’t holding it. I plugged it in, there was a pop, the fuse blew, and we ran away scared. This was not the only stupid thing we did and how we survived to adulthood I don’t know. 

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  • gordonmx
    gordonmx over 1 year ago

    A cat whisker detector radio

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  • me_Cris
    me_Cris over 1 year ago

    Two batteries, LED+resistor and a switch. I was at school, I was about 12-13 years old.

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  • dougw
    dougw over 1 year ago in reply to fmilburn

    We definitely pushed the boundaries a lot more than would be acceptable today. I am happy we did, even though some of our activities would now be considered foolhardy or just plain stupid.

    I'm not sure the younger generations are better off with all their restrictions.

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  • dang74
    dang74 over 1 year ago in reply to genebren

    Between you and Doug it appears that near electrocution has been a rite of passage for many of us.  So cute that you developed a fascination for these little coffee can keys.  Not related to electronics in anyway but as a kid I would get little umbrellas and plastic swords from my aunts and uncles.  There was a place in my home town that got creative in the presentation of their cocktails and food entrees.

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  • dang74
    dang74 over 1 year ago in reply to fmilburn

    Wow.  As you say, it's a wonder we survived into adulthood.  A couple of years back I saw a very sturdy looking iron with a 1950s anesthetic.  It was at a second hand store and listed for 7 dollars.  Looks like I dodged a bullet there.

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  • rsjawale24
    rsjawale24 over 1 year ago

    Mine was 555 LED flasher in the year 2010.

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  • colporteur
    colporteur over 1 year ago in reply to rsjawale24

    A classic. I have used one a few times.

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  • colporteur
    colporteur over 1 year ago in reply to beacon_dave

    NIGHTMARES! It was not a project for the faint of heart. Solder bridges were a female dog!

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  • ggabe
    ggabe over 1 year ago

    A detector radio with OA1160 in 1975 or so, in third grade elementary. 

    image

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