markz@ssc.UUCP (Mark Zenier) (01/03/91)
Just got a mail advertisement for a new magazine called Elektor Electronics USA. This appears to be a US edition of a Dutch magazine. The blurb has some claims like "Twelve engineers go to work in Holland every day just to develop for your enjoyment the very latest in electronic projects". And "Unlike other magazines ... written by professionals". Is this a magazine or a fancy catalog? And is it worth the $20 introductory price? (Elektor Electronics USA PO Box 876 Peterborough, NH 03458-0876) ^^^ Hmm, is this Wayne Green or Byte ... markz@ssc.uucp
gonzalez@bbn.com (Jim Gonzalez) (01/04/91)
In article <724@ssc.UUCP> markz@ssc.UUCP (Mark Zenier) writes: >Just got a mail advertisement for a new magazine called >Elektor Electronics USA. This appears to be a US edition >of a Dutch magazine. > >The blurb has some claims like "Twelve engineers go to work in >Holland every day just to develop for your enjoyment the >very latest in electronic projects". And "Unlike other >magazines ... written by professionals". > >Is this a magazine or a fancy catalog? And is it worth >the $20 introductory price? I filled out their bingo card from a deck sent to me by one of the trades. I received my free issue last month. It seems to be a cross between Elementary Electronics (*lots* of simple single-page projects) and Stereophile (*lots* of ads for high-end audio suppliers; many from northern New England). There are several more-involved projects, but they're for things like TV decoders for European standard broadcasts, etc. that don't do us much good. They use odd symbols in some of their schematics, and use the European standard of commas as decimal points and spaces between decimal digit triplets (i.e. 1,000.50 -> 1 000,50). They note in the beginning of the magazine that it as an attempt to "internationalize" electronics. I'll be canceling the subscription. By the way, they didn't specify a price on the bingo card, but the invoice I received was for $28, not $20. What I'm looking for is a magazine that talks about design and assmebly techniques. What comes to mind are things like an article I once saw in Byte, in which the author discussed his practice of bending the pins on wirewrap sockets outward, gluing the shoulders to the prototyping board. This allowed wires and components to be on the same side of the board, saving space (a problem in his application). Circuit Cellar Ink *may* be what I'm looking for; the one issue of Midnight Engineering I looked at was disappointing. I also got a letter from a comapny in Connecticut that is offering a loosleaf binder of such information for $40 or $50, with periodic updates of unspecified length at the rate of $0.25 per page. Ouch. -Jim.
ken@csis.dit.csiro.au (Ken Yap) (01/04/91)
>Just got a mail advertisement for a new magazine called >Elektor Electronics USA. This appears to be a US edition >of a Dutch magazine. > >The blurb has some claims like "Twelve engineers go to work in >Holland every day just to develop for your enjoyment the >very latest in electronic projects". And "Unlike other >magazines ... written by professionals". > >Is this a magazine or a fancy catalog? And is it worth >the $20 introductory price? > >(Elektor Electronics USA >PO Box 876 >Peterborough, NH 03458-0876) Elektor is actually one of the best mags I have seen for construction projects, at least in the versions I have read (English and French). I used to subscribe but got frustrated not having the time to tinker so I let my subscription lapse. Post a review if you subscribe. Now my request: is there a Dutch reader of this newsgrouo who can send me the subscription details for the Dutch edition? I got tired of the trend towards more general info and news articles in the UK edition which I felt were mostly posturing. I want pages filled with projects, not with articles about how a British firm is one of the leaders in co-generation technology, etc. Thanks in advance. Ken ken@csis.dit.csiro.au
dam@cs.glasgow.ac.uk (Mr David Morning) (01/04/91)
This is a genuine electronics magazine. It first appeared in the UK about 15 years ago. It has built itself a reputation for good projects over the years. It's worth a look. Dave
markz@ssc.UUCP (Mark Zenier) (01/06/91)
In article <61847@bbn.BBN.COM>, gonzalez@bbn.com (Jim Gonzalez) writes: > I received my free issue last month. It seems to be a cross between > Elementary Electronics (*lots* of simple single-page projects) and > Stereophile (*lots* of ads for high-end audio suppliers; many from > northern New England). One of the many email replys I got said that Elektor USA was published by the Audio Amateur publisher. Which I think was the publisher of the late Computer Smyth. > What I'm looking for is a magazine that talks about design and assmebly > techniques. What comes to mind are things like an article I once saw in > Byte, in which the author discussed his practice of bending the pins on > wirewrap sockets outward, gluing the shoulders to the prototyping board. > This allowed wires and components to be on the same side of the board, > saving space (a problem in his application). Two possibilities. The catalogs for the hardware manufacturers. Vector, Robinson Nugent, Augat. The same side wire wrap sockets were/are a catalog item from one of the socket manufactuers, but finding a stocking distributor is one of life's little challenges. All sorts of neat stuff is designed, but finding it can be difficult or expensive. But often if you know it can be done, you can improvise. One example is insulation displacement breadboard sockets, 3M scotchflex or vero. The next time I need to stock up, I'm going to check out the prices on the insulation displacing .1 inch single row header connectors from molex/methode/panduit. Should be a good fit to a wire wrap socket and quite a bit more rugged. The other source are the trade magazines for the electronics assembly business. Electronic Packaging and Production (the current title may be Electrionics, not sure) and it's competitors. > Circuit Cellar Ink *may* be what I'm looking for; I recommend it. > the one issue of Midnight Engineering I looked at was disappointing. I have to agree. Some really neat stuff, weighted down with a 60 percent load of articles like "You too can achive yuppiedom if you follow the 7 fold path of Correct Marketing". Makes the noise level too high. markz@ssc.uucp
josef@nixpbe.nixdorf.de (josef Moellers) (01/07/91)
In <724@ssc.UUCP> markz@ssc.UUCP (Mark Zenier) writes: >Just got a mail advertisement for a new magazine called >Elektor Electronics USA. This appears to be a US edition >of a Dutch magazine. >The blurb has some claims like "Twelve engineers go to work in >Holland every day just to develop for your enjoyment the >very latest in electronic projects". And "Unlike other >magazines ... written by professionals". >Is this a magazine or a fancy catalog? And is it worth >the $20 introductory price? >(Elektor Electronics USA >PO Box 876 >Peterborough, NH 03458-0876) >^^^ >Hmm, is this Wayne Green or Byte ... >markz@ssc.uucp The ELEKTOR magazine I know of here in Europe (it is, at least, published in Germany and Holland) is IMHO not worth the paper printed on. It is nice for kids who want to have a go with their new soldering iron but - "the very latest in electronic projects" are = digital clocks (virtually every issue has one) = dimmers (same) = chimes (same) ... - in order to build one of their "projects", You need at least three of their issues: = the one which carries the original project = the one which carries the errata (corrections) = the one which carries more corrections. As a side note: the Dutch edition of ELEKTOR uses it's very own orthography: they consistently write certain words as they are spoken: best example, as it occurs most often: "type" (e.g. ... of a transistor) is spelled "tipe" by them, they'll probably spell it "taip" in the US B-{) -- | Josef Moellers | c/o Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG | | USA: mollers.pad@nixdorf.com | Abt. STO-XS 113 | | !USA: mollers.pad@nixdorf.de | Heinz-Nixdorf-Ring | | Phone: (+49) 5251 104662 | D-4790 Paderborn |
johne@hp-vcd.HP.COM (John Eaton) (01/09/91)
>>> > I received my free issue last month. It seems to be a cross between > Elementary Electronics (*lots* of simple single-page projects) and ---------- I was afraid of that. Twelve engineers working everyday is not really enough to do a good technical magazine. Publishing constraints would tend to drive them towards a lot of quick and dirty projects with very little depth and a lot of leveraging. Read one issue of Midnight Engineer. Wonder if a subscription comes with automatic membership in the Bill Gates Fan Club. John Eaton !hpvcfs1!johne
strong@tc.fluke.COM (Norm Strong) (01/09/91)
In article <724@ssc.UUCP> markz@ssc.UUCP (Mark Zenier) writes: }Just got a mail advertisement for a new magazine called }Elektor Electronics USA. This appears to be a US edition }of a Dutch magazine. } }The blurb has some claims like "Twelve engineers go to work in }Holland every day just to develop for your enjoyment the }very latest in electronic projects". And "Unlike other }magazines ... written by professionals". } }Is this a magazine or a fancy catalog? And is it worth }the $20 introductory price? } }(Elektor Electronics USA }PO Box 876 }Peterborough, NH 03458-0876) Isn't there something like, "Send no money now. If, on receipt of your first issue you are not COMPLETELY SATISFIED, return our invoice with the word CANCEL written across it. In any case, the trial issue is yours to keep." Well, "in any case", I wouldn't send them one thin dime until I had the first issue in my hand. -- Norm Strong (strong@tc.fluke.com) 2528 31st S. Seattle WA 98144
SONDRICK@HASARA11.BITNET (Rick Jansen) (01/09/91)
I'm a subscriber of the Dutch 'Elektuur', which is as far as I know
part of a European magazine-group. In Germany the magazine is
called 'Elektor'.
I quite like Elektor/Elektuur. It has good projects, ranging from
a do-it-yourself modular synthesizer (years ago) to lasers, radio,
computers, audio etc. Both big and small projects are published.
Once a year they have an issue with ca. 100 nifty circuits,
compiled from manufacturers' datasheets and research of their own.
Rick. (:>
~(_)~
- - - - - - - - cut here - - - - - - - - - ""- - - - - -
Rick Jansen | e-mail: SONDRICK@HASARA11
SARA User Support Department | Rick@SARA.NLjon_sree@world.std.com (Jon Sreekanth) (01/10/91)
In article <736@ssc.UUCP> markz@ssc.UUCP (Mark Zenier) writes: > techniques. What comes to mind are things like an article I once saw in > Byte, in which the author discussed his practice of bending the pins on > wirewrap sockets outward, gluing the shoulders to the prototyping board. > This allowed wires and components to be on the same side of the board, > saving space (a problem in his application). Speaking of wire wrap hacks : I don't know if this is original, but my circuits usually involve both DIP chips and discretes. Small discretes like 1/4 W resistors, plastic transistors, small caps, can be directly inserted into a wire wrap socket. If they seem insecure, a touch of solder (before inserting the socket into the board) keeps them in place. The larger components (such as 1N4000 series diodes and large caps), I directly wire-wrap to. That is, I insert the device into the board, without the benefit of a socket. It's certainly not as good a contact as wrapping to square posts, but it's usually adequate. Anyone else have more WW hacks ? My biggest problem is getting the right length of wire. I've been disappointed with a couple of wire strippers, so I use precut lengths. Anyone know a reliable wire stripper ? ... Midnight Engineering ... I have to agree. Some really neat stuff, weighted down with a 60 percent load of articles like "You too can achive yuppiedom if you follow the 7 fold path of Correct Marketing". Makes the noise level too high. Well, the stated goal of ME was to help engineering entrepreneurs, not being a strict hobbyist magazine. I've gotten some useful stuff out of the non-technical articles in ME. Regards, / Jon Sreekanth Assabet Valley Microsystems Fax and PC products 346 Lincoln St #722, Marlboro, MA 01752 508-562-0722 jon_sree@world.std.com
michael@vk2bea.UUCP (Michael G. Katzmann) (01/11/91)
In article <724@ssc.UUCP> markz@ssc.UUCP (Mark Zenier) writes: >Just got a mail advertisement for a new magazine called >Elektor Electronics USA. This appears to be a US edition >of a Dutch magazine. > >The blurb has some claims like "Twelve engineers go to work in >Holland every day just to develop for your enjoyment the >very latest in electronic projects". And "Unlike other >magazines ... written by professionals". > >Is this a magazine or a fancy catalog? And is it worth >the $20 introductory price? > I used to read this magazine (the version printed in the UK) about 10 years ago. IMHO it was one of the best magazines of its type around. Very clever and well thought out circuits that work. Generally they were not as detailed as the WW projects but the quality of E&WW (Electronics and Wireless World) has deteriorated over the last few years. (A distressingly general trend). I'll certainly look out for it here in the states! -- Michael Katzmann > Broadcast Sports Technology Inc. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ < Crofton, Maryland. U.S.A Amteur Radio Stations: > NV3Z / VK2BEA / G4NYV < UUCP: uunet!opel!vk2bea!michael
henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (01/27/91)
In article <JON_SREE.91Jan9123228@world.std.com> jon_sree@world.std.com (Jon Sreekanth) writes: >The larger components (such as 1N4000 series diodes and large caps), I >directly wire-wrap to. That is, I insert the device into the board, >without the benefit of a socket. It's certainly not as good a contact >as wrapping to square posts, but it's usually adequate. This is a recipe for long-term unreliability. All it takes is a little bit of oxidation between the device pin and the wrapped wire. You aren't really wire-wrapping at all: those sharp-edged square posts are *important* to wire-wrap, because they bite into the wire and form solid gas-tight contacts that are reliable forever. (The bites are why you shouldn't re-wrap wire.) I'd strongly advise adding a bit of solder to make the contacts reliable, at least if the gadget is meant to last. -- If the Space Shuttle was the answer, | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology what was the question? | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry