Electronics Today International - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: FreeThinker
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2010, 10:29:03 pm
content: Anyone remember Electronics Today International magazine? Started in Australia circa 1971 so Dave may remember it, Fine magazine nothing Quite like it today.

author: quantumfall
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2010, 11:49:03 pm
content: Yes, I remember it being published here in the UK, I had a great big pile in the 1980's. I wish I had them now unfortunately with life's changes and shortage of space at one time or another they had to go along with other electronics mags of that time I had.I would read it cover to cover and built some of the projects as well.I'm not sure if it was ETI because it merged with another mag but they had circuit board layouts in the back you could use to make your own pcbs.I used to take the mag to the local copy shop and they would copy the layout on to plastic film, I would use this to expose a copper board and etch etc. The copy shop changed to a big chain and when I took in a layout to have copied onto the plastic they refused saying it was copy write or what ever, I tried to explain that they where there to be copied, it was their only reason to be in the mag, but no go.I did get the editor on the phone and he said they were technically correct to refuse to copy the artwork and suggested using a film negative method but would not give me a letter to allow me to get the artwork copied at the copy shop. I was very annoyed and I think it was the reason among the costs as well, that made me fed up with the hobby for years..

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 02, 2010, 11:57:28 pm
content: Yes, I grew up on that and EA + others.Roger Harrison was one of the stalwarts.ETI eventually merged with EA, as they were both Federal Publishing mags, and 2 was too many. But essentially ETI just died, apart from the "with ETI" text they keep on the front page for EA for many years.Silicon Chip eventually bought all rights to EA and ETI, so they own all the back issues etc.Dave.

author: quantumfall
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2010, 12:08:33 am
content: The other mags here in the UK I remember was Practical Electronics and also Everyday Electronics.Is there any legit way to get back issues or PDFs of any of these mags now ? I have seen some on ebay but they are £4 each which is a bit expensive to buy a lot of them, I may get one or two if no other way.

author: FreeThinker
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2010, 01:49:29 am
content: I had every issue from about 1980 through to the mid nineties until the wife said it was her or the mags.It was a close call but the mags had to go.Used to love the way they would explain the workings of a chip or a particular theorem.Do you remember A.S.Lipson?, or the editors crush on Felicity Kendal.Electronics soap opera in monthly installments.Elektor is a poor substitute.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 03, 2010, 01:58:12 am
content: Quote from: quantumfall on November 03, 2010, 12:08:33 amSC have been promising to release all the back issues of EA on disc, but it been a few years now...Dave.

author: FreeThinker
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2010, 02:16:58 am
content: Quote from: quantumfall on November 03, 2010, 12:08:33 amA Quick google only turned up thishttp://www.aaelectron.co.uk/eti/which appears to only carry links to tables of content and not much more. Shame. Still got a couple of the ETI cookbooks somewhere.Think there was a sister magazine called hobby electronics which was a little more basic that I got sometimes If they had an article/project for my beloved sinclair zx80....Now there was a development board

author: quantumfall
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2010, 03:04:39 am
content: Quote from: EEVblog on November 03, 2010, 01:58:12 amI would love to read any of these old magazines, Why would they hide away these magazines ? Its got to be good for the electronics community to keep all this great information and encourage people to have an interest in the past as its still important to see how things can be done, even if a micro controller is now used.

author: quantumfall
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2010, 03:10:29 am
content: Quote from: FreeThinker on November 03, 2010, 02:16:58 amYes I now remember that one.. I liked it as well, Elektor was a bit to pro for my level of understanding but I did buy it a few times.

author: FreeThinker
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2010, 11:50:36 am
content: Friend of mine made the audio system designed by John Lindsey Hood, Top of the range+ used it for many happy years before 'upgrading'.I remember one of his articles where he went on a little rant about the thermal noise of some resistors he had been supplied with causing 'a measurable' distortion in his preamp.Yeah if you were a bat! but such was his passion for his work.Wonder if he is still around?Edit! It's John Linsley Hood and he passed away in March 2004. RIPHis Class A Amphttp://www.hifiengine.com/gallery/images/john-linsley-hood-400.shtml

author: Zad
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2010, 08:17:07 pm
content: I grew up with ETI, they had some excellent 'serious' projects such as the Vocoder and the Cortex computer. Working out how things like that worked, with the PSU module, keyboard, memory, audio filters and so on, taught me more about electronics at an intuitive level than university ever did. A few months ago there was a BBC TV series on 1980s synth pop music, and I think it was Martyn Ware from The Human League who said his first synth was built from an ETI design.At the top were mags like Wireless World, ETI and Elektor, with Everyday Electronics and Practical Electronics towards the bottom end of the market, recycling the same projects every few years. Bath overflow monitors, microphone pre-amps, disco lights etc. Not long ago, one of the torrent people scanned and uploaded almost the complete set of Elektor up to the mid 80s. It would be nice if someone could do the same to the old ETIs.

author: FreeThinker
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2010, 08:31:18 pm
content: Cortex! Thats it, I was scratching my head trying to remember what it was called.Did you build one or like me read (and re-read) and only dream? As i remember it's spec was world shattering at the time and could be built to your own spec to suit needs/finances.The article it ran on sprite handling and it's multi plane output was a revelation at the time, my mobile phone probably performs better now but at the time it was state of the art.

author: djsb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2010, 10:32:10 pm
content: http://www.epemag3.com/Feb. 1999 - Wimborne Publishing acquired its UK rival Electronics Today International (ETI). As quoted here.http://www.epemag.wimborne.co.uk/history.htm

author: FreeThinker
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2010, 10:39:34 pm
content: Quote from: djsb on November 03, 2010, 10:32:10 pmVery Nice but it's not Electronics Today International is it?

author: Zad
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2010, 01:52:08 am
content: I think I was 11, maybe 12 at the time, so it was way waaay out of my reach. After extensive Googling (I knew it existed, just not quite sure where), PDFs of the articles are available here. They are a bit unreliable opening on my PC of some reason, but fine if I save to disk.ftp://whtech.com/Powertran%20Cortex/ETI%20Articles/More info available up 1 directoryftp://whtech.com/Powertran%20Cortex/I remember reading the first article in the back of my dad's car on the way to the airport to pick my auntie up from her travels somewhere exotic. That night, the world just seemed so utterly amazing. Jets taking off and landing from the far corners of the earth, and incredible colour computers with phenomenal power, memory space and storage. I swear I would have exploded with delight if someone had got me the data sheets!. Good days. Not quite so good when I priced the parts for a keyboard and it was nearly 2 years pocket money. I still get a bit excited looking at it!

author: quantumfall
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2010, 05:45:57 am
content: Quote from: Zad on November 04, 2010, 01:52:08 amThanks for that its a very nice anecdote, I had similar excitement with electronics myself. The money well still struggling there unfortunately.

author: FreeThinker
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2010, 12:17:26 pm
content: Quote from: Zad on November 04, 2010, 01:52:08 amI was a little older then you (cough!) with a young family so it was out of my reach too.But thanks to you I now have one (An emulator anyway).This shows EXACTLY what I meant about ETI. Its informative style detailed explanation while not getting too techy alongside a passion and love of electronics. Many user groups sprang up from projects like this and thrived for many years. Thats why I like EEVBLOG so much, Daves obvious passion for his work.PS The links don't work but if you copy and paste without the last '/' it worked for me (In Opera)

author: christ
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 29, 2012, 12:30:43 pm
content: I just stumbled across this thread.Started with ETI at the start of the '80's myself!Have you seenhttp://www.all-electric.com/schematic/eticircuits/index.htm- takes me back to the world of 555 timer circuits!

author: graynomad
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 29, 2012, 01:06:20 pm
content: The editor of ETI was Collyn Rivers,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronics_Today_InternationalI knew him reasonably well and used to stay with him when I passed through Broome. He now lives in Sydney so I don't expect to see him again as I almost never go into cities.He told me that Kerry Packer showed him how to make a million $ and having seen the house he had in Broome (with ocean frontage onto Cable Beach) I can well believe that.Amongst other achievements Collyn drove through Africa in the 50s in a 53-horsepower Bedford 4x4 truck.He now writes technical articles for the CMCA (Aussie motohome club) magazine and publishes books about solar and vehicle power systems.I too have fond memories of reading ETI in my (electronics) formative years.______Rob

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 29, 2012, 06:42:04 pm
content: I remember ETI, and who remembers Television?

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2012, 01:04:01 am
content: Quote from: SeanB on March 29, 2012, 06:42:04 pm"Television" was/is a great magazine!( I thought it was still around!)The tech articles got me out of a lot of strife with European sourced Picture Monitors,some of which had fairly poor documentation & used weird (to me) special components.They weren't really any weirder than the Sony stuff,& I found from "Television" that many were widely used in Europe in domestic TVs.In Australia, the Sony parts were readily available,& the documentation better.so they were easier to work on."Television" even showed me a few things I didn't know about Sony stuff!As a diehard "Radio TV & Hobbies"/"Electronics Australia" follower,I never really liked ETI--they were a bit too "cutesy" for my liking,butI'm of an older generation.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2012, 10:40:03 am
content: Television just stoppede ocming here, no explanation. nothing on the unhelpful website either, so stopped my call order.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2012, 12:51:18 pm
content: Quote from: SeanB on March 29, 2012, 06:42:04 pmYep - As well as service info, back in the days when people repaired TVs, and there were few enough basic models out there for magazines to usefully cover it, they had the occasional interesting construction feature, I recall building their colour signals board to replace the circuitry in an old TV I had - I wrote to them asking for suggestions on how to interface it, and was surprised to get a hand-drawn schematic back with full details!I also have a vague recollection of them doing a retrofit teletext board design based on the Philips SAA50x0 chipset, as well as a vidicon based CCTV camera.Anyone remember their occasional 'glamourous' front covers...?While we're at it, who remembers Radio & Electronics constructor...?

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 31, 2012, 01:19:52 pm
content: Quote from: vk6zgo on March 30, 2012, 01:04:01 amCutesy? I guess that's one perspective. ETI was a revolution, while all the others were building pieces'o'crap mounted in 35mm slide boxes, ETI was making real useable stuff synths, mixing desks, high power amps etc.RIP ETI still sadly missed.

author: FreeThinker
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2012, 01:36:04 pm
content: Quote from: Uncle Vernon on March 31, 2012, 01:19:52 pmIn my opinion THE best Electronics mag bar none. Sadly missed indeed.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2012, 02:42:23 pm
content: Quote from: Uncle Vernon on March 31, 2012, 01:19:52 pmSorry,Unc,I'll withdraw the "cutesy'.I was thinking of "Australian Electronics Monthly".------Senility strikes again!I still never got into ETI,though!Synths, mixing desks,& high power amps didn't do that much for me,although they were great for anyone who's interests ran that way!I can't really remember EA building things in "35mm slide boxes".Certainly,going back a bit they produced such projects as the old "Educ-8",the first homebuilt computer described in an Australian magazine.They also had quite a few amplifiers over the years.Later,they produced designs for fully synthesised Amateur Radio Transceivers,in conjunction with Dick Smith Electronics.I didn't buy many copies of EA,either, during the time ETI was around,(& read a few copies of "AEM" belonging to other people),now that I think back.Maybe it was because I was working full time "hands-on" on Electronics at work,& didn't feel like messing with it at home.About the only "Electronics" mags I regularly read during those years were "Amateur Radio"( the freebie from the WIA),& the occasional"Amateur Radio Action" (but it was the same stable as "AEM"-cutesy & all!)

author: AndyT8
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 01, 2012, 02:23:02 pm
content: Anybody WANT some old ETI magazines ? I am having a clear out and have about 16 from 1977-78 all in v good condition. Located in UK so postage outside UK would be quite high.Back in those days I was building a SWTP 6800 computer and video terminal and learnt the basics from ETIPM me if you're interested and I'll find out what P&P would be. Each mag weighs about 175gAndy..Update: All magazines were given away by end of April....

author: Zarnywhoop
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 29, 2015, 04:00:35 am
content: Quote from: FreeThinker on November 03, 2010, 01:49:29 amHeheheh. Just found this. I not only remember A S Lipson - I am him. I was about 16 or 17 years old when I wrote those articles. Writing one every couple of months kept me in pocket money when all my mates were working weekends in Sainsburys stacking shelves

author: VK3DRB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 29, 2015, 06:21:05 am
content: The highlight of the month was when a new ETI or EA came out.Some projects simply did not work or work very well, such as the ETI STAC Timer.... 1979. I got that kit for my birthday, costing a small fortune.Problem was the design was never tested properly. The STAC chip had a bizarre design problem. The chip would lock up randomly. A mate had the same problem with his STAC timer. No amount of rail filtering or earthing would fix it. Not giving up, I discovered that if I loaded the 7 segments with extra resistors, the problem disappeared. I still have the machine today.What did it do? Four independent programmable relay outputs for each day overt a week. LED digital display. Very advanced for 1979. The kit came with those el-cheapo momentary push button switched with the red plastic actuators... very unreliable contacts.

author: VK3DRB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 29, 2015, 06:47:59 am
content: Quote from: vk6zgo on March 31, 2012, 02:42:23 pmAh yes. AR was OK, but ARA was fantastic.... even for the adverts alone. I really wanted to buy a Kenwood TS-440S, but could not afford one. At least I could look at the pictures in ARA and dream on.It is a shame so many electronics mags have gone to the wall; and so few people are into real electronics these days. A socially challenged mobile phone addict is not what I would call being into electronics. In fact most of them would have no idea what ham radio actually is.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 29, 2015, 09:58:05 am
content: Quote from: VK3DRB on March 29, 2015, 06:21:05 amIs it just me, or does anyone else remember that late 70's - early 80's era as being notable for a large number of crap designs & dumb mistakes?The infamous EA Frame Grabber which, after multiple errata over several years, they eventually admitted they never actually built & probably didn't work? The ETI 1/3 Octave Graphic EQ which, thanks to the choice of resistors in the op-amp supply rails, was noisy, unstable, & prone to oscillation? The ETI Loudspeaker Protector which didn't actually protect loudspeakers (incorrect transistor bias, IIRC)? A dual tracking power supply (EA? SC?) that couldn't actually reach its rated output voltage, oscillated at a few MHz as soon as you looked at it thanks to missing output caps on the regulators & poor op-amp bypassing / loop compensation, and with the wiring diagram showing one of the transformer secondaries short-circuited (I think they actually printed an errata to fix that last point a couple of years later)?

author: Howardlong
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 29, 2015, 10:46:39 am
content: Quote from: Zarnywhoop on March 29, 2015, 04:00:35 amIn that case, you (or your erstwhile colleagues) may be delighted to know that Felicity Kendal lives not far from me, and if you still need a celeb spotting tip, I see her fairly regularly in the aisles of the food section of Marks and Spencer on the Kings Road, but only as a punter, she has not yet been seen stacking the shelves or indeed selling the Big Issue outside.

author: 22swg
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 29, 2015, 03:19:54 pm
content: I to still have a few fading 1995 copies of ETI , and EPE, and the Maplin 'Elecrtonics ' magazine , but what started me off was 'Computing Today' late 70's into 80's , So I guess after 35 years I still don't know what I'm doing.

author: LukeW
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 29, 2015, 06:56:37 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblog on November 03, 2010, 01:58:12 amGive them another 10 years and they'll probably release them, on 3.5" floppy disks, with a "climate change is crap" opinion column added to the opening pages of each.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 29, 2015, 07:00:43 pm
content: Quote from: LukeW on March 29, 2015, 06:56:37 pmMore like on 8in floppy disks, in Decwriter format. Images as EBDIC encoded type graphics.

author: GK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2015, 02:53:08 am
content: Quote from: FreeThinker on November 03, 2010, 01:49:29 amWho didn't? I had my first fantasies of jumping into the veggie patch with Felicity Kendal when I was about 6 or 7.

author: johnboxall
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 30, 2015, 03:04:51 am
content: Quote from: EEVblog on November 03, 2010, 01:58:12 amFrom memory Leo said they had to get permission from each individual author to do the reproduction on disc. There is also the business case of paying someone to sit there and scan all those pages in, check for quality and so forth. I think a few of us around here would pay a lot for all of them in digital form, but it only takes one person to pirate it and the project would become worthless very quickly. (This is also why you can't get SC in .pdf).

author: GK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2015, 03:36:33 am
content: Odd, considering that through their back issue service they will provide for you for a nominal fee either a .pdf or a mailed print out of a scan of any article. Did the original publishing rights agreements stipulate restrictions to distribution format???

author: johnboxall
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 30, 2015, 05:14:33 am
content: Quote from: GK on March 30, 2015, 03:36:33 amNo idea. I suspect the time and effort isn't worth it from a business perspective.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2015, 09:13:23 am
content: Quote from: wilfred on March 30, 2015, 05:07:03 amI understand why you say that, but some hams are continuing to do interesting things with radio at GHz frequencies. I'm not a ham so I can't provide decent references, I'm afraid.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2015, 12:37:05 pm
content: Quote from: wilfred on March 30, 2015, 05:07:03 amIt never fails to amaze me,that of all leisure activities,Amateur Radio is the only one expected to pass a test of "relevance".Let's look at other activities:Archery-----why not use a rifle?Sailing-------motorboats are much faster.Fishing-----You can buy plenty of fish at the Supermarket!Sculpture-----why not use a 3D printer?Gliding-------if you want to fly,there are plenty of Airlines!All the people now alive were brought up in the era of powerboats ,rifles & commercial fishing.How,then, did so many take up Archery & Sailing ?

author: VK3DRB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2015, 01:09:18 pm
content: Quote from: Tac Eht Xilef on March 29, 2015, 09:58:05 amI built the ETI (or maybe it was EA) electronic insect repellent. As it switched through various ultrasonic frequencies, you could hear annoying "key clicks". Not a big problem compared to when I ran an experiment in my garage and it actually attracted spiders and cockroaches. In the bin it went.Remember ETI's supernatural ghost detector? (A very high gain mic amp to connect to a tape player). Because ghosts do not exist, it was another failed project.Now the ETI Playmaster series were actually pretty good for their day and quite well designed. I still have on my workbench the EA ultra low distortion audio oscillator from around 1982... still works fine. Some designs were very good.I had a suspicion The Serviceman had a bit of an imagination. Each month he would write up an amazing story of a hard to find bug or a weird customer complaint. Maybe it was all true. I would have liked to have met him, but he is probably long retired, or dead.

author: GK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2015, 01:12:26 pm
content: As for the Australian mags, I have a pile of RTV&Hobbies, most issues of EA, a few dozen ETI, and several issues of AEM. Just skimming through the AEM issues this evening I would say that they are packed with more technical content of a higher grade than EA issues of the same period generally are.IMO, EA was at its best in the 70's and early 80's. Ian Pogson is a name now unfortunately forgotten AFAICT. Any fair dinkum HAM from the time should fondly recall his designs and contributions. I think EA started its downward slide when Leo Simpson became editor. The magazine, especially into the 90's was mostly crap. Pages and pages of adds (though not as bad as some American mags), and excessive emphasis on audio equipment reviews and stuff such as completely uncritical/unimaginative and useless test equipment reviews. What was Moffat's Madhouse all about? He mostly just ranted about a load of bullshit (like his inability to grasp basic tasks in MS "Windoze") for 2 pages of every issue and the most tedious and inane topics/arguments would often blow up in the forum pages and drag on for months. Who remembers the "so you think you're an engineer" brouhaha and the letter contributions from blowhards on either side of the fence? And who was that Simpkin's dude that they briefly fished out from somewhere for some monthly words of wisdom and what the hell was he on about?

author: Chipmunk
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2015, 08:13:10 am
content: Not sure if I first saw it on this site, or another... buthttp://www.americanradiohistory.com/Popular-Electronics-Guide.htmis good for wasting several dozen days.And vk6zgo, WELL SAID. I'm not a ham myself, but people entirely miss the point that building/debugging things is most of the fun!

author: GK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2015, 08:38:17 am
content: QuoteThe "Playmaster" series was exclusive to EA. In fact the name goes right back to the R,TV&Hobbies days, being used for their various vacuum tube tuner and power amplifier projects.

author: GK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2015, 08:43:04 am
content: Quote from: GK on March 30, 2015, 01:12:26 pmCorrection: Linton-Simpkins. Not quite as batty as I seem to recall, though arguably somewhat tenuously related to hobby electronics - draw your own conclusions. I also recall Tom Moffat opining in his column that Saddam Hussein, for all that we in the west can know, may be a real swell guy after all. That must have been in the early 90's.Possible naughty copyright infringement:

author: TSL
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2015, 08:56:34 am
content: Quote from: wilfred on March 30, 2015, 05:07:03 amThat is such an ill informed statement - Amateur Radio license numbers are growing globally,US stats here...http://www.arrl.org/news/amateur-radio-showing-steady-growth-in-the-usOther countries, including Australia, are experiencing similar growth.I'm grey but not grey bearded and I build, repair and tinker with radio equipment from 140Khz to 24Ghz, poke n prod PICs and AVR'sMany of the younger crowd are still excited about traditional escapades such as pursuing the DXCC ( talking to fellow hams in 100 countries ) Why ? not because its easy, but because its hard.There are many facets to this hobby and digital has not detracted from it but added to it. Many modern modulation schemes have their origin in amateur radio experiments.We're alive and well at all agesFor more info, go here...http://www.wia.org.au/discover/introduction/about/regardsTim

author: GK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2015, 12:21:42 pm
content: Quote from: tronixstuff on March 30, 2015, 05:14:33 amActually scanning the volumes wouldn't be that big a deal. These days most office photocopiers can automatically scan documents from multiple sheet feeders. So all you do is guillotine the bound edge off the magazine and plonk the pages into the machine. The duty can also be farmed out to a specialist print shop that will do this for you for a modest fee.On this topic, any idea who bought or ended up with the rights to AEM? If no one is making money from that anymore it might a possible to obtain permission to put it into the public domain. I only have a small number of issues though.