1980's Educational Lab Kits (CES EDLab) - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Mysion
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2022, 01:03:45 am
content: I'm not quite sure where to post this but this seems like the most relevant forum.Recently, someone I know was getting rid of a whole boatload of 1980's lab kits. I couldn't help but temporarily add them to my hoard!I got three separate types. Analog, Digital, Memory. All three types are impressive suitcase-sized banana plugboards.Honestly, kid me is sorta jealous. I had the 300in1 spring types kits as a kid and this would have been fun even in college. I mean sure a breadboard does the same thing but just look at the sheer size of them!I'm lucky enough to get a copy of the lab manual to go along with them and they seem like fairly advanced kits. It's not one of those kits where a multivibrator is the most complex thing you can make with it. I don't have the digital lab manual but luckily that one looks like it's been uploaded online. I won't link it in case it's still under Copywrite but you can find it if you google "ces ed-lab 700 manual"The analog labs had students building pulse shapers and inverters from a quick glance at the manuals I have.It becomes a real rats nest once you make anything reasonably complex.That's a simple 3 bit + parity-bit error checker. The real fun part is can you spot which banana plugs are bad? Would you believe all of them?To be honest, they seem okay as long as the shell is tightened down nice and tight, but if it loosens at all they become intermittent. I'm going to go through and start soldering them all.It'll be a pain but it's better than spending a small fortune on banana plugs.I'm debating if it's worth it to scan the lab manuals I have. It would be a pain but I may have the only mostly complete set.I just thought it would be fun to share. I'd never seen anything like this before and they are surprisingly complex lab kits. It's not a kid's toy but I sure feel like a big kid around these things.There's just something fun about the plugboard messI've attached teardown photos and some images from the lab manuals for anyone interested.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2022, 03:12:19 am
content: Yes it would be a good idea to scan and distribute them, especially if they had circuit operation explanations. This information tends to be unique to these type of education labs.

author: Mysion
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 20, 2022, 03:17:50 am
content: Unfortunately for my own sanity, I'm in agreement. Scanning them is a good idea. My big question is where should I host them? Since they are 1970-1980s vintage I'd don't want to attach them here and cause Copywrite issues for the forum. I've scanned about 2300 pages so far with only the last 1K in a document feeder. Where should I put them to preserve them?One of the lab kits is quite unique. You wire up a 4-bit computer with only banana jacks which is a freaking wild concept! It's a shame I only have one of the computer labs kits despite having multiple digital and analog lab kits. Once I finish the scanning I'm going to try it myself. I'll post the results here.Any suggestions on a good place to upload the lab manuals?If anyone reading is in the USA/DC area I'm giving away what I have for free. Send me a PM for more info.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 20, 2022, 04:24:23 am
content: Quote from: Mysion on March 20, 2022, 03:17:50 amHow about Freenet or IPFS? And maybe archive.org as well?

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 20, 2022, 08:55:38 am
content: Archive.org is probably the best place.

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 20, 2022, 11:41:37 am
content: Impressive kits! Due to their size (and possibly cost), I suspect they were only for educational institutions, no?

author: Mysion
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2022, 07:08:52 pm
content: Thanks to everyone for the suggestions on where to upload them, I ended up going with Archive.org since so many other old manuals seem to be posted there.You can access them here.https://archive.org/search.php?query=+ces+ed-labThat's my guess too rsjsouza. They are too advanced for high school. I'd classify them as college-level or a very experienced technician. I think these came from a Navy yard surplus auction a decade or two ago.Of course, it's a two-decade-long game of telephone at this point, so take that with a grain of salt.Interesting little kits, the final lab for the digital kits is constructing a crude 4-bit Successive Approximation ADC, that was fun to build out with a crapload of banana plugs.Turns out what I thought was a MOSFET on the analog kits is actually a unijunction transistor. I've never heard of that before! Looks like it was a transistor type popular in the 70's.Does anyone here have any experience with unijunction transistors?

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2022, 07:46:10 pm
content: The labs look very well written, now owners of these trainer units without manuals can get some enjoyment out of them, plus see the answer books. So much of this type of quality material has been lost forever prior to the digitization and archival age, such a shame.

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2022, 07:49:52 pm
content: Quote from: Mysion on April 03, 2022, 07:08:52 pmUJTs are very simple devices; they are usually used to do oscillators and not much else - most are obsolete these days.More details:https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/semiconductors/chpt-7/unijunction-transistor-ujt/

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2022, 08:57:05 pm
content: Some of the manuals still to be found:ED-LAB EXPERIMENT MANUAL ELECTRICITY - ELECTRONICS BOOK IED-LAB EXPERIMENT MANUAL ELECTRICITY - ELECTRONICS BOOK IVED-LAB EXPERIMENT MANUAL ELECTRICITY - ELECTRONICS BOOK IV - ANSWERSED-LAB TEXT-LAB MANUAL DC ELECTRONICS E1 to E5ED-LAB 700 EXPERIMENT MANUAL - ANSWERS

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2022, 11:22:25 pm
content: If I remember correctly, CES was a correspondence school teaching electronics. There were many of these advertising in the popular magazines (Popular Electronics, Radio-Television World, etc.) and the activity included assembling things, especially normal Heathkits.

author: sdybiec
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 30, 2023, 07:43:18 pm
content: I found a seller with the CES Ed-Lab Operational Amplifiers Book IV and bought it, broke it down into individual pages, scanned it to PDF and posted it to The Internet Archive. Here's the direct link in case you need it.https://archive.org/details/ces-ed-lab-operational-amplifiers-book-4

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2023, 08:19:51 pm
content: Appreciate your work. Thanks.

author: sdybiec
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: December 07, 2023, 02:49:39 am
content: Does anyone know how to get the ammeter working on the CES 651 or CES 652?

author: GraveEmbrace
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 30, 2024, 02:48:06 am
content: I've been looking for a CES 651 Analog Electronics Lab Trainer primarily because it seems to match the one used in the electronics lab of the apprenticeship I recently started. If I can't find one, I am considering trying to recreate it myself, but I have no experience in how to do that. Any advice on where to start? I imagine having the breakdown of one and the manual would help, but no luck finding those either.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 01:07:05 pm
content: Mostly it's connection points attached to jellybean components that you jumper together to match the circuit or layout diagram. Look at a photo of the CES 651 board close up.The reason these are highly desired in a class room is breadboarding or prototyping is harder to troubleshoot with a bunch of people. This is more "paint by numbers" style and takes seconds to setup.If you can find schematics or parts lists for a lab with that specific board it may reveal what values are used.There are lots of versions of these using different connection methods. Screws in wood to tie the wires around. Springs to trap the wires in place. Clip points to clip alligator jumper wires on. Wire insertion sockets like breadboard connections. Or this style which uses sockets to jumper the wires between components.Unless you're making one out of chinesium these can get kind of expensive as a way to connect a few resistors and diodes (for instance). Not only do you need the two components you need a few wires but several sockets and plugs. That is why the professional grade labs were quite expensive.