Old Dick Smith Kits: browsing catalogues 1981 - 2001 - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: vk3yedotcom
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 18, 2014, 08:18:56 pm
content: Just uploaded is this look at Dick Smith's range of kits - from 20 years of old cataloguesThere are also recent related videos on 20 years of computers & 20 years of amateur radio gear.Also found is this review of the pictures in Fun Way 1http://www.confusereviews.com/?p=117(!)

author: AmmoJammo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 19, 2014, 03:41:38 am
content: 2010 Jaycar catalogue! Whats going on there!It was good to see a few old kits I'd bought, generally once they were discontinued :pDSE used to list which stores had stock of their discontinued items on their webpage.

author: Zad
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 19, 2014, 05:10:18 am
content: Thanks for that! It is interesting to compare Dick Smith with Maplin Electronics here in the UK. They seem to be selling very similar ranges (but obviously not exactly the same) and Maplin have almost ended up as a consumer electronics store too, although they still sell some components and Velleman kits.I really wish I had kept my original Maplin catalogues, the covers were more like superb sci-fi ELO album sleeves than electronics catalogues. I wish I had kept the Tandy ones too, but they were nowhere near as good as Maplin:http://www.pinterest.com/maplinonline/maplin-catalogue-through-the-ages/

author: urbis
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 21, 2014, 06:15:37 pm
content: The original designs were great.

author: mikerj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 23, 2014, 12:06:05 pm
content: Quote from: Zad on July 19, 2014, 05:10:18 amNot only were the covers great, they also listed all the specifications for the components they sold so it was a very useful reference book. Sadly they are now just another peddler of poor quality Chinese tat.

author: lowimpedance
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 23, 2014, 12:12:57 pm
content: Quote from: wilfred on July 19, 2014, 04:12:24 amI do have a super 80 still !! plus the documentation too. Probably still works, but alas all my cassette tape drives have long gone.Was it 300 baud for loading programs?. Will have to dig it out for some pics this weekend.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 23, 2014, 12:44:35 pm
content: I had a quick browse through the video, I spotted the EA EPROM programmer, horrible design (not mine), but I sold thousands of copies of the software for that. And my DSOA scope is probably in there somewhere...

author: lowimpedance
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2014, 05:34:12 am
content: Quote from: wilfred on July 23, 2014, 01:25:27 pmHere are a few pic's of the Super 80.I put it together for my brother who bought it. I remember all I had at the time to test it was a logic probe and multimeter, luckily it worked .As for the graphics I cannot recall any upgrades to this unit!.Cannot tell who made the keyboard assembly (had to assemble it from a kit though)

author: lowimpedance
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2014, 05:41:38 am
content: The manual covers, (Also have more documentation relating to programming in basic and some news letters of a user group!!).I can also post the schematics if there is interest.

author: vk3yedotcom
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2014, 08:04:36 am
content: Due to a fortuitous recent find (on the street of all places) we can now go back 40 years, to 1974.That year started with optimism, with colour TV and FM radio just around the corner after the earlier short-lived dalliances with 8-tracks and quadraphonic sound.However it ended poorly, with reduced tariffs, a strong dollar and a wages break-out sending local electronics manufacturers to the wall.The 1974 catalogue reviewed here is possibly one of the last ones containing many long-lost Australian component brands.One of the highlights is Dick Smith selling Jaycar products (as explained this was when heavy use was made of local distributors, before the 'direct import' days).Post script: 1974's prime minister who presided over this potent, sudden and ultimately disasterous policy mix (lowering tariffs overnight in order to lessen the thenrampant inflation) passed away last week. While he could and did claim various policy achievements, all sides acknowledge that economic policy was not one of his interests.

author: Tandy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2014, 01:41:58 pm
content: Quote from: Zad on July 19, 2014, 05:10:18 amWe will be scanning the old UK Tandy catalogues and putting them on-line, the first ever catalog 1974 is on-line, others will followhttp://www.tandyonline.co.uk/catalogues

author: Tandy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2014, 01:43:57 pm
content: Oh and for our USA cousins you can find RadioShack catalogs athttp://www.radioshackcatalogs.com

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2014, 07:00:29 am
content: Colour TV Tuner CleanerImproves colour, cuts resistance!

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2014, 07:16:10 am
content: Quote from: Shock on October 26, 2014, 07:00:29 amAt least it's not a pseudocolor filter that will turn your black and white tv to a color one

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 26, 2014, 08:19:32 am
content: Quote from: wilfred on July 31, 2014, 11:28:09 amHoly floppy batman!Yep, that stamp would have my saliva on it.

author: Alex Eisenhut
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2014, 10:43:12 pm
content: Quote from: Zad on July 19, 2014, 05:10:18 amYup:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terran_Trade_Authority

author: wilfred
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2024, 02:59:09 am
content: Quote from: EEVblog on October 26, 2014, 08:19:32 amIn a confluence of Back to the Future events recently, including a doco on TV this week about the De Lorean restoration. This message came up in a search on the DSE Super-80 Z80 kit computer and it also coincided with a YT video I watched on memorable moments from The Big Bang Theory show.Rest assured Dave, I never sought out a viable ovum and there are no Dave Jones clones walking around that I had a hand in creating.

author: numloxx
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2024, 03:25:20 am
content: You don't have the 1993/1994 catalogue by any chance do you?https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/dick-smith-catalogue-from-19931994-missing-page-68/

author: cunningfellow
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2024, 09:00:36 am
content: I do

author: numloxx
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 02, 2024, 09:13:52 am
content: THANK YOU!!!