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#electronics#used#components#https#radio#denshi#blocks#kit#circuits#www

Discussion (4 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

MomsAVoxell31 minutes ago
Apropos open electronics, one of my most treasured toys is a Denshi Blocks electronics experiments kit, with a synthesizer chip in it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denshi_block

There are professional versions of the Denshi block, used in engineering schools in Japan in the 80's/90's (as I recall), to lay out circuits and serve as a test-bed for student lab work:

https://www.denshiblock.co.jp/whatdbk.html

(See also: https://www.denshiblock.co.jp/seihinindex.html ..)

In my case, it's just a great reminder of the 70's, and how bright and shiny the future used to seem. Its also a pretty fun little woo-hoo-bonky-boing synth toy, now and then ..

I would have to wonder if there aren't pro blocks in that store somewhere, probably in their own neatly labeled section ..

bitwize3 minutes ago
Reminds me of a vaguely similar toy you used to be able to get at Radio Shack: the "electronics project kits". Typically, a given set of circuit components would be laid out on a board (typically thick cardboard) in a frame (wood). Attached to the leads of the components are small metal springs. You used the provided wires to connect components together by bending the springs back, inserting the stripped ends of the wires between the coils of the spring, and letting the spring snap back into place. Instructions provided with the kit showed you how to connect the components to yield all sorts of interesting things, from simple circuits that could make lights blink to working radio receivers, musical instruments, etc. Some of the more sophisticated and expensive ones had ICs, and I think a few of the later ones had microcontrollers.
elevation17 minutes ago
20 years ago my town had a boutique electronics store, somewhat like a Radio Shack, except they'd developed corporate sales as a revenue stream instead of pushing cellphone contracts on consumers. It carried on until the owner died last year.

I enjoy seeing boutique businesses but it's nice to see one where the core operation (not just the IP) has a shot at outlasting the founder.

aetherspawn34 minutes ago
> 100% profit margin [..]

That’s not how these things work