I bought his for my 9 year old son and within 20 minutes he had an AM radio station going. He was playing a game on his switch and broadcasting the audio to our radio.
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Product information
| Product Dimensions | 16 x 12.25 x 3.75 inches |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 2.12 pounds |
| ASIN | B0035XSZDI |
| Item model number | EP-130 |
| Manufacturer recommended age | 10 - 15 years |
| Best Sellers Rank |
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| Customer Reviews |
4.5 out of 5 stars |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Release date | June 12, 2006 |
| Department | Unisex |
| Manufacturer | Elenco Electronics LLC |
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| Customer Reviews |
1,487
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564
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28,081
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745
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1,030
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| Price | $15.99 | $13.56 | $26.99 | $56.99 | $48.71 |
| STEM Education | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Minimum Age | 13+ | 12+ | 8+ | 8+ | 10+ |
| Practical Skills | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Batteries Required | None | None | None | ✓ | ✓ |
My son and I love it
I think it is a great kit, possibly the best purchase I've ever made in this price range. I bought it for my nearly 6 years old son. He is too young to fully grasp the concepts and understand how electronics works, but he is learning to read the wiring digrams, he enjoys connecting the wires, and it loves playing with what he builds. We played with the Morse code (the table is included in the book) and learned how to send his name and "SOS" and many other words; we checked how electricity flows through water and how this changes when one adds salt; we built a radio; and we did many other educational and fun things. The kit appears small on the picture, and it is not large: There are 2 LEDs, an antenna, a tuning capacitor, 4 capacitors, 7 resistors, a variable resistor, 3 transistors, a diode, a transformer, a speaker, a switch, and terminals to connect a 9V battery. These components are sufficient to built 51 projects, starting from very simple ones (how bright an LED glows with different resistors connected between it and the battery?) to as complex as an alarm, blinking lights, and even transistor radio (which actually works!). Each project sheet contains a description, a schematic diagram, a wiring diagram (a sketch of layout of all wires) and a wiring checklist (list of which terminals should be connected with which). From time to time, new concepts are explained on saprate pages. Water flow analogy is extensively used to explan parallel and serial connection of resistors and capacitors. There is even a section on logic (OR and AND circuits. No soldering is required: all wires are easily connected to spring terminals. You bend a spring, slide a wire between the spring coils, and let the spring go - done! I think it is a great idea which makes assembly very easy. Each part is labelled on the cardboard, and each terminal (spring) has a number, which is also indicated on the schematics and on wiring digrams. The 71-page booklet makes a fair effort to explain the concepts behind each circuit. It is a solid booklet, and the explanations are OK for someone familiar with electronics. I do not think the level of explanations is great for a school student who does not know a thing about transistors - and it is not even written as a kids book or as a school textbook - but with the help of an adult, the booklet can be a significant learning resource. The built quality is - how should I put it - cost efficient and not meant to be abused. There is more paper than plastic. All components are attached to a medium-thick cardboard. This is not a toy to be stepped on or dropped on the floor. It should be treated the same way as expensive chess or checkers - you take it out of the box, put on a table in front of your kid, and work on a project with him. Then you disconnect the wires and put it back in the box. With this attitude, it will last. I am not complaining about the built quality as long it enables me to get this set at a good price. The only item that is not provided in the box is a 9 volts battery. I think it is a great educational toy. I played a lot with electronics when I was at school, and I can only wish that at that time I had something as nice as this kit!
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2019Style: 130Verified Purchase
Like many others I owned the original Radio Shack version of this 130-in-1 electronics kit decades ago. True, this Elenco version isn't very sturdy. It's light and flimsy. But the overall layout, components, and experiments you can wire together are about the same. The 159-page real paper manual that comes with it is a plus (the PDF is also available for download from Elenco's web site). Each experiment has an overview, a schematic, and wiring connection-by-numbers instructions. Many useful and educational analog circuit designs are included (plus one digital gate logic IC). No microprocessor, computer, smart phone, or software updates required. Yea!!!
OK, now the quality issues. The first experiments I correctly wired together didn't work at all. I installed two different sets of 6AA batteries (Amazon Rechargeable then Duracell Alkaline). Still nothing. I returned the first one back to Amazon, got a replacement the next day. Both had the same problem. Both had a sticker with Date Code 0119. Hmmmm, manufactured the same day, same problem. I did some basic troubleshooting to try to figure out the problem.
It turns out the design or manufacture of the battery holder is defective. There is a gap of about 1mm between the + side of each battery and terminals in the holder. Two small plastic tabs at that location prevented the battery connection from being made. My "fix" was to jam a wadded up piece of copper tape to fill the gap at each of the 6 positive battery terminals to complete the battery circuit (aluminum foil would work fine too). Hopefully Elenco will crack the whip at the Chinese factory to fix this, or they'll see a lot of returns for this very simple and silly defect. Check recent reviews to see if the problem has been fixed in newer batches from the factory.
If you don't have a voltmeter, you can construct a simple circuit to see if power from the batteries is making it to the front panel. Install the batteries and try lighting up the decimal point of the digital display by connecting: 25-121,24-119 or 25-124,24-122
Most of the experiments I've tried so far worked. But the AM radio receiver circuits are iffy. The only one I could make work was #113: Two-Transistor Radio. I used the supplied long green wire raised up high as the antenna. The signal levels seem too low to work for #112: Crystal Set Radio and #109: Operational Amplifier AM Radio.
Quality issues aside, I'm keeping it. I'm having too much fun with it. And I have great respect for the designers who created the original analog circuits that can be recreated using this kit.
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Top reviews from other countries
- Amazon CustomerReviewed in India on July 14, 2016
A good Hobby kit for children
Style: 130Verified Purchase -
ccReviewed in Mexico on January 10, 2019
Es de cartón pegado con cinta adhesiva.
Style: 130Verified Purchase
