Frank Erskine wrote:
On 30 Dec 2008 22:53:40 GMT, (Andrew
Gabriel) wrote:

I don't think there is still any magazine which was at the level
of Everyday Electronics, although I must admit I haven't checked
the magazine shelves for many years now. Elektor was somewhat more
advanced, and not really beginner stuff.

I wonder if there's much interest in this area by today's youth?

Sadly I think not. Most of today's youth seem to expect any electronic
gadgetry to be prebuilt for them (probably by Far Eastern
manufacturers), and to have 'scores' displayed on an LCD screen.

Sadly I would tend to agree. You only need look at the growth of Maplin
and its need to deviate from what was once its core business in order to
sustain that growth to see that electronics as a hobby is nothing like
it once was.

(As I have commented here before - I grew up living close to the
original Maplin shop. It was a place of wonder in some respects those
days. People would wander in off the street, and describe some
electronic wizardry they fancied constructing. The shop assistant
(electronics graduate typically) would retrieve a pencil from behind his
ear, sketch a quick circuit design, grab the shop calculator and do some
sums to work out component values etc, before wandering off and finally
returning 5 mins later with a plastic bag containing all the components
required having found them in all the various (non self service) racks
and bins!) It ain't the same now.

Basic electronic skills such as soldering, measuring voltages and
currents etc are rarely nurtured or taught in schools nowadays, and

I get a feeling that may have changed a bit with the younger generations
now. Our 8 yo has done a fair bit of basic circuit theory in class, and
they have done practical stuff with switches, and lamps and simple
circuits. Far more than I remember being taught until starting physics
in secondary school.

frankly most simpler projects such as crystal sets are becoming
obsolete in the wake of DAB and so on. It's so much easier too, to
pick up a mobile phone than build a pair of walkie-talkies...

That is true. The impact of low cost imports from China etc has also put
pay to many projects - it used to be you can have fun building something
and make a big saving on buying a complete item. These days electronic
kit from the far east is so cheap as to render that part of the argument
a non starter.

However, your pedestrian crossing project sounds very interesting.
I've heard of all these different types of crossing, and used them,
but I still couldn't identify them by name - the only one I know by
name is the good old-fashioned zebra crossing :-)

Wot, not even a pelican?

--
Cheers,

John.

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