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What electronics MAGAZINES are good?

A

AINTME

Jan 1, 1970
0
I used to collect Popular Electronics which is no longer published.

What magazines are available now? Which ones would you recommend?

Thanks.
 
M

Michael Black

Jan 1, 1970
0
AINTME said:
I used to collect Popular Electronics which is no longer published.

What magazines are available now? Which ones would you recommend?

Thanks.

It's more like "what electronic magazines exist today?"

SOmeone mentioned Circuit Cellar, but it's a far cry from Popular
Electronics. It's more focused on microprocessors and I've never
found it interesting enough to want to buy many issues. It just
seems less "hobby" than what I'd want.

The other US magazine that still exists is Nuts & Volts.

And there's now a quarterly from O'Reilly (that publishes all
kinds of computer books) called "Make" that is sort of a hobby
electronic magazine, but it seems more than just electronics.

With so few, you should just go to a newsstand, maybe at this
point you may have to hunt for them, and look them over or buy
a copy of each. You won't lose much by buying a sample copy, and
really, I suspect "good" is a reflection of what you yourself
is looking for.

When I was a kid, I bought all the magazines, at least initially,
though that's when they were fifty cents an issue. I barely buy
any magazines these days, the cost has gone so far up and the content
you get is limited.

After that, you have to look overseas for electronic magazines.
Elektor, Practical Everyday Electronics I no longer know what else.
I've not seen a copy of the magazine that used to be Wireless World (I
can never remember the exact title it changed itself to) in a long time.
I'm assuming they still publish, but just aren't carried here.

Michael
 
J

John Larkin

Jan 1, 1970
0
I used to collect Popular Electronics which is no longer published.

What magazines are available now? Which ones would you recommend?

Thanks.

Make up a company name and subscribe to the professional mags: EDN,
Electronics Design, Microwaves&RF, Electronic Products, Microwave
Journal. All free.

John
 
Make up a company name and subscribe to the professional mags: EDN,
Electronics Design, Microwaves&RF, Electronic Products, Microwave
Journal. All free.

John


Wow... thanks! I just subscribed. (I actually do have a side
business: www.acomputerexpert.com).

I happened to be in the bookstore last night, getting some space/
planet books for the kids, when I thought, maybe I'll look for Circuit
Cellar... this particular Borders Bookstore doesn't carry CC, but has
Make. Was looking through it, I couldn't find anything that justified
the $14.99 price tag (potato and pumpkin missile launchers don't cut
it, sorry). There was a nifty little diy EKG project, but the article
mentioned the ADC it needs costs about $50... never mind...

Michael
 
J

John Larkin

Jan 1, 1970
0
Wow, you were not kidding!

http://www.edn.com/jumplink.asp?tar...?magid=002&promocode=WEA07DW2&sponsor=r4s+EDN

Free, forever? Or is it a trial subscription?

They'll make you renew annually, by email, which takes about a minute,
but otherwise free forever.

There are lots more, hundreds maybe, but these are the main
electronics ones. There are some software-oriented mags too, RTC and
Embedded Systems and such.

EE Times is great, but more biz than technology. I don't recall if
that's free, too.

John
 
A

AINTME

Jan 1, 1970
0
They'll make you renew annually, by email, which takes about a minute,
but otherwise free forever.

There are lots more, hundreds maybe, but these are the main
electronics ones. There are some software-oriented mags too, RTC and
Embedded Systems and such.

EE Times is great, but more biz than technology. I don't recall if
that's free, too.

John

Thank you guys for all the suggestions. Just as I imagined, there are few
"hobby electronics" magazines available as such (the kind with projects,
etc) but as I get reacquainted with electronics I am discovering programs
such as Mutltisim and some PCB design tools (anybody recommend any?) that
I never got to use way back when. There'll be plenty to keep me occupied.
Thanks.
 
D

David L. Jones

Jan 1, 1970
0
It's more like "what electronic magazines exist today?"

SOmeone mentioned Circuit Cellar, but it's a far cry from Popular
Electronics. It's more focused on microprocessors and I've never
found it interesting enough to want to buy many issues. It just
seems less "hobby" than what I'd want.

Correct, Circuit Cellar is more of a professional level journal
targeting embedded designers. it's not really a hobby mag.

Dave.
 
D

David L. Jones

Jan 1, 1970
0
Make up a company name and subscribe to the professional mags: EDN,
Electronics Design, Microwaves&RF, Electronic Products, Microwave
Journal. All free.

I used to love reading Electronics Design until they stopped giving
free subs outside the US.

Pease's Porridge is available online though :)

Dave.
 
J

John Larkin

Jan 1, 1970
0
Thank you guys for all the suggestions. Just as I imagined, there are few
"hobby electronics" magazines available as such (the kind with projects,
etc) but as I get reacquainted with electronics I am discovering programs
such as Mutltisim and some PCB design tools (anybody recommend any?) that
I never got to use way back when. There'll be plenty to keep me occupied.
Thanks.

Multisim is crap. Use LT Spice, which is better and free.

John
 
D

DJ Delorie

Jan 1, 1970
0
David L. Jones said:
Correct, Circuit Cellar is more of a professional level journal
targeting embedded designers. it's not really a hobby mag.

Hmmm, I've been looking for something a step up from CC because my
"hobby" has gotten to that point.

Maybe it depends on what aspect of electronics one chooses to focus
on. CC does tend to be heavy on the digital, and light on the analog,
but if digital is your hobby, CC isn't that high level.
 
S

Si Ballenger

Jan 1, 1970
0
I used to collect Popular Electronics which is no longer published.

What magazines are available now? Which ones would you recommend?

Thanks.

Nuts&volts is still available. Now days, the availability of
thousands of circuits and schematics on line makes magazines
somewhat dated.

http://www.nutsvolts.com/
 
M

Michael Black

Jan 1, 1970
0
Si said:
Nuts&volts is still available. Now days, the availability of
thousands of circuits and schematics on line makes magazines
somewhat dated.

http://www.nutsvolts.com/

Huh? Finding circuits and information is not nearly the
same thing as waiting for the new issue of a magazine to arrive.
And since the magazines had to try to address a large readership,
the contents varied. I never would have stuck with the magazines
when I found them at age 11 if all the contents had been technical.
I could read the letter column, I could read the amateur radio
column, even read the reviews, and that gave reason to keep
reading while I grasped the schematics and the technical stuff.
There were also lots of things I wasn't interested in but learned
about anyway because they were clustered with the things I
was interested in, and other things I actually got interested in
because I read about them.

Give up the magazine format, and it's way too easy to narrowcast.
Sure, likely people can find a website that has "1001 wireless
microphones" and another that has "101 single transistor sirens"
but that implies that information is all that counts.

I'm starving for magazines. I miss going to the newsstand to
see if the latest issue is out. I miss sitting down with it
to read it cover to cover, maybe even setting it aside to spread
it out or to read it when I can curl up with it. I miss rereading
them.

But the magazines aren't what they used to. Maybe it's because
it's 36 years since I first noticed there were hobby electronic
magazines, and so it has all gone stale. I suspect it's more
that the price has risen so much, and I won't get that much
reading time out of it.

Michael
 
E

Eeyore

Jan 1, 1970
0
John said:
Multisim is crap. Use LT Spice, which is better and free.

Multisim is intuitive and easy to use. LT Spice isn't.

Graham
 
M

Michael A. Terrell

Jan 1, 1970
0
That's why the mushrooms do so well in his stall.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida
 
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