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From: gonzalez@bbn.com (Jim Gonzalez)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: New Magazine: Elektor Electronics USA ?
Message-ID: <61847@bbn.BBN.COM>
Date: 3 Jan 91 16:36:27 GMT
References: <724@ssc.UUCP>
Sender: news@bbn.com
Reply-To: gonzalez@BBN.COM (Jim Gonzalez)
Lines: 40

In article <724@ssc.UUCP> markz@ssc.UUCP (Mark Zenier) writes:
>Just got a mail advertisement for a new magazine called
>Elektor Electronics USA.  This appears to be a US edition
>of a Dutch magazine.
>
>The blurb has some claims like "Twelve engineers go to work in
>Holland every day just to develop for your enjoyment the
>very latest in electronic projects".  And "Unlike other
>magazines ... written by professionals".
>
>Is this a magazine or a fancy catalog?  And is it worth
>the $20 introductory price?

I filled out their bingo card from a deck sent to me by one of the trades.
I received my free issue last month.  It seems to be a cross between
Elementary Electronics (*lots* of simple single-page projects) and
Stereophile (*lots* of ads for high-end audio suppliers; many from northern
New England).  There are several more-involved projects, but they're for
things like TV decoders for European standard broadcasts, etc.  that don't
do us much good.  They use odd symbols in some of their schematics, and use
the European standard of commas as decimal points and spaces between
decimal digit triplets (i.e. 1,000.50 -> 1 000,50).  They note in the
beginning of the magazine that it as an attempt to "internationalize"
electronics.

I'll be canceling the subscription.  By the way, they didn't specify a price
on the bingo card, but the invoice I received was for $28, not $20.

What I'm looking for is a magazine that talks about design and assmebly
techniques.  What comes to mind are things like an article I once saw in
Byte, in which the author discussed his practice of bending the pins on
wirewrap sockets outward, gluing the shoulders to the prototyping board.
This allowed wires and components to be on the same side of the board,
saving space (a problem in his application).  Circuit Cellar Ink *may* be
what I'm looking for; the one issue of Midnight Engineering I looked at was
disappointing.  I also got a letter from a comapny in Connecticut that is
offering a loosleaf binder of such information for $40 or $50, with periodic
updates of unspecified length at the rate of $0.25 per page.  Ouch.

				-Jim.