Science Fair 100-in-1 Electronic Project Kit (1973)

By | Oct 1, 2008
Posted in: Gadgets, Vintage Misc

After our parents got tired of us kids taking apart perfectly good radios to see what was inside, junior mad scientists like me got to test our evil genius on Tandy’s Science Fair Electronic Project Kits.


These kits were sold at Radio Shack and came in many shapes and sizes; anywhere from 10-in-1 all the way up to 300-in-1 and more. My first was the 100-in-1 given to me by my aunt one Christmas. The kit had an ingenious system of “solderless connectors”, in the form of metal springs, to connect the various electrical components together. Pre-cut, color-coded wire was included in the kit.  Along with your plethora of transistors and resistors, the kit also had a small solar cell, cds “electric eye”, relay, meter, and speaker.


The kit included a giant instruction booklet with a different project on each page. Each project page provided a description of the project, an explanation of how it worked, a wiring diagram and table to connect the various components together, a schematic, and assorted cartoon “spokespeople” to bring it all together. All in all a very clever way to teach electronics. I built many of the projects, including radios, AM transmitters, electric eye and solar projects.


The centerpiece for the 100-in-1 kit that I had was the “Space-Age Integrated Circuit” as described on the box cover. Hardly space-age by today’s standards, this 60’s piece of silicon wonderment contained a transistor, diode, and few resistors.


Clockwise from left to right are the color-coded wires, telegraph key, magnetic pickup (great for tapping phones), crystal earphone, and 50 feet of antenna wire.

Updated Feb 16, 2009:
Due to popular demand, I have been working on getting the manual in PDF form to make available for download. So far I have a few projects from the manual scanned. You can download the PDF here. Check back as I will be adding more over time.


Click image to download manual.

[del.icio.us] [Digg] [Facebook] [Google] [StumbleUpon] [Twitter] [Email] More »

You might also like:

Upgrade Your Cowon Q5W (and others) to 240GB!
Commodore Amiga 2000 Video Toaster (1990)
Archos 5 Internet Tablet With Android
Archos GPS Cradle
Blu-ray on the Mac
44 Comments so far
  1. Nienke Frericks October 26, 2008 8:57 am

    dear website maker,

    I have a question: I have a science fair box, but I don’t have the manual. Can you scan your manual and send it to me, please?

    Greetings from Nienke

  2. rcgrabbag October 26, 2008 9:29 am

    Unfortunately, I don’t have a scanner large enough. The pages of the manual are an irregular size and very large. I only have a normal letter-size scanner.

  3. John October 31, 2008 5:42 am

    I would also love to get a copy of the manual for my old set that my son is nearly old enough to enjoy but unfortunately my manuel is long since lost.

    Maybe if we paid you a few dollars each, we could buy you a new scanner ??

  4. rcgrabbag October 31, 2008 6:47 am

    Here’s what I think I can do: I’ll take a picture of each page with a camera and post them. Maybe I can then combine them into a single PDF. Let me work on it and I’ll post some results on this page soon (maybe just a couple of pages to start), so bookmark this page and check back in a couple of days.

  5. Alan January 11, 2009 12:15 am

    I too need the manual and am looking forward to you posting the manual.

  6. rcgrabbag January 11, 2009 11:43 am

    It’s a big job, so I work on it when I can. Have you checked ebay for the manual? You’d probably have to buy the whole kit, but they are cheap.

  7. Mark January 18, 2009 2:59 pm

    Where can I obtain replacement springs for these kits? The folks at Radiation Shack could not locate any replacement parts.

  8. Bruce Curry April 7, 2009 6:23 pm

    I have the Science Fair 200 in One electronic project lab with the wires, unit and book if you are interested.
    Bruce Curry

  9. Jason Quarry April 23, 2009 9:49 pm

    Fantastic! When I was a kid I loved those electronics sets… I had a 10-in-1, a huge 150-in-1, and a 25-in-one focussing on solar power. Still at home somewhere…. 😉

  10. Heath May 3, 2009 7:04 pm

    Jason, I also have a 10 in One, but have lost the manual. Any chance of getting a copy sent to me PLEASE!!!! I’ve been scouting the net for the last 18 months trying to find a manual or someone else with the 10 in One kit.
    My email is gcfisho at bigpond.com ( replace the at with @) …. hoping you can help me out.
    Cheers
    Heath

  11. Andrew in Oz May 31, 2009 5:54 am

    I have the Science Fair 160 in kit and manual
    I also have a Gakken 15 in 1 kit and manual. Is this like the 10 in 1 above?

    Also 2x Science Fair Junior Electronic Project Lab Kits
    1 is 28-153 Related to computer/logic circuits with manual
    the other is 28-151 and related to radio circuits.
    I am in desperate need of a manual for this.
    Thanks
    Andrew

  12. keshav babbar July 12, 2009 6:13 am

    I WANT TO SEE A PROJECT TO MAKE NOT A KIT BECAUSE I HAVE A KIT

  13. rcgrabbag July 12, 2009 9:25 pm

    Download the manual using the link above. And don’t use ALL CAPS. It makes it seem as though you are YELLING.

  14. Yves July 15, 2009 7:40 pm

    Desperate researching manual for 28-277 50-in-one Radio-Shack Science Fair…

    I’m ready to pay for it!

  15. Mike November 29, 2009 9:07 pm

    How is the manual comming along ? are you still working on it ?

  16. rcgrabbag November 30, 2009 5:04 pm

    No, I haven’t done anything with it. But, it’s always helpful to get a poke every now and then to remind me that there’s still a need. I’ll whittle away at it, but it’s a time-consuming process because I have to take photos of the pages (don’t have a scanner large enough for its oversized pages).

  17. JC May 26, 2010 11:11 am

    Do you have the schematic/pdf for a cat meow? I don’t recall what kit it was in 50/100/200 in One. Ty.

  18. DH July 30, 2010 8:47 am

    Hi there

    I have a Gakken “world of discovery” computer logic lab. That is all that it says on the box – I inherited it from my older brother. Any chance that someone knows where I could find the manual for it?
    Thanks.

  19. oz November 14, 2010 8:02 am

    I, too, had one of these kits in the late ’60s/early ’70s… and was still hacking away with it when I was in my 20s 🙂

    The link to the .pdf of the manual seems to be broken and only a zero-size file is available. Would you please re-upload the .pdf?

    Thanks

  20. rcgrabbag November 15, 2010 10:27 am

    Hi, thanks for the notice about the broken link. It’s now fixed. Keep in mind this download is not the complete manual, just a few select projects.

  21. oz November 20, 2010 10:57 pm

    Thx for the ‘link repair’ 🙂 Interesting, though, as I don’t remember the ‘characters’ in my version… nor the wiring ‘table’ (it was just a list of ’18-50′, ’22-23’… and you had to decide yourself about which colour to use – only some lengths of wire were long enough to make the connection)… but no doubt, there were some things lost/gained in the translation from the USA to Australia 🙂

    Grand memories…

  22. Randy Garrison March 21, 2011 2:22 am

    i have found a 160 in one kit and am looking for a pdf possibly for the manual as it was long gone. any help would be greatly appreciated

  23. rcgrabbag March 22, 2011 7:09 pm

    Sorry, Randy, I don’t have a 160-in-1. They come up on ebay from time to time for real cheap, so I’d grab one if I were you. Not a bad idea to have a spare kit either!

  24. Juan Carlos Argentina June 16, 2011 11:36 am

    Hello people ! Sorry im not speack english ! Need manuals for my Science Fair 200 in one / 100 in one thanks ! from Argentina. cv(at)mipw.com.ar

  25. juan carlos June 16, 2011 11:43 am

    NEED HELP MANUAL 200 IN ONE AND 100 IN ONE please ! is posible answer to cv(at)mipw.com.ar

  26. zircon December 27, 2011 9:55 am

    if any body can help for free MANUAL 200 IN ONE it will be a very good new year for some body
    thanks

  27. Ray May 6, 2012 2:59 pm

    I made a pdf of the (200 in One) manual if someone needs it. Its not the greatest quality but it should work.

  28. Keith July 17, 2012 9:14 am

    I need the 100-in-1 manual – it was lost when I moved in 2005. I also owned the old 50-in-1 (not the magnetic lab but the one with the meter and the solar cell in the center) as a child. The lab was thrown away many years ago, but I still have the original manual. I’ll scan and create a very professional manual of that one if someone will please make a copy of the 100-in-1 manual for me.

    Thanks in advance.

  29. Ray January 14, 2013 10:11 pm

    I made a pdf of the (200 in One) manual if someone needs it. Its not the greatest quality but it should work.

  30. Christiane Trdueau January 15, 2013 12:12 am

    I bougth in a garage sale the science fair 75 in 1 electronic project kit from Radio Shack, CAT. NO. 28-247, for my son, he’s in grade 5 and now it’s the time for him to learn about it. But I dont have the manual. I would like to know if anybody can help me please, would be great for him.

    thank you

    Chris

  31. George Franchino January 24, 2013 2:58 pm

    Hello, I’m looking for Radioshack science fair kit schematic and pictorial parts list for RK-100. It’s a solid state audio amplifier. Thanx for any assistance you can give. I’m willing to cover your time. Thanx, George Franchino

  32. marius June 27, 2013 10:02 pm

    I have three of the radioshack project kit manuals (75-in-1, 160-in-1, 200-in-1) and a 130-in-1 Elenco manual. Am willing to invest some time taking pics and compiling into a pdf. For copies – please email me – royalmp2001@gmail.com

  33. Myron July 11, 2013 8:17 pm

    I have a 100 n 1 Electronic Project kit complete. Has some extras. would like to sell. TShaw_31@yahoo.com

  34. Dwayne July 31, 2014 9:06 am

    This is awesome. I had the 100 in 1 project pictured at the top. I saved my money for a long time to buy that and I loved it! Thanks for the memories! 🙂

  35. Monique October 10, 2014 10:48 am

    I have the old science fair 50 in one electronic and magnetic project kit from Radio Shack but i am missing the instruction book. How can I get it?

  36. Gail July 28, 2015 8:47 pm

    Hi, I’m looking for the manual of the 150 in 1 Electronic Project Kit #28-248 to use with my second graders. Can you send me a PDF file at dngb24@yahoo.com . My students would be very greatful!

  37. VIJAY April 25, 2016 1:03 pm

    please let us know where we can get offer for 100 in 1 Electronic project lab

  38. Michael Nickerson May 14, 2016 11:57 am

    Author Jonathan Warfield, the links to the .pdf manual are broken. I see no way to contact you, except via comments.

  39. rcgrabbag May 14, 2016 1:31 pm

    Ok I will check into it.

  40. rcgrabbag May 17, 2016 3:40 pm

    Clicking the image of the manual works, but the ‘here’ link was broken. This has been fixed. Thanks for pointing that out.

  41. Pete November 6, 2016 5:29 pm

    I am looking for the 50-in-one and the 200-in-one manual if someone has a pdf or a link to them.

    Thanks in advance

  42. dave February 12, 2018 11:27 am

    We have a 50 in one Science Fair kit but the AA battery holster has a broken metal tab on one of the ‘negative’ ends. Any ideas how to fix? Thanks.

  43. M fry February 12, 2018 8:33 pm

    The battery holder is a universal part, so you will find them on ebay, Amazon, radio Shack or any other electronics parts distributor.
    Just replace the whole holder.

  44. cynthia June 1, 2019 9:36 am

    Hi, I am looking for the 100-in-one manual also if someone has a pdf or a link to them.

    Thanks

Leave a Comment

If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Comments

© 2002-2015 RC/GrabBag.com

Bad Behavior has blocked 428 access attempts in the last 7 days.