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The History of ETI Magazine The voyage of the good ship “etty” by Peter Ihnat Electronics – the final frontier. This describes the voyage of the good ship “etty”. Its 19-year mission: to explore the brave, new world; to seek out new technologies and to innovate; to boldly go where no journal had gone before! The first cover of Electronics Today magazine from April 1971, and the last cover of ETI magazine from April 1990; before it merged with Electronics Australia. R eading the articles by Leo Simpson about the history of Silicon Chip magazine (August & September 2022; siliconchip.au/Series/385) made me put a finger to the keyboard to describe the other side of our electronics magazines at the time, Electronics Today International or the good ship “etty” as it was known. April 2023 marks 52 years since ETI was first published. While my employment with the magazine was short (about 16 months), it overlapped with the upheavals in the electronics magazine scene described by Leo Simpson. 38 Silicon Chip By going through my back issues of the magazine, editorials, staff listings, various online references and my recollections, I was able to piece together a brief history of ETI magazine. According to an editorial by Roger Harrison in ETI, August 1984, “Electronics Today” was conceived by 15-year-old schoolboy Kim Ryrie in 1968. Kim tried to convince his publisher father, Colin, that there was a market for an alternative electronics magazine. It was a market dominated by the then-long-established Electronics Australia magazine (EA). Australia's electronics magazine Collyn Rivers responded to an advert for an “electronics journalist” with sound practical experience placed in, of course, Electronics Australia. He joined Modern Magazines in 1970, and Electronics Today was born on March 23rd, 1971. Editor’s note: we previously published a brief memoir about ETI by ex-editor Collyn Rivers (April 2011; siliconchip.au/Article/960). Surely, a publisher starting a competing electronics magazine wouldn’t advertise in what would be the magazine’s competitor. Looking through siliconchip.com.au back issues of Electronics Australia from about November 1968 to December 1970, the only advert that even remotely looked plausible was on page 49 of the October 1970 issue (reproduced below). Some of the details look about right: the production of a new publication, requiring a complete and thorough knowledge of electronics and being fully conversant with the Australian electronics industry. Could this have been the advert? Electronics Today’s first issue then came out in April 1971 with minimal staff: Collyn Rivers as editor-in-chiefsub-layout-secretary-cleaner and Barry Wilkinson doing the projects and drawings. A subscription to the magazine cost $6 for 12 issues (EA’s cover price at the time was 50¢). Kim Ryrie was the Projects Advisor, and I noticed that Roger Harrison’s name appeared in the staff list from around July of that year as Editorial Assistant. Going international Collyn’s initial research indicated that the publication would be financially viable if it could be published in at least two countries. So twelve months later, in April 1972, a British edition was launched, followed six months later by a French edition. In 1977, German and Dutch versions were released, Canadian in 1978 and Indonesian in 1980. There was also a pirated Indian version that he decided “not to know about”. The word “International” was added to the title with the launch of the British edition, and ever since, the magazine has been known as Electronics Today International or simply “ETI”. The August 1972 editorial by Collyn covered the sudden death of Colin Stirling Ryrie on July 7 in a boating accident. In the late 1970s, Kim Ryrie and school friend Peter Vogel went on to invent the Fairlight CMI synthesiser and achieved a good deal of international fame – see https://w.wiki/6Lz4 and https://w.wiki/6Lz5 This article, written by Collyn Rivers and Roger Harrison, was featured in the July 1979 issue of ETI magazine and gave some background information on those two early staff members in their usual cheeky manner. This advert was taken from the October 1970 issue of Electronics Australia. It presumably served as Collyn Rivers’ introduction to Modern Magazines, upon where Electronics Today was created. Topics covered in ETI To appeal to a wide range of readers, the magazine not only covered the design and construction of electronic projects but also featured many general topics of interest, from cable TV to the latest space missions. siliconchip.com.au Australia's electronics magazine June 2023  39 Left: this cartoon (December 1979), drawn by Brendan Akhurst, was used for the regular column called “Dregs”. It was a column that mostly described ‘interesting’ queries people would make to ETI by phone or letter. Below: ETI were not immune to the odd joke here and there, with this FM Tuna project from the April 1979 issue, the result of their “Synergistic Beer Drinking” sessions they had with readers. The magazine had the following regular columns: ■ Amateur Radio (written by Roger Harrison, starting October 1972) ■ Book Reviews ■ Classical Recordings (reviews of classical music LPs until September 1974) ■ Component News ■ Equipment News ■ News Digest ■ Readers’ Letters ■ Ideas for Experimenters (circuits and ideas submitted by readers) ■ From June 1979, “Dregs” (the name says it all) There were many multi-part series to help those just starting out in electronics and those wanting to brush up on their theory, such as a 14-part series called “Radio Astronomy for Amateurs”, written by Roger Harrison that started in December 1971. A series called “ELECTRONICS – it’s easy!” started in November 1973 and wound up having 36 parts. It introduced many aspects of electronics, describing the different devices, what they did and how to use them. “CMOS – a practical guide” had six parts and started in July 1976. Some of the names of staff and contributors to the magazine would certainly ring a bell with those who read ETI: Louis A Challis and Associates, David Tilbrook, Phil Wait, Ron Koenig, Graeme Teesdale, Tom Moffat, Ian 40 Silicon Chip Thomas, Ian Bishop, S.K. Hui, Peter Phillips, Neale Hancock, Terry Kee, Jane McKenzie and Mary Rennie to name just a few. I’m sure they each have a great story to tell about their association with the magazine. continuous stream of enquiries from those still wishing to build the ETI480. It was intended as an upgrade in the same spirit as the ETI480 (it used much the same components). The SC200 followed in January-March 2017, which delivers more power using more modern parts; it is still quite popular. Notable projects Due to the popularity of the different There were close to 700 projects topics covered by the magazine, and published in the magazine over its maybe also to generate an extra income run, some of them quite involved. For stream, ETI released separate publiexample: cations (sometimes known as “one■ The ETI3600 and ETI4600 music shots”). They included titles such as: synthesisers, starting in the Octo■ 30 Audio Projects ber 1973 issue. ■ Electronics – It’s Easy! (volumes ■ The ETI477 series 5000 stereo 1 and 2) amplifier (January to March 1981) ■ ETI Circuits (1 to 6) and its ETI478 preamplifier (July ■ Circuit Techniques (1 to 4) to October 1981). ■ Lab Notes and Data ■ The ETI414 8-channel master-­ ■ How to build Gold and Treasure mixer (February to May 1973). Detectors ■ The ETI166 function generator ■ Test Gear (1 to 4) (July to October 1983) ■ Top Projects (volumes 1 to 11) A very popular amplifier was the ■ International 3600 and 4600 SynETI480 100W amplifier, published in thesisers December 1976. Many up-and-coming ■ Electronic Projects for Cars bands used it at the time. I lost track Collyn Rivers remained Editor, of how many mixers and amplifiers with Steve Braidwood as Assistant I helped build for friends playing in Editor, until November 1976. Around bands. For the band I played in, I built then, Steve became Editor and Collyn a couple of ETI480s and an expanded moved to the role of Publisher. Les Bell 12-channel mixer based on the ETI414, took over as Editor from June 1977 till which I still have. March 1979. Editor’s note – we published the SC480 amplifier in the January & Social events February 2003 issues in response to a In October 1978, the magazine Australia's electronics magazine siliconchip.com.au Above: “Synergistic Beer Drinking” was a monthly event held by ETI at the Bayswater Hotel in Rushcutters Bay, Sydney. It was a way for readers to provide feedback to the staff. It was held from October 1978 till December 1979. Right: from September 1979, Roger Harrison (pictured) took over from Collyn Rivers as the Editor. This continued until the end of 1984, which was not long after ETI had been sold to Federal Publishing (the owners of EA). launched a new event: “Synergistic Beer Drinking”. On the evening of the first Wednesday of each month, ETI staff could be found at the Bayswater Hotel, Rushcutters Bay, having a few beers. Readers were invited to turn up to have some fun, share stories, have a drink or two, provide feedback on the magazine, and of course, provide ideas for projects. A couple of months later, it was changed to the second Wednesday of the month to better coincide with the release of each issue of the magzine. This continued until Friday, December 7th, 1979, when “The last great wild SYNERGISTIC beer-­ drinking bash!” was held (see above). In March 1979, another feature of the magazine was introduced. Readers could phone ETI after 4pm and speak to staff about their projects. The April 1979 issue listed the staff as Collyn Rivers (Managing Editor), Roger Harrison (Acting Editor), Phil Wait (Project Manager), Les Bell (Special Assignment) and three names under siliconchip.com.au Editorial Staff: Phil Cohen, Jonathan Scott and Jan Verdon. From September 1979, Roger Harrison became Editor, a position he held until about December 1984 or January 1985. A significant change occurred in March 1983, when Roger announced in his editorial that ETI had been sold and was now owned and published by The Federal Publishing Company Pty Ltd at 140 Joynton Ave, Rosebery NSW. It ended up staying under Federal Publishing until its demise in 1990 (the end for EA came just 11 years later). The upheaval in the Australian electronics magazine industry started around mid-1985. Leo Simpson covered what happened from the EA and Silicon Chip point of view in the article I mentioned earlier. 1984/85 was when I was involved with ETI, so I saw events from the ETI perspective. My background I studied Electrical Engineering at the University of Wollongong and, in Australia's electronics magazine the last year of the course, I scored a part-time job in their Physics Department, designing and building electronic equipment. While finishing the BE, I enrolled in a BSc and eventually completed my studies in 1983. At the time, I was reading Electronics Australia occasionally but buying ETI just about every month. I saw an advert for a Project Engineer at ETI and decided to apply. They looked at my credentials and, despite that, I got the job and started in December. Finally, I was working alongside Roger Harrison (Editor), Jennifer Whyte (Assistant Editor), Geoff Nicholls (Project Engineer), David Currie (Draughtsman) and several other staff who looked after production, advertising, art and reader services. What an interesting and vibrant team! Working for ETI The offices and workshop were in an area of Federal Publishing in Rosebery, Federal Publishing being the magazine arm of Eastern Suburbs June 2023  41 Aug 1922 – Mar 1939 Wireless Weekly Apr 1939 – Jan 1955 Radio & Hobbies A Timeline of Electronics Magazines in Australia The Masterplay was one of the projects I worked on with Geoff Nicholls. It was published in the September 1984 issue of ETI. Newspapers group. Out the back, in a separate building, were the presses. What a sight to see - kilometres of paper streaming through the machines printing papers and magazines in full colour at high speed! With flexible working hours, I was able to drive up from Wollongong after the peak each day, missing all the traffic, then return home after the rush. It helped that Rosebery is on the southern side of Sydney, so I had to do minimal driving through the Sydney traffic. Not long after I started at ETI, there were more additions to the staff: Rob Irwin as a Project Engineer in January 1984, Jim Rowe as Managing Editor in April 1984, followed closely by Jon Fairall as Technical Writer in May 1984. It was a dynamic place. We spent many hours coming up with ideas for projects, designing them, building them, having lunch at the Rosebery Hotel just down the road, having lunch at the Sri Lanka Room above the Agincourt on Broadway and so on. Geoff, Rob and I had a small, cramped workshop where we designed and constructed our projects. The component drawers were well-stocked, and we could always order what was needed for any project we were working on. There were two rooms outside the workshop with a UV light box, a sink for wet work (etching PCBs) and a high-speed drill press for drilling PCBs and enclosures. Basically, we laid out our circuit boards by sticking DIP and circle patterns onto clear sheets. These were joined using stick-on tapes of different widths. We exposed the sheet onto Scotchcal 8007 orange film using the UV light box to produce a negative and developed the sheet by wiping it with cotton wool soaked in Scotchcal 8500 developer. We then exposed the film onto negative-­ acting Riston-coated PCB material using the UV light box again, developed the Riston using another special developer, etched the PCB in hot ammonium persulfate solution, removed the Riston with acetone and then drilled the holes using the drill press. Finally, we could solder parts onto the board. The idea was to get the board design right on the first go; otherwise, it would take too long to re-do it. It’s interesting to note that, as far back as October 1977, ETI started printing the PCB artwork for its projects on a separate page with the reverse side of that page printed in blue. This was to allow constructors to expose directly through the paper onto Scotchcal film. They continued this until ETI moved to Federal Publishing. I recall having frequent team meetings, usually at the Sri Lanka room, with the late Gary Johnston, who was in the early stages of running Jaycar Electronics. At one lunch, he mentioned that he had acquired multiple turntables and asked if we could design a project around them. Geoff and I got stuck straight into it. We designed the electronics; I cut up some pineboard at home and made a box to house the electronics with the turntable dropping into the top. I covered it with iron-on timber veneer, and it came up looking quite good. It needed a name, so after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, we came up with David Kelly, Rosalind Bromwich and Kim Bucknole were just some of the people who acted in the role as Editor for ETI. 42 Silicon Chip Australia's electronics magazine siliconchip.com.au Feb 1955 – Mar 1965 Radio, Television & Hobbies (RTV&H) April 1965 – May 1990 Electronics Australia (EA) Apr 1971 – Mar 1972 April 1972 – April 1990 Electronics Today Electronics Today International (ETI) June 1990 – September 1995 EA with ETI combined magazine October 1995 – December 1999 EA with Professional Electronics & ETI January 2000 – March 2000 Electronics Australia name brought back April 2000 – April 2001 – January 2001 October 2001 Electronics Renamed again to Australia Electronics Australia renamed to “ea” Today (“eat”) Note: December 2000 & January 2001 was a combined issue of “ea”, with Jul 1985 – Dec 1988 Australian Electronics no February & March 2001 issues. “eat” magazine had a combined issue for September & October 2001, but had no issue in August 2001. Monthly (AEM) November 1987 – Present Silicon Chip magazine one. EA had the “Playmaster” series of amplifiers and such, so we named this one “Masterplay” (ETI442). Most of the projects we tackled fitted in with the different interests of staff and feedback from readers. So Rob designed many of the audio projects, Geoff worked on Microbee/microprocessor and audio projects and I did photography and microprocessor-­ based projects. Photography was one of my hobbies. Besides taking photos, I also did darkroom work developing monochrome & slide film and making B&W, Cibachrome and Ektacolour prints. As soon as it was known I could take photos, it wasn’t long before I was photographing the project prototypes for inclusion in the magazine. Things start to change It was either December 1984 or January 1985 that I came into work and saw Roger Harrison being escorted out. My memory is a bit hazy; I still don’t know what had happened, but a new Editor, David Kelly, had been appointed. Around that time, a new extension to the building was completed, and ETI moved into new offices and workshop. Unknown to us, Federal Publishing had purchased Electronics Australia magazine in November 1984, and their whole team was moving into the same area! What a strange situation – two competing magazines owned by the same company and sharing the same space. At least the new electronics workshop was roomy and square. EA project engineers worked at benches against one wall with component shelves/ drawers in the centre separating them from our benches, which were against the opposite wall. I left around March 1985. By December, both Geoff and Rob had also left, and Jon Fairall moved up to become Editor around June 1986. siliconchip.com.au Only a few years later, in his March 1989 editorial, Jon announced that it was his last one. He commented, “The number of pages devoted to electronics in one form or another must have jumped tenfold in the last two decades. Unfortunately, the audience hasn’t increased by anything like that amount”. With several competing electronics magazines being produced locally, maybe he saw the writing on the wall. Rosalind Bromwich took over as Editor in April, and in her May 1989 editorial, she announced the return of Roger Harrison. With his son Jamye and others from the Apogee Group, they would be contributing regularly to the magazine. Rosalind left in October, and Kim Bucknole took over as Editor and manager in November. But alas, all that was short-lived, and the final issue of ETI came out in April 1990, ending a 19-year run. An unsuccessful merger Was there still hope? Jim Rowe had been Editor of Electronics Australia since July 1987 after Leo Simpson, Greg Swain and John Clarke had left. In his June 1990 editorial, he announced that Federal Publishing “decided to merge the two titles together”, combining the best elements of both publications. So EA and ETI became “Electronics Australia with ETI”, the first issue under that name being June 1990. The timeline above shows the history of Australian electronics magazines from 1922 to the present. It is apparent that after a stable period from August 1922 to about 1990, not long after Federal Publishing had purchased both ETI and EA, things started to go haywire. Combining ETI with EA lasted less than 10 years, and by the 1990s, Silicon Chip was becoming more established as the electronics magazine of choice. Then, in the space Australia's electronics magazine of 22 months, with three more name changes and a new Editor (Graham Cattley from September 1999), the Federal Publishing idea of what an electronics magazine should be had failed. The final issue of Electronics Australia Today (eat) appeared as the September/October 2001 double-issue. This ended a record run for an electronics magazine in Australia, starting in 1922 and finishing in 2001. I believe the last few years of that run emphasised that electronics enthusiasts weren’t interested in a glossy magazine describing the latest tech gear; they wanted ‘real’ electronics, ie, circuits, software and hardware. That is the market that Silicon Chip has been catering for and continues to support. After I left ETI, I lost contact (for a while) with the other ETI staff I had worked with. Roger Harrison went on to create a new magazine called Australian Electronics Monthly (AEM), which continued for just over three years. I remember receiving a call from Rob Irwin sometime after he left ETI. He was working for Choice Magazine and was looking for ideas on how to set up stepper motors to automate a test rig. I hadn’t heard from Geoff Nicholls for nearly two decades until one day he phoned, from Germany, of all places! He was living there and had come across my contact details in a box of electronic parts he was sorting through. We stayed in contact and exchanged many circuit designs, software and ideas until his unexpected death at the end of 2021. It was a great experience working for the good ship “etty”, a short period I’ll never forget. I enjoyed the projects, comradery, jokes and brainstorming sessions over drinks and great meals. Those times have passed, and “etty’s” voyage is now over, but it’s great to see the spirit of electronics in Australia continue through the surviving magazine, Silicon Chip. SC June 2023  43