In 1925 Hugo Gernsback envisioned a culture 50 years hence where everyone had a hi-fi, radio and tv set. Intrigued by the shape of things to come, he coined the phrase science fiction for which he’s remembered annually as the namesake of sci-fi’s Pulitzer, the Hugo Award.

I introduce you to Hugo Gernsback because he’s the Jules Verne of that peculiar literature which reports from the twilight zone of consumer electronics where fantasy turns fact.

Gernsback lived in constant anticipation of media futures, publishing the fantastic Science and Invention magazine in the ’20s and the precipitous Shortwave and Television magazine in the ’30s. Several issues of the latter provide exact schematics to build a tv set at home in your spare time—this in 1932. Gernsback made social demands on laboratory experiments; the moment principles were found he postulated practical applications. A subscription to whatever magazine he was publishing at the moment (they went out of business with unfortunate regularity) guaranteed that when it came to electric toys you’d be 10 to 20 years ahead of everyone else on your block.

Gernsback died in 1964, leaving Radio-Electronics magazine (75¢ at your newsstand) as his legacy to the post-war electric kids who, nurtured on Ernie Kovacs and Mr. Wizard, were concerned with adapting media to rock ‘n’ revolution messages.

At first glance, Radio-Electronics appears to be a litany for tv repairmen. Actually it’s the place to look if you’re interested in drawing board fresh electric media as yet uncontaminated by any particular message. It was RadioElectronics that made it possible for me to have a Sony portapak with a serial number under one thousand, the first tv projector on the Upper West Side, and my own home computer.

Each issue begins with “Looking Back," a column by my favorite future shocker, David Lachenbruch. Continuing the Gernsbackian tradition of reporting in plain English, Lachenbruch’s column has a tip sheet quality; in the April issue he reported that CBS has built an 8-pound color tv camera that runs on flashlight batteries, that a half dozen companies besides Magnavox and Sears are introducing tv pong games, that Phillips, MCA, and Zenith have agreed to standardize the video disc, and that at last count there were 364,000,000 tv sets on the planet Earth.

In Radio-Electronics are plans to build a tv-typewriter that generates a display on your tv screen, a monthly column devoted to the new breed of under $500 computers, test reports of the latest stereo components, and advertisers who offer digital clock kits ($16.95), build your own tv camera kits ($225), and alpha brainwave monitors completely assembled ($55).

Legend has it that Gernsback also published the first mail order electronics catalog. Lafayette, Radio Shack, Olson, and other firms pursue this extremely competitive enterprise with gigantic catalogs and MacDonald’s-like chains of retail outlets. These catalogs aren’t up to Radio-Electronics’ state of the art, but do provide an excellent cross-section of available media hardware, including a few units not found elsewhere. Lafayette Radio Electronics (111 Jericho Turnpike, Syosset, New York 11791; and Burstein-Applebee (3199 Nerceir, Kansas City, Mo. 64111) publish the best catalogs, and both are free for the asking.

Living on the frontier of consumer electronics can mean soldering kits together. New hardware is often introduced in kit form a year or two before Radio Shack has it. PAIA Electronics (1020 W. Wilshire Blvd., Oklahoma City, Ok. 73116) has an under $100 synthesizer kit among the many exotic items in its free catalog. Southwest Technical Products (219 W. Rhapsody, San Antonio, Texas 78216) gets 50^ for its catalog of kits like its Theremin ($22.75PPd) and Stereo CompressorExpander ($22.95 PPd). Heathkit (Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022) is the largest kit manufacturer. Their free catalog has all sorts of kits from a 25” color tv (with digital channel & time readouts on screen) in a hideous Americana cabinet to the latest electronic burglar alarm.

Another invaluable source for outfitting a media center is special interest publishing. Your friends will think you’re nuts if they catch you reading Educational & Industrial Television (C.S. Tepfer Publishing Co.,607 Main St., Ridgefield, Conn. 06877,$12 a year) but this lively monthly is chock-full of the latest on video cassette recorders, tv projectors, inexpensive tv cameras, and how to keep them running. Although they’ll deny it at your local hifi shop, bi-amplification and panel speakers are producing new stereo sound experiences that make quad obsolete. Get the truth about current hi-fi products with a subscription to The Absolute Sound (P.O. Box 5, Northport, New York, 11768, $12 a year by first class mail).

Almost every new electronic product, whether it’s made by Sony or some guy in his garage, is heralded with a flyer, brochure, or folder. Manufacturers publish literature that’s right out of the pages of another Gernsback publication, Amazing Tales. On one side of a thick sheet of paper they print a Retouched color picture of an amplifier photographed, to look like a four story office building and below the photo is a dreamy description of what it’ll do when you get it home; on the other side are the product’s actual technical specifications. It pays to read both sides; manufacturer’s literature frequently gives a more reliable fantasy than their equipment gives reliable performance. Sony (9 West 57th St., New York, NY 10019) publishes the best literature. Two of their classics are “AV Series V2 Inch Tape Videocorder and Accessories” and “Video Products VC (Color Videocassette) Series” catalogs. Like most good catalogs, each gives a basic introduction to the equipment being sold. To get a cross-section of manufacturer’s literature, fill out the readers’ service card in Audio magazine (75¢ at your newsstand).

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When I discover hardware I can’t live without I use the Yellow Pages to track down a dealer who sells it. Such unlikely headings as Television Equipment—Closed Circuit will lead to suppliers. A number of discount mail order electronics houses arose in response to fair trade laws. One reliable outfit with low prices (and a free catalog) is Dixie Hi-Fi (5600 Second St., N.E., Washington, D.C., 20011).

Electronics firms and their dealers believe once they sell something that’s it. If it doesn’t work, tough. It’s not unusual for even the biggest manufacturers to make exaggerated claims for their products and occasionally distribute unreliable equipment. To protect yourself, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to the Electronics Industries Association (P.O. Box 19369, Washington, D.C. 20036) requesting any of their helpful brochures: “Tips on Television,” “Tips on Audio Products,” “Tips on Tape Equipment,” “Tips ort Calculators,” “Television Safety Tips,” and “Tips for Consumers on Electronic Products Service.”

If it all gets to be too much, order a crystal set from Johnson-Smith.