The History of EPE

This special feature describes the development of Everyday Electronics and Practical
Electronics over the years. On the next page, you can then view some fascinating original cover shots of these titles, together with a reminder about some of the typical adverts which appeared over time. EPE Editor Mike Kenward takes up the story and pays tribute to the team which is responsible for producing your favourite electronics magazine


EPE - Its History and People
A magazine born, split and rejoined

Practical Electronics magazine (PE) was founded in 1964 as a constructor's magazine for the electronics enthusiast. From it was born Everyday Electronics (EE) in 1971 which was designed to cater for the electronics novice. Both PE and EE were published under one Editor and team until January 1977, when separate Editors were appointed, and the titles moved into separate offices which were over 100 miles apart - only to be reunited again under one Editor in 1984!

Publication as "sister" titles once again continued until 1986 when both titles were sold off by their owners IPC Magazines Ltd., and so each title went its separate way, under the auspices of independent publishers

Screenshot of the very first issue (Nov. 1964) kindly supplied by Old Time Supplies

Over the years, the title of EE changed to reflect current vogues in the hobby electronics market. In the mid 1980s it was "Everyday Electronics and Computer Projects", reflecting the new-found upsurgence of computer related project building. These were truly the golden pioneering days of hobby electronics for the home computer enthusiast. From the October 1985 issue there was another title change, as Editor Mike Kenward explained at the time: it was to become Everyday Electronics and Electronics Monthly, reflecting an earlier acquisition of a rival title which was to be the precursor of similar mergers fifteen years later. Electronics Monthly was formerly known as Hobby Electronics, a rival to Everyday Electronics on the newsstands

In the early 90's the competing title Practical Electronics was to experience a marked decline in its fortunes, having all but deserted the practical needs of the advanced hobbyist. In 1992 it was purchased by Wimborne Publishing Ltd. who at that time were the publishers of Everyday Electronics. PE was merged into EE to form Everyday with Practical Electronics (EPE). The "with" in the title was dropped from the November 1995 issue. The volume numbering system used today has been kept from EE so it indicates publication from 1971 (volume 29 equates to the year 2000). EPE's roots, however, date back directly to 1964 when its "big sister" magazine PE was born

Our Internet-only version EPE Online was born in October 1998, and as far as we know it was the first downloadable magazine that could also be bought in printed format in newsstands. Overseas readers warmly welcomed the availability of a downloadable issue

EPE people

One person bears most of the responsibility for establishing PE and EE at the forefront of the electronics hobbyist market - Fred Bennett

Fred was the founding Editor of PE, and also delivered EE, which was originally intended to appeal to the beginner whilst leaving the heavyweight PE to cater for the more experienced constructor. Fred edited both magazines until they split in 1977. In fact he continued to edit EE until his retirement in 1984 when the magazines were reunited once again under one Editor - Mike Kenward

Mike originally joined the staff of PE in 1968, he moved to EE a few months before its launch, becoming Assistant Editor of EE in 1972. Mike left the magazine to edit ETI Canada in 1976, and decided to rejoin EE as its Editor in 1977. When both magazines were sold in 1986, Mike bought EE and set up Wimborne Publishing Ltd. in Dorset to publish it. Mike is the owner and Editor of EPE

One person has actually been involved with both publications right from the start: he is Dave Barrington who was Deputy Editor on EPE. Dave originally worked on Practical Wireless - another IPC title at the time - and transferred to PE when it was launched in 1964. He has given sterling service to the magazine and is the person mainly responsible for the hard-won reputation for the high quality of presentation, reliability and accuracy of information which is now renowned the world over and which EPE holds very dear. Dave retired in 2005 but continues to be involved

Another member of staff who influenced EPE over many years is John Becker. John was Technical Editor of EPE until retiring in 2005 and went from being a reader of the No. 1 issue of PE to being a contributor in 1972, to an advertiser for many years (when he owned "Phonosonics" and sold kits for PE projects ) then to Editor of PE from 1987 until 1990, returning to EPE as Technical Editor in 1994. John was at the forefront of keeping EPE up with technology. For example, his PIC Tutorial course (published March to May '98 and later produced as a CD-ROM), has been acclaimed as the best ever PIC programming tutorial. John has been responsible over the years for more EPE projects than we care to count, and remains involved on a freelance basis

Another unsung hero was Peter Mew, the Advertisement Manager. Peter first joined PE and EE as Assistant Advertisement Manager back in 1972, moved on to work on a variety of other publications in 1978 and then rejoined EE in 1986. He retired from the post in 2005. Stewart Kearn now handles advertising

It is worth noting that the above four staff members between them have nearly 100 years of experience on PE, EE and EPE

Many other people have helped to make EPE what it is today, freelance authors and designers like Robert Penfold, Barry Fox, Ian Poole, Max Horsey, Andy Flind (now also responsible for producing many of the technical diagrams in EPE) and Alan Winstanley. Alan was an avid reader of Everyday Electronics as a schoolboy in the 1970's and wrote his very first constructional article for EE April 1978. He manages our Internet presence and previously ran Ingenuity Unlimited and Circuit Surgery (now written by co-writer Ian Bell of the University of Hull), plus occasional articles and series for EPE

Backing everyone up there is a loyal and dedicated typesetting and administration staff in Wimborne - David Leaver, Marilyn Goldberg, Fay Kearn and Stewart Kearn, plus a wide range of freelance contributors spread all over the World. Sadly, regular EPE contributor Andy Flind died after bravely fighting a short illness and his inventiveness is very much missed. The production of EPE remains very much a team effort

EPE - The Seven Year Itch

Interestingly, the fortunes of the magazine have been marked by significant events peaking roughly every seven years!

Oct. 1964 - PE was born

Oct. 1971 - EE was born as a sister publication to PE, both published in London.
Dec. 1977 - PE moved to Poole in Dorset under a separate Editor.

Apr. 1984 - EE rejoined PE in Poole

Jan. 1986 - PE and EE were sold to separate publishers

Oct. 1992 - PE was purchased by EE and the magazines were merged to form EPE

Oct. 1998 - EPE Online was born. Making EPE the first ever printed magazine that could also be bought and downloaded from the World Wide Web

Feb. 1999 - Wimborne Publishing acquired its UK rival Electronics Today International (ETI)

Oct. 1999 - Wimborne Publishing Ltd. acquires Radio Bygones magazine, the journal for vintage radio enthusiasts

The year 2000 opened on 2nd January with the sad news of the sudden death at the age of 61 of Terry Farmiloe, our typesetting manager for the past ten years. We miss him greatly and working life was never to be the same again in the EPE offices

In 2001 - EPE relocated to new offices on the outskirts of Wimborne

In 2003 a new web site went online

In 2006 EPE announced an association with Silicon Chip of Australia. EPE also went to full colour for the very first time, printed on higher quality paper with better photography and clarity, to appeal to today's discerning readers

The latest developments at EPE strengthens the UK's leading hobby electronics magazine and will ensure its continued success, as well as meeting today's demands for high quality printed magazines

We hope you enjoyed reminiscing with us - now you might like to go to our Picture Gallery, featuring some cover shots and one or two adverts from former issues of EE and PE of the 1970's and 1980's, with some commentary to bring back some of those memories

Best wishes from the EPE Team