national electronics museum

This was a real surprise! It covered the development of electronics from Edison & Tesla to advanced missile and aerospace technology and everything in between. Allow a couple of hours to view all the exhibits and displays. Well worth the visit!

If you have kids that you want to be influenced with the history of advanced technology, this is a great museum to have them visit. This is a museum specifically focused on electrical engineering, and the timelines of history of electronics progress. Exhibits on the fundamentals of electronics, the rapid advancement during WWII, The Cold War, Vietnam.

Nice lil' place if you are looking for an uncrowded museum. My faves are the old phonographs. Great to show the youngsters but the rest might be too technical for them to enjoy.

Interesting items and displays - got there at 1:30 on Sat. closed at 2, no discount for 1/2 hour rush thru.

I've known about this place for a while, but never found the time to visit until recently. They were hosting a robotics event, and I was impressed by the displays and how it was set up to appeal to a wide variety of ages. While at the event, I finally got to look at the exhibits and was surprised how large and well managed everything was. Since it was started by company employees, the exhibits focus mainly on military applications that deal with Westinghouse projects. The museum is active throughout the year, hosting special events, regular IEEE meetings, and a working amateur radio station. They also offer ham operator classes to the public. The museum may not be for everyone, but it is certainly very interesting and a good deal for the price of admission, which at this time is five dollars. They also have a pretty good web site.

This place is a wonderful, inexpensive place to visit for anyone. I guess it is more geared towards former Westinghouse employees or geeks that enjoy old radars, comm gear and cold war electronics, but it's is enjoyable for most age groups. There are some interactive toys and exhibits that would appeal to kids as well as adults, and lots of wonderful old electronics for the old ET's and electronics workers from all ages. This museum is a little difficult to find unless you're looking for it, its right on the corner of West Nursery Rd and near the Hilton. Very inexpensive, and a nice little gem.

Great place! I loved the outdoor displays of radar antennas from across the history of radar, including some rare non-parabolic dish types!

I love this little museum. However, it is not for everyone. It is underwritten by Northrup and is very defense avionics focused. If you want to see radar systems and electronic counter-measures this is a must-see. On the broader appeal, they have a nice exhibit on the use of radar on the eve of Pearl Harbor and Ham radio.

Admission is cheap ($3 per adult) and the exhibits are hands-on and interesting. It's a great place for techie-types to visit. My favorite part was where you stand in front of a heat-seeking camera and can see the cold parts of your face on a TV screen. Very cool and entertaining place to see in the area.

The National Electronics Museum is a small - but dense - museum that is off the beaten path near a bunch of hotels near BWI Airport. The only reasons I found it were (1) I was staying at the Hilton down the street; and (2) there are some large old radar arrays displayed outside of the museum that used to be part of the anti-aircraft defenses designed to protect Washington, DC from Soviet bombers.These arrays are pretty typical of the collection in the museum, which includes electronics from as far back as the early 19th century. The museum focuses on the development of electronics over the years, emphasizing certain applications of electronics, namely satellites, electronic counter measures for military aircraft, military radar and electronic communications technologies.The museum itself is a little amateurish, with hand-typed placards on some exhibits and rather dingy display areas. But there are a bunch of interactive exhibits demonstrating electric principles and a cool infrared technology demonstration. The challenge of this museum is that you'd really need to spend a lot of time here reading the explanations for how the technology works to appreciate it. While certain artifacts such as old satellites and ancient TVs are interesting to look at, most of the exhibits are boxes of wires, knobs and switches that are indistinguishable to a layperson, such as the dozens of radar jammers that all look the same. There are very detailed explanations of how all these devices work. It's pretty intimidating for someone like me with a non-science college degree. But someone interested in "how things work" would love it, and I'd have enjoyed spending some time learning about the principles and mechanics of these electronic devices about which I know very little. Unfortunately, I only had a few hours to spend here, and you'd really need more than that to read and understand many of these devices. Due to the technical nature of this museum, I imagine most young children would be very bored here. Really, the best reason to go here is to spend a day learning about electronics rather than to try to kill an hour or two waiting for a flight or meeting (which is what will likely bring most people here), as you just won't get that much out of it if you walk around looking at things without reading anything (unless you already have substantial knowledge of how electronics work).It's an interesting museum with great learning opportunities, though, and the $3 admission fee is certainly reasonable. For a price that low, it's worth some time, even if you don't have hours and hours to devote to it.

Walked through with my 12 and 13 year old kids. I found it very interesting and walked out with some new knowledge of modern electronics and the principles behind it. My 13 year old son was intrigued but 12 year old daughter not so much. They show evolution of many commonly used electronics and great displays of real hardware. There were also some push button demonstrations. We liked the Infrared camera. Took about an hour to go through and price was great.

The $3 admission fee for adults is a bargain. I was only able to spend an hour in the museum becuase I had to catch a flight. There is a ton of great interative displays and is interesting for people that are not very electronic savy.

My wife and I took our "Cousin Camp" to the museum today. We did so with more than a little apprehension due to the age span of our five grandchildren; 5,7,8,9,11. We were more than pleasantly surprised. First and foremost, there were many hands-on displays and the information ranged from very basic to rather detailed technical things. It's located by BWI Airport along Nursery road where many of the airport hotels are located. Easy access and plenty of parking. Check this out for a great time with or without the kids. An hour or two is probably a good basic visit. The cost is very reasonable.

This place is an incredible place introduce anyone to electronics!! I didn't realize how many frequencies are used by me (cellphone, key fobs, radio, wifi, microwave, etc.) every day. If you know an old electronics buff or have a child/grandchild from 5yrs - 35 yrs old, this place is priceless. Bring them here!!! Plan on about 1-2 hours, then go to the National Cryptologic Museum (10 min drive) for the next part of your day (lunch in between at G&M Restaurant?).

This is a hands-on museum with a lot of great Space models to check out. Extremely interesting. One item is a working camera. One of 3--l is on the moon, l at the Smithsonian, and l is here!!!! Little known, but a GREAT place to explore with your family.