Apparatus is described to generate and detect pulsed ultrasonics in solids and liquids over the frequency range 1–20 MHz. The equipment should be useful for demonstration purposes in teaching laboratories because of its low cost and ease of construction. Experiments are suggested for velocity of sound, elastic constant and ultrasonic attenuation measurements on various materials over a wide temperature range (1–400 K) and results on polycrystalline chromium obtained with this apparatus are presented.