On Fri, 19 Nov 2004 20:43:16 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:


WARNING! Flashback alert! Hide the beanbags and the lava lamps.....

My engineering career was sparked by those "100-in-1" electronic
project kits that Radio Shack used to sell. This led to an interest in
radio, which I cultivated with CB and then Ham radio.

I used to practically live in Radio Shack and Lafayette.

It distresses me to see what Radio Shack has "evolved" into. The have
few parts anymore and are little more than a small time consumer
electronics/toy store. It saddens me to see it that way, but I
understand the market pressures which brought it on. There aren't many
"experimenters" out there anymore who actually use discrete parts.
Most new techies, are into software driven circuits.

Another reason to long for the good old days.....

I had a long discussion many years ago with Wayne Green, W2NSD, who in
his day, was firmly convinced that technical educations came from
learning how to build, break and trouble shoot "stuff". Looking back
on his career, I'd have to say he was right. My kids were all
experimenters and when they broke something, my approach was to have
them fix it and only when they were stuck could they come to me for
help.


Most of my education was of the self-taught, "school of hard knocks"
method. I learned FAR more by experimenting on my own (Along with the
shocks, burns, and smoke to prove it!) than by sitting in a classroom
listening to an instructor talk about it.

The skill of troubleshooting is an aptitude. It requires a certain
analytical, logical mindset. Those who have this aptitude, pick it up
without any trouble. Those who don't have the aptitude, will likely
never fully grasp the concepts.

It doesn't matter to me if it's a ham radio, a fuel injection system,
consumer electronics, a lawn mower, or the boat, I solve the problems
in the same way, by a logical process of elimination.

Dave