On Sun, 4 Jun 2000, Sellam Ismail wrote:
> This makes me wonder. How standard were the "standard" components of
> radios back during WWII times? Did hackers of that era also see valves
> and the other components that radios were being made with as very exotic
> or specialized? Maybe hackers 50 years from now will look at ASICs as
looking through some hobbyist magazines of that era and earlier, as
well as talking to people who were hobbyists back then, could provide
the answer... this would be interesting to discuss with the older
hobbyists found at hamfests. I guess at one point finding things like
enameled wire and cat's whiskers (no, these didn't come from cats) was
more difficult than it is now, although at one point, it was easier
than it is now, I understand.
Has anyone else found that from a hobbyists perepective, modern
digital electronics, with all the blasted surface mount chips and
ASICS, etc., is less fun than building circuits with tubes and
transistors? Of course, even finding tubes and the right transistors
was a pain back in the 1970's, and one couldn't get parts one needed
from some electronics distributors, who were often the only one that
one could get certain components from, without "creating" a company
name and title to give to the sales idiots who wouldn't even talk to,
or sell, a hobbyist parts. Of course, now, with the Internet, finding
parts is much easier than it was back when local electonics stores
(e.g., within a couple of miles, there were at least two other places
besides Radio Shack to get parts: LaFayette (typically a worse
selection than Radio Shack) and an independent place called Everything
Electronic that had bins of surplus items in addition to a parts
counter and things like car radios. Mail order through companies
listed in electroncis catalogs still seemed to be the best way to find
things that were difficult to find, and they were less expensive.
Just my 2-cents worth.
--
R. D. Davis
rdd_at_perqlogic.com
http://www.perqlogic.com/rdd
410-744-4900
Received on Mon Jun 05 2000 - 09:37:38 BST