memories (was: RE: Pretty quiet around here lately)

[Haible Juergen]

	>So if you start like I did, a broke teenager who wants to
	>build some synth modules, you'll have a much easier
	>time today than in 1970. I could not get perf board,
	>so my first synthesizer was made on unperforated
	>phenolic board, and the component holes drilled one
	>at a time for each component. Suffice to say, things
	>are a lot better today.

For me it was 10 years later (around 1980), but "broke teenager"
would be a perfect description as well.

CA3080 ? Too expensive. Started to explore discrete transistors
(often unsoldered from broken HiFi stuff) for VCAs instead.

Veroboard was unreachable for me as well. I made my first
PCBs with thick enamel paint and a tiny brush on the raw copper,
and got the right chemicals somewhere to etch the boards.
(After getting *very bad* results with nitric acid - which I
stupidly thought the only acid to bite copper (;->)  )

And then I remember I had the whole layout in mirror image
rather than right. Helped myself by bending all the opamp's
pins upward and soldering the ICs in bottom up. (Ouuuch - not
recommended !)

Those were the times in a little German town without a proper
electronics shop ...

JH.