[sdiy] Radfio Shack

[The Old Crow]

  Ah, the good old LRU (least replaceable unit) approach, as favored by 
the US government.  I remember getting back malfunctioning equipment when 
I worked for a govt contractor and getting chastised for repairing it 
instead of slinging it in the dumpster and sending off one of the 
prewrapped-for-shipping spares.

  I don't know who is responsible for the following mindset, but a lot of
govt. places seem to follow it like trained monkeys: NEVER replace a unit
with a refurbished one, because if it broke and was repaired, it might
break again.  This is 100% stupid.  And this is why there is no
component-level repair done anymore.  It costs less to send off a
replacement unit than to pay someone to fix the broken one.  Nevermind
that the unit might be a $2500 circuit board...

  Of course, electronics hobbyists are all set to be left out in the cold
when through-hole parts are no longer made.  The intermediate/advanced
(and more determined beginner) hobbyists can of course adapt to
surface-mount, but for the beginner, the new and much steeper learning 
curve it is going to suck.  They'll probably end up going to Radio Shack 
and buying a cell phone.

Crow
/**/

On Thu, 7 Oct 2004, TIm Daugard wrote:

> Electronic parts shops for repair businesses have long ago fallen by the
> way side. A friend got a part time job at an appliance store's repair
> shop. He got yelled at for spending an hour troubleshooting a repair
> down to a transistor. The owner wanted him to make repairs by selling
> the customer new boards to replace the board with failure. !! Don't
> replace the fuse damaged by the lightening strike (a common occurrence
> around here) sell them a new power supply board!
> 
> . . . and people wonder why nothing can be repaired any more.