[sdiy] Radfio Shack

[Colin Hinz]

On Fri, 8 Oct 2004, Richard Wentk wrote:

> Amateur electronics has been becoming more of a crafts market like amateur
> furniture design or cabinet making than a mass market hobby. It seems
> likely this will continue.

That's been the case for quite a while, though, hasn't it? One has to
only look at the sorts of projects published in the (surviving)
electronics hobbyist magazines to see this. Prior to sometime in the
early 1990s or even the late 1980s, there were lots of projects that
would appeal to the average gadget-fiend-about-the-house. Since then,
projects have either needed microcontroller expertise, or else have
been relatively specialized in application.

For over a decade, I subscribed to the Canadian version of Electronics
Today International. When the magazine finally packed it in around 1992,
I didn't grieve its passing. Instead, I wondered, "How did they manage
to hang around so long?"

> I do think analogue DIY has an uncertain future. It's bad enough losing the
> CEMs, which made DIY almost trivially easy. But when you can't get staples
> like the 3080 any more, you know you're in trouble.

Last Sunday, I discovered that two stores which are a short bicycle jaunt
from home both have good stocks of the CA3080. Germanium diodes, too.
And while I'm not entirely certain, as stocks of the really juicy parts
are kept behind the cash in small-parts drawers labelled in type that's
just a little too small for me to read, I think one of the stores has
BBDs, too (add evil cackling sound here). And all at prices which are
not much more than the web-order favourites.

I sure can't complain about instant gratification on a rainy Sunday
afternoon. (I know, those stocks will eventually disappear, but for
now I'm not complaining, I'm stocking up instead.)

- Colin Hinz
  Toronto, Canada

PS: analog synth DIY is a hobbyist's paradise compared to restoring
mechanical musical instruments -- nowhere else have I seen such
hostility towards hobbyists and inexperienced amateurs. Add to this
that many essential materials haven't been made on an industrial
scale for 70 years....I sure hope that synth-DIY isn't like this in
mid-century, but who knows?