In article <
hujq31+aq69@...>,
James <
jamesrsweet@...> wrote:
> I do wonder if future generations will have the same interest in
> engineering as I do, when so much can be purchased so cheaply but there
> are still some of us out there who build things more because we can than
> any rational reason.
I find myself inclined to agree with you. I became interested in
electronics as a hobby in about 1965/6. It was fun in those days and my
first project was an audio amplifier, 10W out of a pair of EL84s. Took a
while to complete because things like output transformers, in particular,
were expensive. First attempt was a failure because I used a lot of
components I salvaged out of old TVs and I had no test equipment of any
kind to fault find. Scrap it, save up some more pocket money till I could
buy all new components and - success!
I have recently been involved in a project to scan some early copies of
"Wireless World". The oldest dated from 1944 and I've just completed 1957.
I think they were, perhaps, the golden years. Kits to build TVs, radios,
tape recorders, vast amounts of government surplus stuff you could buy and
hack about. PCBs seem to have come on the scene about the mid-50s, along
with transistors, and prior to that everything was built wire and
tag-strip - very labour intensive in the factories, so you could save
yourself a fair bit by DIY.
Many TVs seem to have been constructed round old radar (often no more than
5" diam) CRTs and in the "Wireless world" TV receiver you wound all your
own coils, including the deflection coils.
--
Midlands Midsummer Mug show, for all things RISC OS, July 10th 2010.
Stuart Winsor