3 Nov
2005
3 Nov
'05
11:29 a.m.
There are two aspects IMHO why this does no longer happen today:
- what was a known magazine in the past, would today perhaps=20
realistically called "Un-Popular Electronics", the knowledge of=20
electronics from the ground up is dying out; and with the continuing=20
"digitalization" of technology, it is an ever increasing hurdle to get=20
started - the classical AM detector radio I built as a newbie will=20
nowadays no longer attract anyone - you can get a gadget which is better=20
Hmm... There are plenty of books on making simple valve radios still
being written and sold (I bought a couple last week). OH, it's a small
market, but somebody other than myself must find it interesting.
However, I don't see much interest in spending a long time soldering up
somebody else's design. All that proves is that you can solder and/or
wire-wrap. To me the interesting part is in the design. Yes, I enjoy
spending many hours designing anf building digital circuits (TTL, I don't
have anything to run FPGA tools on [1]). But I like to think of a bit of
design, wire up 10 or so chips, get that working, then add a bit more,
and so on. It's the stuff I learn while doing it that's interesting, not
the end result.
[1] I did use FPGA tools at work about 10 years ago on what were then
high-end PCs. A moderately complicated circuit would take overnight to
compile. And you had to do it again if you made a change. And hope the
ever-helpful clearners didn't turn your PC off that night. Personally,
for 'incremental prototyping' I find TTL a lot easier and quicker. It's
also easier to debug -- a logic analyser and 'scope beat any simulation
program I've ever seen.
-tony