Re: hobby electronics

On a sunny day (Thu, 4 Jul 2024 22:39:49 +0100) it happened TTman
<kraken.sankey@gmail.com> wrote in <v674rb$2u2e7$1@dont-email.me>:

On 02/07/2024 18:03, DJ Delorie wrote:

john larkin <jlarkin_highland_tech> writes:

It's my opinion that there are few hobbyists that really work with
parts and make circuits, and most EE grads are EE/CE dual majors that
code more than they solder, and don't have instincts for electricity.

 
IMHO the term "hobby electronics" used to mean "soldering up radios" but
now means "jumper wiring modules".  Arduino, RPi, and ESP32 have made it
trivial for anyone to wire up sensors and actuators.
 
Where used to be a niche talent (designing transistors or ICs) has moved
up the tree (designing modules) with the corresponding dearth of
interested applicants.
 
One can only hope that easy access to PCB manufacturing and assembly
services will make the niche talents more popular.

>
I used to solder/build up valve amplifiers that went into record players
back in the 60's as a school kid...300V bites :)

Yes, I once got stuck with my hand in a tube radio and it burned a scar in my left hand
when I accidently touched a 300V transformer connection.. could not let go,
asked the guy next to me 'pull the power plug'.
Later I better learned to control myself when hanging on the power...
25 kV color TV sparks were interesting too.
peeseebees? I used to etch my own, still have some etching stuff,
some drawn with a pen, later with printer and photo sensitive PCB ..

At work I had them made by a local company here...