[ARC5] 70+ year old errors

[Howie DeFelice]

I was a test tech at a factory that made HF-SSB radios for commercial maritime vessels in the mid 70's. One of the first things the company did was send me to the in house wiring and soldering school. This was to insure that techs that made repairs in the testing process were doing it correctly. We spent a whole day learning the correct way to strip and bend wire or component leads onto terminal strips or tube sockets. I still remember the emphasis placed on the fact that solder should NEVER be used to insure a mechanical connection. Several years later I joined a company started by two other former executives of the company that did sales, service and installation of the equipment they used to build. On one or two occasions while performing field service, I found connections that were not soldered but were working fine, even after spending years on a vibrating ship. I can't say the same for PCB connections, especially if there were wires going thru eyeletted  holes. That early indoctrination of never using solder as a mechanical means of fastening has made working with surface mount components almost painful :) I know that it is a very different circumstance and the current techniques have proven reliable, it's just doesn't "feel" right :) Never found a bad factory connection on an ARC-5. (Had to put that in to stay on topic).

- Howie AB2S