[Elecraft] Re: SMD-based kits and retirement [not!]

[wayne burdick]

Retire? Surely you jest. We're both in our forties. By the time we'd 
want to retire, the retirement age would be in triple digits and social 
security won't be secure or sociable. We'll just keep designing cool 
stuff, and take our walkers to meetings. (Remember: old engineers never 
die; they just lose their scope.)

Don't worry -- leaded parts aren't going away anytime soon. We still 
have access to every part we designed into the K2 over five years ago. 
We'll pre-install SMD replacements in future kits should that become 
necessary. If SMDs start to dominate, we'll up-level the kits so that 
the builder is still working with small units: individual modules that 
are small PCBs with some or all SMDs. The way to think of them is as 
the next level of "integrated circuit." No one complains about parts on 
a chip.

Bottom line: the kit experience isn't going away in our lifetime, 
whether or not everyone buys a second K2  ;)

73,
Wayne
N6KR


On Apr 19, 2005, at 8:40 PM, EricJ wrote:

>  I think that might hasten Wayne and Eric's retirement!!
>
> Eric
> KE6US
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of 
> al_lorona at agilent.com
>
>
> We should all buy a spare K2 and put it in our attics. It may enable 
> us to
> hasten our retirements a few years!

---

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