[Elecraft] OT: High school drafting class, ~1975

[len at ka7ftp.com]

Morning Wayne,

	As a variation of a theme I understand exactly what you are saying
about tools.   At nearly the same time during the end of my my Junior days
and High School I designed my first computer using the freshly minted Intel
8008.  My only tools were an Eico 460, an Ohm meter, a LED, and my mind.
Back in those days there were very few technical resources that a teenager
had access to.  Even the library at the University of Utah had really
limited information.    I grew up near there and spent many an hour walking
the shelves browsing topics.

	Probably like many others on this list  today, in addition to Ham
Radio and many other hobbies, I still love tinkering with old computers and
electronics.  I type on a laptop that has more processing power, memory, and
storage space than existed in the world when I first started tinkering.
Ironically I just completed building a Mil Mod 8/80 replica.  The PCB's were
produced by another Ham in Canada, VA3NGC Charles Baetsen.  Even though I
have very powerful tools today, a multi trace scope, a sixteen channel logic
analyzer, it was still a challenging task.   To top off that project I
designed and built a 16k/64k RAM/ROM card.  The little system has both 8008
and 8080 plug cards and I want to run more extensive software than I could
have otherwise done in 2k of RAM.  I used KICAD for the PCB layout, a far
cry from laying out a PCB with tape and Mylar like I did in the 70's.

	Even though the tools of  today are light years ahead of what we had
in our youth there is a single common denominator, the creativity of own
minds.   I don't believe we will EVER invent a more powerful tool than sits
on our shoulders.  Rare are those who have ever, and will ever, learn to
master its capabilities.

	Thanks for the seed!

73

-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Wayne Burdick
Sent: Friday, April 23, 2021 11:09 PM
To: Elecraft Reflector <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [Elecraft] OT: High school drafting class, ~1975

OK, I've really dated myself now. 

Anyone remember "drafting"? A favorite class in high school: blueprints,
mechanical drawings, schematics, straight edges, hand lettering, projections
and elevations. We invented things to draw that weren't real, but looked
like they should be. Did all the math by hand -- on a slide rule, if
necessary. Day-dreamed about what we might one day build.

45 years later, we're using tools we couldn't have imagined. Modeling
circuits and objects with millions of parameters and vectors, realizing them
in virtual space, manipulating them in real time. Testing finished products
before they're even assembled.

The transformation is mind boggling. Yet the best part now, as it was then,
is the occasional burst of creative energy that propels an idea forward. The
feeling of pieces falling into place. Or forcing them into place out of
sheer necessity. 

Most of the time, we think of our new tools and techniques as advances in
the state of the art. Things we can't live without. But those same defining
moments happened just as often in simpler times.

Case in point -- my first real project, a rendition of W7ZOI's
Micro-mountaineer. Carefully documenting it took several sheets of
4-squares-per-inch grid paper, which may still be in my cellar, beneath a
lifetime of such drawings. With the schematic, I took a lot of pride in
making the circuits look well-organized, as if that would somehow improve my
odds. On the PC board, I drew large traces and pads with the etch-resist
pen, as if that would somehow appease the electrons. 

I etched the PCB, soldered two dozen parts, and connected a 12 V lantern
battery. Thanks to my paranoia about what would happen if I did it wrong,
I'd taken my time and done it right. 

I was rewarded with a hiss of band noise and a few CW signals on 40 meters.

Here's to those moments, and to that timeless pursuit: turning abstractions
into reality.

73,
Wayne
N6KR

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