[HomeBrew] building "stuff"

[pelican2 at silcom.com]

David made some salient points... beyond fairly simple circuits, anything 
ambitious takes a PC board and generally a micro is also involved... but not 
always.

 Also, don't forget there was an abundance of war surplus equipment after WW2 
that radically accelerated homebrewing... that has all dried up.

 As for making PCB's it isn't nearly as bad as it was even 10 years ago, 
ExpressPCB has a $60 minimum order for 3 boards, 2.5 x 3.8 inches, and they 
give you the CAD software to design it... free. I've used their service many 
times, delivery in less than 1 week, reasonable prices, and board quality is 
very good.... PCB fabrication is no longer an expensive obstacle to 
homebrewers, so that excuse doesn't fly anymore.

 People who DO build their own circuits and get them running should probably go 
one step further and post the results on a website... for others to see and 
build... it isn't that hard to make a website, ( very simple, really ) and it 
doesn't cost anything for a small one... internet providers "give away" server 
disk space to their customers, to use for a personal website, at no charge... 
but a lot of people don't know that, and never use it. 

 If anyone here has written a technical article ( describing a project ) and 
QST ( or others ) can't or won't publish it in a timely manner, then take 
control of the situation and and publish it yourselves.... on the web. It's 
never been easier in the history of the world to publish something and have it 
viewed "worldwide".

 Then, after the website is up... come here and announce it to others... don't 
keep it a secret.

 The fact that others "have already done it" is just an excuse to not do it 
again... if the objective is to learn some interesting technology, and get a 
working, useful circuit when the work is done, then the motive for homebrewing 
is as strong as ever... and so are the rewards...

Bob Simmons