[Milsurplus] Re: Dead electronics

[Tom Norris]

>Speaking of dead end jobs.  Two-way radio.

And the field of calibration,  PMEL. Even Tektronix or HP
don't support most gear past 2 to 5 years any more, most other
manufacturers won't sell parts, they want the item sent back
for "flat rate" repair. Some companies with more advanced
equipment have the cal function locked out in software/firmware
and are "not allowed" to give that info even to a PMEL and the
item must be sent back to them for calibration. Even for
repairable items, actual repair is discouraged, even
frowned upon. With AF PMELS going ISO soon, I'm
not sure it will even be *allowed*

Motorola is the same with their radios and pagers - it's cheaper
to sell a service contract and send the item  back to the Motorola
depot and let magic elves repair them than it is to spend even
an hour on the bench.
Motorola canned  or early-retired much of their knowledgeable
workforce in the late-80's early 90's. Now product support
is likely a minimum wage person using a flow chart on a computer
screen, most have never seen the product before and have
no knowledge of even basic electronics. (gone are the days
of calling product support or parts ID and discussing
if it is the yellow pot in the left corner or the blue
cap in the back corner that is the problem, and actually
discussing the various symptom, since most of the support
folks pre-90s were actually familiar with the gear they
supported...Many other industries have done much the same.
It's cheaper to hire a marketing type and show them where
the manuals are than to have an experienced engineer or
tech on the payroll. Others rely on outside contractors.)

Guess which two fields I have worked all my adult life?

Grade school and a bit beyond I worked at a small town
TV-Radio shop. How many of *those* are still around anymore?

sigh.

There was a long thread on the "glowbugs" group recently on
this very same subject of "obsolete skills"

Tom NU4G "Dinosaur"