[MRCA] Seventies Technology

[J. Forster]

I've never had any interest in the mass market. Or consumer stuff.

In a lab, it really does not matter if you reduce the power consumption of
an instrument a factor of two or even ten from the 1970s or 80s levels.
Tube gear, yes.

The TE business is way down because design has left the bench and gone to
'puter modelling... and to China or Korea.

I do use 'puters for design, but it BORES me. If I had to sit in front of
a screen 40 hours per week, I'd quit and go watch TV. I ENJOY working w/
the hardware.

YMMV,

-John

================> John,
>
> We tend to romanticize about the past. The state of technology is dictated
> by the market.
>
> I started working after college in the telecom industry for an
> international record carrier in 1976. We designed most of our hardware. I
> went through two design phases:
>
> 1. We used TTL logic but the power consumption was high for large systems.
> We then migrated to CMOS logic. The power consumption went down and we
> gradually overcome the ESD issues. There were two problems we had to
> overcome, reliability and programmability. The most unreliable parts of
> our system were mechanical, interconnects, manual switches and relays.
>
> 2. We started using multi-board microprocessor systems then single board
> microprocessors. Because of Moore's law the technology changed fast. We
> had reliable systems but we designed for shorted life cycles but the
> replacement technology was cheaper, more powerful and used less power.
> Minimizing power consumption and the installation footprint was important.
> We had good systems and a reputation for reliability with our customer
> base.
>
> At this point, in the 1980's, because of the evolving technology and
> deregulation, everything changed. You were practically guaranteed a job
> for life in the telecom industry. There was little competition because of
> monopolistic practices, especially when dealing with overseas carriers.
>
> We started purchasing off the shelf systems and I went form a design to
> system engineer. My company was broken up and the carrier part was
> purchased by a Satellite company started by a couple of accountants. I
> still remember our first meeting with them. They admitted that they were
> not technical and in for it for the money. However, they were very astute.
>
> They said the low cost was more important than reliability. Our major
> customers, banks and trading houses, were cutting costs and laying off
> people. Long term relationships did not matter; they wanted the lowest
> cost service. We had an in-house instrumentation calibration lab that was
> NIST traceable. They closed it down stating everything is digital these
> days and did not have to be calibrated.
>
> You call phase 1 the golden age because as an you could repair it because
> commodity replacement parts were available. However, it had it's
> shortcomings and was replace by phase 2 and eventually ASIC's and FPGA's.
>
> The TE area is a shell of itself today. Look at HP. High end test
> equipment was expensive back then and could only be afforded by the
> defense and telecom industries.
>
> Like you I'd rather fix stuff than through it out but the market does not
> want long lasting durable goods. They want Walmart and Harbor Freight.
>
> Mike N2MS
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: J. Forster <jfor at quikus.com>
> To: Rob Flory <farmer.rob.flory at gmail.com>
> Cc: mrca <mrca at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Fri, 23 May 2014 13:12:15 -0000 (UTC)
> Subject: Re: [MRCA] Seventies Technology
>
> IMO, the equipment "was built with the intention that it last", but rather
> it was NOT built NOT to last.
>
> Viz. In some iPods the batteries could not be repleced.
>
> The paradeigm of 'build it cheap. It'll last until it's obsolete in 6
> months" had not yet reached the TE areas.
>
> Personally, I am disgusted with the new feature de jour of cell phones.
>
> YMMV,
>
> -John
>
> ==================
>
>
>