[PCR-1000] Old and New Technology (was: Replacing the logic board)

[Max Topley]

Hi Martin,

An interesting post.

> I'm a big fan of building things, at least in theory, though my projects
> tend to be fairly simple these days - antenna amps and controllers etc
> rather than the kit I used to build when I had more time.   I agree that
> many people don't build like they used to, I guess there are many reasons
> for this:
> 1) performance of modern sets (receivers especially) are so much better
> than one could achieve with home-designed equipment, though I suspect this
> applies less to transmitters and aerial systems than to receivers.

I'm not sure about that. Obviously, one wouldn't be able to reproduce a
modern all-band, all-mode transceiver, but simpler designs can be built from
scratch (or from a kit), and can deliver excellent performance. Complex
receivers like the PCR-1000 are very susceptible to birdies and such, after
all.

> 2) Use of Surface Mount technology - not exactly like soldering wires to
> valve bases or breadboarding low speed ICs now is it?

True, though youngsters don't seem as intimidated by SMT as those of us who
grew up with Veroboard. I've seen sites explaining how to solder down
144-pin TQFPs and such in an infra-red oven!

> 3) Space available for workshop facilities - land costs more these days.

On the other hand, you often don't need to build and test a real, physical,
design prototype at all. Most new designs will be simulated on a computer,
which can also do the board layouts for you as well. Send the parts, the CAD
files, and a couple of hundred dollars to a PCB shop, and get working boards
a week or two later. Simple and cost-effective, with minimum overhead (and
usually a better final design). Even the smaller chip makers work in much
the same way, and generally have no manufacturing facilities of their own.

> 4) Peer pressure by friends. Even if it's always the 'smart kid' in Disney
> films who builds a rocket or radar system to save the day, in real life
> kids that do this stuff get picked on.   It's a shame, but that's a fact -
> no-one wants to be a geek these days, unless it's something 'cool' like
> writing pathetic viruses or hacking disastrously insecure web sites.

Hmmm. I don't think becoming a geek is a matter of choice, it's more the way
you're made. In my case, anyone trying to pick on me at school was likely to
be looking for their teeth in response, my geeky interests notwithstanding
:o)

> 5) Lack of peer training.   This I suspect is the big one.   I had a
cousin
> over recently and she wanted something for 'show and tell' at school, so I
> showed her how to make a crystal set from bits in my scrap box.   I didn't
> have a crystal ear-piece so had to make do with an impedance matching
> transformer and crummy headphones.   It needed a large aerial to run it
and
> didn't work very well but she was amazed at what we'd built - her eyes
> popped out of her head when she heard signals.   I guess many parents
don't
> spend enough time working magic like that now.

Kids aren't particularly impressed by radio anyway. In an age where most
teenagers seem to have their own mobile phone and Internet-connected PC,
it's easy to see why.


Radio isn't new technology any more - it's pretty much a "solved" art.
There's a lot more scope in the digital world.

> If we want to address this technology gap, it's mainly down to education,
> and that starts with us, and with our kids.

The Novice amateur licence training in most countries nowadays includes some
simple circuit construction. One minor step in the right direction, at
least.

-- 
  Max