[R-390] Passing of Barry and Wally

[Tisha Hayes]

This is a definite truth and sadly the state of all technical professions;

"*On Wed, Dec 10, 2008 at 3:54 PM, Dave Maples <dsmaples at comcast.net> wrote:
*
>
>  *All: Perhaps the way we pass something along is not with our love of
> older gear and modes, but with our ability to troubleshoot and quickly put
> together solutions on the fly.  There are all kinds of folks who are
> currently working comm systems who really don't know how to dig at a
> problem.  Perhaps that's a place we can pass along some methodology.  It
> won't be vacuum tubes, sure, but the really useful skills are how to take a
> problem apart, look at it a piece at a time, and figure out how to fix the
> problem."*
>

I had the benefit of working for a mentor when fresh out of engineering
school. He was 68 years old and had a wealth of knowledge and understanding.
Wanting to a good engineer I gladly welcomed his advice, stories and unique
outlook. At the same time, I received a great deal of scorn and ridicule
from my co-workers who were also just out of engineering school and believed
that they were fully equipped to design communications systems and did not
need the help of "some old fart" (their words).

Being a female EE I was already used to the ridicule from university. My
father who was a ham (SK in '88) would sit me on his knee has he worked on
building Heathkit equipment. I felt the dismay he had for never graduating
from high school and being a self-taught wizard with a soldering iron. He
gave me an SP-200 when I was still playing with Barbie dolls.

I had my mentors, my role models. Today I mentor with young engineers and I
have been privledged to have a few who listened to the "old fart" (23 years
after getting my degree). I am proud that they still call today to say HI
and to ask me questions on different approaches to problem solving.

While the days are gone where the majority of the people on this mailing
list would have been working for Art Collins, Oscar Hammarlund, William
Halligan or Wes Schum, we are still contributing to the advancement of radio
technology. Our names will never be on a radio- plate but we will earn
enough grey hairs to keep these brilliant designs alive.
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