Bob I have been working on radios (land mobile) and amateur for over 40
years and my experience has been that there are many who cannot work on
the radios they own. It was better when I started but has diminished to
the point that so few hams repair their own radios it is infinitesimal.
I would estimate 40 years ago 1 in 4 or 5 did some type of repairs,
today maybe 1 in 100. The great example of people involved in repair is
in the CW and AM fields. Here almost everyone does some repair or
refurbishment.
What is even more disturbing is the quality of work so many of today's
amateurs do. In past years hams used what they had to repair a radio
and a lot of the work was shoddy at best, but that was because of parts
availability in the smaller towns. Today a ham is lucky if he/she can
remove the top covers and install an accessory without causing trouble.
Add to that the necessity of test gear and you can understand. For most
hams the test gear on hand is an SWR meter; whereas in years past they
had at least a basic bench test facility.
Jim/W5JO
I wonder how many hams there are today that are capable of building a
SSB
rig? It's easier to do it with tubes if you can find the parts than it
is
with solid state.
With the exception of the lM602 I don't know of any IC's that would be
SSB
specific. Ie, there is no eqivilent to one of the FM ICs. It has to be
built
up from individual parts. Just like a tube rig would be.
Bob Macklin
K5MYJ
Seattle, Wa,
"Real Radios Glow in the Dark"
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