Oh, my, Wayne. We must be of the same age--er vintage? I still have my K&E drafting tools set and my K&E Log Log Duplex Decitrig slide rule (mahogany don't you know). Memories of eraser dust; velum; t-square; PC layout by hand; plastic symbol templates. I think it was then that I changed from cursive to block lettering, never to look back until taking up CW some 40 years later.
Unlike you, I never had the creative genius to think up something, build it, and have it work. BUT I do still enjoy, after all these years, building something that somebody else designed and making it work. Still magic after all these years. Any, yes, some of those designs I built and let out the magic gas were yours. I hope you will have the creative juice in you for some time to come. Maybe even another real kit (soldering, toroids) from Elecraft just for fun. Stay well, my friend, <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=icon> Virus-free. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=link> <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> On Sat, Apr 24, 2021 at 1:10 AM Wayne Burdick <n...@elecraft.com> wrote: > OK, I've really dated myself now. > > Anyone remember "drafting"? A favorite class in high school: blueprints, > mechanical drawings, schematics, straight edges, hand lettering, > projections and elevations. We invented things to draw that weren't real, > but looked like they should be. Did all the math by hand -- on a slide > rule, if necessary. Day-dreamed about what we might one day build. > > 45 years later, we're using tools we couldn't have imagined. Modeling > circuits and objects with millions of parameters and vectors, realizing > them in virtual space, manipulating them in real time. Testing finished > products before they're even assembled. > > The transformation is mind boggling. Yet the best part now, as it was > then, is the occasional burst of creative energy that propels an idea > forward. The feeling of pieces falling into place. Or forcing them into > place out of sheer necessity. > > Most of the time, we think of our new tools and techniques as advances in > the state of the art. Things we can't live without. But those same defining > moments happened just as often in simpler times. > > Case in point -- my first real project, a rendition of W7ZOI's > Micro-mountaineer. Carefully documenting it took several sheets of > 4-squares-per-inch grid paper, which may still be in my cellar, beneath a > lifetime of such drawings. With the schematic, I took a lot of pride in > making the circuits look well-organized, as if that would somehow improve > my odds. On the PC board, I drew large traces and pads with the etch-resist > pen, as if that would somehow appease the electrons. > > I etched the PCB, soldered two dozen parts, and connected a 12 V lantern > battery. Thanks to my paranoia about what would happen if I did it wrong, > I'd taken my time and done it right. > > I was rewarded with a hiss of band noise and a few CW signals on 40 meters. > > Here's to those moments, and to that timeless pursuit: turning > abstractions into reality. > > 73, > Wayne > N6KR > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to clark.macau...@gmail.com > -- 73, Clark, WU4B Little Pistol With Wires QRPARCI #10815 SKCC #3892 NAQCC #5055 CWOPS #1869 Collins Collectors #AC90-12432 Southeastern DX Club <http://www.sedxc.org> North Georgia QRP Club <http://www.nogaqrp.org> *"It is vain to do with more what can be done with less."* *Attributed to *William of Occam (1288 AD - 1348 AD) ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
