At 9/29/2007 07:52 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >- How easy it is to keep working > >That last one is a biggie. A lot of vintage gear survives on the air because >it's easy to keep going. A lot of newer gear is relegated to the heap because >you can't get parts, or the skills/tools/test gear/documentation needed to fix >it are rare and expensive. > >Will it be possible to keep a K2 working 35 years? I don't see why not, given >that almost all the parts are readily available, the documentation is wide >open and free, and expert assist is available from several sources. Plus when >you get right down >to it, the hardware part isn't all that complicated because so much is done >in software.
I would have my doubts. If nothing breaks, mine will be on. But, what if something needs to be fixed? will you be able to get a specific PIC microcontroller in 35 years if yours blows an output port? I doubt it. Yeah, you can still get a 6146 or 12SN7 or whatever because they are somewhat generic and were common to many gear. Someone still cranks out some tubes and if the tube doesn't exist anymore for what ever reason, then you can build an equivalent out of a fet and some resistors. You can't easily do that with an integrated part. As electronic equipment becomes more integrated (and not just ham gear), the more it becomes disposable because of the high cost of labor it takes to fix it, the lack of specific knowledge it takes to fix it, and the availability of parts. _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
