Re: Attention Laptop repair guys: question


"Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:44296294.9070300@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
It's too bad that ham radio and do-it-yourself electronics (both from
scratch and from kits) has declined so much. I got my ham radio license
at age 12 in 1963 and then built my own ham radio station, so I've been at
this a long time (I'm also a degreed EE with a number of US patents, and I
have a bunch of computer certifications including A+ and Network+).


All the 'electronic engineers' who come out of university with a degree in
the subject that I have come across, wouldn't know which end of the
soldering iron to plug in let alone how to use it. And I have got several
examples sitting around me as I type. Only the ones who have persued
electronics as a hobby seem to know.

I've been involved with field service nationwide with large fortune 500
manufacturers with field service forces, and I certainly know the problem:
The general rule is that soldering is not allowed in the field, even if it
turns a trivial repair into a major module swapout costing hundreds or
thousands of dollars. I know and understand the situation, but I also
think it's deplorable.


I frequently had to do soldering in the field in my early days, but of
course, you have to use battery powered irons as there is nowhere to plug a
mains iron in.

No seriously: the field in question could be either a real green field where
we were carrying out seismic surveying, and we had to repair failures as
they occured, or it could easily have been on the deck of an oil rig in the
North Sea in torrential rain with a gale blowing. Happy days...


The Electric Fan Club wrote:

"Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4428AC4D.7090000@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

It's done both ways, but soldering would very often be required.

I have to say, I find the idea of a person who makes their living as an
electronics technician (of any kind) and who can't solder -- PROPERLY --
kind of revolting. Kind of like an auto mechanic who doesn't own, has
never used, and doesn't know why or how to use a torque wrench.



Many mechanics can get by without a torque wrench. It may not be ideal
but they do try. However, soldering is such a basic requirement of
electronic engineering, I cannot see how the science can be practiced
without having to handle a soldering iron. Indeed the first 2 weeks of
my training when I left school was nothing but learning how to solder
properly and (although I say it myself), I am extremely proficient at it.
However, I still baulk at tackling surface mount devices (and some
miniature tri-axial connectors give me problems).


.

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