Frank Gilliland wrote:


My point was that the art of homebrewing loses something when it's reduced to
just plugging in a chip. Seems like everyone is ignoring how the circuits work
and taking the 'black-box' approach instead. For example, the MAX038 is a chip
that is a ready-made 0-20 MHz function generator with sweep, variable duty
cycle, frequency modulation, and a phase discriminator. I'm sure that sounds
cool to some, but if all you need is a 100 kHz square wave, why not learn how to
build a square-wave oscillator with one or two transistors? And if you want a
function generator, where's the fun in just hooking up power to a chip? That's
not homebrewing, at least not in my book.


I guess you wind your own capacitors, and collect lamp black to make
your own resistors? there are tradeoffs in any project. Sure you could
build a 50 pound toy that uses 200 watts to do a simple project, or do
the same job in a handheld device that runs for weeks off a couple AA
cells.

Homebrewing is using what you can get to build what you want, as well
as to meet the desired specifications. I started working with used parts
in the '60s, but over the years I have moved on to more advanced
projects. My biggest project to date, was building CH 58 TV in Destin,
Florida with mostly defective and damaged 30 to forty year old broadcast
equipment. It was a real challenge finding, or making replacement parts
fore the RCA TTU-25B transmitter, and other old equipment. it was more
of a restoration and homebrew project than it was meeting the deadline
on the FCC construction permit. I ended up working as an engineering
tech at L-3Com/Microdyne working on $80,000 telemetry receivers, and
still design projects at home.

I am working on some kits to allow people to build some test
equipment they can't afford new, and don't need the performance of brand
new Agilent or Tektronix equipment. It is cheaper to use "Chips", rather
than discrete parts in a lot of circuits, and they design works better,
too. Homebrewing should be used to learn something, and if you want to
remain at the lowest level, enjoy yourself, but don't ridicule others
who want to learn newer methods.
--


Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida