That which differentiates the _REAL_ Radio Ham from
the CBer-Masquerading-As-A-Radio-Ham is his or her
habit of constructing, modifying and repairing radios. At one
time, the components that he or she was using were the same
components used by industry, but there is an increasing gap -
special purpose chips for which no info is available (or only
available under a commercial NDA) and tiny chips that are increasingly
difficult to deal with, especially BGA types.

The components which we use are those that are man-handleable,
but as these become less and less the one that industry use, their
rarity will increase.

Therefore I suggest that it is time to start hoarding old electronic
components and/or the circuit boards on which they come?