On Mon, 09 Jul 2012 20:21:55 -0500, John H. Guillory
wrote:

Engineers are known for knowing all the
knowladge to pass a test, yet not a single bit of real-world usage.

I are an engineer and I know which end of the soldering iron to grab.

Eg. An engineer can design the complete working schematic for a ham
radio, but when it comes to putting it together, he may have the
hardest time stripping the wires, soldering the connections, etc.

Nope. These daze, engineers do all their design work on a computah.
The design process is called direct to manufacturer. There is no hand
built prototype stage. They don't need to strip wires or solder
anything. Worst case is they might use a hot air SMT rework station
to replace a part, or fix a layout error. If it doesn't work right,
the engineer goes back to the computah simulations, fixes it, and has
the prototype shop robots build another revision. These are todays
engineers, not the cave man variety (like me) that had to build their
own prototypes, strip their own wires, and steal parts from production
to build prototypes. Those days are long gone, except maybe in garage
operations. Open a cell phone and tell my you can build it by hand
with your soldering iron and wire stripper.

But
gosh darn it, once it's completely together, and fired up.... The
engineer would then listen carefully and hear a distorted sounding
voice and insist that the antenna wasn't working to full potential,

Baloney. It's the marketing and sales guys that evaluate how
something sounds. Engineers use test equipment that measure how it
sounds, how well it works, and whether it complies with a multitude of
specifications. The numbers are far more sensitive to anomalies than
a talk test. On a rare day, there may actually be a talk test, but
that's unusual. Incidentally, you can see distortion on a scope long
before you can hear it.

while the newly licensed short order cook steps up and turns the
clarifier slightly and hears a much clearer voice, then tells the
Engineer "You go tune the antenna, while I make a connection to this
operator!"

What's a clarifier? Is that one of those things found on a CB radio?
--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558