Avery Fineman wrote:
By 1960 there were the 12 V filament versions of basic 6 V tubes
and the other "weird" filament voltages for series-stringing to
reduce the cost of a transformer in a TV set.

Hmm... and to think it wasn't until the '80s or thereabouts that cars
started to become noticeably non-user-serviceable... (Well, I suppose you
guys just checked the pins of the tube bases to see where the voltage
stopped? Not too bad...)

One of the things people should keep in mind is that -- especially in the
digital world -- one device can replaces tons of older ones. If you need
fast digital logic, use a CPLD or FPGA. For slower stuff, nothing can beat
the versatility of a microcontroller, and these days they're dirt cheap with
tons of features. Analog electronics is certainly still struggling in that
programmable analog devices based on, e.g., switched capacitor architectures
tend to noticeably limit performance in a manner that makes their usage
nichey (i.e., if you can afford the ADC and DAC anyway, a lot of
programmable analog chips perform no better than an ADC, DSP, and a DAC),
but at the same time Analog Devices, Linear Tech., etc. keep cranking out
some very impressive op-amps, regulators, etc. (Just off-hand, the LTC1799
is a pretty nice chip that's already found its way into some amateur radio
equipment!)

I'm personally quite interested in bridging the digital and analog worlds of
radio design, applying each where it makes the most sense.

---Joel Kolstad