by
Bryan
Bergeron,
Editor DE VELOPING
When I started out in electronics, my “junk box” of rescued parts
from TVs, radios, and the like was the
source of endless projects and test
instruments. Armed with a few key
texts — especially the ARRL
Handbook and Getting Started in
Electronics by Forrest Mims — just
about anything was possible. Sure,
my projects didn’t win any beauty
contests with labels made with a
permanent marker and reused
chassis with dozens of extra holes,
but most worked — eventually. It’s
the “eventually” part that’s key.
I can recall dozens of blown
circuit breakers, exploding
electrolytic capacitors, and shorted
vacuum tubes. However, I also recall
the satisfaction of seeing copper,
carbon, and steel come to life.
With time and savings, I later
could buy just about anything that I
wanted — from commercial test gear
to top-of-the-line ham radio
equipment. It made for a great
looking test bench and ham shack,
but I lost out on the learning end of
things. It didn’t matter that I could
read the schematic of the
hermetically sealed phase locked
loop synthesizer in my
communications transceiver — I
could never really know it. I could
replace it if defective, but not really
fix it the way I could one of my old
creations.
From a practical perspective,
having a nice portable o-scope with
high bandwidth and Flash memory
storage makes debugging a pleasure.
Then, there’s the safety issue — none
of my creations were UL listed or
approved.
So, there’s nothing wrong with
new gear that’s compact, safe, and
easy to use. It’s just that — from an
experimenter’s perspective — shiny
commercial equipment can become
a black box. I make a habit of
disassembling everything I buy; in
part to understand what’s in the
black box, but it’s still an imperfect
exercise.
If your goal is to maximize the
learning experience — whether for
yourself or someone you hope to
pass on your knowledge of
electronics to — then I’d consider the
old school “junk box” approach to
learning. Fill your box with parts from
tear-downs of whatever you can get
your hands on. It’s amazing what you
can harvest from an old PC, for
example. Even a discarded compact
florescent bulb can yield a half dozen
reusable components.
I’m fortunate to live a few miles
from MIT, where there’s a regular flea
market of used test gear and lab
equipment that’s sold by the pound.
Find out where your local ham or
flea market is held and drop by at
least once a year. Even if you don’t
use parts harvested from the gear to
build your own, the exercise of a
tear-down is educational in itself.
You can’t wildly rip things apart,
however. Take a methodical
approach, trace the connections to
see what components are associated
with each other and — if you can —
create a schematic diagram of the
circuit in the device.
Lately, I’ve been partial to
vacuum tube projects. With a few
tubes and high voltage power
supplies on hand, it doesn’t take
much effort to build oscillators,
tuners, sound effects devices, and so
on. So, go ahead. Give the “old
school” junk box method of setting
up your workbench and your
communications, robotics, or other
projects a try. Your projects may not
look as attractive as the commercial
systems, but you’ll really understand
the inner workings of what you build.
You’ll then be well on your way
to being a real experimenter. NV
PERSPECTIVES
For Learning, Old School
Can be the Best School
December 2015 5
Published Monthly By
T & L Publications, Inc.
430 Princeland Ct.
Corona, CA 92879-1300
(951) 371-8497
FAX (951) 371-3052
Webstore orders only 1-800-783-4624
www.nutsvolts.com
Subscription Orders
Toll Free 1-877-525-2539
Outside US 1-818-487-4545
P.O. Box 15277
North Hollywood, CA 91615
FOUNDER
Jack Lemieux
PUBLISHER
Larry Lemieux
publisher@nutsvolts.com
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/
ADVERTISING SALES
Robin Lemieux
robin@nutsvolts.com
EDITOR
Bryan Bergeron
techedit-nutsvolts@yahoo.com
VP OF OPERATIONS
Vern Graner
vern@nutsvolts.com
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Fred Eady Tim Brown
Jon McPhalen Jeff Eckert
Paul Verhage Chuck Hellebuyck
Richard Agard Dane Weston
Paul Alciatore Derek Tombrello
CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT
subscribe@nutsvolts.com
SHOW COORDINATOR
Audrey Lemieux
WEBSTORE MARKETING
Brian Kirkpatrick
sales@nutsvolts.com
WEBSTORE MANAGER
Sean Lemieux
sean@nutsvolts.com
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Re Gandara
Copyright © 2015 by T & L Publications, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
All advertising is subject to publisher’s approval. We
are not responsible for mistakes, misprints, or
typographical errors. Nuts & Volts Magazine assumes
no responsibility for the availability or condition of
advertised items or for the honesty of the advertiser.
The publisher makes no claims for the legality of
any item advertised in Nuts & Volts. This is the sole
responsibility of the advertiser. Advertisers and their
agencies agree to indemnify and protect the publisher
from any and all claims, action, or expense arising from
advertising placed in Nuts & Volts. Please send all
editorial correspondence, UPS, overnight mail, and
artwork to: 430 Princeland Court, Corona, CA 92879.
