It was fun. Spent hours after school in the electronics lab carefully doping and measuring the thickness of the chemicals. Then scraping it off and trying again to get the right amount. Then putting on another layer of another chemical, and getting that just right. The whole thing had to be heated in a mini-kiln I had to build and heated to a temperature I can't remember to save my neck. . . I used the little temperature cones they use to fire ceramics to precise temperatures. Too hot and the transistor would be ruined, too cool and it wouldn't be a transistor. Once it was fired, it had to be plated so leads could be soldered to each side. And one from the center... Fun to get the center contact to work.
Hardly a pioneer. . . Just fun and interesting. This was at the end of the time when kids were still concerned about how many transistors their radio had. NINE was the gold standard... Unless you had nine, you were nobody. IIRC, three and five were the other sizes of transistor radios. Integrated circuits were the realm of aerospace and military in 1965, electronics were just in transition from tube tech through transistor tech, a surprisingly short period, to IC, which started to appear in consumer electronics in the late 60s and early 70s.
I think the IC is what killed Heathkit. I still have my Heathkit VTVM I built in 1966... What fun is there in plugging in an IC into a prefab multilayer printed circuit board? WHEEEE—not.
Does anybody memorize the resistor color codes anymore?
So much for who's experience is bigger. LOL!
No, Actually, you were a pioneer - just look back at history and you were part of it! That is something that should be remembered and passed down to your children. That is history!
Oh wow - speaking of resistor codes - I learned by the saying “bad boys rape our young girls but violet gives willingly”... Heh. If you don’t understand that, then you’ve forgotten the code...ha.
As to Heathkits, loved them and probably was partially responsible for keeping them in business. Made all of my test equipment from kits (VM, Freq Gen, Scopes, etc.) along with 4 tvs, H8 computer and all accessories, and other items that I’ve forgotten. They were a great company to me and at the time, could not understand how they could have gone out of business...
Not to mention the kits for etching your own circuit boards, plugin circuit boards (can’t even remember what they were called), etc...such is life...
Experience is always biggest for the individual telling their story...
One thing that I forgot... I lived in Grand Rapids Mich. for a few years and use to drive to Benton Harbor to pick up Heathkits from their store. It was very nice and really fun to wonder around there with mouth watering...heh.
<GRIN...>