I went to Collins soldering school in the late 1960's. I also learned to tie
the special Collins-knot for wrapping wires into neat cable bundles for
airplanes, and still remember how to do both.
I also built a 6-digit clock using TTL chips and nixie tubes in the early
1970's. Looked great and worked well, but kept horrible time ... which let me
on a search for a better timebase, with no way to check accuracy, which led me
to build a 5-digit frequency counter, also using nixie tubes and with an
MK5009N oscillator and timebase. With nothing to compare it to, I started to
search for a way to use a local radio station (Kalundborg LW on 245kHz), and
later WWVB, for calibration. One project led to another, and eventually landed
me on this list.
And I agree, don't solder in the nude or while wearing shorts, and don't walk
barefoot in your workshop.
From: Mark Sims <[email protected]>
When I was in high school (early 1970's) I designed and built my own alarm
clock out of TTL... (none of that sticking the guts of a commercial alarm clock
in a pencil case that get kids arrested today). Also built my first computer
by interfacing a TV Typewriter to a calculator chip. I was well skilled in the
dark arts of soldering (hint: don't solder in the nude) and wire wrapping.
There is no substitute for hands-on experience, learning, and experimenting
(particularly when it comes to soldering in the nude going wrong, or the
subtle wonders of stepping bare foot on a legs-up TO3 power transistor).
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