[BC] Hams and troubleshooting...

[Burt I. Weiner]

All Hams are not created equally and can come from different areas of 
interest in Hamdom.  Most of the technically minded Hams who have 
been around a while and are "self schooled" are great system and 
component level troubleshooters.  It's great when you've been 
schooled on a piece of equipment but it's even better when you can 
add the understanding of how and why to that schooling.  Just because 
Belch-Fire manufacturing designed and built a piece of equipment 
doesn't mean that it was designed properly.  Someone with good 
experience may well discover why a professionally designed piece of 
equipment failed when it should not have.

Do not make the mistake of not hiring a person just because they are 
a Ham (Radio Operator).  Interview them the same way you would any 
other prospective employee.  Give them credit for having more than a 
passing interest in things electronic.

Burt, K6OQK

t 03:00 AM 5/10/2008, you wrote:

>If you're referring to the program I saw it was about a ham ( who was
>also an engineer) that was looking for a cure but instead found a way
>to burn salt water in an RF field and may have discovered a new fuel
>source.
>
>As for your comment about history...my employer was running a business
>and not a laboratory for inventions.  He needed people who could
>repair '60's technology in a profitable manner and not try to
>"improve" things.  His reasoning was that for the most part Hams that
>were self schooled didn't know how to troubleshoot effectively and
>used a hit or miss method whereas schooled techs were taught that
>skill.  His opinion came from past experience.
>
>Ron D

Burt I. Weiner Associates
Broadcast Technical Services
Glendale, California U.S.A.
biwa at att.net
K6OQK