[BC] Moving forward, passing the baton

[WFIFeng@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/02/2006 9:00:04 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
tonne at comcast.net writes:

> I clearly remember the conversation I had with a fellow who
>  said his class was the last one at (a prestigious institute)
>  which had courses on vacuum tube circuit design.

Interesting! This very thing happened to me, in High School. The graduating 
class before mine was the last one to receive formal training on vacuum tube 
theory. (I went to a Vocational Technical School: Bullard-Havens.) I feel that 
while I learned a lot about solid state technology, I also missed-out on 
something. Thankfully, I was able to fill-in those gaps on my own, and learned a lot 
about ye olde tyme tech by watching others, and by reading/doing my own 
projects, such as my various Ham transmitters, etc. which are documented on my 
WEBsite. I even include schematics, so that others can do similar projects and 
experiment with them.
http://www.mymorninglight.org/ham

>  There is of course mostly humor in all that when I look 
>  back on it.  But one of the responsibilities of knowng all
>  about a subject (like some of us old geezers) is that when
>  a kid asks a question about it you have to be helpful and
>  give a straight answer.  Someday, if'n the creek don't rise,
>  that kid will pass that knowledge on to another kid.

Amen to that. I've learned a lot and I also truly enjoy the opportunity to 
pass that knowledge along. Keep the fire going- pass that baton. I am very 
thankful for the education I received in my High School Electronics shop. It has 
been invaluable. Since then, I continued to immerse myself in Technical 
Journals, Trade magazines, etc. I must admit, Barry's Radio Guide is certainly the 
best one out there for informative articles, as well as good technical write-ups. 
This is all part of passing on the knowledge, as is this Forum. It's a 
special privilege to be a part of it. 

We've had this discussion before, and it is still true: We need to bring "new 
blood" into our ranks, lest we "die off" and our knowedge dies with us. Who's 
going to be there to repair the technology of tomorrow, if we who are 
repairing it today don't pass the knowledge along?

Willie...