On Sat, 23 Dec 2006 15:39:23 GMT, "Roddy Meatstick.............."
wrote:

west wrote:
My uncle went to a good electronic trade school over 30 years ago using a
slide rule. What are the differences in the courses today, if he would take
that 2 year program over again? Thank you.

Bill



Vacuum tube theory has been dropped. Transistor theory has been dropped.
Now it's logic flow and black boxes. Logic probes are out. No more
troubleshooting down to the chip/pin. Just change the black box or card
and throw it away, no more repairs. Electronics has been dummied down to
the common idiot to repair. Red light comes on, swap the card. Lots of
ESD control now. Safety, safety until you are sick to death.

I think a good part of that depends on whether the OP wants to
understand the theory or just be able to fix things... g

If he wants to understand *how* things work, then I'd definately say
that transistors, logic probes, logic analizers, etc. are important to
know and understand.

But... Though kinda nice to know and understand, vacuum tubes are not
necessary! The final holdout (the CRT) is now gasping it's last
breath, and soon the vacuum tube will be truely a part of history! In
my new electronics book, I figure about 1 page of the almost 800 pages
will be vacuum tube oriented (more a history lesson!)