Dave wrote:

"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
I have an excellent -- indeed, I'd say exceptional -- sense of how to go
about diagnosing problems. But I don't have the in-depth, day-to-day
experience Arfa, et al, have.

I used to service most of my own equipment, but consumer electronics have
become so complex and so fundamentally un-repairable that I rarely repair
anything. The last item I fixed was one of my electronic crossovers,
replacing an output drivers. (Believe it or not, John Curl helped me
diagnose the problem, by pointing out something I'd overlooked.)

One of the reasons I'm here is that I like to see what's going on in
electronic servicing, and get a better view of how the "new stuff" works.
You never know when it might come in handy.


I'm about the same as far as experience goes. Background in electrical
engineering (long long time ago), used to repair just anything, but have
never had the urge to move into SMD work, my eyes probably aren't good
enough anyways. Most of the repairs of newer TV's, multi-channel amps,
etc. seem to be board replacements, which holds no interest for me... I
like the troubleshooting process itself and get great pleasure from
being able to take a doorstop that cost somebody $1,000 long ago and
turn it back into a great amplifier or TV or washing machine or for the
cost of a few caps and a $1 regulator or $5 IC. My collection of TV's,
stereo equipment, etc. was in large part received for free in
non-working condition, and I doubt I've got $100 in any single piece.
My wife calls me a packrat but doesn't complain about my rates...

I'm a bit of a noob here, but I racked up about 5 years as a service
tech for computers, faxes, laser printers & inkjet printers. Then
another few years as the national Technical Specialist (ie; the go-to
guy for the entire country) for laser faxes & photocopiers, then a few
years doing actual electronics design work, followed by about 5 years
running a service department for laptops, lasers, inkjets & PCs. Since
then (10 years?), I've worked in networking, security & general IT
consulting. I don't know that much about troubleshooting consumer goods
(other than what I've done for myself or friends), but I do know my
stuff in my areas.

This group is a gold mine for experience, and it annoys me to no end
when people dare to complain about ABSOLUTELY FREE advice and
assistance. Advice gleaned here has helped me to repair items of which
I initially had little or no understanding.

Ditto. The gang here helped me repair my Tek oscilloscope, & were about
as nice & helpful as you could possibly imagine. I can't think of
anywhere else I could go, & get that quality of expertise. And it was
FREE! What kind of moron would argue with that?

--
W
. | ,. w , "Some people are alive only because
\|/ \|/ it is illegal to kill them." Perna condita delenda est
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