Finally they let me work on a radio!!

[Radio]

One of the reasons my employer hired me is my extensive electronics and communications background. I was issued a 1st Class Radiotelephone License by the FCC in 1979.

Today, they actually let me work on some radios. Real radios. Wow.

Just some simple stuff. but it was still radio!!

:bananagit: :elephant:

[KF5BET]

So how many QSO's did you make.....::radio:

[W9WLS]

Maybe next week an antenna or two to go with them ?

[One Country Boy]

So how many QSO's did you make.....::radio:



He said he got to work on them Galen, didn't say he fixed 'em.:)

Have a great weekend my friend.

[Radio]

So how many QSO's did you make.....::radio:

These were emergency locator beacons. You do NOT want a QSO on one of those! :spank:

[TXiceman]

Wade, I know what you mean. My last job, they hired me fro the refrigeration experience then I seldom got to work on a refrigeration system.

Ken

[Oldmax]

I worked for a Company for 30 years. they wouldn't let me install telemetery systems. thought I was too dumb. but when they had trouble who did they come to to bail them out. I was told one time by one of the enginers in a sarcastic way that I proubley knew more than they did about radios but they were going to do their thing anyway. I told him that was OK as 1/3 of my job was correcting their jobs and if they wanted to pay me $20 an hour to do that was OK with me.:bounce:

[One Country Boy]

I was told one time by one of the enginers in a sarcastic way that I proubley knew more than they did about radios but they were going to do their thing anyway. I told him that was OK as 1/3 of my job was correcting their jobs and if they wanted to pay me $20 an hour to do that was OK with me.:bounce:


All about being "right" isn't it ? Who is right, who is wrong ? Who has the most weight and/or education ? What it comes down to is who has the most experience and can "get er done" correctly. Think of the money that could be saved by companies. Not for getting it right, but the job correctly done and applied. Savings that could be passed on to the consumer and a profit converted to the company.

Did that come out like I meant it to? I'm not sure I understood what I typed.

[W9WLS]

I have found over the years,,,,, ENGINEERS and "UPPER MANAGEMENT" are JOB SECURITY for those who do the real work !

[Oldmax]

One Country Boy ! That was the exact way it was . They also asked for my thought on why they were burning finals out of radios . I told them that if they would solder the PL259's when installing them would solve problem. They told me that I probley knew more about it than they did BUT they would continue to install them that way. Was the last time I ever put my two cent's worth in the hat. The last 7 years I just went to work did my job and went home nothing more. :waggle:

[Oldmax]

W9wls a-men !!!

[TXiceman]

Hey guys, I am a professional engineer and resemble that remark. I have spent more than my fair share of time in the field working side by side with technicians and operators. I have never shunned a technician for his work. They can tell me things about the equipment because they literally live with it.

I have met a lot of engineers that feel they are superior to anyone that does not have a college degree. They are the dumb one,

Ken

[W9WLS]

Hey guys, I am a professional engineer and resemble that remark. I have spent more than my fair share of time in the field working side by side with technicians and operators. I have never shunned a technician for his work. They can tell me things about the equipment because they literally live with it.

I have met a lot of engineers that feel they are superior to anyone that does not have a college degree. They are the dumb one,

Ken

Not Digging at YOU directly Ken !
I spent the last 10 years of my employment as a "Field Engineer" , unfortunately the company I worked for had a habit of hireing the "Superior" category as I referred to earlier.
I usually referred to them as "Sexual Intellectuals" ,,,,draw your own conclusions.

[Radio]

I have been an engineer, technician and unemployed.

I have worked at Radio Shack and the car wash.

I liked "engineer" the best. Those were good days.

Hope you find something quicker than I did, Ken.

[NN5I]

Well, it's all individual. I'm a degreed engineer (BSEE) and (modestly) a darned good circuit designer, but before that I fixed TV sets for a living. That's back when TV sets had tubes in them. There are good techs and bad ones; and there are good engineers and bad ones. The good ones need each other, but no one needs the duds.

Worst tech I ever worked with? Don't remember. Worst engineer I ever worked with? A new hire at Coulter Electronics in 1968, who had a master's in EE. He was "helping" a really good tech when he broke a glass diode in two and -- I kid you not -- glued it back together and soldered it into the circuit. When the tech told me this -- it cost him an hour or two of troubleshooting -- I made sure the guy was gone ASAP.

Later, as a hiring manager, I found out that this guy was not unique.

Techs and engineers don't know the same things. Individual techs don't know the same things as each other either, and neither do different engineers. Thus the old saw, two heads are better than one. Unless, of course, the one is mine. :)

[W9WLS]

Well , I'll try and keep this short.
BSEE, BSEME here, Like Wade , I've been at times so out of work that I've wondered why I bothered with the schooling .
And like Carl , I've been on the Management side also, I've worked as a Tech, Operator, floor sweeper, and general do-it-all .
I've got HORROR stories from all fields, but the ONE that comes to mind involves the last engineer the company I worked for hired, the first project he was given was already all but a done thing, all he really had to do was oversee the thing (babysit the project) nope not good enough, he re designed the whole thing.
What should have been a very simple $25K fix to an air flow problem, he not only ran the cost up to well over $100K but actually made the situation worse and made the equipment harder for the Tech's to service.
He's still with the company and still "OVER ENGINEERING" things, sometimes ya gota wonder !

[Radio]

The best jobs I ever had involved being given a problem to solve and the authority to put the solution in place. I always strove for simplicity, economy and eloquence in my solutions. (Sometimes I had to settle for 2 of the 3)

You know you love your work when you look up and it's 2 hours past quitting time, the building is empty and you feel like "Aww, do I have to go home? I was just starting to have fun"

[TXiceman]

Best jjob I had was called "Service Sales". I had to search out upgrades and revamps on existing equipment, then come up with a solution, sell the idea and then engineer it and see it through to completion. It got a bit hectic when it was taking a lot of engineering time and still had to get the sales done for future work. I was wearing jeans and boots, in the plants and working with the technicians.

I did get a bit put out at some of the over-paid techs that could not do a simple thing like grease a 200 HP motor properly or find an ammonia leak.

One of my early engineering instructors told us that just because you graduated and had an engineering degree....you were not an engineer. They were giving us the tools to go out and BECOME engineers. Over the years I have met a lot of degreed and over-degreed engineers that should never be called an engineer.

I feel every engineering graduate should be required to spend 2 or 3 years in the field ...learning how the engineering is actually applied.

Ken

[KF5BET]

Ken, I totally agree with your statement about being in the field and the educational process.

I am a registered Architect, and was required to do a internship for a minimum of 3 years prior to taking the licensing exams. It was a time that was well used in actually learning the profession. Sadly the educational system is strong on theory and lacking on hands on practical problem solving.

I think you can probably relate this to any field. I drove a tractor trailer in the NW putting myself through college. I still say to this day, long after my truck driving days have been over, that all drivers should be required to ride in a big rig to understand how much is required for drivers to maneuver and stop a rig that was 80,000 pounds.

Education is what you make it in any field.

[Oldmax]

I didn't mean to bash all enginers. I have worked with some that would roll their sleaves up and clime in a sewer lift station beside you to fix a problem. They were the ones That I respect. the ones that if you had a problem you could call and get an answer. Not the ones that would tell you! your the one one the job thats your problem nt mine just get it fixed. Or go out on job after one had wired a panel with all unlabeled red wire and used about 6' too much on each wire coming into panel "20 wires". Then just shoved it into panel abd closed door up,

[One Country Boy]

I always wanted to be an Engineer. I dunno why, I just like trains.:waggle:

[Andy N1ORK]

I always wanted to be a Fireman, but found out they work on trains and that Firefighters ride those big red trucks ;)

[One Country Boy]

Good one Andrew !!;)

[Andy N1ORK]

Eventually got interested in radio by listening to my uncle's Grundig which he brought with him from Germany when he emigrated. 506
Then I got my first radio kit at about 9 or 10 years old. Loved that little Xtal radio!
507

[KF5BET]

Way cool Andy. Loved the pics of the radios

[KG5UN]

It is nice when your employer recognizes that being a ham may be of some value.
Several years ago our city put in a multi-million dollar EDACS trunked system and the fire chief and technical services director asked me to be involved. I helped plan and design the layout of our radios and talk groups and I worked for several weeks wioth the installers and consultants as they brought the system on line and did the acceptance testing. Then I spent a few more weeks teaching all of our members how to use the system. It was very interesting as well as it netted me a nice chunk of overtime money that year.