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Right. I started with magnetic amps, relays, mercury vapor & selenium rectifiers, neon bulbs,
dynamotors, all kinds of vacuum tubes. Then we got bipolar transistors, silicon diodes,
unijunctions, silicon controlled switches, & SCRs. Then some field effect transistors and
a few "integrated circuits". The last two eventually developed & defined what is possible
in power control & communications today. Rare earth magnets helped a lot, and fiber optics.
The mechanical field of connecting things together came a long way too. Soldering irons,
some wire wrap, gold plating & bonding on ceramic, printed circuits, multilayer & flex circuits,
surface mount. Fortunately, most of the wiring got sucked into the ICs. Today I can just
design a printed circuit on my laptop,
email the file, and the finished board arrives several days later. Bruce
Originally posted by inetdog
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dynamotors, all kinds of vacuum tubes. Then we got bipolar transistors, silicon diodes,
unijunctions, silicon controlled switches, & SCRs. Then some field effect transistors and
a few "integrated circuits". The last two eventually developed & defined what is possible
in power control & communications today. Rare earth magnets helped a lot, and fiber optics.
The mechanical field of connecting things together came a long way too. Soldering irons,
some wire wrap, gold plating & bonding on ceramic, printed circuits, multilayer & flex circuits,
surface mount. Fortunately, most of the wiring got sucked into the ICs. Today I can just
design a printed circuit on my laptop,
email the file, and the finished board arrives several days later. Bruce
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