On 2/27/2017 8:05 AM, Catherine James wrote:
A lot of this comes down to increasing technological complexity.
As a teen-ager and early-twenty-something, I changed the oil in my car. It was
easy. You either popped the hood or crawled under the car (depending on the
model), used a tool to break the oil filter loose and unscrew it, replaced the
filter, threw away the old oil, and refilled.
When I was that age I rebuilt the Chevy 396 big block engine in my El
Camino SS. It was a mechanical work of art. Wish I hadn't sold that car.
Nowadays, you can't just throw away the oil (we used to just let it drain into
the dirt of the yard!), but have to recycle it; there is far more stuff jammed
into a small area, so it is harder to get your hands in there and remove it;
you often need special tools, as I discovered when I replaced a broken turn
signal switch in the early 90's; and things that used to be simple mechanical
or electrical connections are now mediated by computers or programmable
controllers. You often need test equipment that the typical home garage
doesn't have and can't justify buying.
I bought a new 92 Olds Cutlass Supreme. It was one of the first cars
with an all digital dash and control system. I installed my 2m/70cm FM
rig. If I transmitted with 50W on 2m the cruise control would allow the
car to speed up as if I had commanded it. Not good. First time I changed
the oil I discovered that some "engineer" decided that it was a good
idea to hang the oil filter in such a place that you could barely get a
filter wrench on it after removing the right front wheel. It was also
hung at a 45 degree angle. Try taking that off without dumping the
contents on the driveway.
Must have been one of those engineering "whoops, look what we forgot"
moments.
After a few hours of fiddling with my SB-220, I am now comfortable working on it and
expect I can keep it running as long as I can get parts. Reading about these "99
errors" and need to reset microprocessors on more modern amps leaves me cold. I
have zero interest in trying to do maintenance on something with that level of complexity.
73,
Cathy
N5WVR
On Sun, 2/26/17, Paul Christensen <w9ac@arrl.net> wrote:
Dick Ehrhorn...indicated that in today's "run it 'till it breaks" society,
folks were more comfortable
with near maintenance-free air cooling. Most appliance operators didn't have
the skills, nor the
ambition to learn about the 70V maintenance schedule -- just as I have no
longer have the ambition,
nor motivation to change my car's oil in my home garage.
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R. Kevin Stover
AC0H
ARRL
FISTS #11993
SKCC #215
NAQCC #3441
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