Page 34 - The Art and Science of Analog Circuit Design

Barry Harvey

3. We Used to Get Burned a Lot,

and We Liked It

I'm a fortunate engineer. My employer sponsors the hobby I've had for
thirty of my forty-year life. We don't disagree much; I like most of the
aspects of my job, even the tedious ones. However, I'm no lackey. I don't
really listen to many people, although I try to appear to. There's no cyni-
cism here; all my associates agree with me that we will produce nifty
new ICs and make money. That's the job.
This entry of Jim's compendium is offered to relate what an earlier
generation of engineers experienced in preparation for a career in elec-
tronics. Many of my associates were quite functional in electronics when
they entered college. We were apparently different from most of the stu-
dents today. We were self-directed and motivated, and liked the subject. I
have detected a gradual decrease in proficiency and enthusiasm in college
graduates over the last fifteen years; perhaps this writing will explain
some of the attitudes of their seniors. I've included some photographs of
lovely old tube equipment as background.
My experiences with electronics started with construction projects in-
volving vacuum tubes, then transistors, eventually analog ICs, raw miero-
,^id finally the design of high-frequency analog ICs.
, I've tried to keep the hobby attitude alive. I'm not
patient enough to gaiid through a job for years on end If I don't really enjoy
:
it. I reccwatteiidthat anyone who finds his or her job boring decide what
;
they .do lite todo> ;qtokthe'cuffeitf:j,ob, and do the more enjoyable thing.
My first memory of vacuum tubes is a hot Las Vegas, Nevada morning
around 1 AJvi, I was young, about ten years old. It was too hot to sleep
and the AM radio was gushing out Johnny Cash, Beach Boys, Beatles,
and the House of the Rising Sun, as well as cowboy music. It was pretty
psychedelic stuff for the time, and with a temperature of 100°F at night,
the low humidity and the rarefied air, I spent a lot of late nights awake
with the radio.
As I lay listening to the music I noticed that the tubes of the radio
projected more blue light on the ceiling than the expected yellow-red
filament glow. It's hard to imagine that simple, beautiful, blue projection
upon your wall which comes from the miniature inferno within the tubes.
It comes from argon gas which leaks into the tube and fluoresces in the
electric fields within. Occasionally, you can see the music modulate the
light of the output tubes.

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