The Future Of Hobby Electronics.

[malc-c]

I don't think hobby electronics will ever die and fade away.. there will always be people with an interest and a market to cater for that interest nomatter how small. Years ago most large towns had a component shop, where now most parts have to be ordered online / mailorder from places like RS / Farnell / Rapid (in the UK) and Digikey / Mouser etc in the US. Having said that Maplin here in the UK still offer the option to buy most common components at most of there shops throughout the UK.

Agreed as far as consumer electronics go we are in a throw away world, and that has killed of the service industry in countries where labour rates are fairly high by comparason to what the units can be imported for. having said that I've always been interested in the challange to keep things working and will always source out a part to keep the washing machine / tumble dryer running. And as Mel said you get that nsatisfaction of knowing that I did that

I'm new to PICs and for me I still find it exciting when you type some words into an application on the screen and then after a few clicks load the code into a small device, plug it in to my breadboard and it works first time (well most of the time )

I also echo Mel's comments about knowing that something you've made or developed your way is in use somewhere in the world. With the help of then guys here I've just completed a project for a local club. True we could of gone out and purchased a commercial unit for about twice the cost of the component, and it would of saved me hours of head scratching (both mine and those who helped with the code).. but it gives me a nice feeling to know that something I built is working better than any commercial unit and is giving pleasure to others who don't have any interest or understanding of these things.

Also, there is the learning aspect. A few years I had no idea how a PIC worked (still don't if I'm totaly honest) but I've picked up enough understanding and learnt from the guys here to be able to program a PIC to do most things that I have an interest in - some having no real use commercially or to anyone else, but itsn given me a lot of fun in developing each project and learning along the way.

Mel also commented on the advancement of technology, from strip board to PCB's. We've also seen the PC enter the home and now its possible for anyone to use a free application to produce some really good PCB's using either toner transfer method or UV photo. We also use the PC to author our PBP programs, and load the HEX to the PIC via suitable software and hardware... I don't see this as being detrimental to hobby electronics... just that where in the past we used to work out the type and array of logic chips etc we needed, now we look at doing the whole thing in a small 8 pin package instead

[keithdoxey]

Years ago most large towns had a component shop, where now most parts have to be ordered online / mailorder from places like RS / Farnell / Rapid (in the UK) and Digikey / Mouser etc in the US.

Agreed. I can still remember buying my first LED from MM Electronics in Norwich about 30 years ago when I was at college. We sat in the corridor waiting for the classroom to open and were playing with the LED, a few resistors and a 6V lantern battery.

We experimented with different resistor values and observed that lower value resistors gave a brighter light except that strangely with no resistor it got dimmer and the leads got warm. After a few comparisons of resistor/no resistor a horrible smell filled the corridor and the magic smoke escaped from the LED after which it was a DED (Dark Emiting Dud).

So, approximately 30 minutes after buying the first LED we were planning a trip the following lunchtime to buy the second having learnt an expensive lesson as the LED cost the same as two pints of beer !!!!

The vast majority of my components now come from Rapid. I started using them over 20 years ago when the catalogue was about 1/4inch thick, now it is about 2 inches thick!!!

Having said that Maplin here in the UK still offer the option to buy most common components at most of there shops throughout the UK.

You can not be serious !!!!

I first became a Maplin customer in 1978 and for many years they were my prefered supplier, good catalogue, good prices and excellent service but since they turned into a replacement for Tandy (Radio Shack) I have hardly bought a thing from them as they no longer stock most of the components I want to buy and where they do still sell components that I buy they are vastly overpriced.

I remember the first time I walked into a Maplin Shop, it was Manchester and it was superb. What I particularly liked was the fact that things like cases were openly on display and you could then visualise your project built into one whereas looking at a picture and the dimensions just didnt have the same effect.

I looked forward to the opening of the Norwich store which although 20 miles away would still mean that I could be browsing within the hour and potentially building within 2 hours. Then the store opened..... what a disappointment.

It was like being in Tandy. The majority of the display space was taken up by ready made toys and several of the staff looked/sounded as if they would only be able to identify the hot end of a soldering iron if it was actually turned on.

Attempting to buy components was even worse. Maybe I have peculiar demands in purchasing parts but it seemed that many of the parts I tried to buy werent stocked in the shop but had to be sent from the main warehouse which at first they would do without any postal charges but last time I tried they also wanted P&P. Even "common" components only had minimal stock holding. I wanted 4 Standard Mono Jack Plugs. I ended up buying 2 mono and 2 stereo and strapping them to Mono because they didnt have enough.

Maplin are now bottom of my list of component suppliers which is a shame as the "original" Maplin company was superb.

[T.Jackson]

One thing that I forgot to mention, it is possible that it might "bounce back".
innovators, highly skilled creative geniuses might save the day.

How?
By getting more people interested in it. The only way to do this is to come up with projects that just simply can't be bought pre-made. Projects that will dazzle even the most hard-to-impress people. Projects that will make a salesman run down the road to purchase a soldering iron just to build it...

Otherwise, I give it all 5 to 10 years. Within 5yrs there will be no magazines. Within 10 there will be no suppliers.

I rest my case.

Trent Jackson

[keithdoxey]

I think a lot also stems from the way kids "toys" have changed.

When I was a boy, you would have things like Train Sets and Meccano construction sets where you used your imagination to create something from the most basic of parts. As you got a bit older then you would get a chemistry set or an electronics kit and again start from first principles and create something from a pile of bits.

Now everything is available ready made from China for less than the cost of the parts, and in the case of electronic toys, often for less than the cost of one of the parts eg display. Kids sit in fron of video games for hours on end and have little or no interest in being "creative" be it woodwork, metalwork, electronics etc instead they just sit a destroy virtual aliens.

Even somethign a basic as a Lego set doesnt offer the stimulation it once did. Lego sets used to have brick in red or white, green baseboards and blue roof tiles. Apart from a few doors and windows almost everything needed imagination to create the finished work of art. Lego resided in a huge bucket that you rumaged through to find the bits you wanted. Now it is sold in small sets that are designed to create just one specific design, where is the imagination in that

[Melanie]

For the professionals there will always be component suppliers, but for the hobbyist there is a problem...

You want 4 x 1k 1/4W, 3 x 33k, 1 x 8K2 and sixteen other values... half a dozen capacitor and a couple of Transistors. You hand the list to the shop assistant and half an hour later he comes back with your $1.85 worth of parts whilst costing his employer $8 in Labour. The figures just don't add up anymore. A box of 1000 resistors costs under $5 but already I can hear the hobbysists and students on the forum rioting "but I don't want 1000 of the same value"!!!! So suffer... instead of that Resistor costing you 0.5 cents, you end up paying 20 cents for a 1-off. You won't pay the money, and stop going to the shop, the shop closes down and everyone moans that the hobby is dying....

[Jumper]

I just went to my favorite store. It is acctually 3 big supremarkets with several floors selling everything you can wish for over the counter in single units, surface mount to things used in the WW1 russian radios :-). Today's shopping list was:

5 pcs LM3940-3.3
2 pcs (two) 0.25W 22 ohm hole mounted resistors
2 pcs 5mW lasers
2 pcs 10 mW lasers
10 pcs 22k variable resistors
2 MicroSD card holders

total cost USD 12

I really can't see the problem and tomorrow I will order PCB's with a 7 days delivery time, but I could get it in 24 hours....

/me

[ronsimpson]

I got into electronics about when the old amateur radio operators were dieing off. My first short wave radios were home made using tubes. Back before PCBs I collected dead TVs and cut the parts out to reuse. The resistors and capacitors were point to point connected with long leads. The use of PCB really hindered my collecting used parts.

Twenty years ago I said I will get out of this business when my eyes are so bad I can no longer see the color code on resistors. They do not put color on resistors now! I hand solder parts the size of pepper. How can a hobbyist work with surface mount parts? Radio Shack does not sell resistors.

I feel sad there are no HAM / electronics clubs left where we build fun stuff. There are many kids writing PC code, maybe the creative minds are there or maybe they are watching “adult cartoons”.

Design jobs are hard to find so I have been doing ½ time plumbing and electrical for the same money. I hire engineers from Russia and China for 1/10 rate. I can see the writing on the wall---we are starting a new company with no electronics. I am very reluctantly giving up on my “hobby and business” of 35+ years. –I am feeling down today and this thread hit me wrong—sorry! I must pick my self up and finish that FPGA design.
Hobby electronics was powered by HAM radio and that has vanished years ago. Micro-computers and robots fuel hobby electronics. Our club is getting smaller—it will not die!

[T.Jackson]

For the professionals there will always be component suppliers, but for the hobbyist there is a problem...

You want 4 x 1k 1/4W, 3 x 33k, 1 x 8K2 and sixteen other values... half a dozen capacitor and a couple of Transistors. You hand the list to the shop assistant and half an hour later he comes back with your $1.85 worth of parts whilst costing his employer $8 in Labour. The figures just don't add up anymore. A box of 1000 resistors costs under $5 but already I can hear the hobbysists and students on the forum rioting "but I don't want 1000 of the same value"!!!! So suffer... instead of that Resistor costing you 0.5 cents, you end up paying 20 cents for a 1-off. You won't pay the money, and stop going to the shop, the shop closes down and everyone moans that the hobby is dying....

In Australia, Dick Smith Electronics - a very large supplier to the enthusiast is starting to pull out. Their power house outlets, once relying on the sale of resistors, kits, etc.. are now primarily focusing on consumer electrical. As Melanie pointed out, the cost of labor can sometimes place the employer in a situation of loss. However, this can of course occur in any business that relies on the sale of "mixed bag" goods. The sale of larger, more expensive items is what makes the ends meet.

I have often found myself walking into a store with the intentions of a specific $20 purchase only. After several minutes of browsing, something has caught my eye that I just had to have. So instead I walked of the store having spent $500! "Hmm, I only wanted parts but instead I now have a new CRO"

Sound like an all too familiar story?

Trent Jackson

[malc-c]

You can not be serious !!!!

I didn't say they were cheap, and I did say most components

I agree that Maplin now seem to fill their shelves with these cheap toys and the like, rather than stocking full range of components and modules, and I guess that it will only be a matter of time before the racks space for the components will be replaced with more tat. However, Maplin are fairly cheap, when compared to RS for example, and yes you can buy single resistors rather than 10 or 100.