Hi

Perhaps I should dd a little further to my previous post

First

, How did I know that wonder boy was testing the capacitors wrong

My Father was an electrician & radio repairman,from around 10years old I became interested & decided that was what i wanted to be

I watched & asked questions , every chance I got,

Read his radio magazines etc[,Even the wiring Standards of the day

Anything regarding electrical & physics I could lay my hands on I would read

Started   my apprentice ship in march 1945 with the co that I stayed with until my retirement

I was working on my own, doing maintenance working in the cos biggest engineering workshop before I finished 2nd year

Then put onto outside servicing of the many products the Co sold through It's agency division[ Mechanical, electrical .chemical, air]

Built that into it,s own division with my self as head technician & two electricians & one fitter.until around 1965 by then many of the agencies had been lost due to the principals setting up their offices

Note; In those days you were lucky if you could even get a wring diagram

,Very  rarely any form of fault finding info

AND All hard wired, NO plug in cards

You had to find the ACTUAL faulty component

That is when sound theory comes to the fore

Understanding HOW it ALL works.

All the time with the customer asking" how long will it take ,My production is held up""!!

I was then moved into  NEW job , trouble shooting throughout the company's many workshops  sorting out equipment problems when maintenance staff could not get it going, investigating & testing new equipment,training in use of  ,investigating production problems & offering solutions to senior management

The Co had the need to introduce a very comprehensive QA system into the co [contractural reasons], I was one of two who drew that up & introduced it to the workshops

Next step was to production manager & finished as work shop manager[

43years, always upward]

PeterQ

But throughout kept my interest in all matters electrical

 

Have always been an avid reader ot mags such as"Silicon chip", the old"Radio &Hobbies" etc

In fact modified an article in that to make my own VSR way back[ around mid 1960s from memory ]when "Sure Gaurd] Diode protection was the only thing on the market

In the 60s converter a large number of MIG feed motors, from mechanical speed control  to my own version of solid state VSD.

Now with the internetAa whole new world of info/ tech articles are available for me to keep up

Still involved, as my son followed me, & is a licensed electrical contractor

 

Many many years of personal experience camping & caravanning,,

Many different 3way fridges, since1950s, & soon learnt the need for  improved cooling of the condenser based on seeing dad put a van to improve the condenser cooling of our old kero fridge way back in the 40

Around Aus .Twice to the TIP,  gulf country, you name it we have seen most of it, virtually ALL bush camping

Always got our selves out of trouble, but spent a lot of time helping others

Solar panels from virtually as soon as they became readily available  ,well over 20 years ago

Engel fridges since 1967 

 

PeterQ

 

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-- Edited by oldtrack123 on Monday 3rd of November 2014 03:12:06 PM

Huh paper qualifications are not worth the paper they are wtitten on

One needs a qualification to operate a checkout in a major store

A certificate of competence to work behind a bar they even have

A qualification to make a cuppa coffee the Aussie world has gone mad

On bits o useless paper tis just another way the reduce the dole numbers

There are very few good trades people around now days just lotsa wannabes

With bits o paper saying they is competent at summit maybe

 

 

 

 

1/ Everybody knows something that I don't know.

2/ Experience trumps intelligence, except when the problem is an unfamiliar one.

3/ Not everybody is born intelligent, but all of us are born ignorant. Ignorance can be remedied through education or experience. (I predict that a lack of intelligence will one day be remedied via pharmaceutical or surgical intervention.)

4/ Education and experience can be both positives and negatives. A person who has learnt to do something in a particular way, and whose mindset is tuned in a particular direction, may not have the insight or innovation that a complete novice might have.

dING wrote:

---

Huh paper qualifications are not worth the paper they are wtitten on

One needs a qualification to operate a checkout in a major store

A certificate of competence to work behind a bar they even have

A qualification to make a cuppa coffee the Aussie world has gone mad

On bits o useless paper tis just another way the reduce the dole numbers

There are very few good trades people around now days just lotsa wannabes

With bits o paper saying they is competent at summit maybe

 

 

 

 

---

 

Hi dING 

well said

The papers need looong practical experience to back them,perhaps something like 60 years 

PeterQ

 

 

PeterQ

Usually I let my hands do the talking , Yes I am a qualified sparky of 50 years this year , I have done electronics, Auto electrical , and have been building racing cars since 1970 and not afraid to pull anything apart to find out how it works . I designed and built my own house , I have a HR licence and know how to tell a bit of BS occasionally , I can only tell people of my knowledge and life experiences if they want to listen and if people don't want to listen to what I have to say , well , that's life . All that I can really say is that a lot on this forum have knowledge that I haven't and I appreciate the help and if I can help someone else out I will try .

Big Gorilla wrote:

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dorian wrote:

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1/ Everybody knows something that I don't know.

2/ Experience trumps intelligence, except when the problem is an unfamiliar one.

3/ Not everybody is born intelligent, but all of us are born ignorant. Ignorance can be remedied through education or experience. (I predict that a lack of intelligence will one day be remedied via pharmaceutical or surgical intervention.)

4/ Education and experience can be both positives and negatives. A person who has learnt to do something in a particular way, and whose mindset is tuned in a particular direction, may not have the insight or innovation that a complete novice might have.

---

 Words of wisdom Dorian.... One thing you learn in the Aviation industry, don't think you know it all. Sitting in the left hand seat with 4 gold stripes on your epaulettes means nothing if you think that way. I remember being that drummed into me constantly from my first lesson at Archerfield Aerodrome in Brisbane.  Keep an open mind and you will learn something every day...And that applies to everything, not limited to aviation...

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 Wow, I agree with you both.

When we were learning our trade in the RAAF everything was by the book, Australian Air Publications (literal). The book had diagrams, part numbers etc. and how to pull apart and put back together, test and put back in the aircraft.

BUT who wrote the book? Often it was not possible to do stuff "that way" however we could not deviate and were forced to make it so.

I believe hands on experience, education, good mentoring and time makes an excellent tradesperson or engineer.

Im not impressed with some of the paper tigers we had when I was a tech in the RAAF. Most of these blokes had just come out of uni, given a commission and sent to a squadron as green as grass.

Most were not the brightest, some downright dangerous  eg. a flight lewie was inspecting the top of a ceiling fan, his name was Spicer. He didnt switch it off and it bit him across the top of his nose, he fell back off the chair (note chair) he was standing on and hurt his head. The fan was christened the spicer slicer, we did all we could not to pee ourselves with laughter and this is a pilot engineer, laying on the tarmac office floor with blood all over his face.. He was our section commander...

Despite that I went flying with him on many test flights and he wasnt a bad jock.

Be good, take care.

 

-- Edited by Phil C on Wednesday 5th of November 2014 04:08:38 PM

-- Edited by Phil C on Wednesday 5th of November 2014 04:12:30 PM