The Decline of Hobby Electronics - an Aussie perspective

[VK3EB]

The decline of our hobby? or just changing?

Interesting videos on the hobby

State of Electronics

This is the story of the State of Electronics, a channel about the art and science of electronics and how Australia contributes in the field with many world changing innovations. Australia produced such inventions as The Blackbox Flight recorder, The Cochlear Ear Implant, The Electronic...

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[VK2RK]

For the future in that of young people taking up the craft of electronics is what is decline, and more importantly dying.
Soon all that will be know is how to code and the Chinese will build the items to code, note we have educated them at our peril.
Best to enrol in a barista course, at least you can drink free coffee.

 

[VK3YNV]

Thanks for that Dallas, interesting look back in time to see what people were thinking 8 or so years ago.

We are currently living in a golden age of electronics, ridiculously cheap parts available on line, and a very active and creative maker community.

Generic microcontroller based hobby electronics like Arduino are booming and getting more powerfull all the time. Take the Si5351 Arduino based systems Denys has been designing, those weren't viable just a few years ago.

We used to have a library of hundreds of data books, we had a full motorola collection, amongst others, probably upwards of several hundreds of data books, and that was the only way of getting pin-outs specifications, then to buy the parts you had to go to the distributor and they would place the order and with any luck you might get parts a month or two later ( if they were available ) we got quotes for over 120 weeks lead times on some parts on occasion.

These days I can go on-line to Digikey or Mouser and order parts and have them delivered within a week. Also I can get datasheets on line quicker than I could find the relevant data book.... Although I do miss randomly browsing through the NatSemi linear data books.....

Aliexpress, Digikey, Mouser, JLCPCB, PCBway and 3D printing have replaced DickSmith and Jaycar. Although I still get stuff from Jaycar every few days... Latest being pots to repair a guitar practice amp for a granddaughter... Funnily enough the volume control pot installed by the manufacturer was a 50KB taper, not a log taper 50KA taper.... maybe they ran out on the production line..

 

[Josh]

My take is that the hobbyist these days have super powers. They can for just a few dollars get high quality PCB fabricated, even populated and packaged if you have lofty dreams of going pro. 10 years ago it was not so good. The parts you have access to now is amazing. 555 for 5c a 32bit risc V micro controller for 10c. 1982 your paying 5c just for a single 1/4W resistor from tricky dicky, these days i pay 5c for a 100 SMD's resistors. I have access to a vast library of information and online communities where eager, engaged people ready to help 24hr a day. Free and easy to use Electronic CAD software. Free Simulators. $6 30 channel logic analysers, $15 scopes and $10 multimeters. I do wish Jaycar kept rolls of smd parts for hobbyist.