25-06-2017, 03:17 PM
It was never cheap though. Practical wireless 1970 issues have an advert for transistor radio kits. Traditional superhet, 7 band(long, 2 medium, 3 short and one "trawler" band). That particular "Romer 8 Mk1" was £6.19/6 with a whopping 7/6 shipping. Age 14 I thought that was an astonishing amount of money. And indeed it was - it was a day's average salary before tax
Putting that into today's money is £106. So again about a day's average salary.
But it is both a lot less straightforward (surface mount parts, advanced digital stuff) and more straightforward at the same time (superb op amps that cost not much and a lot easier to apply instead of individual transistors). With coding and software - something I abandoned back in Fortran/Algol/Basic days. Today's script kiddies can run rings around any of us old farts.
Putting that into today's money is £106. So again about a day's average salary.
But it is both a lot less straightforward (surface mount parts, advanced digital stuff) and more straightforward at the same time (superb op amps that cost not much and a lot easier to apply instead of individual transistors). With coding and software - something I abandoned back in Fortran/Algol/Basic days. Today's script kiddies can run rings around any of us old farts.
