[SBE] Here is another story you may find of interest

[David R. Wilson]

I happen to know that Kevin really doesn't look that bad, at least no
worse than me .... Oh... um...

It is not a bad profession to be in.  I think half of the problem with
the typical pay is due to some of the things these guys have done over
the years that may give employers the opinion that this is an easy job.

I was lucky.  I started with a ham license before I was in the 8th
grade.  I had a substantial amount of work with computers (and learned
much about how they worked) before I left high school.  In high school
those in the ham club were quite often picked to teach some of the
electronics topics.  Being able to relate real world experiences was
very effective for those in the class.

One of the problems with this profession is something I can attest to
first hand from many years ago.  I had a phone call from one of the
stations I was keeping running.  This was just after the deregulation
hitin the early 80s.  At the time I was keeping about 14 stations on the
air.  The call was "I don't think we need you any more.  We have not
been off the air much in years." .  I thanked him for the call (and the
unintended invitation to a vacation) and went to work for an auto plant.

It wasn't 3 weeks before I had multiple calls from stations begging for
help.  Not able to get away easily, I declined to hit the road and pick
up the pieces.  If you have ever worked in an auto plant in maintenance
especially in a multi skilled environment you know how much of a
challenge that is.  A former broadcast engineer is a perfect candidate:
familiar with component level debugging, able to do most any job
imaginable and usually do so quickly, much more so than many people that
have a very narrow skill set.

What the broadcast engineer needs to do is to modify how their job is
perceived.  It does not always require great math skills (but it helps a
bunch if your so inclined).  What it does take is a willingness to learn
and someone willing to admit they don't know everything.  Someone in
this job needs to be curious enough to learn on their own and know where
to go when they need to learn more.  Many times Google (or insert your
favorite search engine) can be a terrific help.  Just be careful to
judge what is accurate information and what might be leading down the
wrong path and is uninformed conjecture.  The things this job does
require is a willingness to learn and the fortitude to get things done
in a timely manner to the best of your ability.

I spent several years in broadcast (about 13), then 17 years at an auto
plant, a few more doing many varied things and then back to broadcast
for now a bit over 5 years.  The difference between the various jobs was
actually very little.  A positive attitude, willingness to learn and
trying to be productive is far more important than worrying about a
particular skill set. 

Dave

David R. Wilson KU4B
Engineer for the Cromwell Group
Nashville Tennessee
WBUZ WPRT WQZQ



On Wed, 2009-10-14 at 07:37 -0500, Kevin C. Kidd CSRE/AMD wrote:

> Jeff,

> 

> I too wish that I would have known about this a long time ago.  I could

> have saved a lot of time and energy...

> 

> I have always told people that I wished that I could be a wino but

> simply couldn't afford it...  Most would agree that my wardrobe would

> befit a street urchin.

> 

> Jeff Carter wrote:

> > I think this is tremendous.  Instead of descending into homelessness

> > through working in broadcasting, now it's possible to just start out

> > that way.

> > 

>