it is a dying art, for sure. But I was wondering if any of the younger crowd (say, under 30) have ever created a circuit with wire wrap. I mean real wire wrap wilth a twist tool, WW dip socket posts, etc. I did thousands of connections back in the day, and it provided not only the breadboarding but the final circuit finished. Only problem was it was delicate and thick!!
See if any of these apply to you
1. Used a hand wirewrap tool?
2. Used a power wirewrap tool?
3. Owned a wirewrap tool of any kind?
4. Accidentally stepped on a upside down wirewrap dip socket and had to go to the hospital to get it removed?
5. Slammed your hand down onto a dense wirewrap board in anger and then instantly regret it for multiple reasons?
6. Wish you still could wirewrap
7. Glad you don't have to do it ever again
8. WTF is a wirewrap tool?
Noobie here (actually oldie), thought I'd introduce myself somewhere, and then I found this thread. Cracked me up and brought back some memories I hadn't thought about since the early 90s.
A little background:
Did a 20 year stint in the Air Force, starting out in "Radar" (search and weather) Shop on C141s. Back then the field was officially called "Navigation Aids," and included maintenance of systems like ILS, TACAN, VOR, etc. The field was eventually merged into communications, after which we were called COMM/NAV.
Anyway, retired from the military in '92, and my first real job after that was for a company called Advanced Systems Development, Inc. (ASDI), as Systems Integration Tech/Field Service Engineer (read: grunt on digital/rf) on their AMES II platform (Advanced Multiple Environment Simulator). Great experience, learned far more than I ever did in the Air Force.
Now about those wire wrap boards...
ASDI had a maintenance contract with the Navy at the time to build an additional number of these little, portable simulators they had built for Navy subs earlier on in their history. All wire wrap (like their earlier AMES I), and I was assigned the pleasure of testing/troubleshooting the new boards that came out of production.
Btw, before you ask why they didn't just redesign the boards and do away with the wire wrap, there just wasn't enough money in the contract, nor available resources to spend a lot of time on the effort. They were a 100 person company, and busy working on the development of their AMES III.
Anyway, I had never used a manual wire wrap tool before, but became proficient using it fairly quickly after a bit of practice, and was actually somewhat proud of my wraps once I got good at it. Funny how stuff like that comes back after all these years.
ASDI went on to get bought out by Amherst, which was eventually picked up by Northrup/Grumman
As for me, becoming a single dad forced a career change, and I moved into technical documentation. Did that until 2010 for a number of companies, after which I moved from what was a hobby I was very good at into full-time web development, design and server maintenance, which I now do to pay the bills as a consultant. Currently building a custom PC of my own, which is one of the reasons why I am now here (I'll get into that elsewhere).
As for the answers to the poll:
1. Used a hand wirewrap tool? Yes. Who over the age of 60 hasn't?
2. Used a power wirewrap tool? Tried them, hated them, never did have a knack for pistol grips
3. Owned a wirewrap tool of any kind? Company supplied, for a time stuck in my shirt pocket. Lost more than one.
4. Accidentally stepped on an upside down wirewrap dip socket and had to go to the hospital to get it removed? Nope, but I could see how watching that in a YouTube video might be humorous.
5. Slammed your hand down onto a dense wirewrap board in anger and then instantly regret it for multiple reasons? Not in anger, but by accident. Same effect.
6. Wish you still could wirewrap. Not really, don't think it would impress the grandkids.
7. Glad you don't have to do it ever again. Sort of ambivalent about that.
8. WTF is a wirewrap tool? LOL.
Lastly, been researching oscopes for the computer project I mentioned. Lot's of great info here, and damn glad to meet you.
...uh, is it okay to use "damn?"