FROM THE INSIDE OUT... The Technician       (written in the 1990's)

     Add one more name to the endangered species list: the Electronic Service
Technician. Due to the way electronic devices are built nowadays, the increasing lack of
support from the manufacturers with regards parts and service information, and the
initial low cost of rather complex devices such as VCRs, CD Players, and now Computers,
the independant service facility is becoming a thing of the past. The first VCRs sold
for more than $1500. Repairs amounting to $400 were acceptable... now the customer can
and does buy a new one for less than the cost of repairs! I can't argue with that... I
would do the same. New technology is obsolete in just a few years and it is cheaper to
manufacture products that are not repairable. Goods are now considered obsolete when it
is no longer profitable to support them. Replacement picture tubes now cost more than a
new set and don't last as long as ones built 10 to 20 years ago. Fewer after-market
vendors, and more specialized and proprietary parts add to the problem. Generics are
almost unknown. Manufacturers like Sony just keep raising the price of repair parts
until no one can afford to get anything fixed. They make more money selling you a new
one! Many people don't like the hopelessly complicated TV sets and VCRs of today, but
that's all you can find in the stores.
     U.S. manufacturers were required to maintain a repair parts stock for seven years.
Almost from the beginning, the Japanese ignored that restriction and they were not
forced to abide by our laws. They repeatedly "dumped" goods for less than it cost to
make them to gain control of our markets. We couldn't remain competative, and now there
are no American manufacturers of TV sets. Most consumer electronics goods are made
overseas. A lot of "unrepairable" equipment ends up in the garbage because a new one
costs so little. It can't be recycled. We are a throw-away society and the Japanese (and
others) gladly feed our "habit" and our landfills! Electronics goods from Taiwan, Korea
and China are now edging out the Japanese. They all reluctantly handle in-warranty
service but, out-of-warranty factory service is almost unknown, except for the few small
independant shops that are barely hanging on. Those are just some of the tradeoffs of
the new technology. More than that, it is an indication of our willingness to sell out
our Country and its productive people, a little at a time.
     Most people don't think about service when they buy something. It is true that the
overall quality and reliability of electronics produced today is quite high considering
the complexity. Because they are so complex, we have gone way past the point that the
common man can repair his own electronic gadgets. The "tube-jockeys" are long gone. Even
skilled techs have trouble repairing micro-miniature circuit boards with parts so small
and delicate that heat from a soldering iron would destroy them. The manufacturers don't
consider them repairable... why should we? In warranty, the manufacturer just replaces
an entire board or the whole unit. Out of warranty, they don't want to talk to you.
     Repair technicians are the buffers between the consumer and the manufacturer. The
tech has to know how the device works, what mistakes are likely to be made in its' use
and, of course, how to fix it when it fails. The ever-increasing knowledge necessary to
do the job takes a tremendous investment. In the tube days, a technician could make a
living repairing TV sets alone. Now, just to survive, servicers must be able to repair
(dare I say it... at a profit) just about anything the designers dream up. Specialists
are rare now. Repair techs must have a working knowledge of electricity, electronics,
optics, physics, chemistry and mechanics. Their tasks are as mundane as wiping the dust
off a repaired TV or as important as servicing that electronic defibrillator, so the
doctor can work his "magic".
     There will always be a need for qualified technicians although the market is
shrinking, especially in Consumer Electronics. The tech himself has to adapt to the
changing environment, much more so than the buying public. Although his job requires
that he know the products inside out, the tech is rarely consulted until after a
purchase is made. We are always playing "catch-up". Many times, I don't see a product
until a broken one shows up on my repair bench.
     Repair techs are as different from each other as they are from you but we are of
only two basic types: Bench Techs, who prefer their "8 hours" inside and Field Techs,
who enjoy the freedom of the road. A manager who doesn't think there is any difference
learns quickly when he sends his bench man on an outside job or forces the field man to
do bench work. As a bench tech, I am most familiar with our needs, which are few and
simple: A clean, quiet place to work, free of disturbances such as telephones and foot
traffic, the necessary space for test equipment, service manuals and parts stock and,
most important, that pot of coffee.
     As you would concentrate on balancing your checkbook, we need to concentrate,
without interruption, mentally juggling many pieces of information at once to localize
an electronic fault. Through trial and error, making assumptions and checking them out,
testing and retesting, we narrow down the fault to a specific area. It is an intense
exercise in logic and we hate to be interupted during this process. If our train of
thought is broken, we have to start all over again and rethink, retest and "find our
place again". We are detectives searching for clues and we actually enjoy zeroing in on
the bad part(s). It is rarely a matter of just seeing "where the smoke came from". A
good tech will not only find the bad part but will find out what caused the problem in
the first place. If a resistor is overheating, there is a reason. When a transistor
shorts out, it usually points to another fault. Just to replace that part is not enough.
We don't just treat the symptoms, we must "cure the disease". Re-work on a repair angers
the customer and costs us time and money. Although the work is often frustrating, there
is a pleasure in seeing that gadget work again, no matter what it is or who owns it. We
enjoy sharing our knowledge, too. It's part of the fun.
     We hate waste. It hurts to have to give up on a job because it's uneconomical to
repair or we can't get the parts, and then see the equipment go in the trash. Many of us
end up as "packrats". We salvage and store anything which we think may be useful later
because we see a time when repair parts will be impossible to obtain. Even though the
manufacturers do not support our efforts, we still try to repair down to the component
level, rather than replacing the whole PC board, or the whole unit.
     We take pride in a job well done. It is sometimes our only "thanks". Our motivation
comes from within. No one but another tech knows what we do and why. You might say we
have an image problem. We are misunderstood and, for the most part, invisible. My
favorite joke is: "If it wasn't for the admiration, high pay and prestige, I would
consider giving this up!" I can only think of one popular TV show that featured a TV
repairman as one of the cast members: CHEERS resident "slimeball", Nick Tortelli,
Carlas' first husband. In all my life, I have seen exactly ONE Television Commercial
featuring a TV repair tech. When we do our jobs right, no one knows or cares. We are
"video janitors". It is only when we goof that it shows.
     As with all professions, there are those who shouldn't be in the business. Some are
sloppy... they may be competent but are careless. That drives me crazy... especially if
I have to do their re-work. A few can't solder. No excuse! Dishonest shop owners reflect
badly on all of us but are, fortunately, in the minority. The "last gasp" of independant
service has turned some saints into sinners.
     Most techs you'll meet are middle-aged men. This profession doesn't draw many young
people. I have only known two female techs. They are both professional, intelligent,
fearless in attacking problems, and a joy to work with.
     A repair shop usually is a Management afterthought... support for a Sales facility.
It is the grubby little room in the back, cluttered with equipment waiting to be looked
at and repaired sets as well as mountains of debris of every description... and an
overworked tech. It's rare indeed to find a clean, quiet, well lit area free of clutter.
I worked in two of them, so I know they exist. The need has always been there but the
overhead costs are enormous. Management (and the general public) sees us as a necessary
evil and we look the part. Most of the shops I have worked in are similar: the
uninsulated back corner of the warehouse, someones garage, basement, back room, etc. I
have always fought for more space, more schooling (new-set update classes, at least) and
better test equipment. Since the "bean counters" don't really understand what it is we
do, how can we hope to get them to spend more money on service. With those handicaps, we
technicians labor along the best we can. We know the customer will come out on the short
end... and we take the blame! The only worse thing would be no techs at all. With a
fixed salary, we get only a fraction of the labor charged to the customer and nothing
for the parts. We'll never be rich no matter how hard we work. It is not the kind of
club that attracts new members and I'm too old to start over.
     I didn't choose this profession. At the beginning it was a hobby. Like most kids I
was curious about how things worked. I took apart toys and watches and radios. I "fixed"
bicycles and roller skates. If anyone deserves credit for getting me started in
electronics, it would be my father. He provided the fertile ground for my education and
he bought the first tools and test instruments I owned. I remember working on a table
radio salvaged from the neighbors trash. I spent months trying to make it work again.
(That one never did.) No one around could answer all my questions, so I learned to read
technical manuals. I progressed to black and white TV sets and would spend most of my
spare time trying to figure out how the various circuits worked to produce that magical
picture. (Try discussing stuff like that with your grade-school and high-school
classmates... I was almost an outcast.) I spent months building and rebuilding sections
of a TV set to see if I could make it better. All of this was play to me. I loved it! My
first "job" (early Sixties) was fixing tube and (then new) transistor radios and
reel-to-reel tape recorders at a "wage" of a few dollars per item repaired.
     I'll never forget the first time I saw a color TV in a department store. I was 18.
I sat on the floor in front of the set for half an hour in total amazement. "How do they
do that?" A year later, I paid $50 for a set no one could fix and spent several months
learning about color circuits. The first program I watched in color on my set was
"Bonanza". By then, the Disney shows were in color too. Real Magic! I later talked the
guy who sold me the set into hiring me part time for $50 a week. My "career" was flying!
     The Army "borrowed" me for two years (1965-67) and, with my electronics background,
of course made me a Military Policeman. Army logic. With a rifle over my shoulder, I
guarded a missle base in Germany for 14 months. About three months before my tour of
duty was to end, someone learned of my "talents" and sent me to "Radio School" in the
Bavarian mountains. I slept through it and made Honor Graduate. They figured I would
re-enlist but I hungered for freedom and electronics (in that order). I remember
angering a re-enlistment Officer by answering: "Do I look crazy to you?" A month later,
I was french-kissing a U.S. airport runway. Imagine being anxious to get back to work?
     Since that time, my education and on-the-job training has been an accelerating
spiral... VCRs, Videodisc players, Microwave Ovens, Audio cassette and CD players, Test
Equipment, and on and on. Just to keep up, it was and is necessary to update my
schooling on various pieces of equipment, new VCRs, TV Studio gear, microprocessors
everywhere... and now Computers. Like most of my education in electronics, what I
learned about computers has been self-taught. The computer is my "toy of choice" right
now, when I can spare the time away from work. I'm a "hardware" kind of guy. I spend
more time inside the computer than I do pounding the keys. Commodore, IBM, DEC,
Kaypro... all have been my teachers.
     The majority of people, outside the circle of technicians who fix all these magical
boxes, must assume it's done with mirrors and smoke, assuming they think about it at
all. They don't know what happens inside that box and most of them don't want to know...
until it breaks! How amazed (or bored) they must be to stare into a Computer or VCR.
Most of it makes logical sense to the tech. Sometimes WE stare in awe! We see the
wonders around us contributing to our enrichment... and our demise as technicians.
High-priced items like a Camcorder that is uneconomical to repair, or an "obsolete"
computer are good examples.
     I heard of a car made in France that has no hood opening. You put gas in one end
and oil in the other... no maintenance. When it stops, you haul it in and it's ground up
and you buy a new one. Electronics is headed in that direction. In the mean time, the
electronics service tech, like the auto mechanic, is hated and feared and needed. Until
we are needed, we are invisible. Soon we will be gone. The next time you talk to a tech,
speak softly... buy him (or her) a cup of coffee... and imagine life without them.

                           Ray Carlsen CET