About

About DitroniX.net

Welcome to DitroniX.

Who am I?

My name is Dave Williams and my lifelong passion and profession is within Electronic Engineering, Software, RF and R&D, all of which play an important motivational seed in supporting and mentoring the worldwide community projects and being a STEM Ambassador.

As a practical hands-on person, with an array of both professional and life-long personal involvements that has provided me with a range of practical skills, knowledge and motivation in areas including:

Electronics Engineering
Research and Development
Design and Manufacturing (SMT)
Schematic Capture and PCB Layout
Radio Communications
RF Engineering
End-to-End Product Development and Support
Software/Firmware Development
Home Automation and Internet of Things
Information Technology
Product Testing and Calibration
Industry wide Product Certification, EMC, Pre-Compliance / Full Compliance
Supporting Product Obsolescence

What inspired me into Electronics?

In two simple words, Amateur Radio.

Building a simple crystal set when I was about 6 years old, this was my seed to what became my lifelong interest. I saved up my pocket money and bought a few brilliant and really interesting Babani and even more fascinating Pat Hawker electronic books and magazines (such as Elektor, Practical Wireless and Radio World) from my local electronics shop in Ramsgate (CTS Chatham Street), and also the local Post Office second hand shop off Grange Road, Ramsgate. This was all back in the early 1970’s and both were an absolute gold-mine for a kid, where I could buy, or be given, bags of unwanted components and ex-post office (GPO), equipment and tools. This setup my ‘home shed workshop’.

In speaking to a few people, I then got to know some of the locals who were mostly TV and radio repairman (when we had a real service industry), then moving on to ‘what are now called radio hams and hobbyists’. A couple of years later, I was able to join the local Hilderstone Radio Society in Broadstairs, Kent.

This radio club opened up a completely new world and some kind members let me have some old World War radio equipment, starting with a Wireless 19 set and BC348 receiver. Then I got an old Creed 7B-RP teleprinter, which I learned to setup and subsequently proved to be a problem with ‘noise’ in my shed!

To help quieten creed down, I was fortunate to get hold of, and move on to, a varied range of old Pye Radio Communication’s equipment such as the Pye Ranger, Cambridge, Westminster etc. These were absolutely fascinating, equally frustrating to get working as a newbie, but really rewarding in being able to learn, hands-on, the world of electronics.

In the mid 1970’s. I studied and finally sat in around 1978, before my school exams, the City & Guilds Radio and Electronics Exam and passed with distinction to get my callsign G8PUO. This meant much more to me than anything as the passing the exam proved to be the culmination of that crystal set seed, a decade before.

A take-away from all this is that you simply do not know how such an inspirational seed can completely mold and nurture your future hobbies and career. I certainly did not, when my crystal set burst into life!

Amateur Radio is so much more than talking to others on a radio, it is about technology, building, innovation, experimenting, sharing knowledge and of course, keeping the old brain active! Radio also included some basic SSTV and Amateur Television (Fast Scan TV), which I went back too, later in life with SCART and GB3JT

Enjoy your future and let your inspirations flow.

Kind Regards
Dave Williams

Life is one long exciting learning curve, help others by setting the seed to knowledge.

LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/g8puo/

All boards and related products are Designed and Manufactured in Great Britain.

STEM

Supporting the engagement, interest and careers of people, of all ages, through the fascinating World of STEM Learning and Amateur Radio & Electronics.

DitroniX, planting a seed in Electronics, for our future engineers.