Very interesting posts from you Nico, you have thought deeply on this audiophile stuff over decades, I can see.
I should also tell the forum that you are a PhD in electronics engineering, you are a very smart guy......
Keep well, my old friend, your foot should be healing now.......
Hugh
Since, Hugh let the cat out of the bag, I would gladly write and publish my audio career and subsequent mania, eventual design and philosophy as well as products I spent years on developing using the most sophisticated Test & Measurement equipment available at the time and put my slide rule away at the inception of the HP35 which, at the time cost me more than two months salary while the ZAR was worth twice that of the US$, and SA was the heaviest sanctioned country on earth, except for Gold and Diamonds which the USA needed desperately. Then being laid off by HP due to this absolute sanctions of travel and for any person from or to SA.
This journey was a long and difficult path which led SA to become totally self-sufficient in every respect, becomingthe bread bin of Africa, also a technology giant at weapon manufacture. Developed weapons of mass destruction, super analogue smart munitions that until today remains unchallenged for both accuracy and could not be jammed by any ECCCM measures, even by today's standards.
Our buddies walking the tight rope remaining our only friend, developed spread spectrum technology and frequency hopping military comms, eventually copied by Siemens & Halske., became wide used by the rest of the world regardless of sanctions, developed the first guided cluster bombs with an absolute accuracy of 5 meters and bette We developed the exocet missile, bought by Argentina and sunk a British warship from some distance. I visited our buddies on and off for many years, for obvious reasons. Had them to develop SAW our delay line through tight security, performed many test blasts with them on a Rock Island owned by SA near the South Pole.
Personally befriended and worked with some top nuclear and electronic scientists aeronautical designers, and manufactures, whom also bought weapons grade Uranium from SA from technology we had almost probably since 1960 at Pelendaba, which is now wrecked by the current ANC Government and import fuel for our only nuclear power station Koeberg, simply sold off stuff, neglected maintenance, cadre employment for their personal gai,n cars, buying, offices, funding personal vehicles etc, Zuma had a watch collection of several million Rand.
Our, buddies knowing exactly what Iran is up to and strikes their enrichment facilities as often as they need. Still have the most severe Apartheid laws in the word, but nobody seems to care. Why only us?
I developed FAT CAT the name speaks for itself using SAW technology that was not available from the USA to anyone radar student. Smuggled a handbook book via our buddies, written by Prof John Cambel and Prakash Das from some Canadian polytechnic, still have it today which was the grass root of our ECCCM on our airborne platforms.
RSA was the first country to sign the Nuclear Proliferation Agreement, I signed an NDA not to divulge any tech developed, Today you find SAWs in TVs and any RF equipment at a dime a dozen, but cost us millions to develop, was shared with our friends from the out set. Changed the substrate from quarts to lithium neobate with the assistance of some very smart physicists. Our only buddies had the most advanced production facility to fabricate interdigital fingers within our sphere of friends and made three units to my spec. Cost us several millions at the time.
Personally tested the altimeter using a Cessna flying straight to vertical rock faces in the Drakensberg and only pulled away at 400 meters, while the sliding door was open, trying to simulate actual Doppler shifts for a spread spectrum echo return. Nerve wrecking for Peter, pilot an assistant, and I am hanging out of the open door. Never having life insurance.
This was my Initiation to audio characteristic, reflection, phase inversion, specifications and some jargon used on the forum today, obviously also my real life interest for the next 40 odd years. If you feel the need to know my audio background as, and I will take some time to write it. Happy days, to all you enthusiasts.
. On the left
