How to irritate a tech

I used to work in the Receiving Inspection department at GTE Northlake.  In addition to the big computer controlled testers for ICs there were any number of custom built test sets for other items that were purchased.  These sets were designed by hardware guys and built by technicians - I remember the fellow who did some of my builds, a very nice guy named Vern who I tried to keep supplied with at least some work.  

Anyway, one day I am walking around and see one of the repair techs, Wayne.  He calls me over to the bench where he is looking at a non-functional shoebox sized test set - I don't remember what it checked.  The thing that irritated Wayne was that the engineer (who had become a supervisor) had used a transistor radio, wired as a power audio oscillator rather than a Sonalert.  Where was Wayne going to find a replacement transistor radio ?

His point was that he could order a new Sonalert from most any supplier and slip it in if the old one broke.  I remember the test set's designer - an engineer who had later become a supervisor in a different department.  He (of course) was a ham - I think the last time I talked to him was at a Chicago area hamfest (it might have been the 6 meter club one in a southern suburb) - he was selling items like tools from the back of his car - I didn't buy anything from him :)

I'm not sure what Wayne ended up doing but I remember the look of disgust as he pointed out this tiny transistor radio - apparently this engineer also did this kind of thing with nearly all of his other designs :)

Engineers:  keep your technicians happy by making their job easier.   Resist the temptation to hack a commercial item and include it in your design !

an example of a test set from Ebay:

source: https://www.ebay.com/itm/256662912215

Best Regards,
Chuck, WB9KZY
http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm