{"id":5028,"date":"2012-02-24T12:03:49","date_gmt":"2012-02-24T18:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/?p=5028"},"modified":"2015-09-26T11:10:57","modified_gmt":"2015-09-26T18:10:57","slug":"an-analog-life-my-pilgrimage-to-the-workbench-of-analog-guru-jim-williams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/an-analog-life-my-pilgrimage-to-the-workbench-of-analog-guru-jim-williams\/","title":{"rendered":"An Analog Life: My pilgrimage to the workbench of analog guru Jim Williams"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"An<\/a>
\nLast week, while visiting the San Francisco Bay Area, I had a chance to visit the Computer History Museum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, I didn’t go there to see their impressive collection of vintage computers, although I highly recommend checking out the PDP-1<\/a>, Babbage Engine<\/a>, and Revolution<\/a>, a tour of the first 2000 years of computing.<\/p>\n

Instead, I went there to check out An Analog Life<\/a>, a temporary exhibit at the museum. There, I got to see first-hand the famously cluttered workbench of the late analog guru Jim Williams<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jim’s workbench holds an impressive collection of vintage test equipment, but Jim particularly loved old Tek scopes, and his 547 is on display:
\n\"Tek<\/a><\/p>\n

There’s also a Tek 454 and a 576(?) curve tracer on the bench:
\n\"More<\/a><\/p>\n

Jim worked on making efficient laptop backlight power supplies for many years, and there are a lot of artifacts from this long term project on his desk, including God’s Own Backlite Current Calibrator<\/em>:
\nhttp:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/mightyohm\/6780025172\/in\/set-72157629444825281\/<\/p>\n

I’m not sure what’s going on with his desk phone, but it appears to be the recipient of some sort of hack:
\nhttp:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/mightyohm\/6780027634\/in\/set-72157629444825281<\/p>\n

There is so much stuff on the bench that it takes a while just to take it all in. Yes, there is a soldering iron somewhere in this photo:
\n\"Test<\/a><\/p>\n

Jim’s workbench (more photos)<\/a> is impressive, and reason enough to visit the museum. But the freshly-remodeled museum is really breathtaking, and the new exhibits are excellent. Plan to spend a day here, or you’ll discover (as I did) that 3 or 4 hours isn’t enough time to see everything.<\/p>\n

The Computer History Museum<\/a> is located in Mountain View, California. An Analog Life<\/a> runs through April 15th.<\/p>\n

For more on Jim Williams, I recommend checking out Reading Jim Williams<\/a>, a blog about Jim’s famously well-written (and sometimes humorous) app notes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, while visiting the San Francisco Bay Area, I had a chance to visit the Computer History Museum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[426,369,421],"class_list":["post-5028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-electronics","tag-elwb","tag-museum","tag-travel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pioCd-1j6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8863,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/have-a-cool-electronics-workbench-show-it-off-on-flickr\/","url_meta":{"origin":5028,"position":0},"title":"Have a cool electronics workbench? Show it off on flickr!","author":"Jeff","date":"February 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/claudius9uk\/26376852912\/in\/pool-elwb\/ \"Electronics workbench\" by John Croudy on flickr The Electronics Workbench Flickr Pool\u00a0contains over 200 photos of electronics workbenches and workshops. Whether you're looking for inspiration for your next bench or just want to see where other electronics enthusiasts work on their projects, check out the group photo pool! If\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Electronics"","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4398,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/new-flickr-group-for-your-electronics-workbench\/","url_meta":{"origin":5028,"position":1},"title":"New Flickr Group for your Electronics Workbench","author":"Jeff","date":"November 18, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Ahh, the electronics workbench - shrine to the electron, the diode, the transistor, the soldering pencil and flux pen. You can learn a lot about someone by looking at their workspace. Note the way that they store components (in pullout drawers or plastic organizers?), hang test leads (on hooks or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Electronics"","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"workbench","src":"href=http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/files\/flickr\/4699351571_651d9d96ae.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4605,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2012\/01\/a-glimpse-at-electronics-workbenches-around-the-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":5028,"position":2},"title":"A glimpse at Electronics Workbenches around the world…","author":"Jeff","date":"January 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Since creating the Electronics Workbench Flickr group last November, I have received lots and lots of really amazing submissions from electronics hobbyists and professionals around the world. My two biggest takeaways so far? I do not own nearly enough test equipment, and my shop is not nearly as well-organized or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Electronics"","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4742,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/pcb-electronics-workbench-flickr-pool-screensaver\/","url_meta":{"origin":5028,"position":3},"title":"PCB \/ Electronics Workbench Flickr Pool Screensaver","author":"Jeff","date":"February 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/mightyohm\/6868098301\/in\/photostream Interested in setting up a cool screensaver that will display a continuously changing collage of photos from the Electronics Workbench and Printed Circuit Boards flickr pools? Here's how to do it in Windows: First, install Picasa. \u00a0This should install the Google Photos Screensaver. Next, open the Windows\u00a0Screen Saver Settings\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tutorials"","block_context":{"text":"Tutorials","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/tutorials\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/saver-462x500.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1289,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/analog-computer-bouncing-ball\/","url_meta":{"origin":5028,"position":4},"title":"Analog Computer Bouncing Ball","author":"Jeff","date":"February 10, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a neat video by Eric Archer showing a bouncing ball animation on an oscilloscope.\u00a0 The behavior of the ball is determined by a set of controls and an analog computer.\u00a0 Fascinating! eric archer . net \u00bb Analog Computer Bouncing Ball (via skye)","rel":"","context":"In "Electronics"","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":921,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/merry-book-mas\/","url_meta":{"origin":5028,"position":5},"title":"Merry Book-mas","author":"Jeff","date":"December 30, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This Christmas I received a bunch of great books from friends and family.\u00a0 My O'Reilly collection in particular doubled in size! Here's a list of what I'll be reading in 2009: Analog Circuit Design: Art, Science and Personalities (EDN Series for Design Engineers) - Several first hand accounts of what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books and Resources"","block_context":{"text":"Books and Resources","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/books-and-resources\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=mightyohm-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0750696400","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5028"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5062,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5028\/revisions\/5062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}