I've always had an interest in electronic circuitry which goes way back. As a youngster, my pocket money never stretched far enough to satisfy my appetite for components so I used to collect old valve / vacuum tube TVs that people were throwing out. The UK was moving from VHF TV to UHF TV so I had an almost endless supply of stock. They would get stripped down to a bare chassis in my "lab" and the components would be used for new equipment or to repair faulty stuff.
The abundance of "unwanted" vacuum tubes really set me up and fuelled my other interests such as Amateur Radio / Short Wave Listening. In 1979 I took the Radio Amateurs Exam and passed it, but I didn't do a morse test until much later and didn't take out a licence until 2004. A mere 25 years later by which time they had done away with the morse test altogether.
It seems I'd always had guitars and guitar amps so it was no surprise that I would want to recycle some of my vacuum tubes in this direction too
My involvement with designing a couple of amps of my own got me involved with SPICE in the 90's where I developed a number of vacuum tube and speaker models to help me complete my designs.Finally, I develop software as a hobby, which is mostly shared with others. It provides me with many opportunities to learn and develop new techniques and approaches.
Regards / 73,
Duncan
MM0KGK