Re:The Walkman, Forty Years On
by sangfroid_bio on Friday July 03, 2020 @08:31PM
(#23728930)
Was the firmware at that time complex enough that you can attempt an OTA brick? Are radios from 1984 mostly analogue?
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NASA Apollo 13 team did intentionally brick S-IVB upperstage radio downlink so that frequency auto-calibration goes way off so it won’t interfere with the rescue operation.
That auto-calibration system probably was a series of analog opamp circuits, so if that’s the case they managed to OTA brick a complex enough analog radio.
Re:The Walkman, Forty Years On
by solarengineer on Friday July 03, 2020 @10:16PM
(#23729473)
They were made entirely of electrical and electronic parts, didn't need firmware , and almost always could be repaired.
Just to be a pedant, the android phone I am typing this on is also made entirely out of electrical and electronic parts as well. In fact, arguably this device contains a greater degree of those parts, as the only electromechanical parts are speakers, a vibration motor, and 3 tact switches.
A simple radio will have a speaker, slide switch for power, potentiometer for volume, and either a potentiometer or variable cap for tuning.
Although I do agree, the operative words there are 'simple' and 'no firmware'. ;)