Yes, time is money, and you guys have plenty of both! But, three points, if I may.
It seems that some people on this forum keep forgetting that not everyone works for the UK National Health Service. Some of us have little choice but to engineer solutions as cheaply as possible. One definition of an engineer that I like is “someone who can do for one dollar what any damn fool can do for ten”!
And anyway, there are some of us “out there” (being, most likely, of the “old school”), who actually prefer to do things ourselves. Practical, “hands-on” guys (of the type who once used to proliferate in Britain), who are driven to get down to the nuts and bolts of things. Unfortunately, this mind-set no longer seems fashionable in our modern, dumbed-down, “every body wins” (…see GCSE results) culture.
Lastly, what is your definition of quality? Keeping on the topic of software for the equipment library, can you offer some shining (cost effective) examples?
Do I make my own test gear? No, but I have been known to improvise!
