harvey2

Mr. Harvey was my best mentor ever. I was in elementary school when he introducuced me to resistor-lattice math. His final project in engineering school was an autodialer. He used NE-2 neon bulbs for memory. If there was one solid-state device in that thing, I'd remember. He used the Hewlett Packard (hp) "Dynac" (dy) counter archetecture. It was all part of his alarm system--home-made--of course.

James Harvey

Mr. Harvey drove a Mercury Cougar. The fan belt cut through the brake-line at one point. He was unhappy with that design.

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My mentors

I only know how young I was by how simple my descriptions are when I speak of Mr. Harvey. He had an air-conditioner cooling a bunch of oak barrels of wine in a plywood cooler under his house. He had a magnetic-drive pump for delivering it into glass jugs topside for his pals, who all helped make it. Once, a guy broke a 5 gallon jug of red wine. It was a small fraction of his take.

Mr. Harvey was into radio engineering at Ford Philco. He had me build various projects. I was embarrased whenever they didn't work. I made a UJT-siren for an art class. But I couldn't get it going. I made a digital clock--that actually worked--but then blew out (due to exessive unregulated supply voltage). I'd bought that chip new for seven bucks too (MM5314N). I wired up a four-bit counter with LED's: that worked. Some of my soldering was atrocious. Other of it was okay. Mr. Harvey had me do a 4-transistor transmitter. And by the time I got things right, it was buggered with blops of solder, crystaline textured joints, slag, and flux. I couldn't bear to show it to him. He asked about it. He had also found the hand of a lady. We kind of drifted apart. I called him years later. He was doing fine. But we were still diffirent in our ways. I'll always remember him as he was in my youth; so kind and patient, and so impeccable. Maybe I'll find him again yet.