Good day ladies and gentlemen,
I'm Dan and in the near future will be launching my own consumer electronics refurbishment, online retail, and mail in rework lab based out of Norfolk, VA. I do NOT intend to be a competitor of Alex's per say but rather hope to network with him, Mr. Louis Rossman, and other Independent Repair people to help serve customers' needs, keep e-waste out of landfills, and further the Right to Repair Movement!
Far as my background goes, I served 12 years in the US Navy prior to getting out a few years ago. Initial training and my first ship really introduced me to electronics, outside of high school physics and kits as a kid. I quickly became fascinated! Started as a simple communications technician working on everything from UNIX servers, workstations, HF/VHF/UHF receivers, all the associated feedlines and antennas, as well as a slew of signal processing gear. My second vessel gave me the opportunity to get really in depth into circuit analysis, component level troubleshooting, and board rework/repair (yes there is a difference). In additions to more COMMS stuff I qualified to the Navy equivalents of IPC/J-STD-001, 7711/7721 and WHMA-A-620 at the Standards Expert level and ran the onboard lab the rest of the ship gave their faulty boards/modules to. Finally getting orders to a real shore station I received training in Satellite Communications Suite maintenance, renewed my IPC equivalent certs again, and earned the shipboard/command level Maintenance and Materials Management (3MC) qualification. My Navy career ended unexpectedly due to medical issues but they can't keep a salty dog down! In the private sector I was briefly a cell/radio tower tech doing electronics up 524' (~160M), worked again with circuit cards/electronic modules now in support of those still wearing the uniform, and even drove around maintaining financial/retail electronics for a bit before getting serious about launching my own business.
The majority of my experience is admittedly old school chassis mount and through-hole leaded processes, never to NASA/Space standards but always to Class 3 product requirements. That said I do have a fair number of years under the microscope with modern ROHS compliant SMD rework and repair as well. Been watching Alex's videos for a while now and finally started commenting with my personal account. I'm a firm believer that there is no one I cannot learn something from and there is no one I cannot teach something to, so expect me to be active around these forums. I look forward to brushing irons and hot air jets with everyone!
Very Respectfully,
Dan
Second Chance Repairs LLC