This to me is the very definition of hacking. This is digital circuitry built from individual transistors in a age (1970) when almost all electronics were analog. Trust me, this guy was considered a hacker in those times.
Sure, today we could fit that entire circuit along with automatic daylight savings switchover in software into a single $2 chip, but that's not the point.
I was lucky enough to get started in electronics at the end of that era: in high school Radio Shack was still a useful resource. As an 11th grader I made circuit boards using a Sharpie, some press on decals for IC footprints and electrical tape cut into strips to mark where circuit traces would go.
Today, I'd fire up a freeware or open-source CAD program, email the output files to some PCB house in China or Bulgaria, and get back professional quality boards a few days later for $50. A far cry from screwing around with smelly chemicals in the sink and pissing my mom off with the stains it left behind.
You need to know where you came from to appreciate where you're going!
I was lucky enough to get started in electronics at the end of that era: in high school Radio Shack was still a useful resource. As an 11th grader I made circuit boards using a Sharpie, some press on decals for IC footprints and electrical tape cut into strips to mark where circuit traces would go.
Today, I'd fire up a freeware or open-source CAD program, email the output files to some PCB house in China or Bulgaria, and get back professional quality boards a few days later for $50. A far cry from screwing around with smelly chemicals in the sink and pissing my mom off with the stains it left behind.
You need to know where you came from to appreciate where you're going!