The good old days
photo: 1964 Wiring and Assembly, background - Norm Tursky, forground - Bob Schneider
These are the good old days of my fondest memories at Grason-Stadler. This is where I started, wiring and assembly. I was a novice to electronics but I was always good with my hands and quick to learn. It was here that I was taught about electronic circuits and how to assemble and wire instruments like the 162 speech and E800 Bekesy audiometers. This was work, I was being payed to do a job but I was having the time of my life. This photo shows the 901B noise generator, a source for white or speech noise. Back then, one person was responsible for assembly, hand wiring and hand soldering the entire lot. It was structured like an assembly line but you had pride in your work because you built them all from start to finish.
I was always curious about production and manufacturing. I would apply for positions available in various departments in order to learn the nature and process of a product from beginning to end. A few years later I would be testing and calibrating those same instruments under the guidance of Ben DeRuzzo who was responsible for my technical background. And, a few years after that I would be installing and maintaining these instruments in hospitals and clinics throughout the New England area with my good friend and associate Steve Porter, who taught me all he knew about logic circuits, acoustics and audiology along with help from Ben Newman and Jack Propsma.
In 1969 I was in what I would call the right place at the right time. I was in the sales department which included field service. G-S had very few reps at that time and the 1701 audiometer had just been introduced at ASHA. Orders were coming in and units had to be delivered and installed at some of the most prestegeous clinics in the U.S.. I was fortunate enough to be involved in that part of Grason-Stadler's history which were to me the golden years.
