In the 'old days' it was pretty much required to build your own stuff with a soldering iron. Today, the DIY aspect has shifted more towards adding raspberry pi computers and other digital processing to ham systems but a lot of folks still repair radios, build amplifiers, etc.
Also, when it comes to affordable and effective antenna systems, DIY is the way to go IMO. A few years ago, a guy developed and released a small, inexpensive but powerful
antenna analyzer that makes building good antennas much easier. So yes, the community has not stopped repairing, improving, and building new stuff.
Here are some personal examples:
Yesterday, I re-flashed a couple commercial wireless access points with firmware for mesh networks in the ham bands. That did not even require a screw driver but several computer apps and TCP/IP configurations.
A few weeks earlier, I replaced all electrolytic capacitors in one of my old school
IC-735 with a soldering iron because these components age over the decades and cause performance degradation. While I had this "beautiful example of 1980's craftsmanship"
open, I added a
small circuit that allows me to operate this transceiver via a 21st century
SDR software running on a cheap single-board computer. The
visual display of the frequency spectrum makes it much easier to see where some action is rather than having to tune around aimlessly with the manual dial. The modified transceiver can now be operated in the 'traditional' way via its front panel or remotely from any computer or tablet, which then also includes decoding and encoding of digital modes, sending email via HF, etc.
After the upgrades, the transceiver was checked and readjusted to factory specs with the help of an oscilloscope and frequency generator.
Next winter project will be a 1000 Watt linear amplifier and I am still torn whether I go with tubes or transistors (MosFET). The transistor version would be much smaller and electrically more efficient but tubes have this warm, sturdy punch that is hard to replicate. Either way, I want it to be a project in order to learn the details. This way, I will be not at someone else's mercy for adjustments and repairs down the road.
In summary, electronic component boxes and soldering irons are still relevant but have been augmented over the years by modern devices.
