----- Original Message ----- From: "Ronn Blankenship" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Brin-L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2002 1:46 PM Subject: Re: Win 98 Registry
> > I personally have mostly been either careful or lucky (probably more of the > latter) in that the only casualties of most of my electrical misadventures > have been fuses and nerves. For example, when I was an undergraduate, I > worked for a while in the nuclear physics lab (that in itself is a > combination that ought to inspire feelings of confidence ;-) ). One day, > I was supposed to wire up a delay circuit for the main power switch to the > cyclotron that would make the alarm sound for the > safety-regulation-required X seconds before the power was applied. One of > the faculty handed me a hasty sketch of the circuit diagram as he > envisioned it drawn on the back of an envelope. I already knew enough > about electronics to not solder anything in place until I had tested it, if > possible, so I grabbed some jumper cables and breadboarded the circuit he > had diagrammed. When I applied the AC power, there was a spark that was > literally a foot long (30cm for Alberto), and the lights in half the > building went out. Needless to say, the circuit diagram required some > slight revisions before it could be hardwired . . . > > (BTW, by that time, the "artist" who had drawn the diagram was nowhere on > campus.) > Among electricians it is more or less universally accepted that Electrical Engineers are major league morons. Blueprints we recieve are often unworkable or inefficient. Generally we ascertain what they want, and then build it correctly based on experience as to what will blow up or catch on fire or not work. xponent That Blew Up Real Good Maru rob
