> I proposed it, and was willing to build microcontroller-based boards > and write firmware, but IIRC it was decided that there was too little > benefit.
That seems odd, considering the lengths you guys took on the caps, and the whole museum mentality of keeping things "safe" for the artifacts. Microcontrollers and such probably are too complex - simple over-voltage* and over-current circuits to trip the EPO (or whatever DEC called it when the line was cut) would suffice, and give some of the more delicate components a fighting chance of survival. * I once talked to a power supply guy about over-voltage sensors and the like, and he said that over-voltage conditions (like a power supply freaking out and giving TTL 8 Volts or something) due to component failures are exceedingly rare. When it does happen, it is almost always due to human error - mis-installing sense lines, cranking a trimmer too far, setting line voltage improperly, and so forth. -- Will
