Well if you give away every detail one would suppose that someone could do without any further advice. But I've never known that to be the case.
This reminds me of the four-year effort I spent to design and build the electronics for a self-scanned photodiode array spectrometer. It took about two weeks of debug after the power was turned on the first time for it to operate as anticipated, and during the previous years I lost about all support from the faculty, and acquired undying enmity from one of them, who saw the instrument initially as a stepping-stone to a silicon target vidicon system (fortunately for him that wasn't to be, as that detector is plagued with systematic noise that swamps any preamp noise and beam-deflection issues, and was rapidly being superseded by CCDs anyway).
But when the news got around that the damn thing worked, and merely needed the cooling system I'd warned would be required, my former saxophone teacher and amateur astronomer asked me "Where did you get the plans?"
OT: Digilent analog discovery
Hello, Did you try DAD VNA in SMPS (class-d) loop measurements? How did you make measurements at low loop gain (DAD doesn't have PGA)? Have you tried Red Pitaya? In depth review of these instruments may be interesting for LA audience. Thank you. Sorry for OT.
Hello, Did you try DAD VNA in SMPS (class-d) loop measurements? How did you make measurements at low loop gain (DAD doesn't have PGA)? Have you tried Red Pitaya? In depth review of these instruments may be interesting for LA audience. Thank you. Sorry for OT.
It seems to me that the attitude consisting in re-thinking from start the needs and all possible solutions to address-it is something witch tend to disappear nowadays. Very often, our industrial products looks like carbon copies of the same brands of the other companies. Including all the bad ideas.
Every companies copying the products of the others in circle.
By example, in photography, Sony had invented a stupid way to help manual focus: "Focus peaking". (Because it does not work with wide angles lenses).
All other manufacturers immediately copied-it, making-it a standard feature. One could imagine so many other creative and more efficient solutions.
During decades, we worked to improve the security of the grade crossing gates between railways and roads, while the good answer to this security problem was ... to avoid them with a tunnel or a bridge ;-)
Every companies copying the products of the others in circle.
By example, in photography, Sony had invented a stupid way to help manual focus: "Focus peaking". (Because it does not work with wide angles lenses).
All other manufacturers immediately copied-it, making-it a standard feature. One could imagine so many other creative and more efficient solutions.
During decades, we worked to improve the security of the grade crossing gates between railways and roads, while the good answer to this security problem was ... to avoid them with a tunnel or a bridge ;-)
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There is not much new nowadays, and, as you say Christophe, everybody seems to be copying everobody else, This is, I'm sure, not for lack of ideas and smart people proposing them, but because of the economics of the business. R&D costs prohibitively much these days, plus it's easier and much faster when one uses well known tried and tested circuits.
For example, look at Marantz - throughout the 80ies and 90ies, they simply made variations of the same basic theme from bottom to top of the line, with only small adjustments, such as using more powerful drivers and output devices. Yet, every new generation was hailed as great news. Their last change was in circa 2002, is still going strong and will likely be used for another 5 years at least.
I'm fairly sure it's not too differet with other manufacturers either.
That's why old mistakes are so faithfully carried over to "new" models.
For example, look at Marantz - throughout the 80ies and 90ies, they simply made variations of the same basic theme from bottom to top of the line, with only small adjustments, such as using more powerful drivers and output devices. Yet, every new generation was hailed as great news. Their last change was in circa 2002, is still going strong and will likely be used for another 5 years at least.
I'm fairly sure it's not too differet with other manufacturers either.
That's why old mistakes are so faithfully carried over to "new" models.
So true, and it is a pity, while we don't had such fantastic tools to help us to dig inside new solutions, like simulators...
By example, in the movie production, in France, we have nowaydays very powerfull tools to edit sounds. Able to make corrections, cleanings, cross fades and even pre-mixes.
Do-you think sound editors use them ? While, because it is virtual and automation, there is no risk and one can recover instant the original ?
No.
They take no decisions and multiply the tracks.
Result ? You spend your time during mixing session (where the time is the most expensive) in listening all this crap to chose, with the need of a secretary to manage the hundreds of tracks. And to clean them all. Instead to have only to concentrate on emotion.
Bottom line is the stockholders are demanding quarterly increases in stock value, not connected to any real improvements or developments. This has killed the idea of doing basic research and spending any money that would dent those bottom lines. We are seeing the stupidity of that thinking today with the stock markets. a big crash for no apparent reason at the same time why it has gotten so high also has not real basis. A big Ponzi scheme to separate people from their money. The companies that will be around in the end are those that think long term and do real development to move forward, not just copying something with little thinking.
And in fact, it's getting worse all the time.
The mad suicidal drive to cost as little as possible has caused many to skimp more and more even from solid designs being let down by cheaper and poorer power transformers, by DECREASED PSU power supply electrolytics, etc.
Look at those bad joke "heat sinking" fins - it doesn't take being a rocket scientist to note how flimsy they have become and I seriously doubt many models could actually pass even the basic IHF tests, requiring a 30 minute warm-up at 173 of the nominal power before measuring the specs.
The mad suicidal drive to cost as little as possible has caused many to skimp more and more even from solid designs being let down by cheaper and poorer power transformers, by DECREASED PSU power supply electrolytics, etc.
Look at those bad joke "heat sinking" fins - it doesn't take being a rocket scientist to note how flimsy they have become and I seriously doubt many models could actually pass even the basic IHF tests, requiring a 30 minute warm-up at 173 of the nominal power before measuring the specs.
Wall Street has most industries by the throat. Companies are in lock down for months with every bit of communications stage managed by the investor relations people so that not one utterance is made without their approval in case it upsets the 'analysts'.
As for financial management - companies will do anything, and I mean anything - to drive the quarterly earnings number.
We had a crash in 2008 and we are having another one - severity as yet unknown- now. And we will have another one in 5 or 6 years. Boom and bust.
As for financial management - companies will do anything, and I mean anything - to drive the quarterly earnings number.
We had a crash in 2008 and we are having another one - severity as yet unknown- now. And we will have another one in 5 or 6 years. Boom and bust.
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