"Lux vita" banished from laboratory

jackinnj · 24th October 2006, 01:40 PM

Amusing story from "Tales from the Cubicle" -- how an engineer discovered that lights sometimes mix too well with your design:

http://www.edn.com/article/CA6378105...lesFromTheCube

How many others have seen a design modulated because some clear 1N4148's were modulated?

Pano · 24th October 2006, 09:43 PM

That's great!

I've cut the top off of metal can transistors to get the effect he didn't want.

I have a fluorescent light on my workbench. So far no light leak problems, but the HF ballast does induct noise into everything. A very good test for shielding.

ReidK · 24th October 2006, 10:41 PM

There was an EE course given at my alma mater which entailed designing and building circuits from a standard (and fairly small) parts kit. There was one project that could not be built unless the student realized that a photocell could be used as an oscillator (at least in the lab). I think the professor subsequently decided that while this did encourage (or at least test) ingenuity and "thinking outside the box", it really wasn't teaching good engineering, and the kit was upgraded, probably with a 555. Or maybe with two extra transistors...

Reid

24th October 2006, 01:40 PM	#1
jackinnj diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Llanddewi Brefi, NJ	"Lux vita" banished from laboratory Amusing story from "Tales from the Cubicle" -- how an engineer discovered that lights sometimes mix too well with your design: http://www.edn.com/article/CA6378105...lesFromTheCube How many others have seen a design modulated because some clear 1N4148's were modulated?

24th October 2006, 09:43 PM	#2
Pano diyAudio Moderator Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: North Carolina Blog Entries: 4	That's great! I've cut the top off of metal can transistors to get the effect he didn't want. I have a fluorescent light on my workbench. So far no light leak problems, but the HF ballast does induct noise into everything. A very good test for shielding. __________________ Take the Speaker Voltage Test!

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24th October 2006, 10:41 PM	#3
ReidK diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Los Angeles (a.k.a. Hell on Earth)	There was an EE course given at my alma mater which entailed designing and building circuits from a standard (and fairly small) parts kit. There was one project that could not be built unless the student realized that a photocell could be used as an oscillator (at least in the lab). I think the professor subsequently decided that while this did encourage (or at least test) ingenuity and "thinking outside the box", it really wasn't teaching good engineering, and the kit was upgraded, probably with a 555. Or maybe with two extra transistors... Reid