Monthly Archives: April 2011

Measuring Power with A Logarithmic Amplifier

Posted on April 29, 2011 by

One of our young engineers asked me why all of us old-timers like to use logarithmic amplifiers when we need to measure input signal power. The answer is simple — power is a linear function of the logarithm of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics | Leave a comment

Learning How Electronic Parts Work

Posted on April 28, 2011 by

Introduction A few years ago, I gave a lunch time talk on Mathcad to my hardware engineers. During the talk, one of the engineers mentioned that he starts a Mathcad worksheet when he is reading a part datasheet. While he … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics | 2 Comments

Bad Business Decisions

Posted on April 22, 2011 by

During a hallway discussion, the topic of bad business decisions came up. I was asked to relate the dumbest business decision that I had ever seen. This one was very easy. Because I do not wish to receive hate mail, … Continue reading →

Posted in Management | Leave a comment

Air Conditioning Math

Posted on April 16, 2011 by

Introduction I get some strange phone calls. I recently received one from a customer who wanted to know how many “tons of air conditioning” he needed to cool some equipment he had purchased from my company. After I assisted this … Continue reading →

Posted in Construction, History of Science and Technology | 1 Comment

Oxygen on Earth

Posted on April 9, 2011 by

Introduction As my regular readers can tell, I do not passively sit and watch television. While I am watching a program (history or science-oriented, nothing else), I have my computer right there and I actively research what is being said … Continue reading →

Posted in General Science, History of Science and Technology | 6 Comments