Digital potmeter with on/off switch?

[Jim Thompson]

Hello Jim,


Maybe but it trundled a while, then asked me for the zip code (that
request must have come via the link). They do this back east, too, but
then the pump opens up.

They do that around here. I think it checks that the zip code matches
that of the billing address.

Knock on wood, I've never had a problem.

What surprised me was the instant answer "you can't use that here, got
to pre-pay".

Regards, Joerg

Did you perchance try to use a Debit card without pressing the
ATM/Debit button?

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

Old Latin teachers never die...they just decline

 

[Joerg]

Hello Michael,

Gruess Gott, Joerg

That sounds really Bavarian, makes me long for a Spaten Optimator. But I
have to work late today so that won't be in the cards.

Electric rearview mirrors? What's this world coming to?! I've seen electric
*side* mirrors (sehr gut when weather is sleeting) but not rearview. I guess
the "improvements" are getting harder and harder to dream up, now that cup
holders, individual DVD monitors, zoned climate controls, and-on-and-on are
(probably) standard equipment. Oh! ... and rear-facing video camera; gotta have
*that* (not). I'm not much on cars - I walk or bicycle - so I wouldn't be
surprised if there are even more ridiculous gotta-haves in today's cars.

Bicycles, too. A neighbor has one with hydraulic brakes. The fluid is
enviro-friendly, of course, in case he turfs it and the stuff leaks. An
aunt had a bicycle with an automatic transmission. I didn't like that
kind of "progress" at all.

The Saab radio I wrote about was a Clarion. Great sound, lousy usability, but
with two super features that were sorely missed when I got rid of it: auto scan
tuning; multiple sets of both AM and FM station memories. Happily, fifteen
years later I got a Radio Shack "headset" with those features, on close-out for
just $25.

The best ones are the radios with two knobs. "Station" and "Volume". And
with dynamic range. Got to explain to some kid designers these days what
that is.

Servus, Joerg (that's what they say at the Hofbraeuhaus)

 

[Joerg]

Hello Jim,

They do that around here. I think it checks that the zip code matches
that of the billing address.

Knock on wood, I've never had a problem.

First time I had that issue anywhere.

Did you perchance try to use a Debit card without pressing the
ATM/Debit button?

It's a combo card. The only place where they don't accept those is a few
large car rentals at JFK. Which is why they don't get my business anymore.

Regards, Joerg

 

[Jim Thompson]

Hello Jim,
[snip]

It's a combo card. The only place where they don't accept those is a few
large car rentals at JFK. Which is why they don't get my business anymore.

Regards, Joerg

What's a "combo" card? I've not heard of that.

I know most car rental places won't take debit cards as the front end
guarantee.

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

Old Latin teachers never die...they just decline

 

[Joerg]

Hello Jim,

What's a "combo" card? I've not heard of that.

It is a card that can be used as ATM card and also as a credit card.
That way you don't have to carry two cards.

I know most car rental places won't take debit cards as the front end
guarantee.

They do take the combos, except the big companies in very few places.
But I like the smaller ones anyway. The rate I got at Alamo was a third
of what the big ones wanted for the same car. Similar for Fox and many
others. Blows my mind, since they are all in one building now.

Regards, Joerg

 

[Rich Grise]

Hello Rich,

Hi! ;-)

Sure, a little MSP430 can do it. But the client that has to show it
needs to be able to play with all the parameters. I can't make them load
the whole IAR Suite, learn how to fiddle with C or assembler source code
and compile and how to rig up the JTAG or serial download. At least not
within a couple of days since they've got other pressing items to tend
to. Nothing beats the ease of swapping a resistor to adjust some timing.
Takes 30 seconds tops.

How about this - an 8-input CMOS OR gate, so that when the count reaches
0, it starts a timer, and .5 or 1 sec later, if the button is still down,
sends the "power down now" signal to your magic power controller chip,
right? ;-)

Cheers!
Rich

 

[Rich Grise, PLainclothes Hippie]

You mean you couldn't figure out how to program it ?

I love that sort of thing. My wife opens the door on the Q45 and
presses "1" and the seat and mirrors move to her position, except the
seat is pushed back until she sits down and inserts the key, then it
moves forward.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is yet another of Mother Nature's ways of
saying, "You've got WAY too much money!" <*RIMSHOT*>

Cheers!
Rich
--
Elect Me President in 2008! I will:
A. Fire the IRS, and abolish the income tax
B. Legalize drugs
C. Stand down all military actions by the US that don't involve actual
military aggression against US territory
D. Declare World Peace I.

 

[Joerg]

Hello Rich,

How about this - an 8-input CMOS OR gate, so that when the count reaches
0, it starts a timer, and .5 or 1 sec later, if the button is still down,
sends the "power down now" signal to your magic power controller chip,
right? ;-)

That part is done, all with HC14. But now I received some additional and
revised items on the wish list. So it's another night shift and the
weekend is toast. But on the bright side, my office is 10 seconds
walking distance from home.

Regards, Joerg

 

[Michael]

Hello Michael,


That sounds really Bavarian, makes me long for a Spaten Optimator. But I
have to work late today so that won't be in the cards.

Well, I dunno 'bout that but I did pick up that expression down south, in
Wuertemberg(sp?). The first time I tried it out on a German, he let loose with
a proper German sentence instead of just "hi", which all German students know
perfectly well. I stood with my mouth open while my German girl friend laughed
a streak. She translated for me: "He said, 'I'm not going that far'."

Spaten. Yes, I know that one. Gold label with a little spade and other stuff
on it. I seem to have forgotten the "Optimator" part in the mean time. My
favorite, when I could get genuine German stuff, was a Weinachts bock brewed in
Sindelfingen. I can only describe it as delicious.

 

[Joerg]

Hello Michael,

Well, I dunno 'bout that but I did pick up that expression down south, in
Wuertemberg(sp?). The first time I tried it out on a German, he let loose with
a proper German sentence instead of just "hi", which all German students know
perfectly well. I stood with my mouth open while my German girl friend laughed
a streak. She translated for me: "He said, 'I'm not going that far'."

It's Baden-Wuerttemberg, a state in the south. I guess he was pulling
your leg there, Gruess Gott is the usual greeting in southern Germany.

Spaten. Yes, I know that one. Gold label with a little spade and other stuff
on it. I seem to have forgotten the "Optimator" part in the mean time. My
favorite, when I could get genuine German stuff, was a Weinachts bock brewed in
Sindelfingen. I can only describe it as delicious.

You can buy Optimator at Trader Joe's, I think it's around $6-7 per
six-pack. Lots of volts, so don't drive afterwards. My favorite is
Belgian beer of the Trappiste variety. But that has even more volts

Regards, Joerg

 

[joseph2k]

Hello Rich,



It is very important. They might take a few with them, leave them on the
shelf for a week and then take them somewhere else. If the battery is
flat by then it would be a major embarrassment. Remember that most of
those feasibility study products will be in the hands of non-EEs.
Whatever you do with feasibility studies you've got to come as close to
the 'real thing' as you can. I am almost there now.



Sure, a little MSP430 can do it. But the client that has to show it
needs to be able to play with all the parameters. I can't make them load
the whole IAR Suite, learn how to fiddle with C or assembler source code
and compile and how to rig up the JTAG or serial download. At least not
within a couple of days since they've got other pressing items to tend
to. Nothing beats the ease of swapping a resistor to adjust some timing.
Takes 30 seconds tops.

Regards, Joerg

Can't speak for any one else, but i would look into how solar calculators do
it, some version should be public domain by now.

 

[Joerg]

Hello Joseph,

Can't speak for any one else, but i would look into how solar calculators do
it, some version should be public domain by now.

It is quite easy to do with digital circuits. I have designed a lot of
devices around 74HC and CD4000 logic that had an almost immeasurable
current consumption after turning themselves dormant. Wake-up was so
quick that the whole scheme remained transparent to the user.

When you have lots of analog components it becomes more tricky. Often
all you can do is pulse certain things to monitor a particular parameter
that must trigger a change of power state. That is also how modern uC
such as the MSP430 work. They wake up and start their oscillator, look
around and if nothing happened go back to sleep mode. The first uC I did
that with was ye olde 89C51 but it would not go down to the 1uA range
like the MSP430 does. The CMOS process was probably more leaky.

Regards, Joerg