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Laser, DFB module: TEC reaction speed

J

Joerg

John said:
At least bond it to a serious heat sink. The last thing you need is
another complex tau on the hot end of the tec.

We did that. The current test bench heat sink is half the size of AoE
and doesn't get noticeably warm at all. The DFB module is bolted down to
that with four inbus screws (optics guys only use the good stuff...) and
paste. It doesn't get warm either.

Thing is, those DFB modules seem to not be geared towards frequency
agile tuning. I wonder if there are some that would be better here. But
with the utter lack of useful information in their skimpy datasheets
that's hard to figure out.

The other thing that I always wondered about is the strange
centipede-style electrical connection of those things. From an RF point
of view that gives me the goose pimples.
 
M

Michael A. Terrell

Joerg said:
How's Australia? Must be nice to enjoy summer while most of us are
loading their wood stoves every few hours.


Wood stove? My A/C has been on almost all month, except for a couple
days when it dropped to 40 overnight.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida
 
J

Joerg

Michael said:
Wood stove? My A/C has been on almost all month, except for a couple
days when it dropped to 40 overnight.

Not in Northern California. Our stove runs all the time. None of this
global warming out here. But no white Christmas either, it never really
snows much around this time. That'll come in a month.
 
M

Michael A. Terrell

Joerg said:
Not in Northern California. Our stove runs all the time. None of this
global warming out here. But no white Christmas either, it never really
snows much around this time. That'll come in a month.


It has only snowed once here in Central Florida, in the last 19
years, and it surprised the daylights out of everyone. :)


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida
 
K

krw

Not in Northern California. Our stove runs all the time. None of this
global warming out here. But no white Christmas either, it never really
snows much around this time. That'll come in a month.

It'[s been in the mid-40s pretty much every day [*]. No reason to
think about lighting a fire. We're at least 30% behind normal
heating-degree-days.

[*] A friend commented that he can't remember a "green Christmas"
since at least the late '60s. ...not a bit of frost in the ground,
even.
 
J

Joerg

krw said:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:



Not in Northern California. Our stove runs all the time. None of this
global warming out here. But no white Christmas either, it never really
snows much around this time. That'll come in a month.


It'[s been in the mid-40s pretty much every day [*]. No reason to
think about lighting a fire. We're at least 30% behind normal
heating-degree-days.

Hmm, mid-40s would mean quite a chill in the house. My wife would
definitely want the wood stove going then.

Remember the discussion about health plans, HSA etc.? Well, long story
short we took the plunge and I have just filed for a switch to the
highest deductible plan at Kaiser. When that's approved I'll open the
HSA and then we'll see.

[*] A friend commented that he can't remember a "green Christmas"
since at least the late '60s. ...not a bit of frost in the ground,
even.

Out here it was the other way around. After moving to this area people
told us that it never gets really cold. Nah, don't need no salt and
yada, yada, yada. Sure enough there came the day when we couldn't make
it down the driveway. It was completely iced up one crisp morning.
 
K

krw

krw said:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:


Joerg wrote:


How's Australia? Must be nice to enjoy summer while most of us are
loading their wood stoves every few hours.



Wood stove? My A/C has been on almost all month, except for a couple
days when it dropped to 40 overnight.


Not in Northern California. Our stove runs all the time. None of this
global warming out here. But no white Christmas either, it never really
snows much around this time. That'll come in a month.


It'[s been in the mid-40s pretty much every day [*]. No reason to
think about lighting a fire. We're at least 30% behind normal
heating-degree-days.

Hmm, mid-40s would mean quite a chill in the house. My wife would
definitely want the wood stove going then.

As I said earlier, we heat with gas until it gets below zero
(usually even then).
Remember the discussion about health plans, HSA etc.? Well, long story
short we took the plunge and I have just filed for a switch to the
highest deductible plan at Kaiser. When that's approved I'll open the
HSA and then we'll see.

Did you pass this by your accountant? Let us know how it works
out. For young and reasonably healthy people ISTM that this is the
best plan. It also puts makes health insurance "insurance" again.
[*] A friend commented that he can't remember a "green Christmas"
since at least the late '60s. ...not a bit of frost in the ground,
even.

Out here it was the other way around. After moving to this area people
told us that it never gets really cold. Nah, don't need no salt and
yada, yada, yada. Sure enough there came the day when we couldn't make
it down the driveway. It was completely iced up one crisp morning.
I don't use salt (sodium chloride) because it makes too much of a
mess and often doesn't work. Sodium Chloride is much better and
doesn't track into the house. It';s been so warm I've only used a
couple of pounds so far. I've only had to start the snow blower
once. This week I gotta dump the gas and buy new stuff. This
weather can't hold forever.

A few years ago it was so cold salt no longer worked. We were
driving on a foot of packed snow for several weeks. What a mess
when that started melting!
 
J

Jamie

krw said:
krw wrote:

Michael A. Terrell wrote:



Joerg wrote:



How's Australia? Must be nice to enjoy summer while most of us are
loading their wood stoves every few hours.



Wood stove? My A/C has been on almost all month, except for a couple
days when it dropped to 40 overnight.


Not in Northern California. Our stove runs all the time. None of this
global warming out here. But no white Christmas either, it never really
snows much around this time. That'll come in a month.


It'[s been in the mid-40s pretty much every day [*]. No reason to
think about lighting a fire. We're at least 30% behind normal
heating-degree-days.

Hmm, mid-40s would mean quite a chill in the house. My wife would
definitely want the wood stove going then.


As I said earlier, we heat with gas until it gets below zero
(usually even then).

Remember the discussion about health plans, HSA etc.? Well, long story
short we took the plunge and I have just filed for a switch to the
highest deductible plan at Kaiser. When that's approved I'll open the
HSA and then we'll see.


Did you pass this by your accountant? Let us know how it works
out. For young and reasonably healthy people ISTM that this is the
best plan. It also puts makes health insurance "insurance" again.

[*] A friend commented that he can't remember a "green Christmas"
since at least the late '60s. ...not a bit of frost in the ground,
even.

Out here it was the other way around. After moving to this area people
told us that it never gets really cold. Nah, don't need no salt and
yada, yada, yada. Sure enough there came the day when we couldn't make
it down the driveway. It was completely iced up one crisp morning.

I don't use salt (sodium chloride) because it makes too much of a
mess and often doesn't work. Sodium Chloride is much better and
doesn't track into the house. It';s been so warm I've only used a
couple of pounds so far. I've only had to start the snow blower
once. This week I gotta dump the gas and buy new stuff. This
weather can't hold forever.

A few years ago it was so cold salt no longer worked. We were
driving on a foot of packed snow for several weeks. What a mess
when that started melting!
I'm having problems decoding your first paragraph, first you say you
don't use salt (sodium chloride), then you say, Sodium Chloride is much
better? I am sure, you meant something else but what?
 
J

Joerg

krw wrote:


[...]
As I said earlier, we heat with gas until it gets below zero
(usually even then).

Can't do that out where where they charge $3/gal or more for propane.
But a wood stove works even with mild chills. Just fire a load in the
morning and let it trundle out during the day. Unfortunately most folks
around here bank the stoves way too much and that creates plumes of
smoke. We try to never let off visible smoke from our chimney, to the
point where some neighbors thought we'd never use our stove. When they
came over they could not believe that it was cranking out heat.
Did you pass this by your accountant? Let us know how it works
out. For young and reasonably healthy people ISTM that this is the
best plan. It also puts makes health insurance "insurance" again.

I didn't ask my CPA, there just wasn't enough time to make the Jan-1
deadline. I am pretty good in tax matters and sometimes my CPA (who does
the biz taxes) said he wished other clients of his would be that organized.

But when they jacked up the premium for full "insurance" another 20% it
can only make sense to go HSA. Even with zero tax effect we'd most
likely be ahead of the game in less than a year if our health remains as
good as in the past years. A $2700 deductible per person drops the
premium to around 60%. Not bad, considering that the "benefits" under
the full plan had been eroded away to the point where a lengthy hospital
stay would mean de-facto almost the same deductible. Via tricks such as
$200 copay per day etc. A regular doctor visit isn't all that expensive.
Kaiser lists most of that on their web site which helped in the decision
making process. AFAIR it'll be $65 out of pocket now and before the
switch we'd still pay a $25 fee.

The good thing is that from what I read we can pay the dentist from the
HSA and that really helps. Dental insurance in the US is mostly a joke IMHO.
[*] A friend commented that he can't remember a "green Christmas"
since at least the late '60s. ...not a bit of frost in the ground,
even.

Out here it was the other way around. After moving to this area people
told us that it never gets really cold. Nah, don't need no salt and
yada, yada, yada. Sure enough there came the day when we couldn't make
it down the driveway. It was completely iced up one crisp morning.

I don't use salt (sodium chloride) because it makes too much of a
mess and often doesn't work. Sodium Chloride is much better and
doesn't track into the house. It';s been so warm I've only used a
couple of pounds so far. I've only had to start the snow blower
once. This week I gotta dump the gas and buy new stuff. This
weather can't hold forever.

It's not salt either. Some kind of greenish granulate but it works.

A few years ago it was so cold salt no longer worked. We were
driving on a foot of packed snow for several weeks. What a mess
when that started melting!

I remember that from Europe. But drivers ed over there is mandatory and
usually contains a module about how to drive on slick surfaces and what
to do after loss of grip. After some winters you get used to it. The
only not so good thing I had happen was when my old Citroen over there
plowed up so much snow in front that it eventually floated onto the top
of that pile. That meant 15 minutes of shoveling it out from underneath
the car. Always had a foldable shovel in the trunk, mostly used to dig
others out ;-)
 
K

krw

krw wrote:


[...]
As I said earlier, we heat with gas until it gets below zero
(usually even then).

Can't do that out where where they charge $3/gal or more for propane.
But a wood stove works even with mild chills. Just fire a load in the
morning and let it trundle out during the day. Unfortunately most folks
around here bank the stoves way too much and that creates plumes of
smoke. We try to never let off visible smoke from our chimney, to the
point where some neighbors thought we'd never use our stove. When they
came over they could not believe that it was cranking out heat.

We're just over a buck a therm got natural gas, so it's not too bad
until it stays below zero for some time.
I didn't ask my CPA, there just wasn't enough time to make the Jan-1
deadline. I am pretty good in tax matters and sometimes my CPA (who does
the biz taxes) said he wished other clients of his would be that organized.

Organized said:
But when they jacked up the premium for full "insurance" another 20% it
can only make sense to go HSA. Even with zero tax effect we'd most
likely be ahead of the game in less than a year if our health remains as
good as in the past years. A $2700 deductible per person drops the
premium to around 60%. Not bad, considering that the "benefits" under
the full plan had been eroded away to the point where a lengthy hospital
stay would mean de-facto almost the same deductible. Via tricks such as
$200 copay per day etc. A regular doctor visit isn't all that expensive.
Kaiser lists most of that on their web site which helped in the decision
making process. AFAIR it'll be $65 out of pocket now and before the
switch we'd still pay a $25 fee.

I wish others would see health *insurance* the same way we do.
The good thing is that from what I read we can pay the dentist from the
HSA and that really helps.

Yes, even the previous HSA (expired every year) could be used for
dental. This was a good use for it.
Dental insurance in the US is mostly a joke IMHO.

I've known that for 30 years. When we first got dental insurance
the local dentists just "happened" to increase their rates exactly
the same amount the same month, except for the uninsured. Nothing
has changed since. I simply tell them I have no insurance.
[*] A friend commented that he can't remember a "green Christmas"
since at least the late '60s. ...not a bit of frost in the ground,
even.


Out here it was the other way around. After moving to this area people
told us that it never gets really cold. Nah, don't need no salt and
yada, yada, yada. Sure enough there came the day when we couldn't make
it down the driveway. It was completely iced up one crisp morning.

I don't use salt (sodium chloride) because it makes too much of a
mess and often doesn't work. Sodium Chloride is much better and
doesn't track into the house. It';s been so warm I've only used a
couple of pounds so far. I've only had to start the snow blower
once. This week I gotta dump the gas and buy new stuff. This
weather can't hold forever.

It's not salt either. Some kind of greenish granulate but it works.

Could be Potassium Chloride. A lot of greenies like it because
it's a fertilizer so doesn't harm plants (can contribute to algae
plumes though). I tried it but went back to Calcium Chloride after
I used the bag. I haven't ought anything yet this year since I
have 40-60lbs. (two 5gal buckets) left over from last year. I
usually go through about 300-400 lbs per year.
I remember that from Europe. But drivers ed over there is mandatory and
usually contains a module about how to drive on slick surfaces and what
to do after loss of grip. After some winters you get used to it. The
only not so good thing I had happen was when my old Citroen over there
plowed up so much snow in front that it eventually floated onto the top
of that pile. That meant 15 minutes of shoveling it out from underneath
the car. Always had a foldable shovel in the trunk, mostly used to dig
others out ;-)

Packed snow is a pretty good base to drive on. It's kinda strange
the first time though because of the squeaks. The problem was with
the eventual melt. Snow plugged access to the storm drains so
water pooled (ice) is some places and didn't in others (major
ruts). For a while it was like driving off-road, perhaps without
so much mud. ;-)
 
K

krw

krw said:
krw wrote:


Michael A. Terrell wrote:



Joerg wrote:



How's Australia? Must be nice to enjoy summer while most of us are
loading their wood stoves every few hours.



Wood stove? My A/C has been on almost all month, except for a couple
days when it dropped to 40 overnight.


Not in Northern California. Our stove runs all the time. None of this
global warming out here. But no white Christmas either, it never really
snows much around this time. That'll come in a month.


It'[s been in the mid-40s pretty much every day [*]. No reason to
think about lighting a fire. We're at least 30% behind normal
heating-degree-days.


Hmm, mid-40s would mean quite a chill in the house. My wife would
definitely want the wood stove going then.


As I said earlier, we heat with gas until it gets below zero
(usually even then).

Remember the discussion about health plans, HSA etc.? Well, long story
short we took the plunge and I have just filed for a switch to the
highest deductible plan at Kaiser. When that's approved I'll open the
HSA and then we'll see.


Did you pass this by your accountant? Let us know how it works
out. For young and reasonably healthy people ISTM that this is the
best plan. It also puts makes health insurance "insurance" again.

[*] A friend commented that he can't remember a "green Christmas"
since at least the late '60s. ...not a bit of frost in the ground,
even.


Out here it was the other way around. After moving to this area people
told us that it never gets really cold. Nah, don't need no salt and
yada, yada, yada. Sure enough there came the day when we couldn't make
it down the driveway. It was completely iced up one crisp morning.

I don't use salt (sodium chloride) because it makes too much of a
mess and often doesn't work. Sodium Chloride is much better and
doesn't track into the house. It';s been so warm I've only used a
couple of pounds so far. I've only had to start the snow blower
once. This week I gotta dump the gas and buy new stuff. This
weather can't hold forever.

A few years ago it was so cold salt no longer worked. We were
driving on a foot of packed snow for several weeks. What a mess
when that started melting!
I'm having problems decoding your first paragraph, first you say you
don't use salt (sodium chloride), then you say, Sodium Chloride is much
better? I am sure, you meant something else but what?

Sorry, sitting in front of the teevee talking to the brat and his
fiancee while typing...

Calcium Chloride is much better than...

Sodium Chloride is good to about 20F and tracks all over the house.
Calcium Cloride is good down to at least 0F and doesn't track
nearly as bad (particularly the granular stuff). CaCl2 is more
expensive, though far more effective.
 
J

Joerg

krw said:
krw wrote:


[...]

Hmm, mid-40s would mean quite a chill in the house. My wife would
definitely want the wood stove going then.


As I said earlier, we heat with gas until it gets below zero
(usually even then).

Can't do that out where where they charge $3/gal or more for propane.
But a wood stove works even with mild chills. Just fire a load in the
morning and let it trundle out during the day. Unfortunately most folks
around here bank the stoves way too much and that creates plumes of
smoke. We try to never let off visible smoke from our chimney, to the
point where some neighbors thought we'd never use our stove. When they
came over they could not believe that it was cranking out heat.


We're just over a buck a therm got natural gas, so it's not too bad
until it stays below zero for some time.

I didn't ask my CPA, there just wasn't enough time to make the Jan-1
deadline. I am pretty good in tax matters and sometimes my CPA (who does
the biz taxes) said he wished other clients of his would be that organized.


Organized <> pass the fed muster for an HSA

The plan is HSA eligible and spells out quite clearly how much it can
be. Where it becomes hazy are details like whether I can contribute end
of this month for 2007 etc. We need to see the doctor once more Jan-3 or
so and it would be nice if the HSA could be used by then. Even if not or
if the fed socks us with some unfair excise tax we'd be in the green
because the difference between the delta in that one month's premium and
the doctor fee is substantial, more than $200 in our favor. So I guess
it's almost a no-brainer.

OTOH the more complicated they make the tax rules the least likely it
becomes that even the fed employees have a clue. Had that once in Europe
where I had educated myself really good about foreign stock handling. A
gvt agent disagreed, I showed him the EU law, upon which he said "Aha! I
see" and granted my request. And yes, that forced him to scramble
together and use whatever school English he could remember. Because I
also found a little law that in essence forbids discrimination against
other main EU languages. I also had the first law in French but I didn't
make him read that ;-)
I wish others would see health *insurance* the same way we do.




Yes, even the previous HSA (expired every year) could be used for
dental. This was a good use for it.

I wouldn't have done it if they expired. I just hate having to do the
agency thing, a.k.a. blowing out the budget at year end no matter what.
Dental insurance in the US is mostly a joke IMHO.


I've known that for 30 years. When we first got dental insurance
the local dentists just "happened" to increase their rates exactly
the same amount the same month, except for the uninsured. Nothing
has changed since. I simply tell them I have no insurance.
[*] A friend commented that he can't remember a "green Christmas"
since at least the late '60s. ...not a bit of frost in the ground,
even.


Out here it was the other way around. After moving to this area people
told us that it never gets really cold. Nah, don't need no salt and
yada, yada, yada. Sure enough there came the day when we couldn't make
it down the driveway. It was completely iced up one crisp morning.


I don't use salt (sodium chloride) because it makes too much of a
mess and often doesn't work. Sodium Chloride is much better and
doesn't track into the house. It';s been so warm I've only used a
couple of pounds so far. I've only had to start the snow blower
once. This week I gotta dump the gas and buy new stuff. This
weather can't hold forever.

It's not salt either. Some kind of greenish granulate but it works.


Could be Potassium Chloride. A lot of greenies like it because
it's a fertilizer so doesn't harm plants (can contribute to algae
plumes though). I tried it but went back to Calcium Chloride after
I used the bag. I haven't ought anything yet this year since I
have 40-60lbs. (two 5gal buckets) left over from last year. I
usually go through about 300-400 lbs per year.
I remember that from Europe. But drivers ed over there is mandatory and
usually contains a module about how to drive on slick surfaces and what
to do after loss of grip. After some winters you get used to it. The
only not so good thing I had happen was when my old Citroen over there
plowed up so much snow in front that it eventually floated onto the top
of that pile. That meant 15 minutes of shoveling it out from underneath
the car. Always had a foldable shovel in the trunk, mostly used to dig
others out ;-)


Packed snow is a pretty good base to drive on. It's kinda strange
the first time though because of the squeaks. The problem was with
the eventual melt. Snow plugged access to the storm drains so
water pooled (ice) is some places and didn't in others (major
ruts). For a while it was like driving off-road, perhaps without
so much mud. ;-)

Most of the problem lies with drivers who lack the skill. I was sitting
in front of a red light once and a VW Beetle came careening towards me.
Sideways. All in total slow motion. So I backed up a little and it
careened past me, the driver's eye wide open in fear. Looked like he was
also screaming. KA-ploof, right into a snow bank from which we had to
dig him out. Not much was bent though.
 
M

Mike Monett

Joerg said:
Most of the problem lies with drivers who lack the skill. I was
sitting in front of a red light once and a VW Beetle came
careening towards me.
Sideways. All in total slow motion. So I backed up a little and it
careened past me, the driver's eye wide open in fear. Looked like
he was also screaming. KA-ploof, right into a snow bank from which
we had to dig him out. Not much was bent though.
Regards, Joerg

A big problem up here is black ice. Thin, and perfectly transparent
so you can't see it's there. Perfectly flat and slippery as hell.

Every winter I slip on a patch just outside the door and crack a few
ribs. I always tell myself to be careful where I step, but it always
catches me off guard.

Terrible to drive on also. Especially on bridges that freeze a bit
sooner than the regular road surface. You can be driving along with
perfect traction, then come to a bridge with black ice. The results
are unpredictable :)

Regards,

Mike Monett

Antiviral, Antibacterial Silver Solution:
http://silversol.freewebpage.org/index.htm
SPICE Analysis of Crystal Oscillators:
http://silversol.freewebpage.org/spice/xtal/clapp.htm
Noise-Rejecting Wideband Sampler:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/add.automation/sampler/intro.htm
 
J

Jim Thompson

A big problem up here is black ice. Thin, and perfectly transparent
so you can't see it's there. Perfectly flat and slippery as hell.

Every winter I slip on a patch just outside the door and crack a few
ribs. I always tell myself to be careful where I step, but it always
catches me off guard.

Terrible to drive on also. Especially on bridges that freeze a bit
sooner than the regular road surface. You can be driving along with
perfect traction, then come to a bridge with black ice. The results
are unpredictable :)

Regards,

Mike Monett

Occasionally it rains here... and the streets get a little slippery
;-)

...Jim Thompson
 
J

Joerg

Mike said:
A big problem up here is black ice. Thin, and perfectly transparent
so you can't see it's there. Perfectly flat and slippery as hell.

Every winter I slip on a patch just outside the door and crack a few
ribs. I always tell myself to be careful where I step, but it always
catches me off guard.

Terrible to drive on also. Especially on bridges that freeze a bit
sooner than the regular road surface. You can be driving along with
perfect traction, then come to a bridge with black ice. The results
are unpredictable :)

We don't have black ice so much but there are occasions where the steps
on our back deck ice up ever so lightly. Hard to see. No big deal for us
but it is for the dogs. When we tell them to be careful they listen and
walk slowly but the millisecond they smell something it's full bore.
Then, wheeeee ... kapoof ... phsssst ... crash. So far they've never
hurt themselves badly. Dogs must be more sturdy than man.
 
Thank you for the offer. I just wrote you an email. FYI: This email
address shows up non-munged in the newsreader, might want to mung it a
bit to cut down on spam.

My e-mail address has been showing up here since 1997 (when spam wasn't
a problem).
Modern spam filters keep the level of spam getting into my in-box well
below the regular traffic, so I'm not going to start munging now.
The concerning detail in there is that they state the time constants in
minutes and not seconds. You can achieve a swing of 10C within a couple
of seconds but at the expense of very serious overshoot and ringout.



We could be slow at the outset but after a minute of so we need to be
able to scoot over a few degrees as fast as possible.

Once we turned off the self-tuing algorithm and tuned our PID
controller using the Ziegler-Nichols procedure, we got remarkably fast
settling.

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ACTGMBH/zn.htm
How's Australia? Must be nice to enjoy summer while most of us are
loading their wood stoves every few hours.

Melbourne has just had its coldest Christmas on record, with a maximum
temperature of 14.5C - about 10C cooler than usual. Various mountains
around Victoria and Tasmania had snow cover during the day. My mother's
gas-fired central heating turned itself on, and I had to find myself a
sweater ...
 
L

Lostgallifreyan

[email protected] wrote in
Melbourne has just had its coldest Christmas on record, with a maximum
temperature of 14.5C - about 10C cooler than usual. Various mountains
around Victoria and Tasmania had snow cover during the day. My mother's
gas-fired central heating turned itself on, and I had to find myself a
sweater ...

Ashes to Australia,
Dust to Dust.
If McGragh doesn't get you
then Warney must.
 
M

Michael A. Terrell

STEVE said:
Translation please, for us ohioians.

Steve Roberts


GTO = Go To Ohio. ;-)


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida
 
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