Ultimate Screw-ups
Poor contacts stop model trains on the track
Glen Chenier
12/23/2010 9:47 AM EST
Engineer comes up with a clever fix to electrical contacts to keep model trains running smoothly
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26 comments
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Bellhop
I remember seeing a system advertised that used high voltage to generate a plasma at the contact ...
Valve jam poses near-disaster for EEs
Alan Stummer
12/14/2010 8:53 AM EST
EEs learn that knowledge and experience in electronics does not translate into hands-on experience in other fields.
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8 comments
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Salio
You are lucky that this didn't end in something worse than just cold oil gushing out you guys. ...
Three months' design work in four weeks
Dwight Bues
12/10/2010 8:19 AM EST
Engineer scurries to make up time adding a missing feature to a display generator
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9 comments
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Dwight Bues
Um, OK. I think I can clear up a couple of points here. I DID get recognition from Management: ...
Mix-and-match dc-to-dc converter design
Bruce Carsten
12/3/2010 8:28 AM EST
Extreme cost-saving measures in a voltage converter design lead to high rate of returns with a diode blown to smithereens
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1 comment
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David Ashton
Good story, and nice design work. Sounds like you were stymied by my pet hate - the bean counters!
Where there's smoke, there's a bad design
Dwight Bues
12/3/2010 8:11 AM EST
Thermal mismanagement wreaks havoc with an avionics display dumping lots of heat
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8 comments
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ReneCardenas
I had the opportunity to repair high-power audio amplifiers used in high-end systems, that used ...
The case of the calendar screw-up
Karen Field
11/24/2010 7:08 AM EST
A calendar gets the dates mixed up.
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8 comments
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Dwight Bues
I have to presume the calendar's designer had two "Ex's"...one born on 23 November and one born on ...
First data's in the register, then it's not
Dwight Bues
11/10/2010 8:34 AM EST
An engineer designing a VME bus-based interface card repeats an earlier mistake and remembers why you should always read the manual
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5 comments
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ReneCardenas
Even when specs define all supported configurations and features, you need to verify with ...
The top-secret prototype that went missing
11/3/2010 8:14 AM EDT
How did a customer get his hands on a new, top-secret computer before its official release?
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3 comments
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ReneCardenas
When I read the following error list depicted in the video, reafirms my conviction that we engineers ...
The case of the mismarked diodes
David Ashton
11/1/2010 8:18 AM EDT
Mismarked diodes create extra work for engineers and lead them to the conclusion that an engineer should never assume anything
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30 comments
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syndy
every I was very encouraged to find this site. I wanted to thank you for this special read. I ...
The engineering consultant who didn't do his job
WIlliam Ketel
10/21/2010 7:08 PM EDT
A consultant’s sloppy lab work leaves engineers mopping up after him to produce an absolutely repeatable signal source
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32 comments
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Salio
I think the title of the article doesn't seem to match the body of the article. Given that the ...
