Monday, July 9, 2012

Google Chrome is clairvoyant

I needed to find out what this little device does:


So I started typing into the Chrome address bar, "mini circuits" and this is what I saw:

(Click on the image to see clearly what happened.)  It somehow KNEW I was going to type 15542 next!  I haven't EVER looked up ANYTHING for "Mini Circuits".  The last time I looked up something like this was in a paper catalog in the 1990's.

Freaky!

(Answer: It takes the RF signals in 1 and 2 and sums them to the S port, or it takes an RF signal in the S port and splits it evenly into the 1 and the 2 ports.  The latter is how it is used in the circuit I am looking at.)


Sunday, July 8, 2012

DIY Engineering Manual

From years of experience, here is most of what you need to know to be an engineer.  Or, shall I say, to fake being an engineer and fix almost anything

  1. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
  2. If it is broke:
    1. Turn it off and turn it back on.
    2. If that does not fix it, unplug it and plug it back in.
    3. If that does not fix it, take it apart and put it back together.
    4. If it is still broken, don't mess with it any more.

For a more complex view of the world, see this image on the use of WD40 and Duct Tape.