Michael Wagner asked me to post this:

>From mwagner@prizmpharm.com  Fri Sep  6 11:59:40 1996
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>From: mwagner@prizmpharm.com (Michael Wagner)
Subject: excerpt from Electronic Design
Status: RO

If you're around, could I ask you to post this to the T2 list? THANKS!!!!!!

>Date: Fri, 6 Sep 96 11:36:17 PDT
>From: wagner@lj.sd.ray.com (Diane Wagner at Raytheon Semiconductor San Diego)
>To: mwagner@prizmpharm.com
>Subject: excerpt from Electronic Design
>
>Part of a column by Robert Pease [an EE who writes a regular column for
>Electronic Design]. Thought you might enjoy it....
>
>-----------
>
>Just what kind of car do you drive, Pease, to get good reliability? Ah,
>yes. I drive a car with exactly the right amout of modern electronic,
>computerized equipment--a 1968 VW beetle [my wife drives a newer car,
>a 1969 Beetle].
>
>Now, as an engineer, I suppose I should say good things about all of
>the fancy electronic fuel injection and spark computers and diagnostic
>computers and Lambda sensors. But I get 31 mpg and the car goes just as
>fast as I want, and that's good enough for me. The bottom line is that
>I prefer a car that has proven itself by running reliably for 336,000
>miles. In fact, until a couple months ago, it was still running on the
>original engine, and the original crank and pistons and cylinders
>[though it's true I had replaced the cylinder heads].
>
>Sometimes I do connect a Heathkit electronic ignition system to minimize
>wear and tear on the breaker points. But right now it's on the blink, so
>I just went back to the old conventional [Kettering] ignition system,
>points and coil and distributor and "condenser." I set my own timing and I
>adjust my own valves. That's one good thing about old, simple cars--if
>something does go wrong [which is rarely] you can fix it yourself.
>
>Do I think that electronics systems are going to improve the reliability
>of vehicles? Well, maybe. I recall the story of one of the first trucks
>that had an anti-lock brake system. They were driving innocently down the
>road when a nearby driver keyed the transmitter on the CB radio and the
>truck immediately locked up all the brakes. It turned out somebody had
>decided it would hurt the reliability to add bypass capacitors across the
>sensors and the inputs of the sensor amplifiers.
>
>That's what you learn from MILHDBK-217..remember? So when the transmitter
>went on, all of the amplifiers went berserk. Oh, the *amplifiers* were
>perfectly "reliable," but the system had not been engineered properly. It
>was a miracle that nobody was behind the truck when it locked up all its
>brakes.
>
>Are the new electronic systems better for the environment? Maybe so. Maybe
>a new sedan can travel down the road emitting even less smog and emissions
>than my VW, so long as its computer is working right. But in 10 years,
>what happens when you can't get parts for the computerized systems? My
>car will still be running just fine. I think I'll stand pat.
>
>After all, I have all of the tools and techniques I need to keep old VWs
>running forever. Forever? Well, there are old VWs around here that are over
>35 years old, and if I can keep my good new beetles running 35 more years,
>they may outlive me. You would not want to bet that I can't keep them
>running. Meanwhile, if I see another VW broken down along the road, I stop
>and see if I can help.
>
>Sometimes I have a tool or a gallon of gas, or the spare part they're in
>need of--a fan belt, or some points, or a clamp for a fuel hose. So I try
>to help solve their problem.............
>