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Obsolete, but an exercise in Excel

J

John Devereux

Jan 1, 1970
0
TheGlimmerMan said:
I know... Through Hole is obsolete.

So, the things I predict happen ten years later, and the things I take
interest in morph.

No more colors on parts! Dang! This thing wont work for surface mount!

When I first started playing with surface mount I decided to use
mini-melf resistors for that very reason; I *liked* color coding.

http://www.google.com/images?q=minimelf+resistors

Stupid f***ing things - tweezers wont pick them up, so you drop them and
then they *roll* right off the bench.
 
T

TheGlimmerMan

Jan 1, 1970
0
Beats me why anybody thinks they need such things. I've been reading
colors as numbers since I was about 12.

I'll bet you do not know what all the tolerance values are, much less
the tempco bands. Easy to be sure that you know at least a few though.
A person working in the industry without knowledge of what the brown band
designates should look toward a different career.

Never said I had a need. A young buck might benefit from it.

Also, remember that it was Einstein that stated that one should NOT
commit ANYTHING to memory that can be looked up in a reference. That is
even more true in our information flooded society today. AND we have
computers as the reference tool. Why the world still uses paper, and
prints out their fucking emails and such, is beyond me.

The benefit from it (the sheet I made) is that once a value is entered,
it displays the lowest value one should see at that tolerance, and the
highest value one should expect to see for that particular resistor. Not
that calculating what 1% is in one's head is all that difficult.

Anyway, it gives the UK reference name and has the little known tempco
band for the rarely used or seen 6 band devices. AND it flags incorrect
values, and makes it impossible to enter the bands in the wrong order.
(not actually impossible, it merely flags it until corrected)

It sounds like you merely looked at the MS template site and never
actually DLd and examined the workbook.
 
F

Fred Abse

Jan 1, 1970
0
I'll bet you do not know what all the tolerance values are, much less
the tempco bands. Easy to be sure that you know at least a few though.
A person working in the industry without knowledge of what the brown band
designates should look toward a different career.

Never said I had a need. A young buck might benefit from it.

I wasn't suggesting that you had a need. I'd assumed that you posted it
for general interest. "Young bucks" might not get enough exposure to
develop the skill, there's not much through-hole these days.
Also, remember that it was Einstein that stated that one should NOT
commit ANYTHING to memory that can be looked up in a reference. That is
even more true in our information flooded society today. AND we have
computers as the reference tool. Why the world still uses paper, and
prints out their fucking emails and such, is beyond me.

I don't think I ever committed it to memory, it just sort of happened over
time. My generation was taught the colors of the spectrum in kindergarten,
that probably helped.

Occasionally, it can help to have a printout of, say a datasheet on the
workbench. I don't have the room for a PC, that stays in my office, any
spare space gets filled with instruments. Besides, you can lay a sheet of
paper flat, and just look across. Looking up at a screen. then down, gives
me a stiff neck.
The benefit from it (the sheet I made) is that once a value is entered,
it displays the lowest value one should see at that tolerance, and the
highest value one should expect to see for that particular resistor. Not
that calculating what 1% is in one's head is all that difficult.

It's the fractional multipliers that faze most people, IME.
Anyway, it gives the UK reference name and has the little known tempco
band for the rarely used or seen 6 band devices. AND it flags incorrect
values, and makes it impossible to enter the bands in the wrong order.
(not actually impossible, it merely flags it until corrected)

I don't know about UK reference names. We catalog on manufacturers'
product codes and our own part numbers, in addition to value.

How does it decide that a value is incorrect? E192 preferred values?
It sounds like you merely looked at the MS template site and never
actually DLd and examined the workbook.

True. The damn M$ site will let me in, but the download script won't run
in my browser. Plus I don't use or have Excel (or anything M$). Star
Office will do most Excel sheets, though. It was worth a try, out of
curiosity,
 
T

TheGlimmerMan

Jan 1, 1970
0
I wasn't suggesting that you had a need. I'd assumed that you posted it
for general interest. "Young bucks" might not get enough exposure to
develop the skill, there's not much through-hole these days.

Yeah, even Radio Shack would likely go under, if they didn't have a big
parent trying to grasp at cell phone provider straws to keep it 'alive'.
I considered the place 'dead' years ago. They want $40 for a friggin
HDMI cable!

Some Idiot must be at the helm of that division.
I don't think I ever committed it to memory, it just sort of happened over
time. My generation was taught the colors of the spectrum in kindergarten,
that probably helped.

They never assigned numerics though. That was definitely electronics
realm related.
Occasionally, it can help to have a printout of, say a datasheet on the
workbench. I don't have the room for a PC, that stays in my office, any
spare space gets filled with instruments. Besides, you can lay a sheet of
paper flat, and just look across. Looking up at a screen. then down, gives
me a stiff neck.

I have a PC at my bench, and a flat screen. All of our documents and
our MRP system is online, and we print assy. drawings, and the assemblers
pitch them into the shredder bin afterward. That keep folks from
building to the wrong revision, which still can and does happen. It is
possible to build from the screen, but not very conducive to the actual
logistics of the job. Floks print them out on A size, and it is even
smaller than the screen. Weird... folks are.
It's the fractional multipliers that faze most people, IME.

For sure. There are few left out there that are other than the 1% crowd
(E96), so there is not much need to know what the specialized band colors
are for higher tolerances, much less the 6 band tempco jobs.
I don't know about UK reference names. We catalog on manufacturers'
product codes and our own part numbers, in addition to value.

They call a 0.1 Ohm Resistor 0R1 IIRC. I figured that it might be
nice to have it show those values as well.
How does it decide that a value is incorrect? E192 preferred values?

I have a lookup table. I only have E96 in it though. I suppose I
should have made it a full E192 series check routine.

My bad. New revision time... :)

True. The damn M$ site will let me in, but the download script won't run
in my browser.

After you 'hit it' a few times and fail, it will eventually point you
at a direct DL link.

Plus I don't use or have Excel (or anything M$).

All of the templates on the site are macro free, so if Star Office has
kept up with their 'compatibility, it should work. Do they use
"VLOOKUP"?
Star
Office will do most Excel sheets, though. It was worth a try, out of
curiosity,

I actually BOUGHT that for $73 one day, in my ignorance. Was not many
months hence that they started giving it away.
 
F

Fred Abse

Jan 1, 1970
0
Yeah, even Radio Shack would likely go under, if they didn't have a big
parent trying to grasp at cell phone provider straws to keep it 'alive'.
I considered the place 'dead' years ago. They want $40 for a friggin
HDMI cable!

Some Idiot must be at the helm of that division.

It's useless, now. OTOH, it was never *that* good.

They never assigned numerics though. That was definitely electronics
realm related.


I have a PC at my bench, and a flat screen. All of our documents and
our MRP system is online, and we print assy. drawings, and the assemblers
pitch them into the shredder bin afterward. That keep folks from
building to the wrong revision, which still can and does happen. It is
possible to build from the screen, but not very conducive to the actual
logistics of the job. Floks print them out on A size, and it is even
smaller than the screen. Weird... folks are.


For sure. There are few left out there that are other than the 1% crowd
(E96), so there is not much need to know what the specialized band colors
are for higher tolerances, much less the 6 band tempco jobs.


They call a 0.1 Ohm Resistor 0R1 IIRC. I figured that it might be
nice to have it show those values as well.

Ahh.. That's what you meant. I have been known to use those, on occasions.
I think they're European, rather than just UK, though. German-inspired,
IIRC.
ISTR, in the 1960s, some use of "E" (einheit?), instead of "R".
I have a lookup table. I only have E96 in it though. I suppose I
should have made it a full E192 series check routine.

My bad. New revision time... :)



After you 'hit it' a few times and fail, it will eventually point you
at a direct DL link.

I shall have to try harder :)
All of the templates on the site are macro free, so if Star Office has
kept up with their 'compatibility, it should work. Do they use
"VLOOKUP"?

Yes, more or less all the common functions. Interestingly, you can do
logical functions intuitively, like "A AND (B OR C)", as well as the
notation that Excel, and others use.

Sounds like it should run, as long as it doesn't use those fancy pulldown
thingies.
I actually BOUGHT that for $73 one day, in my ignorance. Was not many
months hence that they started giving it away.

I bought it, too. Never regretted doing that. The formula editor is
excellent, IME, it was worth the money.
 
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