LTSpice Automation

[Joerg]

krw wrote:

On Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:10:13 -0800, Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid
wrote:

Jim Thompson wrote:
On Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:25:26 -0800, Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid
wrote:

Fred Bartoli wrote:
Fred Abse a écrit :
On Wed, 17 Feb 2010 07:26:20 -0800, JosephKK wrote:

Geez, did everybody forget the three phase rectifier efficiency that
Fred Bartoli did for me? Note the stepped load on the right.
T'warn't Fred Bartoli,t'was I

Oh, I thought even I forgot about it

Well, I don't use much LTspice thanks to its poor GUI, so I couldn't
have done it...

You guys are spoiled, or too young. Back when I started the "GUI" of
PSpice consisted of a rather small green CRT hanging off some CGA card.
I had the deluxe edition, a CRT in nicotine-yellow
Sheeeesh! When I started using Spice I drew schematics on paper pads,
numbered the nodes, typed in the netlist and ran it under DOS.

Aaron eased my pain by writing a pre/post version controller which
numbered all the .CIR and .DAT files so I could keep track of all the
changes.

Data spewed forth from a tractor feed printer:

.001 *
.002 *
.003 *
.004 *

etc. Anyone else remember those days?

A friend of mine tried this with a Commodore daisy wheel printer, same
that I used to have. It could do microstepping and he just used the dot.
Which consequently wore out real fast ...

When I first started with IBM, we used communicating Selectrics and
2741s (a bullet-proofed Selectric sort of thing) for this. Overnight
runs used a different simulator and chain printers. The printing was
the same as above, though, and printouts were often a foot thick.

Then you probably remember their first PC word processor, EasyWriter.
That's what I started out with. Later I learned that the programmer
wrote it while doing time in the slammer, IIRC for blue-boxing.

My first forays in to computing was writing Fortran. Using a Juki punch
card machine.

We used IBM 029s in high school and college with a 360/75 (amazing
beast) at the business end.

IBM was always the good stuff. We had two IBM punchers and two Jukis,
for about 400 students. The IBMs were always occupied, the Jukis broken
most of the time. We weren't s'posed to ... but ... I always carried a
pouch with tools along. So I repaired one and whoopdidou, had a seat.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

 

[krw]

On Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:15:54 -0800, Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid>
wrote:

krw wrote:
On Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:10:13 -0800, Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid
wrote:

Jim Thompson wrote:
On Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:25:26 -0800, Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid
wrote:

Fred Bartoli wrote:
Fred Abse a écrit :
On Wed, 17 Feb 2010 07:26:20 -0800, JosephKK wrote:

Geez, did everybody forget the three phase rectifier efficiency that
Fred Bartoli did for me? Note the stepped load on the right.
T'warn't Fred Bartoli,t'was I

Oh, I thought even I forgot about it

Well, I don't use much LTspice thanks to its poor GUI, so I couldn't
have done it...

You guys are spoiled, or too young. Back when I started the "GUI" of
PSpice consisted of a rather small green CRT hanging off some CGA card.
I had the deluxe edition, a CRT in nicotine-yellow
Sheeeesh! When I started using Spice I drew schematics on paper pads,
numbered the nodes, typed in the netlist and ran it under DOS.

Aaron eased my pain by writing a pre/post version controller which
numbered all the .CIR and .DAT files so I could keep track of all the
changes.

Data spewed forth from a tractor feed printer:

.001 *
.002 *
.003 *
.004 *

etc. Anyone else remember those days?

A friend of mine tried this with a Commodore daisy wheel printer, same
that I used to have. It could do microstepping and he just used the dot.
Which consequently wore out real fast ...

When I first started with IBM, we used communicating Selectrics and
2741s (a bullet-proofed Selectric sort of thing) for this. Overnight
runs used a different simulator and chain printers. The printing was
the same as above, though, and printouts were often a foot thick.


Then you probably remember their first PC word processor, EasyWriter.

That wasn't their first. The MTST/MCST (Mag Tape/Card Selectric
Typewriter) was a word processor, too. ...and there were several
mainframe-based systems for such. Yes, I remember SleazyWriter. ;-)

That's what I started out with. Later I learned that the programmer
wrote it while doing time in the slammer, IIRC for blue-boxing.

??

My first forays in to computing was writing Fortran. Using a Juki punch
card machine.

We used IBM 029s in high school and college with a 360/75 (amazing
beast) at the business end.


IBM was always the good stuff. We had two IBM punchers and two Jukis,
for about 400 students. The IBMs were always occupied, the Jukis broken
most of the time. We weren't s'posed to ... but ... I always carried a
pouch with tools along. So I repaired one and whoopdidou, had a seat.

I don't know why they had IBMs because the university was pretty
heavily into CDC (PLATO, and all). The /75 wasn't a small machine (it
did the 360 instruction set in hardware - no microcode).

 

[Joerg]

krw wrote:

On Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:15:54 -0800, Joerg <invalid@invalid.invalid
wrote:

[...]

Then you probably remember their first PC word processor, EasyWriter.

That wasn't their first. The MTST/MCST (Mag Tape/Card Selectric
Typewriter) was a word processor, too. ...and there were several
mainframe-based systems for such. Yes, I remember SleazyWriter. ;-)

That's what I started out with. Later I learned that the programmer
wrote it while doing time in the slammer, IIRC for blue-boxing.

??

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Draper

[...]

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

 

[Joel Koltner]

"krw" <krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzz> wrote in message
news:hforn5todgh8shm5elno5spnc0j3edk3n1@4ax.com...

Amazing. Where did you go to school?

University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In the early '90s there was still more variety of computers as well -- PCs
were clearly the most popular with Macs second, but there were also a sizeable
number of people with Atari STs, Apple IIGSes, Amigas and even some
NeXTstations for the real hard-core computer guys; there were user groups for
most that met somewhere reasonably close to campus. (The Amiga group that I
occasionally visited met in the "union south," which was immediately adjacent
to all the engineering buildings.)

We had a few rooms of 029s (perhaps sixty). They were clean and very
bright, if littered with cards and chad. I only took one CS course
(well, I started a PDP-8 assembly course but got sick so dropped it).

Wow...

When I returned for my master's at Oregon State here, I was a bit sad to see
that within engineering HP calculators had gone from >90% to <33%!

---Joel

 

[Joel Koltner]

"Jim Thompson" <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@My-Web-Site.com> wrote in
message news:j0prn5phpc5d7h6lr7b9t0atqkqdedhbki@4ax.com...

My first 386 with a 387 co-processor cost me around $4K, and it was a
clone (~1987)

The first PC I purchased was a 286, purchased around 1992 (so already pretty
old), but for "only" $700 or so. I didn't purchase my next PC -- a 75MHz
Pentium -- until something like 1997 or so.

 

[Joerg]

Joel Koltner wrote:

"krw" <krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzz> wrote in message
news:hforn5todgh8shm5elno5spnc0j3edk3n1@4ax.com...
Amazing. Where did you go to school?

University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In the early '90s there was still more variety of computers as well --
PCs were clearly the most popular with Macs second, but there were also
a sizeable number of people with Atari STs, Apple IIGSes, Amigas and
even some NeXTstations for the real hard-core computer guys; there were
user groups for most that met somewhere reasonably close to campus.
(The Amiga group that I occasionally visited met in the "union south,"
which was immediately adjacent to all the engineering buildings.)

We had a few rooms of 029s (perhaps sixty). They were clean and very
bright, if littered with cards and chad. I only took one CS course
(well, I started a PDP-8 assembly course but got sick so dropped it).

Wow...

When I returned for my master's at Oregon State here, I was a bit sad to
see that within engineering HP calculators had gone from >90% to <33%!

And solder irons had probably gone to even less that 33% :-(

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

 

[Tim Williams]

"Joel Koltner" <zapwireDASHgroups@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:t5lfn.321424$IU1.166432@en-nntp-04.dc1.easynews.com...

-- today I'd wager >99% of engineering students have PCs, almost all of
those are laptops (all active-matrix LCDs now), and nearly all campuses
have ubiquitous WFi.

In fact, this school has a "technology program" where you are required to
lease a laptop (whether you need one or not).

Tim

--
Deep Friar: a very philosophical monk.
Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms

 

[Joel Koltner]

"Tim Williams" <tmoranwms@charter.net> wrote in message
news:hlkv5s$d2k$1@news.eternal-september.org...

In fact, this school has a "technology program" where you are required to
lease a laptop (whether you need one or not).

That sounds like a bit of a scam!

I lived in the dormitories for 3 years as an undergraduate, and during the
last year they decided that they were going to equip all the rooms with
mini-fridges whether you liked it or not... and of course there was a new,
separate fee for this. Most annoying to those who had already purchased their
own fridge... or decided to do without.

Seems like they should have phased them in over four years and just jacked up
the rent a bit rather than making it a separate line item, if they really
wanted to do it.

(I have often felt that apartments would be better if there were more standard
appliances such as a microwave, dishwasher, and washer and dryer [when there's
already plumbing for such] than making everyone haul their own from rental to
rental...)

How many years do you have left of school, Tim?

---Joel

 

[Tim Williams]

"Joel Koltner" <zapwireDASHgroups@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:ftnfn.323138$IU1.301837@en-nntp-04.dc1.easynews.com...

How many years do you have left of school, Tim?

Oh, I should be out by next winter, if all goes well.

Why, would you like a copy of my resume? ;-)

Tim

--
Deep Friar: a very philosophical monk.
Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms

 

[Joerg]

Joel Koltner wrote:

"Tim Williams" <tmoranwms@charter.net> wrote in message
news:hlkv5s$d2k$1@news.eternal-september.org...
In fact, this school has a "technology program" where you are required
to lease a laptop (whether you need one or not).

That sounds like a bit of a scam!

I lived in the dormitories for 3 years as an undergraduate, and during
the last year they decided that they were going to equip all the rooms
with mini-fridges whether you liked it or not... and of course there was
a new, separate fee for this. Most annoying to those who had already
purchased their own fridge... or decided to do without.

Seems like they should have phased them in over four years and just
jacked up the rent a bit rather than making it a separate line item, if
they really wanted to do it.

(I have often felt that apartments would be better if there were more
standard appliances such as a microwave, dishwasher, and washer and
dryer [when there's already plumbing for such] than making everyone haul
their own from rental to rental...)

Hey, you guys are spoiled. I never lived on campus, didn't want to. I
had no washer, no dryer, no microwave, no diswasher. All I had was a
two-burner portable electric "range". But you could not turn both on
when the TV was running or the fuse would blow and that was three
flights of stairs down. Dishes were done by hand, same for the laundry.
Use of the clothesline during the week was scheduled out among the parties.

[...]

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

 

[Joel Koltner]

"Tim Williams" <tmoranwms@charter.net> wrote in message
news:hll9lc$mua$1@news.eternal-september.org...

Oh, I should be out by next winter, if all goes well.

Super.

Why, would you like a copy of my resume? ;-)

Well, at the moment we're not hiring due to a lack of having much excess money
around , but of course that could change by next winter. I'm just a
regular engineer (not a managerial type), but I could certainly see that your
resume made it into the right hands.

Truth be told, by next winter if things go well it'll probably be more
software & FPGA (& maybe DSP) people we'll need anyway than circuit designers.
Oh, and there's a side project for IT people that might get funded, but I
mean, who wants to sit around all day configuring SSH and VPNs and whatnot?

What kind of work do you expect you'll be looking for anyway? The first job I
took out of college was your generic microcontroller board hardware design &
programming one, and in retrospect I should have spent more time looking for a
job doing something closer to analog or RF design -- what I really *wanted* to
do -- rather than just taking the first one that I was offered and reasonably
qualified for.

---Joel

 

[Joel Koltner]

Oh, hey, one thing you should do when you get serious about looking for jobs
next year -- stick your resume up on your web site (and of course stick the
URL on your resume for when you hand out printed copies). Your web site
demonstrates a very impressive set of skills, and since I suspect your web
site gets a fair amount of traffic, I also suspect you'd find a lot of people
who'd be interested in hiring you.

 

[Joel Koltner]

"Joerg" <invalid@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:7u8260Fve5U1@mid.individual.net...

Dishes were done by hand, same for the laundry.

They didn't have laundromats over there!? My mother didn't have a washer &
dryer until I was about 6, so I do have many early memories of accompanying
her off to the laundromat... my brother and I would spend out time looking for
loose change people had dropped, and (at least as a kid) it was truly amazing
just how much there was to find.

Oh, and it was next door to a donut shop...

I can't even imagine having to do laundry by hand these days! Especially
when, after getting married, the amount of laundry done per week has increased
by, um, about 5x...

---Joel

 

[Joerg]

Joel Koltner wrote:

"Joerg" <invalid@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:7u8260Fve5U1@mid.individual.net...
Dishes were done by hand, same for the laundry.

They didn't have laundromats over there!? My mother didn't have a
washer & dryer until I was about 6, so I do have many early memories of
accompanying her off to the laundromat... my brother and I would spend
out time looking for loose change people had dropped, and (at least as a
kid) it was truly amazing just how much there was to find.

I lived on the Dutch side of the border and don't remember a laundromat.
There was a dry cleaner where they also did laundry but that was way out
of league for a student on a $300/mo budget.

Oh, and it was next door to a donut shop...

I can't even imagine having to do laundry by hand these days!

As a student I used to do that every week.

Especially when, after getting married, the amount of laundry done per
week has increased by, um, about 5x...

Ahem, I know what you mean

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

 

[Vladimir Vassilevsky]

Joerg wrote:

Joel Koltner wrote:

"Joerg" <invalid@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:7u8260Fve5U1@mid.individual.net...

Dishes were done by hand, same for the laundry.


They didn't have laundromats over there!? My mother didn't have a
washer & dryer until I was about 6, so I do have many early memories
of accompanying her off to the laundromat... my brother and I would
spend out time looking for loose change people had dropped, and (at
least as a kid) it was truly amazing just how much there was to find.


I lived on the Dutch side of the border and don't remember a laundromat.
There was a dry cleaner where they also did laundry but that was way out
of league for a student on a $300/mo budget.


Oh, and it was next door to a donut shop...

I can't even imagine having to do laundry by hand these days!



As a student I used to do that every week.


Especially when, after getting married, the amount of laundry done per
week has increased by, um, about 5x...


Ahem, I know what you mean

When I was a freshman, I had somewhat different problem: what I am going
to eat. The detergents were rationed; however laundry wasn't a big
problem since there was not too many things to clean.

VLV

 

[Joel Koltner]

"Vladimir Vassilevsky" <nospam@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:hoadnTdLFMYmZOPWnZ2dnUVZ_gmdnZ2d@giganews.com...

When I was a freshman, I had somewhat different problem: what I am going to
eat. The detergents were rationed; however laundry wasn't a big problem
since there was not too many things to clean.

The popular cheap college food over here are ramen noodles or rice and
beans... how was it over there?

 

[Joerg]

Joel Koltner wrote:

"Vladimir Vassilevsky" <nospam@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:hoadnTdLFMYmZOPWnZ2dnUVZ_gmdnZ2d@giganews.com...
When I was a freshman, I had somewhat different problem: what I am
going to eat. The detergents were rationed; however laundry wasn't a
big problem since there was not too many things to clean.

The popular cheap college food over here are ramen noodles or rice and
beans... how was it over there?

Reports like this one from Vladimir always humble me a bit. We have to
keep in mind that there are countries where even the lowly top ramen out
of a plastic can would be a real luxury item. Where you have to worry
how to get enough vitamins into your body for the winter.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

 

[Vladimir Vassilevsky]

Joel Koltner wrote:

"Vladimir Vassilevsky" <nospam@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:hoadnTdLFMYmZOPWnZ2dnUVZ_gmdnZ2d@giganews.com...

When I was a freshman, I had somewhat different problem: what I am
going to eat. The detergents were rationed; however laundry wasn't a
big problem since there was not too many things to clean.


The popular cheap college food over here are ramen noodles or rice and
beans... how was it over there?

So-called "double soup": dissolve two packs of dry noodle soup in the
amount of water intended for one pack (that's why it was called
"double"), add some potatoes and whatever else you may have, then boil
it until it will be a uniform kasha.

Did you make tea with a pair of razor blades?


Vladimir Vassilevsky
DSP and Mixed Signal Design Consultant
http://www.abvolt.com

 

[Joel Koltner]

"Vladimir Vassilevsky" <nospam@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:x_GdnbNeQpvYmuLWnZ2dnUVZ_v6dnZ2d@giganews.com...

So-called "double soup": dissolve two packs of dry noodle soup in the amount
of water intended for one pack (that's why it was called "double"), add some
potatoes and whatever else you may have, then boil it until it will be a
uniform kasha.

Wow; that is meager. I'm glad you made it with your health intact! How long
ago was that?

Did you make tea with a pair of razor blades?

No, I surely didn't. Please elaborate on how it's done?

When I lived in the dorms at university's (1990-1994), you were required to
buy a meal plan from the university's cafeterias -- they had various plans
available, from "borderline-anorexic jockey" to "linebacker." These days many
schools have switched some or all of their own cafeterias over to the
nationwide fast food franchises -- Subwauy, Pizza Hut, etc. Kinda sad; to
some degree it reflects the fact that tuition and books are so incredibly
expensive these days in the first place, food is now comparatively quite
cheap. (I also suspect that there's no remaining major college today that
doesn't have a Starbucks within ready walking distance of campus. )

---Joel

 

[Joel Koltner]

"Joerg" <invalid@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:7u8f2iF7rjU1@mid.individual.net...

Reports like this one from Vladimir always humble me a bit. We have to keep
in mind that there are countries where even the lowly top ramen out of a
plastic can would be a real luxury item. Where you have to worry how to get
enough vitamins into your body for the winter.

A guy at work here knew a WWII soldier who was captured by the Japanese and
held as a POW for awhile. He and his fellow POWs received little more than a
scoop of rice per day, and to make matters worse, it was white rice, so not
only were they not getting enough calories, but they also weren't getting
enough vitamins and minerals. They knew this, so one of the POWs risked his
life, sabotaging the machine that removed the bran and germ layers, so that
they at least had brown rice instead. He believes that that act saved many of
their lives while they were waiting for the war to end.

Scary stuff... :-(

---Joel