Re: What's this inductor doin'?

From: Roy Lewallen (w7el_at_eznec.com)
Date: 10/17/04

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    Date: Sat, 16 Oct 2004 18:45:57 -0700

    It's only impossible to form a reliable conclusion when "experts"
    disagree if your sole source of knowledge and information is from those
    "experts". That's a bad spot to be in. There are many sources of
    information available to help you learn about the topic and come to a
    more informed opinion. That's the solution to your dilemma -- develop a
    wider range of sources of information and decrease your dependence on
    the "experts".

    Originally developed at Berkeley, SPICE has been commercialized by a
    number of companies, one of the most popular being PSpice by MicroSim.
    It's in very wide use, and has been for decades. Do you think that a
    couple of generations of engineers would have paid several thousand
    dollars each for software with a reputation of unreliability?

    My own experience includes about 30 years designing a variety of test
    and measurement equipment for several companies, followed by several
    years doing electronics design as a consultant. In that time, I and my
    colleages at Tektronix and other companies used SPICE very often. (In
    fact, recognizing it value, Tek spent a large amount of money and
    devoted resources to development of its own internal version of SPICE,
    which included schematic entry and other features before they were
    available in outside commercial versions.) It's virtually impossible to
    design an analog or mixed analog-digital integrated circuit without it,
    and I and my colleagues found it indispensible for many other projects.

    You might compare this with Reg's experience with SPICE, if he'll tell
    you what it is, and see what brought him to make the unequivocal
    statement about it which he did. I don't personally think he really
    believes that it's unreliable, though, but was just making one of his
    characteristic trolls in order to relieve boredom.

    Roy Lewallen, W7EL

    Steve Evans wrote:

    > On Sat, 16 Oct 2004 16:35:00 -0700, Roy Lewallen <w7el@eznec.com>
    > wrote:
    >
    >
    >>Reg Edwards wrote:
    >>
    >>>. . .
    >>>The only way of accumulating confidence in a computer program is to use it
    >>>and compare results with what you are already aware of as being true. . .
    >>>. . .
    >>
    >>SPICE has been used for decades in the design of countless products that
    >>you undoubtedly use daily. It's an extremely useful and valuable tool,
    >>without which many modern designs simply wouldn't be possible.
    >
    >
    > Here again, Roy I"m confused. You say its indespensible; Reg Edwards
    > says its' unreliable. Who am I to beleive? When the experts disagree,
    > its imposible to form a reliable conculsion.

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