dennis%cod@NOSC.ARPA.UUCP (12/11/86)
Last week, I commented to the network at large that we'd had some trouble with one of the first DQC connectors that we installed, and asked what experience others had had. This morning, I got a call from a Bill Lane, the person at Apollo who was responsible for developing the DQC connector. He says they have about 12,000 in the field -- some customers have hundreds in their networks -- with no reported problems. They have developed an automatic tester, and some parts have gone over 50,000 connection/disconnections without an electrical failure. Mr. Lane is quite interested in tracking down any problems that might show up. They have imposed stringent quality control on their manufacturer, and he wondered if I knew whether the problem connector was broken ``out of the box.'' In fact, it was out on a bench disassembled for a couple days and could have been mishandled. Altogether, I am reassured that I won't have serious reliability problems with them. I am also impressed (not for the first time) with the response of people in the Apollo organization to requests for help or information. The network is a wonderful thing. Dennis Cottel Naval Ocean Systems Center, San Diego, CA 92152 (619) 225-2406 dennis@nosc.ARPA sdcsvax!noscvax!dennis