dont@tekig1.UUCP (Don Taylor) (11/12/83)
In reguards to lightning bolts, RS-232, and computers. A couple of years ago
I was around a company who built industrial controllers for manufacturing
plants. These were none too appreciated by the resident electricians, who
basically mistrusted the things. There were several instances of 110 volts,
ac being plugged into one of the connectors, usually one designed for 5 volts.
This evaporated a controller or two, before the reason for these mysterious
accidents came to light. One of the last of these incidents was putting the
ac into the DB25 connector. When the system installer was summoned to the
site, to repair one more of these damm unreliable computers, the serial card
was removed to find the 1488 with a cone blown out of the top of the package.
The board, costing $1K, with all the options, was undamaged. It might not
happen all the time, but now and then, one of the little monsters will give
its life to save those whom it serves, but I wouldn't depend on it.
Don Taylor
tektronix!tekig1!dont