Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1457913
38 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I MARCH 2022 Sometimes I am envious of those who work with steel, on a construction site, or even till- ing the earth. All these are tangible activities: you mold the steel, build a house, or harvest a crop. Instead, I work in electronics. Most of the time it is a good life, but every now and then a nasty little gremlin will pop up its ugly head and mock me. It could be a circuit that just won't give me the performance that I need, a short I can't find, or worst of all, an intermittent problem that just won't go away. Case in point: I have a pickup truck nicknamed " The Beast" due to its s i z e a n d c a p a b i l i t i e s . e Beast has served us well hauling dirt, rocks, and construc- tion supplies, along with moving furni- ture and treasures for family mem- bers and fr iends a l i k e a s i t p u l l s our trailer all over the Pacif ic Nor th- west. However, a few months ago e Beast's alarm system woke up the neighborhood at 2 a.m., even though there wasn't anyone near it. Aer a cursory examination, I quickly real- ized that any attempt to find and correct the problem with the alarm was way beyond my capabilities, and I le the truck in the care of my regular auto repair shop. Armed with an array of computerized diagnos- tic equipment, the repair shop went to work, start- ing off with several days of testing and debug- ging. Aer replacing the standard door switch, which didn't fix the prob- lem, they worked through the ho st of o ther elec- t r o n i c c o m p o n e n t s in the alar m chain . Finally, the decision was made to replace a thousand-dollar control module, and after some f i n a l d i a g n o s - tics, the problem w a s r e s o l v e d ; or s o e ver yone thought. Now I know that this part of the story will sound made up, Gremlin Avoidance Tactics to Improve Productivity Tim's Takeaways by Tim Haag, FIRST PAGE SAGE