Helmets Yet Again

Yesterday I took out my Redline. As reported here, last Friday I took out my Ridley with it's new TRP CX-9 V-brakes on it and did a specific course with a lot of climbing and a LONG downhill to test the braking.

The little over 22 miles took me 4 hours including about a half hour stop at a bike shop for a long rest.

On the same course with the Redline the bike was obviously much faster. Why that would be I'm not sure. Could it be because I was just over the course and have more familiarity with it? That's unlikely since I do the climbing part of the course fairly often.

At the top I started down a long (more or less) straight and steep downhill of about two miles of length. The drop in this two miles is 1000 feet. There are some shallow spots along here so the steeper parts are probably 16% or so.

The Redline with the disks gives you a sense of power so I could descend faster. The ground is relatively soft and has a LOT of rain ruts in it from this last winter. Some are as deep as six inches so you have to be watchful how you hit them.

I passed a bunch of full suspension guys battling up this hard but not impossible climb. In a smooth spot I passed the tail end charley and was moving along at maybe 18 or 20 mph over some smooth rocks and at the other end there was a deep rut that i missed while paying attention to the MTB guy.

As I hit the rut I was thrown slightly forward and grabbed the bars tighter.. I have this bike fitted with flat bars because the hydraulic disks are much easier to get for them.

Unfortunately grabbing the bars tighter when you have your hands over the brake levers on a flat bar means you apply the disks. And it was hard enough to lock the front wheel solid.

I remember screaming, "OH ****" as the bike rotated over the front wheel. At the top with the height of my head and the downhill part of the hill I must have been 10' above the ground.

I came down face first towards the ground. And as I've been stressing here - I rolled by body in such a manner that I landed on my hip, knee, shoulder and elbow. The landing shock also caused by helmet to strike the ground.

The MTB guy stopped looked around and saw my bike laying on top of me and asked, "Are you OK?" I'm afraid I wasn't very civil to a question like that at that moment.

I kicked the bike off of me and he helped me to my feet. That this was a perfectly straight rotation was demonstrated by the fact that the fingernails on my right hand had jammed into the ground and tried to lift the nails on my middle and ring finger. We used my water bottle to wash the blood off, I thanked him for his assistance and I continues down the mountain with a great deal more care.

Though I was hurting here and there I didn't seem to be in any extreme pain so I didn't stop at the ER to get a looking over.

I stopped at Endless Cycles and washed the injuries off a little more with antibacterial soap they keep on hand for people like me. My front disk was squeaking and Chris the chief mechanic threw it on the rack and slightly straightened the disk and the wheel which were very slightly out. Endless Cycles is really a great shop.

Since I didn't feel too bad I went over another 300 foot climb on the way home.

When I got home I looked at my helmet since I was developing a headache. There was a VERY slight depression about one inch above my ear when the side impact caused my head to hit the flat rock I landed on.

This is what helmets are good for and why I wear a helmet. Very slight injury avoidance. Helmets will not save your life but they most certainly can save you annoying injuries.

As for the flat bar - I _think_ that if I was riding a drop bar that when I was riding I would have carried most of my weight on the split between my thumb and forefinger on the hoods and not pulled the brakes on so forcefully as to lock the front wheel. So perhaps cyclocross bikes should be set-up completely like a cross bike?

The trouble is that the extremely wide ratio rear derailleurs use a slightly different shifter ratio and so drop bar shifters won't work -at least on a Shimano rear derailleur.

Also it is difficult to get a drop bar shifter that handles hydraulic disks and although the TRP CX-9 V-brakes are good the disks are noticeably better.

On 07/06/16 06:18, wrote:
Yesterday I took out my Redline. As reported here, last Friday I took
out my Ridley with it's new TRP CX-9 V-brakes on it and did a
specific course with a lot of climbing and a LONG downhill to test
the braking.

The little over 22 miles took me 4 hours including about a half hour
stop at a bike shop for a long rest.

On the same course with the Redline the bike was obviously much
faster. Why that would be I'm not sure. Could it be because I was
just over the course and have more familiarity with it? That's
unlikely since I do the climbing part of the course fairly often.

At the top I started down a long (more or less) straight and steep
downhill of about two miles of length. The drop in this two miles is
1000 feet. There are some shallow spots along here so the steeper
parts are probably 16% or so.

The Redline with the disks gives you a sense of power so I could
descend faster. The ground is relatively soft and has a LOT of rain
ruts in it from this last winter. Some are as deep as six inches so
you have to be watchful how you hit them.

I passed a bunch of full suspension guys battling up this hard but
not impossible climb. In a smooth spot I passed the tail end charley
and was moving along at maybe 18 or 20 mph over some smooth rocks and
at the other end there was a deep rut that i missed while paying
attention to the MTB guy.

As I hit the rut I was thrown slightly forward and grabbed the bars
tighter. I have this bike fitted with flat bars because the hydraulic
disks are much easier to get for them.

Unfortunately grabbing the bars tighter when you have your hands over
the brake levers on a flat bar means you apply the disks. And it was
hard enough to lock the front wheel solid.

I remember screaming, "OH ****" as the bike rotated over the front
wheel. At the top with the height of my head and the downhill part of
the hill I must have been 10' above the ground.

I came down face first towards the ground. And as I've been stressing
here - I rolled by body in such a manner that I landed on my hip,
knee, shoulder and elbow. The landing shock also caused by helmet to
strike the ground.

The MTB guy stopped looked around and saw my bike laying on top of me
and asked, "Are you OK?" I'm afraid I wasn't very civil to a question
like that at that moment.

I kicked the bike off of me and he helped me to my feet. That this
was a perfectly straight rotation was demonstrated by the fact that
the fingernails on my right hand had jammed into the ground and tried
to lift the nails on my middle and ring finger. We used my water
bottle to wash the blood off, I thanked him for his assistance and I
continues down the mountain with a great deal more care.

Though I was hurting here and there I didn't seem to be in any
extreme pain so I didn't stop at the ER to get a looking over.

I stopped at Endless Cycles and washed the injuries off a little more
with antibacterial soap they keep on hand for people like me. My
front disk was squeaking and Chris the chief mechanic threw it on the
rack and slightly straightened the disk and the wheel which were very
slightly out. Endless Cycles is really a great shop.

Since I didn't feel too bad I went over another 300 foot climb on the
way home.

When I got home I looked at my helmet since I was developing a
headache. There was a VERY slight depression about one inch above my
ear when the side impact caused my head to hit the flat rock I landed
on.

This is what helmets are good for and why I wear a helmet. Very
slight injury avoidance. Helmets will not save your life but they
most certainly can save you annoying injuries.

As for the flat bar - I _think_ that if I was riding a drop bar that
when I was riding I would have carried most of my weight on the split
between my thumb and forefinger on the hoods and not pulled the
brakes on so forcefully as to lock the front wheel. So perhaps
cyclocross bikes should be set-up completely like a cross bike?

The trouble is that the extremely wide ratio rear derailleurs use a
slightly different shifter ratio and so drop bar shifters won't work
-at least on a Shimano rear derailleur.

Also it is difficult to get a drop bar shifter that handles hydraulic
disks and although the TRP CX-9 V-brakes are good the disks are
noticeably better.

Discussion is open. Let the contest for the best insults begin.


Glad you were not more seriously injured.

--
JS

On Tue, 7 Jun 2016 08:10:03 +1000, James
wrote:
On 07/06/16 06:18, wrote:

snip

Glad you were not more seriously injured.

Ditto. Helmet aside- broken collar bone, separated shoulder, broken
ribs, etc. I separated my shoulder back in 1998 in a track crash and
broke my right elbow in 2013 on a trail. My worst injuries to date.
Lots of things can get hurt when crashing a bike...

On Monday, June 6, 2016 at 9:25:37 PM UTC-7, Tim McNamara wrote:
On Tue, 7 Jun 2016 08:10:03 +1000, James
wrote:
On 07/06/16 06:18, wrote:

snip

Glad you were not more seriously injured.

Ditto. Helmet aside- broken collar bone, separated shoulder, broken
ribs, etc. I separated my shoulder back in 1998 in a track crash and
broke my right elbow in 2013 on a trail. My worst injuries to date.
Lots of things can get hurt when crashing a bike...

I have been in some pretty horrendous crashes on the track on motorcycles and lots of crashes on bikes. It helps having bones MUCH heavier than normal people. I have never broken any bones.

writes:

I have been in some pretty horrendous crashes
on the track on motorcycles and lots of
crashes on bikes. It helps having bones MUCH
heavier than normal people. I have never
broken any bones.

When I did karate (kyokushinkai, the most
violent brand) everyone was always injured all
the time. "No worries, when it heals, it'll be
stronger", people said. I had a fracture in my
right wrist which had to be put in plaster,
and several fractures to my ribs. I thought it
was a strange culture then with young guys
everyone being injured one way or another.
But there is no denying the black belts were
hard as rock and to punch them in the chest was
like hitting a brick wall. Save for the most
violent crashes which no human will ever
survive, I'd say such people and myself to some
degree will have an advantage in a crash.

--
underground experts united .... http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573
Emacs Gnus Blogomatic ......... http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573/blogomatic
- so far: 48 Blogomatic articles -

On 2016-06-06 13:18, wrote:
Yesterday I took out my Redline. As reported here, last Friday I took
out my Ridley with it's new TRP CX-9 V-brakes on it and did a
specific course with a lot of climbing and a LONG downhill to test
the braking.

The little over 22 miles took me 4 hours including about a half hour
stop at a bike shop for a long rest.

On the same course with the Redline the bike was obviously much
faster. Why that would be I'm not sure. Could it be because I was
just over the course and have more familiarity with it? That's
unlikely since I do the climbing part of the course fairly often.

At the top I started down a long (more or less) straight and steep
downhill of about two miles of length. The drop in this two miles is
1000 feet. There are some shallow spots along here so the steeper
parts are probably 16% or so.

The Redline with the disks gives you a sense of power so I could
descend faster. The ground is relatively soft and has a LOT of rain
ruts in it from this last winter. Some are as deep as six inches so
you have to be watchful how you hit them.

I passed a bunch of full suspension guys battling up this hard but
not impossible climb. In a smooth spot I passed the tail end charley
and was moving along at maybe 18 or 20 mph ...


Interesting, finally another XC rider who does that. Some folks here
almost accused me of lying when I wrote about 15-20mph trail speed
(which I find normal). No kidding. Probably all slowpokes when on dirt :-)


... over some smooth rocks and
at the other end there was a deep rut that i missed while paying
attention to the MTB guy.


I thought you were going to talk about a pretty MTB woman :-)


As I hit the rut I was thrown slightly forward and grabbed the bars
tighter. I have this bike fitted with flat bars because the hydraulic
disks are much easier to get for them.

Unfortunately grabbing the bars tighter when you have your hands over
the brake levers on a flat bar means you apply the disks. And it was
hard enough to lock the front wheel solid.


Ouch! I always try to have at the most two fingers on the left hydraulic
handle. That requires a deliberate hard pull to lock up the front. But I
have messed up such a situation for a different reason. Switched from a
26" HT to a 29" FS. So I thought "Ah, that new bike will easily take
those ruts with it's 29 inch wheels". It didn't and OTB I went, followed
by the bike slamming into me. Now my brand new bike was scraped up and
so was I.


I remember screaming, "OH ****" as the bike rotated over the front
wheel. At the top with the height of my head and the downhill part of
the hill I must have been 10' above the ground.

I came down face first towards the ground. And as I've been stressing
here - I rolled by body in such a manner that I landed on my hip,
knee, shoulder and elbow. The landing shock also caused by helmet to
strike the ground.


Roll training is excellent. I got that as a kid during judo lessons and
later with parachuting.


The MTB guy stopped looked around and saw my bike laying on top of me
and asked, "Are you OK?" I'm afraid I wasn't very civil to a question
like that at that moment.

I kicked the bike off of me and he helped me to my feet. That this
was a perfectly straight rotation was demonstrated by the fact that
the fingernails on my right hand had jammed into the ground and tried
to lift the nails on my middle and ring finger. We used my water
bottle to wash the blood off, I thanked him for his assistance and I
continues down the mountain with a great deal more care.

Though I was hurting here and there I didn't seem to be in any
extreme pain so I didn't stop at the ER to get a looking over.


For me there'd also be the outrageous deductible and their
hyper-inflationary rates that sometimes motivate me not to see medical
attention. That can easily cost the equivalent of a new mountain bike.


I stopped at Endless Cycles and washed the injuries off a little more
with antibacterial soap they keep on hand for people like me. My
front disk was squeaking and Chris the chief mechanic threw it on the
rack and slightly straightened the disk and the wheel which were very
slightly out. Endless Cycles is really a great shop.

Since I didn't feel too bad I went over another 300 foot climb on the
way home.

When I got home I looked at my helmet since I was developing a
headache. There was a VERY slight depression about one inch above my
ear when the side impact caused my head to hit the flat rock I landed
on.

This is what helmets are good for and why I wear a helmet. Very
slight injury avoidance. Helmets will not save your life but they
most certainly can save you annoying injuries.


They can save lives. I've seen one where the styrofoam was almost fully
compressed and the guy spent some time in intensive care. He hit rocks
with his head at high speed. Not sure if he'd be still around without
that helmet.

Many people laugh at styrofoam, usually unaware that that material is
also inside the bumpers of their fancy new car. For good reason.
Styrofoam can transform a lot of impact energy into heat in fractions of
a second.


As for the flat bar - I _think_ that if I was riding a drop bar that
when I was riding I would have carried most of my weight on the split
between my thumb and forefinger on the hoods and not pulled the
brakes on so forcefully as to lock the front wheel. So perhaps
cyclocross bikes should be set-up completely like a cross bike?


On the hoods? That could cause a hand to slip off when hitting a deep rut.


The trouble is that the extremely wide ratio rear derailleurs use a
slightly different shifter ratio and so drop bar shifters won't work
-at least on a Shimano rear derailleur.

Also it is difficult to get a drop bar shifter that handles hydraulic
disks and although the TRP CX-9 V-brakes are good the disks are
noticeably better.


Rim brakes are IMHO totally inadequate when it comes to riding in soggy
turf or in the rain. I've had my comeuppance on my old MTB. Approaching
a curve a bit fast, hit the V-brakes, other than a loud grinding noise
.... nothing. I normally don't but I think I also let off an expletive at
that moment.


Discussion is open. Let the contest for the best insults begin.


I hope the headache is gone by now. If not it might be time to see a doc.

My last hard crash was about 1-1/2 years ago. Completely my fault,
pilots call it "get-home-itis". I was late and so I stepped on it. 20mph
... 21 .. 22 .. woohoo ... THWOCK ... *BAM*

For some reason a Manzanita tree branch suddenly "jumped" into my path,
it grabbed my hydration pack, yanked me out of the saddle. I hit the
ground hard. Sometimes I still see my MTB roll off into the sunset in
slow motion, riderless, then hitting some rocks and violently rolling
over. I was all rashed up. The next morning I had to go on an
international flight and the folks at the airport looked at my arms and
face as if I had a communicable disease. The worst was the scraped-up
belly but they couldn't see that. Every piece of clothing hurt.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On Friday, June 10, 2016 at 4:36:22 PM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:

Interesting, finally another XC rider who does that. Some folks here
almost accused me of lying when I wrote about 15-20mph trail speed
(which I find normal). No kidding. Probably all slowpokes when on dirt :-)

I have a speedo on my bike so I know I go that fast. Though I admit this is usually only in areas I'm familiar with and know.


I thought you were going to talk about a pretty MTB woman :-)

I was well past him but thinking about perhaps more coming up the climb so I was staying to the right though the smoothest path was to the left.

Ouch! I always try to have at the most two fingers on the left hydraulic
handle. That requires a deliberate hard pull to lock up the front. But I
have messed up such a situation for a different reason. Switched from a
26" HT to a 29" FS. So I thought "Ah, that new bike will easily take
those ruts with it's 29 inch wheels". It didn't and OTB I went, followed
by the bike slamming into me. Now my brand new bike was scraped up and
so was I.

Live and learn I suppose. When I first started using the disks I was careful but with familiarity comes contempt as the saying goes. When I was riding a FS 29er I did not hesitate to go over this stuff at speed and let the suspension absorb it all.

Roll training is excellent. I got that as a kid during judo lessons and
later with parachuting.

Well I did everything from boxing to Akido to Judo but being naturally clumsy as a kid probably did more than all the rest put together.

For me there'd also be the outrageous deductible and their
hyper-inflationary rates that sometimes motivate me not to see medical
attention. That can easily cost the equivalent of a new mountain bike.

Nevertheless if I though I'd broken anything I would have stopped.

They can save lives. I've seen one where the styrofoam was almost fully
compressed and the guy spent some time in intensive care. He hit rocks
with his head at high speed. Not sure if he'd be still around without
that helmet.

Many people laugh at styrofoam, usually unaware that that material is
also inside the bumpers of their fancy new car. For good reason.
Styrofoam can transform a lot of impact energy into heat in fractions of
a second.

I have studied safety helmets extensively from the very first laboratory testing. I was the safety director for the American Federation of Motorcyclists and took that responsibility quite seriously.

I am aware of what they can do and what they cannot do. The area in which they can have a "life saving" effect is so narrow that I consider it impossible to meet and not exceed. And AT those levels you end up like I did - with a concussion so bad that death should have resulted. Without one of the best neurologists in the world it probably would have.


On the hoods? That could cause a hand to slip off when hitting a deep rut..

With drop bars and road shifters you proceed MUCH slower than with flat bars. You also pick a path through the ruts in such a manner that you're on the smoothest possible path.

Rim brakes are IMHO totally inadequate when it comes to riding in soggy
turf or in the rain. I've had my comeuppance on my old MTB. Approaching
a curve a bit fast, hit the V-brakes, other than a loud grinding noise
... nothing. I normally don't but I think I also let off an expletive at
that moment.

California does not have "soggy turf" and we don't ride in the rain. And when I have I do not find it fun which is the whole point of riding.

I hope the headache is gone by now. If not it might be time to see a doc.

It turned out to be only a temporary headache possibly attached to the fact that in the crash it slightly tore off my two left middle fingernails. Luckily I have fast growing nails and one is nearly recovered and the other has to have a blood blister grow out. I imagine in another week I'll be back to normal. The skin is already healed over and I've been on road rides though I'm as weak as a kitten since I also pulled the muscle that lifts my left leg while sitting. So I can't pedal circles.

Every piece of clothing hurt.

Luckily the ground - even the hard part I landed on - was composed of compressed dust so when I landed anything covered by clothing had minimal skin damage. For three days the muscles that you use when your raise your arms in a victory salute were so tired they might as well hurt. From that I assume I landed with my arms partially raised to protect my head and rolled off in that manner.

Try not to get in any more crashes yourself.

Tom Kunich
Digital and Embedded Systems designer and programmer.

On 2016-06-13 10:39, wrote:
On Friday, June 10, 2016 at 4:36:22 PM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:

Interesting, finally another XC rider who does that. Some folks
here almost accused me of lying when I wrote about 15-20mph trail
speed (which I find normal). No kidding. Probably all slowpokes
when on dirt :-)

I have a speedo on my bike so I know I go that fast. Though I admit
this is usually only in areas I'm familiar with and know.


Same here. There are trail sections I routinely travel at 15-20mph. For
those in this NG who still do not understand the word "routinely": That
means almost every time I ride that section :-)

I only slow down on those stretches if there's horses or hikers around.
Or if a KTM heads in opposite direction (illegally ...).


I thought you were going to talk about a pretty MTB woman :-)

I was well past him but thinking about perhaps more coming up the
climb so I was staying to the right though the smoothest path was to
the left.


That's the downside of singletrack. Sometimes I ask how many and often
MTB-riders will announce without asking "two more". I try to do the same.


Ouch! I always try to have at the most two fingers on the left
hydraulic handle. That requires a deliberate hard pull to lock up
the front. But I have messed up such a situation for a different
reason. Switched from a 26" HT to a 29" FS. So I thought "Ah, that
new bike will easily take those ruts with it's 29 inch wheels". It
didn't and OTB I went, followed by the bike slamming into me. Now
my brand new bike was scraped up and so was I.

Live and learn I suppose. When I first started using the disks I was
careful but with familiarity comes contempt as the saying goes. When
I was riding a FS 29er I did not hesitate to go over this stuff at
speed and let the suspension absorb it all.


So did I. But I am slowing a bit because after adding panniers and all I
have bottomed out a few times and that's an awful "suffering sound" from
the bike. Can't put more than 220psi in the shock because then it gets
too hard (though it is rated to 300psi). The fork sits at 115psi and
120psi is its limit.

[...]


They can save lives. I've seen one where the styrofoam was almost
fully compressed and the guy spent some time in intensive care. He
hit rocks with his head at high speed. Not sure if he'd be still
around without that helmet.

Many people laugh at styrofoam, usually unaware that that material
is also inside the bumpers of their fancy new car. For good
reason. Styrofoam can transform a lot of impact energy into heat in
fractions of a second.

I have studied safety helmets extensively from the very first
laboratory testing. I was the safety director for the American
Federation of Motorcyclists and took that responsibility quite
seriously.

I am aware of what they can do and what they cannot do. The area in
which they can have a "life saving" effect is so narrow that I
consider it impossible to meet and not exceed. And AT those levels
you end up like I did - with a concussion so bad that death should
have resulted. Without one of the best neurologists in the world it
probably would have.


Wow, you came really close then. Knocking on wood I never did (so far).


On the hoods? That could cause a hand to slip off when hitting a
deep rut.

With drop bars and road shifters you proceed MUCH slower than with
flat bars. You also pick a path through the ruts in such a manner
that you're on the smoothest possible path.


Probably true. I could not imagine going up the trail to Placerville on
a cyclocross bike and with drop bars. It would be torture. If my road
bike ever gives up I'll buy a cyclocross bike anyhow because of the
better brakes and sturdiness. Some of my regular non-MTB routes contain
nasty "roads".


Rim brakes are IMHO totally inadequate when it comes to riding in
soggy turf or in the rain. I've had my comeuppance on my old MTB.
Approaching a curve a bit fast, hit the V-brakes, other than a loud
grinding noise ... nothing. I normally don't but I think I also let
off an expletive at that moment.

California does not have "soggy turf" and we don't ride in the rain.


The you've never been here in the Sierra in winter. The worst was when a
rider from Oregon came visiting and we tore around a curve only to see
that the trail was all flooded. No chance to stop. I stepped on it and
got through. He didn't and became stuck smack in the middle.

There have been times where I became stuck on that ride half a dozen
times because the clay clump near the BB stopped the rear wheel hard.
Had to poke it out with a stick until it was plugged again a few miles
farther.


And when I have I do not find it fun which is the whole point of
riding.


I sometimes become a kid again when it's soggy. My wife does not think
it's funny though (she does not ride). "I don't want to see this
mud-dripping bike in the garage!"


I hope the headache is gone by now. If not it might be time to see
a doc.

It turned out to be only a temporary headache possibly attached to
the fact that in the crash it slightly tore off my two left middle
fingernails. Luckily I have fast growing nails and one is nearly
recovered and the other has to have a blood blister grow out. I
imagine in another week I'll be back to normal. The skin is already
healed over and I've been on road rides though I'm as weak as a
kitten since I also pulled the muscle that lifts my left leg while
sitting. So I can't pedal circles.


I saw one diehard road biker who went for miles with his right foot
wedged above the derailer in a resting position and only pedaling with
his left leg. Couldn't believe it.


Every piece of clothing hurt.

Luckily the ground - even the hard part I landed on - was composed of
compressed dust so when I landed anything covered by clothing had
minimal skin damage. For three days the muscles that you use when
your raise your arms in a victory salute were so tired they might as
well hurt. From that I assume I landed with my arms partially raised
to protect my head and rolled off in that manner.

Try not to get in any more crashes yourself.


Yes, especially now that I am older I find myself riding more careful
than, for example, folks who also ride dirt bikes. And they crash more
than I do.


Tom Kunich Digital and Embedded Systems designer and programmer.


Ah, similar trade. I am in hardware design but mostly analog stuff.
Anything uC or DSP on there I tend to hand off to folks like you, it's
not my turf.

A local rep for microwave semiconductors said: "If I go out for an MTB
ride and haven't crashed hard at least once it wasn't an interesting
ride". And he is not much younger than me.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On Monday, June 13, 2016 at 11:15:09 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:

Ah, similar trade. I am in hardware design but mostly analog stuff.
Anything uC or DSP on there I tend to hand off to folks like you, it's
not my turf.

A local rep for microwave semiconductors said: "If I go out for an MTB
ride and haven't crashed hard at least once it wasn't an interesting
ride". And he is not much younger than me.

I started out with analog designs before there was much in the way of digital. But I always had to think too hard about frequency response and the different component sizes that calculate the same.

So when I need analog design now I always call in Charley Button who got an Emmy Award a couple of years ago for lifetime achievement in sound recording. He essentially invented the outdoor sound system that doesn't echo. He started with The Grateful Dead.

We've done several systems together.

On 2016-06-15 09:35, wrote:
On Monday, June 13, 2016 at 11:15:09 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:

Ah, similar trade. I am in hardware design but mostly analog
stuff. Anything uC or DSP on there I tend to hand off to folks like
you, it's not my turf.

A local rep for microwave semiconductors said: "If I go out for an
MTB ride and haven't crashed hard at least once it wasn't an
interesting ride". And he is not much younger than me.

I started out with analog designs before there was much in the way of
digital. But I always had to think too hard about frequency response
and the different component sizes that calculate the same.


After a while it becomes instinct. Nowadays we have lots of helpers and
the best of them is the (free) simulation software LTSpice. Also quite
useful for some timing-critical digital stuff. When it goes up into the
gigeehoitzes.


So when I need analog design now I always call in Charley Button who
got an Emmy Award a couple of years ago for lifetime achievement in
sound recording. He essentially invented the outdoor sound system
that doesn't echo. He started with The Grateful Dead.

We've done several systems together.


That must be fun. I once worked on med tech designs with a former member
of a big US rock band (but he wants to remain very private about it).

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/