Damn.
I was powering up a laser diode today. Had the oscilloscope hooked up to look at the photodiode’s measurement of the output. Turned on the waveform generator to modulate the current. So far so good, right?
Apparently if you over-voltage the inputs, the wee beasties can pop.
See, I knew this. I’m not sure how it happened exactly, but I’m pretty sure the function generator got 5Vp-p instead of 2Vp-p. Which is unfortunate. In the I-just-toasted-a-laser kind of sense.
Update: I have been informed by a co-worker (EE guy) that the function generator defaults at 5Vp-p. So, mystery solved. In a hilarious twist proving that the universe is not without some over-arching sick sense of humor, my pet screen-name for him was/is… Rectified Diode.
Damn.
How is my day going, you ask?
No actual crap was used in this posting.
****
Elderly man shoots and kills home intruder.
Good. For. Him.
I sure hope he doesn’t run afoul of Chicago’s ridiculous handgun ban. Handgun bans are the stupidest thing I ever heard of. Let me make a small observation… in spite of handgun’s illegality… the intruder was armed with a handgun. How would that law have helped this old man and his wife? Not one tiny bit.
Lemur King's Folly 