Re: [PilotMgr] Serial port/ESD issues

[Sandra Bauer <Sandy.Bauer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I agree the problem with ESD here in Colorado is unbelievable!  I had a 
humidifer installed on my furnace and turn up the moisture content way past 
the recommended percentage and I still "fry" my cat everytime I touch him.  
Walking from one room to the other turning on light switches always gives 
me a "jolt".  Sure wish there was some solution to this problem!

Sandy

:)From: skod@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Scott Griffith, ISES-LLC)
:)To: pilotmgr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
:)Subject: [PilotMgr] Serial port/ESD issues
:)
:)On Jan 4, Ernie Brouwer wrote:
:)
:)> I had problems early on (with my Palm Pilot -- I don't have a Visor) 
and
:)> it turned out that it was due to my frequent plugging and unplugging 
from
:)> the serial port (at the time, to take the cradel home with me).  Since 
I
:)> purchased a second cable for home use, I only have `grounding' issues 
(I
:)> need to ground myself before I put the Palm in the cradle).  Still, 
even
:)> though I've "killed" both of my Sun's serial ports over time, they've
:)> eventually come back (don't know how exactly).
:)
:)Sounds like me. Here in the Denver area, the low humidity in the
:)winter leads to some pretty impressive ESD problems. In the last 12
:)months, I've killed 4 serial ports on my desktop Ultra 5 while
:)dropping my PalmIII into the cradle, and none of them have "come
:)back". Consider yourself extremely lucky: U5 motherboards get
:)_expensive_ when you have to replace them for dead serial ports...
:)
:)It's odd, but the PalmIII has been undamaged by this. Since both ttya
:)and b on my current motherboard have both gone on to that great
:)modempool in the sky, I'm now using an Antares PCI dual serial port
:)card. That has (so far anyway) been much more robust in the face of
:)the local ESD environment, in addition to letting me run a tad bit
:)faster. I also now have my Palm cradle, my mouse, my keyboard, the
:)wrist rest on the edge of my desk, and even my *desk chair* liberally
:)spotted with carefully grounded copper tape strips now. I've lost
:)count of the number of cans of Scotch antistatic fabric treatment that
:)I've used up on the chair and carpet... It looks (and smells!)
:)absurd, but I can't afford to nuke machinery at that rate.
:)
:)I routinely draw arcs as much as 10mm long to my grounding strips when
:)I first sit down after a trip down the hall, and for some reason the
:)cats won't let either my wife or I pet them very much during the
:)winter. I'm extremely familiar with ESD, but hadn't expected the
:)problem to be as big as it is when we moved here. I hadn't thought of
:)serial ports as consumable items!
:)
:)-skod
:)
:)--
:)Scott Griffith, Improbable Solutions Engineering Services LLC
:)Who didn't have _anything_ to do with the Sun 386i...
:)Nope, not a bit. Nothing at all. Not me, nosir. Nope.
:)Return Path : skod@xxxxxxxxxxxx
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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sandy Bauer	  
Manager, Productivity Tools & Services	  
Sun Microsystems, Inc.	 
Phone: 303-272-5128 
Fax:   303-464-6899 
Email: sandy.bauer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

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