Hi Chuck, I've renamed this thread, and expect it to die quickly.  I have a bunch of things running on my Linux system, so I see a lot of interactions that probably don't happen to others.  One thing is that Timelab doesn't like to come up properly under Wine. 

It costs nothing on a per watch basis, as it is a trivial amount of additional silicon... silicon that resides within the necessary spaces between the pads used to connect the silicon die to the circuit board.

The new chips (Literally the die, not even an soic) was supposed to show up in clocks around the new year. They never did or at least its totally not apparent. The intent was not for consumer but embedded in things like stop lights. But this thread shifted from the original request I believe for something that could be used in Singapore.

. > > How often does the front end of the GPS module die? > > Will the newer 8 channel modules work in the Z3801A or do I need to locate > an > old 6 channel version? > > Is there a tells-all web page or message to this list about GPS modules for > the Z3801A?

That thread won't die :) Getting back briefly on the crimp versus solder debate, I want to give my 2 cents experience based opinion on this. I have been designing hardware used in military platforms most of my life, save for a few years at the start doing space hardware.

. >> >> >> The "engineering prototype part" (generally same die, just doesn't get >> the screening and paperwork) is only $3.5k in Q1. (you can also get an >> Eval board with the part for the same price) >> >> I wonder if the same part, without the space processing, is available?

They flat out die ( = no output ). If you catch that +/- a month it’s probably “good enough”. > > Are electrolytics the typical weak link? They have been in the ones I’ve fixed. > Do their vendors have good data? Apparently not. > What's next on the list? Roughly 20 other parts in the device ….

The physical time constants are probably best understood as water in a bucket: If you kick it, complex ripples happen but eventually die out. The timeconstant is generally order of five or ten cycles, unless you make a short, those are much faster.

Therefore one had to die, and it's natural, that the original Fluke system would survive. 3. The 7001 contains the LTZ1000, (non A-version, and only one), which is non-proprietary like the LTFLU ref amp. in the 732B. 4. The 7001 did perhaps not prove its advantage over the 732B, either in term of stability, or in terms of hysteresis reduction.

However, I have not seen a photomicrograph of an LTZ1000 reference die showing the bonding details. If anyone knows of such I'd be grateful for a link. For reference, Feynman demonstrated thermoviscoelastic deformation at the Challenger hearing in his famous C clamp and ice water experiment.