Happy Winter Solstice!

Yes, today (Dec. 21, 2010) is the first day of winter. We can tell. Here in Sarasota we've had bone-chilling temperatures in the 40s and 50s (Fahrenheit, of course) and on a couple evenings it even dipped into the 30s. But, your writer (Harry) grew up near Buffalo, so I guess I can handle it.

Holiday Greetings.

It's a wonderful time of the year, whatever your beliefs. I was raised in the Christian tradition. So (and without any commercial benefit whatever, since I don't believe many people give signal conditioners as Christmas presents), I'm not ashamed to say:

Merry Christmas.

Christian beliefs include the Old Testament. Hannukah celebrates religious freedom. Judas Maccabeus led the revolt which restored the right of the Jews to practice their religion at the temple in Jerusalem. Hanukkah celebrates the miracle that one day's worth of lamp oil lasted 8 days. So, to our Jewish friends includng Bea next door and Myra and Stan down the steet, I wish you (belatedly):

Happy Hanukkah.

Kwanzaa, while not a religious holiday, celebrates the 7 principles of Unity, Self Determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity and Faith, wonderful guiding principles for communities of any  belief or nationality. To our friends who celebrate it:

Joyous Kwanzaa, and Habari Gani?


I once worked with a fellow who claimed to be a Pagan. Of course, the timing of the Christmas celebration and some of its traditions (such as the Christmas tree) evolved from pagan winter solstice traditions (which is part of the reason the early Puritans forbade its celebration), So to all of you who may be pagans, non-religious or perhaps just tired of the excesses of the season:

Happy Winter Solstice.

(My apologies to those of other beliefs that I am not familiar with.)

And - an early Happy New Year from Harry and all of us at JH Technology.

Minisystem Measures Gas Flow

Custom Mass Flow (Gas) Minisystem

Not new - we did this one a few years ago - but here's an example of what we can do.

An Alcoa extrusions plant in Spanish Point, Utah had been monitoring natural gas usage with turbine flowmeters (volumetric) but wished to convert to mass flow for improved accuracy. The turbine manufacturer could have provided a compensated measurement, but only if the flowmeters were replaced. As these were 3 and 4 inch meters replacement costs would have been high, and piping changes would have been needed. Alcoa needed a less-expensive solution.

Alcoa added temperature and pressure sensors to the gas lines, and JH Technology was able to create a mass flow Minisystem using signal conditioners. Five modules convert the turbine pulses to DC, perform multiplication and division, produce both 4-20mAdc and pulse rate outputs proportional to mass flow in SCFH (Standard Cubic Feet per Hour) and provide 24Vdc power to the pressure and temperature sensors. The modules were premounted and wired on a panel and placed inside a NEMA-4 field enclosure.

Alcoa reported that the system provided significant savings compared to the costs of new flowmeters, and even more by eliminating the need for piping changes.

To read the complete application note, click here.

Links: Our Specials & Minisystems page
Application Notes index
All JH Technology signal conditioners

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving

We've a lot to be thankful for this year. First and foremost, of course, our families, friends and health. We all have our individual families plus, our "family" at JH Technology.

We're grateful, of course, to our customers, but we also appreciate those of you who are interested in what we do even though you may not have needs or opportunities we can meet at this time.

We're thankful this year that we have grown despite the economy. We're almost back to where we were before last year's "dip". We appreciate our employees who took some temporary pay reductions last year and for our suppliers who were understanding when we ran behind on payments.

And, despite what your feelings may be regarding the politics of the moment, we're especially thankful to be able to live and work in America. We aren't perfect or always right and we have our problems and disagreements, but still we're fortunate to live in one of the best places in the world.

Give thanks - to your friends and family, to those who love you, to whatever god or deity you may believe in - and be grateful for what we all have been given.

Happy Thanksging

From Harry and all of us at JH Technology.

Speaking of Specials - - -

Pulse Amplifier:
Special Product - leads to a second special - then two standard products - and then yet a third special!

A bit of "fun" history here - our standard Models JH376 & JH377 were introduced  last year (blog entry October 10, 2009).

In 2001 an engineer at a Canadian company - lets call it "Company A" - contacted us. They were using another manufacturer's pulse amplifier which worked but was inconvenient to mount in their system. We quoted, designed and sold them a functional equivalent in a DIN-rail mount case. The engineer later left and the orders stopped.

The same engineer called us in 2004, now with a different firm ("Company B") and with a modified set of requirements. He needed different - and adjustable - sensitivity, different filtering and the ability to accommodate both mag pickup and logic pulse inputs. We worked with him to prototype and develop a new design. They ordered regularly for about two years but then, early 2007, the orders stopped. (We later learned he'd gone back to "Company A".)

So - we now had a design but no customers. We decided to "run it up the flagpole" as a standard product and see what happened. After reviewing both companies' requirements plus competitive products we revised the standard product's filtering and sensitivity specs a bit. Introduced a year ago, it's been a modest success including a new OEM customer.

And now. "the rest of the story". In August "Company B" called again. They reordered their version but really wanted yet a different set of requirements. We again worked with them to develop a new version which they have since bought. We also contacted the original engineer at "Company A" but their systems have changed and they no longer need pulse amplifiers.

Our standard products (with links):
Pulse Amplifier: Model JH376, optimized for use with mag-coil type magnetic pickups.
Pulse Converter: Model JH377, optimized for use with logic pulse and open-collector inputs.
Or, if you need specials, contact us - jhtek@jhtechnology, (800) 808-0300 or (941) 927-0300,

Our web site: http://www.jhtechnology.com/

Sarasota Arts Scene - Jazz

From Harry this week - personal interest.

For a small city, Sarasota has an incredibly vibrant arts scene. Here's an example.

My wife, Jacquie, and I went to a jazz concert at a local church. A six-piece group, they performed incredibly well. Their ages - 13 to 17 years old, and they've been around three years. From their publicity:

"They created the group three years ago, playing jazz in front of a local grocery store on Saturday mornings. Seeing how determined they were, Greg Nielsen, a jazz trombonist, took them under his wing and has been coaching them ever since."

They've made several television appearances including the Grammy awards and, this past summer, appeared at three European jazz festivals including Montreux in Switzerland. (The cost - $35.000.) The thirteen year old is the very petite female trumpeter/vocalist. It's surprising to see such power (both trumpet and voice) from such a small girl. An audience member told us she started the group at age nine. She's incredible - from the on-stage appearance it seems like she's the leader. Three previous members of the group have graduated and gone on to college.

Anyway, as I said, personal interest this week. If you're interested here's a link to their site, complete with videos.

http://www.jazzjuvenocracy.com/

Discontinued Action-Paks? Call us.

As most of you know, many years ago Action Instruments introduced plug-in "Action-Pak" transmitters and alarms.(Note: Action-Pak is an Action Instruments trademark.) Action grew, became a highly regarded company, added other product lines and were eventually acquired by Eurotherm. Their line still includes Action-Paks but some models are no longer available.

One of our favorite stories - a company called us desperately looking for a special version of an old Action module. They told us, not only could Action no longer make it, they insisted they never had! The customer forwarded us a copy of Action's user's manual.

OK - a special - a one-piece order - we had to charge for some engineering, but we did it. They've ordered a few more since.

Over ten years ago another company came to us because Action no longer made some of the (standard) products they used regularly. Our product line included them (still does) and that company has become one of our better customers.

We're not trying to knock Action. They are a well-respected, quality company. But if you need plug-in modules they no longer offer, e-mail or call us. We probably can help. (And, our customers rave about our service.)

Signal Conditioners - our web site: http://www.jhtechnology.com/
e-mail: jhtek@jhtechnology.com
Phone: (941) 927-0300 or US toll-free (800) 808-0300
Fax: (941) 925-8774

Political Ads - Lying is Legal

From Harry -

Here in Florida we just finished a typical primary campaign featuring two Republican candidates for Governor, and two Democratic candidates for Senate, heaping piles of dirt on each other. I got to thinking - somewhere in the past I'd read that court decisions had declared lying in political ads to be protected by the Constitution.

After strenuous research (meaning 30 seconds on Yahoo) I found I was right. What's worse, the Federal Communications Act prohibits broadcasters from refusing to run specific ads - even those known to be untrue - unless they refuse all political advertising. If you're interested, here's a link to a 2008 Time Magazine article on the subject.

Truth in Advertising? Not for Political Ads

Don't believe everything you hear!