Of course a switching converter is better for power (gotta be careful
about RFI),

I thought I said "well-filtered", no?



and a linear
transistor is better in that it actual *regulates* as opposed to fudges it
with a resistor. IIRC though,
Piper's transistorized dimmer is a brain-dead design that will blow the
transistor if there's a fault to
ground.

A chopper regulates better than a linear regulator of the same complexity
and it has a short-circuit current limit resistor that lets you set where
the device simply refuses to give any more current, thus protecting the
output device.

Kitplanes article, anybody?

Jim



What got me is not that there was too much current in the circuit, but
that there was too much
from the factory! It's one thing if you install enough avionics to
overload it, but it was improperly
sized in the first place. Like I said, even just a change in rheostat
change (I/R tradeoff... same power
capability and form-factor) would have been more acceptable. Probably had
a surplus of 25Ohm/1A
rheostats in 1969...

-Cory


--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, PPSEL-IA *
* Research Associate, Vibrations and Acoustics Laboratory *
* Mechanical Engineering *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************