I was just about to leave the office, thinking about anything other than work, when the phone rang ominously.
It was Mike, a pre-sales engineer I met last March in the Washington Satellite show.
- "I'm sending the entire batch of BUCs back to Belcom Microwaves" said Mike, "None of them is working"
- "OK", I replied with my best the-customer-is-always-right voice, "Pack and ship them immediately",
and after a small break, "What is actually wrong with them?"
- "The BUC just doesn't work" was the answer. "10 MHz is 0 dBm, DC level is 24 Volts, IF level is also within range. Everything is measured on the coax cable end, BUC side. I'm sending the units to you and then catching a plain to Johannesburg. Nothing to do here till the replacements arrive"
Mike was relocated to DRC, leaving his wife and baby in Johannesburg. I could hear the subtext. For Mike, a faulty batch of BUCs means a week with his family…
There was nothing I could tell Mike about testing, but … something was sounding familiar to me. I've been in this movie before …