Design Ideas: August 17, 1995
Raphael Horton is always glad to get complaints. "It means designers are actually using my circuit," says Horton, an applications engineering projects manager for Exar Corp in San Jose, CA. Horton is the 1994 EDN Design Ideas grand-prize winner. As Horton gleefully accepts his $1500 prize, he admits to having received lots of complaints (as well as compliments) about his winning circuit, "Color video travels on twisted-pair cable," which appeared in EDN Design Ideas on February 3, 1994 and is reprinted on the next page. Horton says that designers often call to complain that they cannot obtain the same performance from their current wire gauge, or because they want to debate transmission-line theory with him. But, Horton is always glad to listen. "I've often thought about changing my title to applications-engineering psychotherapist," he quips.Horton's winning circuit design allows video-system designers to use inexpensive twisted-wire cables, such as those in telephone lines and LANs, to transmit composite-color-video signals anywhere phone lines exist. His idea is practical, and it saves time and money. If an application requires just 500 ft of cable, for example, the cost difference could exceed $65, which more than justifies the added cost of a few LM6181 amps in his circuit.
Design Ideas Editor Bill Travis attributes the appeal of Horton's Design Idea to its universal usefulness. Travis says that it belongs to that class of innovative ideas that inspires readers to smack themselves on the head and say, "Wow, that's clever! Why didn't I think of that?"
Raphael Horton is currently working as an application engineering projects manager for Exar Corp's data-acquisition-products group in San Jose, CA. He has developed several hardware, firmware, and software systems, working with CCD-based video, imaging, and scanning applications. To forward complaints (or congratulations), you can reach Horton by phone at (408) 434-6400, ext 3408.