Volume 2 Issue 1 January 2023
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In This Issue:
In This Issue:
Employee of the Month by Liz Siete
Employee of the Month by Liz Siete
Phone Thammavong - Phone has been a part of Team Spectra Symbol since April of 2019 with a positive attitude and smile on her face. A great quality that everyone strives to emulate as well. She started out in Final Assembly and enjoyed every minute of it. Her favorite process is the final test for Hemomatik (SS#7682/9231), she could test those all day! She now resides in the White Room where she is the best in the fast-paced beginning process of the 8002 line, putting batteries in the circuits. With her many skill sets, she can help throughout different lines. We appreciate your kindness and your ability to greet everyone without skipping a day.
2022 president's challenge by david marriott
2022 president's challenge by david marriott
Spectra Symbol's President, David Marriott, issued a challenge in September to lose 10% of your weight before he could or, if he didn't make it, before the end of the year. Many people dropped weight in response to the challenge, but only two had the dedication to reach 10%. Today we announce the two winners of the inaugural President's Challenge:
Keydi Bustillos and Natalie Hardman
We are proud of you and the $100 that you each earned was well deserved!
Give them a high five when you see them!
birthdays
birthdays
1 Jan Amino Ismial
6 Jan Perla Hernandez
19 Jan Yvonne Padilla
24 Jan Justin Whiting
Hire date anniversaries
Hire date anniversaries
24 years (27 Jan) Michelle Yazzie
4 years (28 Jan) Norma Palomino
2 years (25 Jan) Kade Roberson
2 years (27 Jan) Jose Landeros
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events
9 Jan National Clean Your Desk Day
15 Jan World Religion Day
19 Jan National Popcorn Day
21 Jan National Reading Day
27 Jan Holocaust Memorial Day
29 Jan National Puzzle Day
Important Company Events:
12 Jan January Birthday Potluck
19 Jan Q1 All Hands Meetings
Product insights by Ed Lore
Product insights by Ed Lore
Spectra Symbol - Stock SoftPot Sensors - P/Ns 718x, 728x, 773x, 807x, 808x, 809x… etc.
Spectra Symbol - Stock SoftPot Sensors - P/Ns 718x, 728x, 773x, 807x, 808x, 809x… etc.
Spectra Symbol has been creating and improving the soft membrane potentiometer or “SoftPot” since 1986. This humble sensor is the foundation for custom potentiometers in all shapes and sizes - but they all begin with the stock sensors.
We produce our standard stock SoftPots in a range of sizes from a half inch long to over three feet. These sensors are sold to Amazon, DigiKey, Mouser, and other distributors. From there they are bought by product developers who use our stock sensors to try new ideas. Many of these developers contact our sales and design teams, who help them create a custom sensor tailored to their needs. This is one way we get new customers and jobs.
Many people also buy our stock sensors for their own projects. In the September newsletter, Justin Whiting included videos of some of these projects in the Symbolisms article. My favorite among them was an auto-balancing machine that used a steel ball and Softpot: https://youtu.be/AWrJJsm01j4
Here’s another project using a long soft pot and pressure sensor to make a music synthesizer: https://youtu.be/Cdc2U2_qrhk
And here’s a very creative project where a softpot was sewn along the drawstring of a hoodie: https://youtu.be/y7smFh_n4K4
New ideas are what makes the SoftPots we create so special, and seeing how they’re used by individuals and companies around the world puts our work into perspective. What else will our SoftPots be used for in 2023?
The Great GAme of Business (G.G.O.B)
The Great GAme of Business (G.G.O.B)
Training Bite: Higher Law #7 - "When You Raise the Bottom, the Top Rises"
Training Bite: Higher Law #7 - "When You Raise the Bottom, the Top Rises"
If you teach employees how their actions impact the financial numbers, they’ll figure out how to improve them. Why? Because nobody wants to be on the bottom of the pile. People want to win. They want to know they’re the best at what they do, not just in the company, but in the marketplace against the competition. When workers think this way, they are becoming business people.
Potentiometer vs
Potentiometer vs
position sensor
position sensor
Excerpts from "Pot vs. Sensor", by Paul Cain, https://electronicproducts.com
Choosing the right term assists with correct component selection
The difference between a potentiometer and a position sensor has narrowed over the years and as a result, caused some confusion...What distinguishes a given product so that it ultimately falls into the potentiometer bin or the position sensor bin?
Evolution of pots in design
Potentiometers...evolved and became the preferred low-cost variable-input device. Continual improvements in their durability and performance made potentiometers the most effective solution for input and control.
This recent evolution helps explain why potentiometers, sensors, and controls are commonly interchanged; but to engineers that frequently work with them, there is a substantial difference and the terms are not interchangeable....
In the past 20 years, designers have substantially increased the number of performance requirements and pots are no longer the single technology solution to these new durability specifications.
In the past 20 years, designers have substantially increased the number of performance requirements and pots are no longer the single technology solution to these new durability specifications. Pots are only one of many possible sensor technologies [and the] reason they have been so successful is their inherent simplicity...However, as performance requirements have increased over the years, pots can no longer meet all the common specifications in position sensor and control applications.
Today, there are a number of position-sensing technologies, each with its own strength in meeting the increasing demands for durability, accuracy and long life.
Finding the proper device
The term “position sensor” is an umbrella term that includes several technologies that all sense position. Potentiometers are only one of many technologies that sense position by converting motion into an electrical output. Hall-effect, optical encoders, and capacitive sensors are all other successful position-sensing technologies. Selection of the most appropriate technology is determined largely on whether the application requires “setting (control) or sensing (feedback)” ....
Selecting applications
All of the position-sensing technologies [listed above] are successful in their final applications because they achieve the accuracy and durability specification for that one design, at the lowest possible cost.
Selecting the correct technology for each application is driven by the need to “sense” or to “set.” With this decided, then cost, accuracy and durability become the detailed selection criteria. With the Hall effect, encoder and capacitive technologies, you can achieve very long life, at the expense of complexity, component count and cost.
Engineers today are highly specific about their performance needs and with the understanding of each of these technology benefits, [they] can make more accurate selections with each new design.
Employee Referral Bonuses
Employee Referral Bonuses
No payouts this month (January 2023)
As a reminder here is how the referral program works.
Have your referral fill out our Employment Application
Get paid out $100 after their first week of employment
Get paid out $400 after 6 months of employment
Get paid out $500 after their 1 year of employment
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