From: jl@glen--canyon.com   
      
   On Sun, 01 Feb 2026 17:31:41 +0000, Cursitor Doom    
   wrote:   
      
   >Datasheets that don't provide pinouts. Even more annoying than Bill   
   >Sloman.   
      
   There's lots of frustration in data sheets.   
      
   Block diagram and pinouts way down somewhere. It's not obvious what   
   some parts actually do.   
      
   Silly block diagrams, if any.   
      
   Frequency response curves that hide bad things.   
      
   Table of contents at the end.   
      
   No DC data on RF parts. Adjust the gate bias trimpot until it works.   
      
   No outline drawing.   
      
   Crazy package names for standard packages.   
      
   One data sheet for lots of different parts, with no way to tell which   
   is which.   
      
   Application schematics that leave things out, or are flat wrong.   
      
   "Murder Mystery" data sheets, where you have to read literally   
   hundreds of pages and look here and there for clues.   
      
   Impossible keyword searches. There is a pin called MODE, but the word   
   is used in many other places.   
      
   Pages of disclaimers and compliance junk.   
      
   Useless or insanely complex timing diagrams. Why can't they just say   
   what the maximum SPI clock rate is?   
      
   The min/max input voltages are VCC+.3 and VEE-.3.  What happens beyond   
   that?   
      
   No washability specs, or outright lies.   
      
   Recent issue: no transient overload specs on resistors.   
      
   No C:V data on ceramic caps. A 10uF 10v cap might be 2uF at 10 volts.   
      
   No negative voltage specs on aluminum caps. Some polymers are pretty   
   good.   
      
   No hints of over-voltage behavior on alum caps. Some just leak and get   
   warm, some die hard with no warning.   
      
   1000 hour lifetime spec on alum caps. That's 40 days. Really?   
      
   Common-mode inductors with huge current ratings, but saturate with   
   tiny normal-mode currents.   
      
   Power inductor current specs that ignore skin and proximity effects.   
   Envision smoke.   
      
   Impossible mosfet current and power ratings. IR started that nonsense.   
      
   Important gotchas buried in tiny footnotes.   
      
   .... just for starters...   
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
   John Larkin   
   Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center   
   Lunatic Fringe Electronics   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)