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You're both confusin' me...

I admit it has been a long time ago and I forgot a lot of what I learned, but I woulda thought a physics PhD would have made it possible for me to understand this stuff.

My problem is that both Dan and Al, to varying degrees and at different times, seem to be referring to ideal conditions and how things should be, while at other times noting (in different ways) that (very common) imperfect implementation can compromise performance. "Safety" ground is only for safety--sure, I knew that--but it can affect performance. I knew that, too.

I own two residences. One is in the country, near a transformer, in a very quiet environment. The other--where I spend most of my time--is an 11-story condominum complex. I can do anything I want with the former, but I have very little control over the wiring in the latter, except for what happens inside my little corner.

One thing I've discerned--I think--is that a designer has to decide whether to design for an ideal electrical environment or a real, compromised one. If I have total control over my electromagnetic environment, I'm probably better off buying equipment competently designed for an ideal environment. But for situations--like my condo, where at any given moment I can detect 5 different wireless Internet signals and god only knows what the ground is like--I'm probably better off buying equipment competently designed to function in an imperfect environment.

So, to clarify the question:

1. What choices would you make to design for an ideal electrical environment? For a non-ideal environment?

2. Is it possible to design equipment that functions optimally in both ideal and non-ideal environments? Is equipment designed like this limited in performance relative to equipment designed for an ideal environment?

Okay, so that's more than one question, but you get the idea.

Thanks,
Jim

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