Re-iteration of a point

I have blogged on this idea before in passing but it's worth repeating: when building an electronic project be sure to use a Sharpie on either the inside of the case (or on the circuit board) to record the date.

Then, enter that date and as many notes as you can think of about the project into a lab notebook !

If you are like me your memory was never that good, but even if you HAD a good memory, it will probably get worse as time goes by.  With the written date it will be easy to refresh your memory on the project.  And in that notebook, remember 5 Ws and an H:

An excerpt from the Kipling poem: Keep Six Honest Serving Men

I keep six honest serving-men
   (They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When 
   And How and Where and Who.

source: https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poem/poems_serving.htm

In other words, consider yourself a reporter trying to explain the project to someone who is unaware of this project (probably YOU in the future !  :)  However that's the ideal, the reality is that almost any amount of info in your notebook will help jog a memory.  But I would say that the most important question to answer is WHY, why was it done this way - why is often the hardest question.

Here is the first example of this from this blog:

there is the date on the bottom of the supply

here is the notebook entry (date on the bottom was close enough :)

source: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2022/01/power-supplies.html

I believe I saw this "date and document" idea on an email list or possibly in the book: Experimental Methods in RF Design ?

Best Regards,
Chuck, WB9KZY
http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm