Puzzle Solution

[Tom Droege <droege@fnal.gov>]

I would like to congratulate Andrew Bennett for correctly solving the
puzzle.  Below is his complete solution:

>
>It looks a lot like you are getting the wrong high order
>byte - either the one before or the one after.
>
>Andrew Bennett, Avondale Vineyard, Nova Scotia, Canada.
>
>

Note that this is a very deceptive prblem.  When random data is taken which
has a narrow distribution, it appears to be just fine.  That is because the
data is random and it does not care that the bytes are mixed up.  It still
gives a nice plot.  It is only when the total spread of the distribution
exceeds 256 that funny things start to happen.  First there are "side lobes"
spaced by 256 counts.  For a broad enough distribution, the "Sears Tower"
shape with 256 counts between steps occurs.  This is devious, and leads one
to search for temperature effects - the problem first appeard when I raised
the temperature to study the dark current.

Tom Droege