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About RF Cafe
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This is the QR scan code for the RF Cafe website. Scan it with your phone!
 Update
November 2013: RF Cafe has relocated to Alpena, Michigan, on Long Lake. Updates and photos coming soon!
RF Cafe began life in 1996 as "RF Tools" in an AOL screen name web space totaling 2 MB. Its primary purpose
was to provide me with ready access to commonly needed formulas and reference material while performing my work
as an RF system and circuit design engineer. The Internet was still largely an unknown entity at the time, and not
much was available in the form of WYSIWYG editors; in fact, my early pages were written using Notepad. After a couple
years of adding material to the website, I noticed that the hit counter would sometimes record a hundred or more
hits in a single day, which clued me in to the reality that other people were finding my site useful. E-mails began
arriving with suggestions, corrections, and even a few compliments.
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New in April 2008
An RF Cafe Intro Video
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Here is a version
of the video that
was professionally
re-worked by
SavvyPaper
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New in April 2009
RF Cafe Security Task Force
Training
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That was enough to convince me to expand the presence, so I hijacked web space from my kids' AOL area for storing
files, and linked to them from RF Tools. In July of 1999, I purchased the rfcafe.com domain (and later rfcafe.net)
and launched the RF Tools content as "RF Cafe." The RF Cafe name was chosen due to its brevity for typing, its simplicity
for remembering, and, perhaps most importantly, because it hints at my appreciation for a good cup of coffee (starbucks.com
was already taken!). Besides, names like "e-Something" and "Something Cafe" were in vogue at the time.
Please
click here to find out about advertising on RF Cafe.
| If you are kind enough to provide a link from your
website to RFCafe.com
and want to use an image or just text, please consider using one of prepared formats presented
here for simplicity. A large selection of commemorative logos are available. |
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The RF Cafe Empire
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RFCafeJobs.com
RFCafe.com
RFCafe.net
RFCafe.org
RFCafe.us
RFCafe.co.uk
RFCafe.eu
RFCafe.mobi
RFCafe.info
RFCafe.biz
RFCafe.co |
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After many years of handling all the webmaster duties myself, the demand increased to the point that I needed assistance
to handle the many additions and revisions that are performed on a daily basis. I have always had a fulltime+ job
while running RF Cafe, so maintenance consumed the evenings and a good part of the weekends. I scan the Internet
daily for interesting headlines, write Kirt's Cogitations, research day in history items, create the crossword puzzles,
constantly search for and generate new content, write the spreadsheets and other software, design advertiser ads,
choose good books for display, manage the overall website format, and everything else that requires a more in-depth
engineering knowledge. Finally, in April of 2007, I left RF Micro Devices (RFMD,
a great company) after more than five years with them to work at RF Cafe fulltime. It has been three years now (April
2010), and I truly wonder how I ever got enough done because even now I spend all day and evening working on the
website.
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Custom
RF Cafe Gear
T-shirt, sweatshirt,
coffee cup, mouse pad,
baseball
cap, etc.
Just 50¢ over cost
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RF Cafe currently enjoys the status of being one of the most highly rated engineering websites on the Internet.
Typical weekday visitor counts are more than 7,000, and those are honest page hits that don't include every downloaded
image file on the page like many sites report. The attraction for our much-appreciated regular visitors is the laid-back
atmosphere, the extensive collection of resources, and the daily fresh content. Paying advertisers appreciate the
huge amount of exposure to engineers for a ridiculously low price, and nearly instant access to me for service.
I plan to grow this empire to the maximum extent possible ;-)
 Thanks
for taking the time to read this, and be sure to drop us an e-mail or phone call any time with your suggestions,
comments and questions. Please be sure to visit our advertisers in appreciation for their helping to fund the website.
Oh, and buy stuff too!!!
Kirt Blattenberger
Dunn & Bradstreet: 005 660 324 DUNS
To the top right is a photo taken from our back porch on April
6, 2011! (click for larger version)
  To
the bottom right is a view of Canada from our back porch. On a clear day, the water tower of Port Rowan, Canada
- 42 miles away - is visible. On a clear night, we can see the navigation hazard light. Photo taken May 11, 2011.
RF Cafe altitude is 897 ft ASL. Lake Erie altitude is 571 ft. ASL. Port Rowan altitude is 602 ft ASL. Our porch
is about 4 ft higher than the road, so it is at about 330 ft. above Lake Erie. The
Port Rowan water tower is 170
ft tall, so the navhaz light is about 201 ft above Lake Erie. A
Line of Sight calculator
estimates a total LOS for these altitudes of 46 miles, which is consistent with my observations. The Canadian shoreline
is in sight from east to west.
**
Copyright Notice **
All editorial content and graphics on this site are protected by copyright law and may not be copied without
the express permission of Kirt Blattenberger, which reserves all rights. Permission to use content on this
site is granted on a case-by-case basis. We welcome your request. Please direct your inquiries to
Kirt Blattenberger owner. |
**
Acknowledgments **
All trademarks, trade names, copyrights, etc., for entities listed in this production are hereby acknowledged.
Inclusion of such references in this production are provided free of charge as a service to engineers and
other technical persons in search of goods and services providers. It is the responsibility of any vendor
that does not desire to be represented on this Site to provide formal notification for removal of references.
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**
Disclaimer **
Due to advanced features used in the creation of this web site, Microsoft Internet Explorer v4.0 or later is
required to guarantee proper display of contents. For example, some equations are generated using an
(Overline) character. If you do not see the line over the word
(Overline) in these sentences, then your browser does not support
necessary features. Additionally, the "Symbol" font must be installed on your system. Default font style for
this site is MS Verdana.
Access to and use of this RF Cafe Internet site (the "Site") is provided subject
to these terms and conditions. PLEASE READ THESE TERMS CAREFULLY, BECAUSE USE OF THE SITE CONSTITUTES ACCEPTANCE
OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. The Site provides a range of information, and although it attempts to provide
Information that is useful, I cannot possibly insure the accuracy of all of the Information at all times, and
you should not rely on the information in situations where its inaccuracy would cause you to suffer any significant
loss. THE INFORMATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS". RF CAFE, KIRT BLATTENBERGER, AND ITS ASSIGNEES MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS
OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND CONCERNING THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS OR SUITABILITY OF THE INFORMATION, EITHER EXPRESS
OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE. This Site does not sell, resell or license any of the "Products" linked to or otherwise referenced
on this Site, unless otherwise noted, and I disclaim any responsibility for or liability related to the Products.
Any questions, complaints or claims related to any Product should be directed to the appropriate vendor. The
Information is being provided without charge to the user. Accordingly, RF CAFE, KIRT BLATTENBERGER, AND ITS
ASSIGNEES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES OR UNDER ANY LEGAL THEORY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE,
SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT MAY BE SUFFERED BY YOU OR ANY OTHER USER OF THE SITE IN CONNECTION
WITH OR AS A RESULT OF THE INFORMATION OR THE PRODUCTS REGARDLESS OF HOW SUCH DAMAGES MAY ARISE AND EVEN IF
PREVIOUSLY ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
The opinions expressed on this Site are solely
those of Kirt Blattenberger, and do not necessarily reflect those of any persons or companies referenced on
or sponsored by RF Cafe (although they should if they do not). |
The privacy of visitors to RFCafe.com is important
to me. At RFCafe.com, I recognize that privacy of your personal information is important. Here is information
on what types of personal information is received and collected when you use and visit RFCafe.com, and how your
information is safeguard. I never sell or provide your personal information to third parties.
RFCafe.com does use cookies to store information,
such as your personal preferences when you visit the site. If you use the RF Cafe Forums, it does store your
login on your computer so you can re-visit without signing in again (unless you clear your cache). I do not
run any programs that attempt to deploy popups or any other obnoxious unrequested window. RFCafe.com uses third
party advertisements via Google AdSense to help support the site. You can chose to disable or selectively turn
off our cookies or third-party cookies in your browser settings, or by managing preferences in programs such
as Norton Internet Security. However, this can affect how you are able to interact with this site as well
as other websites. This could include the inability to login to services or programs, such as logging into
forums or accounts.
In summary, I despise tricks used by other websites to encroach on my privacy
and that throw unwelcome content in my face, so I do not do that to anyone else. |
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Kirt
Update
November 2013: RF Cafe has relocated to Alpena, Michigan, on Long Lake. Updates and photos coming soon!
Thanks
for taking the time to read this, and be sure to drop us an e-mail or phone call any time with your suggestions,
comments and questions. Please be sure to visit our advertisers in appreciation for their helping to fund the website.
Oh, and buy stuff too!!! 
To
the bottom right is a view of Canada from our back porch. On a clear day, the water tower of Port Rowan, Canada
- 42 miles away - is visible. On a clear night, we can see the navigation hazard light. Photo taken May 11, 2011.
RF Cafe altitude is 897 ft ASL. Lake Erie altitude is 571 ft. ASL. Port Rowan altitude is 602 ft ASL. Our porch
is about 4 ft higher than the road, so it is at about 330 ft. above Lake Erie. The
Port Rowan water tower is 170
ft tall, so the navhaz light is about 201 ft above Lake Erie. A
Line of Sight calculator
estimates a total LOS for these altitudes of 46 miles, which is consistent with my observations. The Canadian shoreline
is in sight from east to west.