Today in Science History -
 This RCA advertisement from a 1948 issue of Radio−Craft magazine packed a lot of meaning to American citizens who had recently experienced the trials, tribulations, and ultimately victories of World War II. Company president David Sarnoff, a well-known electronic communications industry titan before the war, served under a special commission as a Brigadier General in the U.S. Army during WWII to oversee radio communications. He was very familiar with the tragedy of communism and socialism, having experienced its ruinous philosophy. Hitler and his minions forbade citizens, under threat of imprisonment or worse, from listening to radio lest they learn of the war's progress or of the freedoms experienced in other parts of the world. Propaganda via radio was a daunting weapon for and against all engaged nations, and even some Allied governments outlawed both transmitters and receivers ...
 Modelithics, Inc., the leading independent provider of simulation models for Radio Frequency and Microwave (RF/MW) devices, seeks an RF Electronics Engineer. Minimum requirements include an MSEE with some experience with RF/Microwave measurements and/or modeling techniques for high frequency devices, or a BSEE with a minimum of 3 to 5 years' experience with RF/Microwave measurements and/or modeling techniques for high frequency devices. Primary job responsibilities include development of measurement-based and/or electromagnetic analysis-based software models for electronic components and devices typically used in fields such as telecommunications, defense electronics and aerospace following standard operating procedures. Special consideration will be given to individuals who additionally have significant experience with advanced measurement techniques, such as load-pull measurements ...
 RF Cafe typically receives 8,000-15,000 website visits each weekday and about half that on weekends. RF Cafe is a favorite of engineers, technicians, hobbyists, and students all over the world. With more than 7,000 pages in the Google search index, RF Cafe returns in favorable positions on many types of key searches, both for text and images. New content is added on a daily basis, which keeps the major search engines interested enough to spider it multiple times each day. Items added on the homepage often can be found in a Google search within a few hours of being posted. I also re-broadcast homepage items on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. If you need your company news to be seen, RF Cafe is the place to be. Banner advertising begins at $175/month ...
 Here is an interesting article by Murray Slovick entitled, "Space Radiation and Its Effects on Electronic Systems." With 10s or even 100s of 1000s of Internet-connectivity satellites being launched by SpaceX's Starlink constellation and others, collisions with space junk could soon be a bigger concern than radiation. "Increased demand for connectivity to high-speed data networks is leading to increased deployment of space platforms for services ranging from GPS to military intelligence to commercial high-speed data for home internet applications. Outside the Earth's atmosphere, though, the solar system is filled with radiation that can damage electronic devices. The effects range from degradation in performance to leakage currents, lowering the gain of a device, upsetting timing characteristics ..."
 Even if you have no use for building a "twin lamp" standing wave indicator for a twin lead transmission line (solid or open ladder type), this article makes an interesting read for its theoretical description of how the device works based on current phases in the circuit. A pair of flashlight bulbs and couple feet of wire is all that is needed. When operating properly, the "twin lamp" indicator indicates by virtue of whether one or both bulbs are illuminated whether there is a significant standing wave present on the line. Author Charles Wright warns that the VSWR level cannot be reliably determined based on relative brightnesses of the two bulbs; it is meant for use as a best case indication for tuning and/or as a gross fault indicator ...
 "If you're not certain as to the differences between nanosats and cubesats, or how these tiny satellites are launched and what they do, then read on. Tiny satellites have made space accessible to a new generation of university students, private companies and even helped cash-strapped government agencies like NASA. Generally known as nano-satellites (nanosats) or cube-satellites (cubesats), this technology has been made possible by the semiconductor driven miniaturization of electronic and electro-mechanical systems. In recognition of the trend, the IEEE has even launched a new journal on, 'Miniaturization for Air and Space Systems (J-MASS).' Mass is a premium consideration when placing anything into space. That's why the names of tiny satellites ..."
 Windfreak Technologies designs, manufactures, tests and sells high value USB powered and controlled radio frequency products such as RF signal generators, RF synthesizers, RF power detectors, mixers, up / downconverters. Since the conception of WFT, we have introduced products that have been purchased by a wide range of customers, from hobbyists to education facilities to government agencies. Worldwide customers include Europe, Australia, and Asia. Please contact Windfreak today to learn how they might help you with your current project.
 At the end of World War II, the U.S. government demonstrated an appreciation for the extreme sacrifices made by its citizens by making surplus materiel available for purchase at very low cost. Companies sprang up as distributors after bidding on and buying large lots of items at auctions. Herschel Radio Company was one of many. This 2-page advertisement on a 1948 issue of Radio-Craft is typical of what was seen in all sorts of technology publications in the late 1940s. A complete Fairchild model SCR 269/F airborne radio compass was offered at a mere $75 ($814 in today's money). A Hallicrafters model SX-28 communications receiver could be picked up for $129. Miscellaneous components sold for pennies - resistors, capacitors, inductors, transformers, vacuum tubes, indicator lamps, wire, switches, hardware, tools, enclosures, motors ...
 "Slightly bending semiconductors made of organic materials can roughly double the speed of electricity flowing through them and could benefit next-generation electronics such as sensors and solar cells, according to Rutgers-led research. 'If implemented in electrical circuits, such an enhancement - achieved by very slight bending - would mean a major leap toward realizing next-generation, high-performance organic electronics,' said senior author Vitaly Podzorov, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University - New Brunswick. Semiconductors include materials that conduct electricity and their conductivity can be tuned by different external stimuli, making them essential for all electronics. Organic semiconductors are made of organic molecules (mainly consisting of carbon and hydrogen atoms) ..."
 Teledyne e2v HiRel, producer of the longtime industry-leading PeeWee high voltage cable assembly, this week unveiled a major new addition to the high voltage product line called Ruggedized PeeWee, or "PWR." Built on decades of experience developing subminiature, high voltage connectors, the PWR's new robust design also benefits from Teledyne's extensive experience designing Space-level products. The new Ruggedized PeeWee line is fully compatible and inter-matable with all push-pull PeeWee assemblies. Download the Ruggedized PeeWee datasheet. With this new product, Teledyne has surpassed all previous industry standards for testing ...
 Triad RF Systems designs and manufactures RF power amplifiers and systems. Triad RF Systems comprises three partners (hence 'Triad') with over 40 years of accumulated knowledge of what is required to design, manufacture, market, sell and service RF/Microwave amplifiers and amplifier systems. PA, LNA, bi-directional, and frequency translating amplifiers are available, in formats including tower mount, benchtop, rack mount, and chassis mount. "We view Triad more as a technology partner than a vendor for our line-of-sight communications product line." Please check to see how they can help your project.
 This article by science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, of 2001: A Space Odyssey fame, suggested the use of surplus German V−2 (Vergeltungswaffe 2; i.e., Retribution Weapon 2) rockets for launching scientific payloads into space rather than for launching terrorizing attacks on European cities. The October 1945 publishing date was after Germany had surrendered in the spring of that year and Allied forces were rounding up war criminals and confiscating documents and equipment. Clarke describes how an "artificial satellite" could be caused to circle the earth "perpetually" and was published in the October 1945 edition of Wireless World magazine. The pilot-less V−2, along with the V−1 "Buzz Bomb," were launched from within Germany and caused massive structural damage ...
 Modelithics is pleased to announce the release of version 19.4.2 of the Modelithics Qorvo GaN library for use with Keysight Technologies’ Advanced Design System and National Instruments AWR Design Environment. The Modelithics Qorvo GaN Library is a set of non-linear models for Qorvo package and die GaN devices, designed for excellent accuracy, and validated with broadband S-parameters and load pull data at multiple frequencies. Each model has a detailed datasheet summarizing model features, development details, and model performance plots. Some devices are also represented with small-signal and noise models in addition to non-linear models. Version 19.4.2 of the Modelithics Qorvo GaN Library includes a total of 80 models containing 57 packaged power models, 17 GaN die power transistor products and 6 small-signal models ...
 SF Circuits' specialty is in the complex, advanced technology of PCB fabrication and assembly, producing high quality multi-layered PCBs from elaborate layouts. With them, you receive unparalleled technical expertise at competitive prices as well as the most progressive solutions available. Their customers request PCB production that is outside the capabilities of normal circuit board providers. Please take a moment to visit San Francisco Circuits today. "Printed Circuit Fabrication & Assembly with No Limit on Technology or Quantity."
 In the middle of the last century, progress in television and radio technology was the focus of public attention, similar to news of the latest advances in smartphones and Wi-Fi-connected gadgets are today. Then, it was the installation of microwave relay networks for long distance telephone and television interconnections as reported in this 1948 issue of Radio-Craft magazine. Now, media headlines tell of new 5G cellular network equipment and small cell stations being installed around the world. New portable pocket radios using a single low voltage "peanut" vacuum tube or a germanium transistor are today's iPhones, smartwatches, and IoT-connected appliances. The item that caught my attention was mention of General electric (GE) issuing warnings that radar-equipped cargo airplanes should not be used to transport photo-flash camera bulbs because experiments showed exposure to certain frequencies and power ...
 Andre Muller and colleagues just published a major paper in Nature magazine demonstrating the unique aptness of his 3D Smith Chart in the design of applications where complex frequency dependencies must be assessed, as with Metal-Insulator-Transition (MIT) materials. You'll need to have your thinking cap on for this one ;-) "In this work, we develop and use 3D Smith charts for devices and circuits having complex frequency dependences, like the ones resulting using MIT materials. The novel foundation of a 3D Smith chart involves here the geometrical fundamental notions of oriented curvature and variable homothety in order to clarify first theoretical inconsistencies in Foster and Non Foster circuits, where the driving point impedances exhibit mixed clockwise and counter-clockwise frequency dependent (oriented) paths on the Smith chart as frequency increases. We show here the unique visualization capability of a 3D Smith chart, which allows to quantify orientation over variable frequency ..."
 "The first satellite built by students in Mexico for launch from the International Space Station is smaller than a shoebox but represents a big step for its builders. The project is part of NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative, which offers universities, high schools and non-profit organizations the opportunity to fly small satellites. Innovative technology partnerships keep down the cost, providing students a way to obtain hands-on experience developing flight hardware. A multidisciplinary team of students at Universidad Popular Autonoma del Estado de Puebla (UPAEP), in Puebla, Mexico, built the CubeSat for AzTechSat-1. The investigation demonstrates communication within a satellite network in low-Earth orbit ..."
 Before the Internet, cellphone apps, and personal computers, many calculations began with a lookup table, chart, or nomograph. In the case of long distance radio operators [Ham, Short Wave Listener (SWL), and professional types] seeking distance and direction information for pointing antennas, it took a map like this one published by Radio News & Short-Wave magazine in 1934 to estimate an optimal configuration. Such tools were essential in order to determine the best direction to point the antenna, which over a long distance is usually much different than what might be assumed by looking at a flattened projection map of the earth (see "Distance Lends Enchantment" below). Distances in Chart No. 1 are all relative to New York, so operators in other locales need to compensate. Here is one example of many online great circle calculators ...
 Alliance Test sells used / refurbished test equipment and offers short- and long-term rentals. They also offer repair, maintenance and calibration. Prices discounted up to 80% off list price. Agilent/HP, Tektronix, Anritsu, Fluke, R&S and other major brands. A global organization with ability to source hard to find equipment through our network of suppliers. Please visit Allied Test Equipment today to see how they can help your project.
 December 11 marks the 98th anniversary of the success of ARRL's Transatlantic Tests in 1921, organized to see if low-power amateur radio stations could be heard across the Atlantic using shortwave frequencies (i.e., above 200 meters). On that day, a message transmitted by a group of Radio Club of America members at 1BCG in Greenwich, Connecticut, was copied by Paul Godley, 2ZE, in Scotland. While the first two-way contact would not take place until 1923, the 1921 transatlantic success marked the beginning of what would become routine communication between US radio amateurs and those in other parts of the world - literally the birth of DX ...
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