These archive pages are provided in order to make it easier for you to find items
that you remember seeing on the RF Cafe homepage. Of course probably the easiest
way to find anything on the website is to use the "Search
RF Cafe" box at the top of every page.
About RF Cafe.
Diminished Manufacturing Sources
and End of Life Component Supplier
Force Technologies, located in
Marlborough, UK, has been added to the
Obsolete Components page on RF Cafe. They are a is a continued manufacturing source for discontinued
or obsolete semiconductors, such as memories, microprocessors, linear, logic, opto and discrete, devices
in order to support many legacy products in all industries. Manufacturing / re-creation solutions are
both in accordance with Mil-Std 883 and AS9100 compliant, delivering quality replacements to plastic, &
hermetic parts for DMS (diminished manufacturing
sources) and EOL (end of life)
products. +44(0)1264-731200
Over the Horizon Radars Becoming
Routine Visitors on Amateur HF Bands
"The
International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 (Europe/Africa) Monitoring System (IARUMS) reports a spate
of
over the horizon (OTH) radar signals on various Amateur Radio HF bands - exclusive
and shared. Many of these signals are being heard outside of the Region 1 confines. A 50 kHz wide Russian
OTH radar has been heard in the evening on 80 meters, often in the CW part of the band. An 'often long-lasting'
Russian OTH signal about 13 kHz wide is being heard on the 7000-7100 kHz segment of 40 meters, while
some digital traffic
..."
Submarines - Are We Open
to Sneak Attack?
Submarines first proved their deadly capabilities during World
War II when Adolph Hitler's navy used them to torpedo not just military ships but merchant ships
in commercial trade routes between the Americas and Europe. Hideki Tojo's navy used subs to conduct
surveillance prior to the deadly surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Their naturally stealthy environment
- underwater - proved to be a difficult realm both for detection and for attack. Fortunately, sensor
technology developed quickly during the war, and soon a combination of air and sea based methods were
in use and proved very effective. Submariners no longer sailed in relative security from being treated
to a violent, icy burial at sea
...
Wireless Technology Creating New
Opportunities in EMI Shielding Industry
Orbel Corporation is a designer and manufacturer of
custom EMI/RFI shielding, photo-etched precision metal parts and stamping. Advancements in Wi-Fi, GPS,
3G, RFID, Bluetooth, and complex cell phone and tablets are creating both challenges and new opportunities
within the the EMI shielding industry. EMI is generated
almost anywhere on earth, and the amount of electronics requiring protection from it is only going to
continue to grow. According to recent BCC Research estimates, the global EMI shielding market is expected
to reach $6.6B by 2019
...
Carrier Mobility in Organic
Semiconductors Overestimated
"U.S. researchers are questioning the claims made for
carrier mobility in some organic semiconductors. The team, from the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Wake Forest University and Penn State University, see
errors up to 10x. The problem is the use of silicon transistor models. Typically, said NIST, measurements
are analyzed as though they were of silicon field-effect transistors – where drain
..."
Notable Tech Quote: Quasianonymous
"I do like
to say that I'm proud to be a twentieth century, 20 WPM Extra and not a
10-4 good buddy,
Roger Dodger licensee."
- Quasianonymous* (actually not Anonymous to me, but the originator prefers to remain anonymous to everyone
else). For a sufficient sum of untraceable currency, I shall disclose the name of this wit
(just kidding... $orta). There is a well-established rift, sometimes serious
and sometimes not, between pre-required-Morse-code and post-required-Morse-code Hams.
Morse code requirements for all levels of Amateur radio licenses was dropped by
the ITU in 2003, and by the FCC in 2007. *Bonus factoid: Quasimodo
...
DesignCon 2016 Keysight Education
Forum (KEF) Sessions Available
You can now watch the DesignCon 2016 Keysight Education Forum
(KEF) sessions from the convenience of your desk. Get complimentary access to the materials that made
KEF a huge success with more than 600 attendees this year. View the video footage and presentation slides
from all 8
Keysight Education Forum (KEF) workshops: Mastering Measurement Requirements for 16 GBit/s Devices,
Identify and Remove Crosstalk from your High-Speed Signals, Signal Integrity Tips and Techniques Using TDR,
VNA and Modeling, Updates on Measurement Solutions for PAM-4 Signaling, and more
...
Expert Witness: How Your Rate
Structure Can Influence Your Business
A while back, I asked the folks at
IMS ExpertServices whether they had
in their archives any papers regarding typical fees charged by expert witnesses based on experience,
success rate, professional bona fides, type of legal case, etc. They responded saying that in fact there
was a series of white papers being prepared intended to educate both current and prospective experts
on requirements and expectation for their service, as well as what range
of fees
can be charged. The first two papers have been published as of this writing. A brief synopsis of each
is presented below. It is worth remembering when considering getting involved in the expert testimony
world that
...
Of Beer Bottles and Slide Rules
RF Cafe visitor
Paul D. (M0XPD)
sent me a link to his brief article that aptly illustrates how
a Pickett N-515-T
slide rule and a beer bottle can be used to help a student understand resonance in LC tank circuits.
It has to do with the oft-used mechanical phenomenon dual of an electrical apparatus - like a wire is
a water hose, voltage is the pressure, etc. The
Picket N-515-T
is a custom slide rule marketed by the Cleveland Institute of Electronics to be used with their series
of self-study electronics courses that had their heyday in the 1960s and 1970s.
Win a Free RF / Microwave
Engineering Book!
Each
month I select someone to receive a free book
from those graciously provided by top-tier publishers like Artech House and Cambridge University Press.
How to enter? Send me an e-mail with "<Month> Book Drawing" in the subject
line, and some note in the body (empty e-mails go to spam folder). At
least one winner is drawn each month. Beginning with March 2016, the winner will need to pay the shipping
cost (typically <$5 in the U.S.). I have never passed contact information
of any sort to anyone for any reason ...
Physics & Engineering
Crossword Puzzle
For the sake of avid cruciverbalists amongst us, each week I create
a new crossword puzzle that has a theme related to engineering, mathematics, chemistry, physics, and
other technical words. You will never be asked the name of a movie star unless he/she was involved in
a technical endeavor (e.g., Hedy Lamar). Clues in this week's puzzle with
an asterisk (*) are directly from this week's "High Tech News" column
on the RF Cafe homepage (see the Headline Archives page if necessary)
...
Darpa Invites Techies to Turn
COTS Products into Weapons
"The good news is that some of today's most advanced technologies
are cheap and easy to find, both online and on the shelves of major chain stores. That's also the bad
news, according to DARPA. The defense agency is nervous that criminals and terrorists will turn off-the-shelf
products into tools and devices to harm citizens or disrupt American military operations. On Friday,
DARPA announced a new project called 'Improv' that invites technologists to propose designs for military
applications or weaponry built exclusively from commercial software, open source code, and readily available
materials. The program's goal is to demonstrate how easy it is to transform
..."
Saelig High Current & Power 45 MHz
Differential/2-Channel Signal Amplifier
Saelig
Company announces availability of the Tabor Model 9260 - a bench-top dual-channel DC-coupled wideband amplifier,
designed for high-frequency and high-current signal amplification. With a wide bandwidth of 45 MHz,
and delivering 34 Vpk-pk output into 50 ohms with up to 10 W output power, the 9260 is an ideal complimentary
amplifier to any signal source that needs a supporting power boost for demanding applications. With
a peak output current of 1A, the 9260 enables a continuous power output of up to 10W, making it ideal
for a range of pulse applications. The 9260 can be configured to be used
...
c1932-33 Delco & Majestic Vacuum
Tube Radio Service Sheets
Here are the
Majestic
Chassis Models 380 A.C. T.R.F., and 400 A.C.-D.C. Superheterodyne and
Delco 32-Volt Radio Receiver Chassis Radio Service Data Sheets as featured in a 1933 edition
of Radio-Craft
magazine. As mentioned many times in the past, I post these online for the benefit of hobbyists looking
for information to assist in repairing or restoring vintage communication equipment. Even with the availability
of SAMS Photofacts, there are some models that cannot be found anywhere other than in these vintage
magazines
...
Antenova Targets 3G Mobile Data
Market with Small, Flexible Antennas
Antenova M2M, manufacturer of antennas and RF antenna modules
for M2M, is targeting the fast increasing 3G mobile device market with two new
flexible printed circuit board antennas for 3G and MIMO. Both antennas operate at GSM850, GSM900,
DCS1800, PCS1900 and WCDMA2100 and will provide full coverage of the 3G bands in all world regions.
The two new FPC antennas are designed to be mounted inside a small mobile or wearable device, and are
supplied with a cable and a connector so that they are very easy to
...
New Source of Ultra-Bright
Quantum Light
"A new
ultra-bright
source of single photons -- 15x brighter than commonly used sources and emitting photons that are
99.5% indistinguishable from one another -- has been developed by researchers from the CNRS, Université
Paris Diderot, and Université Paris-Sud. This feat was achieved thanks to the nanometrically-precise
positioning of a quantum dot within an optical microcavity. Adding an electrical control to the device
helped ..."
Mac's Radio Service Shop:
Remote Control and Colored Snow
Any
story with 'remote control' in its title piques my interest, so of course this installment of "Mac's
Radio Service Shop" met the criterion. Unlike in this story where the remote turned out to be wired,
it it the wireless type - like those used to guide radio controlled model airplanes, boats, cars, and
helicopter - that really grab my attention. Along with discussing the newfangled
(in 1954) Regency television remote control for changing channels, fine
tuning the frequency, and adjusting volume, shop owner Mac McGregor discusses how atmospheric conditions
affect radio signal strength. In discussing the advent of color TVs, the question
...
Please Welcome Bittele Electronics
as an RF Cafe Supporter!
In business since 2003, Bittele Electronics has established itself
as a Turn-Key PCB assembly services provider for prototype
and low volume electronic contract manufacturing. Their head office in Toronto, Canada, and sales office
in San Jose, CA, supports production facilities in China, providing customers low-cost, quick-turn,
One-stop PCB assembly services: PCB
fabrication, Parts Procurement
and PCB Assembly. Bittele's
customers are primarily in the U.S. and Canada in a wide variety of industries.
Please visit Bittele Electronics today to see how they might help your project succeed.
'Videos for Engineers' Links
All Working Now!
As
you know, anything on the Internet is considered 'old' after just a couple years. Many hyperlinks are
broken either from websites moving files around (a la IEEE and most trade magazines)
or from the entire
website disappearing.
Videos are particularly hard to keep track of. Over the last day or so I have gone through all of my
"Videos for Engineers" links and
verified, corrected, or deleted as needed to assure everything is working. It was a real pain, but worth
it. One of my 
all-time favorites is the
German
Coast Guard trainee. There are scores of tech-related videos on 25 pages. Enjoy!
Study Finds No Gender Gap
in Tech Salaries
"Even though cash is a bigger motivator for men than for women,
they're getting equal pay for equal positions, education, and experience says tech job search firm Dice.
No salary gap exists between women and men in tech, says job search firm Dice, looking
at its annual survey of 16,000 tech professionals, as long as you are comparing people with equal experience,
education, and job titles. That, of course, is a big if. And previous data from Dice found about a $10k
pay gap between men and women if not controlled
..."
Leatherman Tread Bracelet
I saw this 'Tread Bracelet' featured in the December 2015 issue of Popular Science
magazine - kinda cool. According to the story, "After Leatherman's president, Ben Rivera, got stopped
at security at Disneyland for carrying a multitool, he decided to create one that you'd never need to
leave at home - or even in a toolbox. Tread's wearable design features 29 handy tools, such as Allen
wrenches, screwdrivers, and a bottle opener.'" It's a bit pricey at $165, but hey, you can't take it
with you ;-)
...
Skyworks Revolutionary Technology
Enhancing RF Power Capability
"Skyworks Solutions, Inc., an innovator of high performance analog semiconductors
connecting people, places and things, launched
SkyBlue™, a new and revolutionary
enabling technology that enhances both the power capability and efficiency in LTE amplifiers and front-end
solutions. Designs utilizing SkyBlue™ technology not only deliver twice the power of envelope and average
power tracking systems available on the market today, but across much broader power ranges. These efficiencies
can be more than 15-20% in medium to high power ranges
..."
Radio Stamps Make Rare Collection
Both my father and grandfather were
stamp collectors - philatelists is the technical word - who dabbled in a recreational way with commemoratives
from foreign countries. Nearly all were canceled (used) stamps that today,
as back in their day, have no real value other than to someone interested in history. Of course none
are the rare types. I now possess many of those stamps in an album that was painstakingly hand-illustrated
and assembled to arrange each stamp according to its country and issue date. At one time I, too, dabbled
in the hobby, having collected many plate blocks and special issue U.S. stamps in the 1970s and 1980s,
along with purchasing a few designs of special purpose such as those with aerospace and communications
themes
...
Stretchable Skin Cloaks Objects
by Trapping Radar Waves
"A flexible, stretchable and tunable 'meta-skin' that uses rows of small, liquid-metal devices to cloak an object from
the sharp eyes of radar has been developed by Iowa State University engineers. The metamaterial can
be tuned to reduce the reflection of a wide range of radar frequencies by controlling the stretching
and flexing of the polymer meta-skin. 'It is believed that the present meta-skin technology will find
many applications in electromagnetic
..."
Narda Measuring Station Monitors
EM Fields in Freely Definable Bands
Narda Safety Test Solutions has a new selective Area Monitor on
the market: AMS-8061. This autonomous measuring station monitors electromagnetic fields from
100 kHz to 6 GHz in up to 20 freely definable frequency bands. This allows the field exposure levels
due to e.g. GSM, UMTS, and LTE as well as DAB and DVB-T to be recorded separately. The measurement conforms
to ITU-T Recommendation K.83 "Monitoring of electromagnetic field levels." The new type AMS-8061 Area
Monitor operates independently. Its solar cells
...
"Marble Machine" by Wintergatan
Maybe you are one
of the more than 11 million people who have already viewed this incredible "Marble Machine" video, by Swedish musician
Martin Molin. Molin designed and built his wooden music machine using aircraft plywood, ball bearings,
Lego blocks, pressure transducers, plastic tubing, lengths of wire, springs, and a host of other off-the-shelf
components, none of which appear to have required custom metal machining. The huge wooden gears were
designed on his computer, ut out on a band saw, and assembled with glue and screws. 2,000 metal marbles
are the lifeblood of the instrument which, by function, must be classified as percussion. Even the integrated
base guitar is ...
Scott Adams: How to Fail at Almost
Everything and Still Win Big
How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story
of My Life. Scott Adams has likely failed at more things than anyone you've ever met, including
his corporate career, his inventions, his investments, and two restaurants. So how did he go from hapless
office worker to the creator of Dilbert, one of the world's most famous syndicated comic strips, in
just a few years? In this funny yet serious book full of personal stories, Adams shares the strategies
he has used to invite failure in, embrace it, then pick its pocket. Among his contrarian lessons: •
Goals are for losers. Systems are for winners. • A combination of mediocre skills
...
Orientation of Magnetism Adjustable
in New Materials
"Nanotechnologists
at the UT research institute
MESA+
are now able to create materials in which they can influence and precisely control the orientation of
the magnetism at will. An interlayer just 0.4 nanometers thick is the key to this success. The materials
present a range of interesting possibilities, such as a new way of creating computer memory as well
as spintronics applications – a new form of electronics that works on the basis of magnetism instead
of electricity. The research was published today in the leading scientific journal Nature Materials
..."
Television-Themed Comics
The June 1949 issue of Radio & Television News had
four
television-themed comics. Television at that time was a relatively new home appliance, so there
was a huge amount of interest in the technology. It hadn't really been all that long since the public
got used to hearing sound (i.e., 'talkies') in the movie theater, so the mystique that surrounded television
made it the subject of a lot of puns and jokes. 1949 was a mere four years after the end of World War II,
and the post-war economic boom was primed by a surplus of left-over electronic components along with
lots of available talent both in the areas of design and assembly
...
Optical Trapping Offers Way
to Launch High-Power Laser
"Researchers have demonstrated, for the first time, that laser
light can be used to manipulate a glass optical fiber tapered to a sharp point smaller than a speck
of dust, in the middle of an optical fiber with a hollow core. Amazingly, optical forces cause the sharp
point, or "nanospike," to self-align at the center of the hollow core, trapping it more and
more strongly at the core center as the laser power increases. "Launching very high power laser light
into an optical ..."
Notable Tech Quote: Ward Silver
"This isn't
impedance matching as much as it is 'impedance hiding'." -
Ward Silver (N0AX), in the March 2016 issue of
Nuts & Volts magazine.
The statement is in reference to using resistive impedance matching rather than reactive matching. Ideal
inductors and capacitors have only an imaginary reactive impedance and therefore dissipate no power,
whereas ideal resistors have only a resistive impedance and do dissipate power. Although in
the real word Rs, Ls, and Cs all have both resistive and reactive (R±jX) parts, the most lossless
impedance match if both the source and load are purely
...
Phone Manufacturers Face Jail
If Phones Cannot Be Decrypted
"French politicians have voted
in favour of a law which would penalise smartphone manufacturers who do not cooperate with terrorism inquiries.
The government is currently passing new laws to deal with the recent rise in terrorist attacks in the
country, but had opposed the amendment, which had been tabled by opposition politicians. The bill is
needed so that the country can drop the state of emergency which came into effect following the Paris
attacks last November ..."
Elementary Schoolers' CubeSat Ready to Deploy from ISS
"The 400 youngsters attending a suburban Washington, DC, parochial
school are eagerly awaiting the day the CubeSat they constructed will be deployed from the International
Space Station. The little STMSat-1 spacecraft
— an educational project of pupils attending St.
Thomas More Cathedral School in Arlington, Virginia — is equipped with a slow-scan TV (SSTV) payload
that will transmit on 70 centimeters (437.800 MHz). The school won a NASA competition
..."
Aboard a Radar Picket Plane
Although
obviously (but getting less so) before my time, the mention of this airborne
radar surveillance system having been built by
General Electric, in Utica, New York, struck a chord since that is where I had my first engineering
job after having graduated from the University of Vermont with a BSEE degree. It seems to me the work
at the time was all done in the converted textile complex on Broad Street. They were the glory days
of GE, Westinghouse, Collins, Raytheon, and other electronics titans whose engineers, technicians, assemblers,
and program managers
...
Tech News for March 7, 2016
Taiwan Passes South Korea in IC Wafer Fab Capacity
The FCC is About to Ruin AM Radio
Wearable Caffeinated Bracelet Keeps You Energized All Day Long
(I'll stick with the liquid form)
242,000 Jobs Added in February: 304,000 Were Part-Time (net
loss of full-time)
Harmonic Radars Search
for Hidden Devices
"Harmonic radars
have long held the promise of detecting devices at higher frequencies, although designing such systems
involves tight control of internally generated harmonic and spurious signals. To aid in the detection
of small, hidden electronic devices, researchers at the Sensor and Antenna Systems Group at the Informatics
and Information Security Research Center
..."
Win a Free RF / Microwave
Engineering Book!
Each
month I select someone to receive a free book
from those graciously provided by top-tier publishers like Artech House and Cambridge University Press.
How to enter? Send me an e-mail with "<Month> Book Drawing" in the subject
line, and some note in the body (empty e-mails go to spam folder). At
least one winner is drawn each month. Beginning with March 2016, the winner will need to pay the shipping
cost (typically <$5 in the U.S.). I have never passed contact information
of any sort to anyone for any reason ...
Engineering Crossword Puzzle for March 6, 2016
For the sake of avid
cruciverbalists amongst
us, each week I create a new crossword puzzle that has a theme related to engineering, mathematics,
chemistry, physics, and other technical words. You will never be asked the name of a movie star unless
he/she was involved in a technical endeavor (e.g.,
Hedy Lamar). Enjoy!
Tech Headlines for March 6, 2016
India's Telcos Challenge
Call Drop Compensation in Supreme Court
Warwick University Receives £4.8M ($6.7M) to Support 66 PhDs
Man Finds Cache of Century-Old Baseball Cards in Paper Bag
Electro-Acoustic Scan Finds Cracks in Ceramic Capacitors
"Cracks can be found in 'working' ceramic capacitors, using an
electrical tone-burst delivered to the terminals, claims the NIST. The impulse sets up acoustic vibrations
(~1 MHz), which can be analyzed electrically at the terminals. Phase shifts versus vibration magnitude
are greater when cracks are present. 'Industrial screening, such as automated visual inspection, X-rays
and acoustic microscopy, may not find subsurface cracks, especially near corners under
..."
Carl & Jerry: Bosco Has His Day
It has been quite a while since posting a
Carl & Jerry adventure tale. The teenage-neighbors-cum-Ham-radio-operators-cum-electronics-hobbyists-cum-amateur-detectives-cum-pranksters
are the creation of John T. Frye. He published a monthly episode in Popular Electronics
magazine. Mr. Frye is also the author of the
Mac's Radio Service Shop series of instructional stories that ran in Radio & Television
News magazine. This adventure is quite a digression from the typical storyline in that the boys
actually engage in a bit of deceit in order to save face based on a bet
...
Optical Warfare is Aim of Lockheed, L-3 Projects
"Optical warfare at sea is getting more dangerous and deadly with a U.S. Navy contract
to Lockheed Martin Corp. Wednesday to help surface warships defend themselves from maritime weapons
that home-in on their targets using lasers and other kinds of electro-optical sensors. The contract
calls for electro-optical surface ship defense experts at Lockheed Martin to enhance surface warship
multi-band defenses against concentrated enemy
..."
Google Building Big, Mysterious Radio Transmitter in Desert
In Spaceport America, New Mexico: "According to an
FCC document unearthed by Brian
Benchoff, the internet giant applied for an experimental radio license to be built in the New Mexico
desert. Much of the report is redacted. It will work in ranges typically utilized for communications
devices (2.5 GHz and 5.8 GHz), but includes higher millimeter bands. As Benchoff points out, there's
a transmitter in the 70-80 GHz band. That band
isn't regulated much by the FCC, and is typically used
..."
Radio Shack Advertisement, August 1947 QST
Radio Shack,
like so many of America's original great companies, was born and lived long and prospered during its
glory days, then eventually waned into insignificance and obsolescence within the last decade or so.
It is not always simply an unwillingness to adapt to new technologies and methods that dooms them. The
forces behind those life cycles are often beyond their control because start-ups vying for market share
do not carry the burden of and have to deal with established investments in people, facilities, and
infrastructure ...
Top 10 Countries with Most Engineering Graduates
"Which country produces the
largest number of engineering graduates per year? The United States? No. Japan?
No. These two countries might be the obvious choices but it looks like neither one of them made the
top of the list. According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, the country that produces the
highest number of engineering graduates per year is Russia, followed by the
United States and
Iran. According to their report, Russia produces
..."
Tech News for March 4, 2016
Explosive Start Not Needed for Fast Radio Bursts
Study Links Mobile
Device Addiction to Depression and Anxiety
Chip
Makers Need New Business Models
Big in Japan! Geomagnetic Indoor Positioning
BAE to Demonstrate Next-Gen EW Detection for the Navy
1,000-Pixel Headlights Could Offer Improved Vision at Night
NI Presents Dr. Steve Cripps' "Doherty at Eighty" Webinar
NI will sponsor a Microwave Journal hosted webinar entitled "Doherty at Eighty,"
presented by power amplifier design expert Dr. Steve Cripps. The Doherty power amplifier (DPA) was originally
introduced back in 1936 and continues to evolve, benefitting from the increasing intrusion of digital
controls into the synthesis of complex digitally-modulated communications signals. Wednesday, March
9, 2016 8 11 AM ET
...
Thin Air, My Foot!
New
word alert: 'din,' as in "It was dinned into me." OK, maybe you already knew that, but surely I should
have been aware of its alternate meaning other than being a loud noise ("the agitated cat made quite
a din."). Fortunately, I am not subject to a household of people who refuse to put things back in their
respective places when through with them, but this tale of woe tells what might be a familiar scenario
to you. To be honest, this could have been written about me as a boy - before the U.S. Air Force taught
me a thing or two about organization and neatness
...
RFMW Offers High Power PIN Diodes for T/R Switches
RFMW announces design
and sales support for two Skyworks, Inc. high power, PIN diodes suitable for T/R and attenuator applications.
The SMP1331-085LF (shunt connected) and
SMP1331-087LF
(series connected) diodes are capable of handling 50 W CW power in a shunt connected switch configuration.
Large signal attenuator applications ranging from 10 MHz to beyond 6 GHz are also possible.
Typical resistance for the
SMP1331-085LF
and SMP1331-087LF is 0.50 Ω at 100 mA
...
New Electron-Beam Imaging Sees Normally 'Invisible' Elements
"Electrons can extend our view of microscopic objects well beyond
what's possible with visible light--all the way to the atomic scale. A popular method in
electron microscopy for looking at tough, resilient materials in atomic detail is
called STEM, or scanning transmission electron microscopy, but the highly-focused beam of electrons
used in STEM can also easily destroy delicate samples. This is why using electrons to image biological
or other organic compounds, such as chemical
..."
Where Do the Scientists Belong?
Here is a good
quiz that tests your knowledge of classifications of science fields. It appeared in a 1949 edition
of The Saturday Evening Post magazine. Even if you do not particularly know the relationships,
you should be able to get most if not all twelve correct with a combination of surety, recognition of
word roots, and a process of elimination. Good luck
...
3D Smith Chart Inventor Interviewed by IEEE
IEEE Young Professionals
editor-in-chief Eddie Custovic recently published on the
IMPACT Blog an interview
with 3D Smith Chart
inventor Mr. Andrei Muller. A European trademark was recently
registered for the 3D Smith Chart logo. You can check out this unique tool on the
3dsmithcart.com website.
Please Welcome MECA Electronics as an RF Cafe Sponsor!
Since
1961, MECA Electronics has designed and manufactured
an extensive line of RF / Microwave components with
industry leading performance including Attenuators, Directional & Hybrid Couplers, Isolators / Circulators,
Power Dividers / Combiners, RF Loads, DC Blocks, Bias 
Tees and Adapters & Cables. MECA has long been the 'backbone'
of high performance wired and air-interfaced networks such as in-building, satellite, radar, radio,
telemetry, mobile radio, aviation & air traffic communications.
Tech News for March 3, 2016
The End of the Smartphone? (it's been a long time since I
last read a Robert Lucky piece)
USB-C Power Cords May Be Hazardous to Your Device
First Mobile Trader
Sentenced Following Commission's Mobile Trader Report
13 Women Who Changed
Science
McDonald's Turns Happy Meal Boxes into Virtual Reality Viewers
Eerie Math Could Predict Terrorist Attacks (a job for Charlie
Epps in
NUMB3RS)
The BOMARC IM-99's 'X-Bit' in IFF Radar
Is the
BOMARC an airplane or a rocket? If it is an airplane, then it is the pilotless type
(aka 'drone'). If it is a rocket, then it is the ultimate in controlled
trajectory hardware - at least in its day. The DoD referred to it as a surface-to-air guided missile.
The name is a combination of 'BOeing Airplane Company' and 'Michigan
Aeronautical Research Center.'
Clever, non? If memory serves me correctly (it's been 30+ years), the
AN/TPX-42 IFF (Identification
Friend or Foe) secondary radar system I maintained as an air traffic control radar technician
reserved a special 'X' bit in its data
...
Early AC Power: 16-2/3 Hz, 25 Hz, 40 Hz
This is interesting. The title for the
General Motors
S1B radio says it is a 25-cycle model, as compared to the S1A, 60-cycle model. According to an
IEEE Xplore
paper, "At 8:53 PM on 12 October 2006, a 66-kV circuit breaker tripped and locked out at the Harper
Substation in Niagara Falls, New York, due to downed transmission conductors near Buffalo, New York.
That event marked the end of over 111 years of 25-Hz alternating current (ac) electric power service
on the American side of the Niagara Frontier." 25 Hz was considered a good, low frequency for
...
Featured Book: Make Your Own Tube Testers and Electron
Tube Equipment
"Make Your Own Tube Testers and Electron Tube Equipment," by Gary Steinbaugh, PE,
AF8L, shows audio connoisseurs and amateur radio enthusiasts how to construct and use their own vacuum
tube testers. In addition, it describes how to make electron tube equipment, how to design high voltage
supplies, how to work with metal, plastic, and glass, and more. The reader can make a shiny new tube
tester that produces laboratory-quality results for a fraction of the price of a worn-out vintage tube
tester. Gary kindly sent me a copy - very nice!
Army's New Radio Strategy Is Unrelenting Competition
"Yesterday, the Army awarded three companies a $12.7B, 10-year
contract for over 60,000
manpack radios.. But execs at General Dynamics, Harris, and Rockwell Collins shouldn't
pop champagne corks yet. The Army has radically changed how it buys radios in recent years so that what
the 'winning' companies have actually won, in essence, is the right to compete for the right to compete
— with the possibility of more competitors coming in in the future. Normally, the award of a full-rate
..."
We Have a February Book Drawing Winner!
Congrats to February 2016
RF Cafe Book Drawing
winner Lowell H., of Tucson, Arizona! Lowell wisely selected
Filter Synthesis Using, Genesys S/Filter, by Randall Rhea. If you would like to
have a chance at winning a free book, read the no-hassle rules
here.
Free Engineering Magazine Subscriptions
TradePub has an impressive collection of engineering magazines offering
FREE subscriptions to qualifying
applicants. You might want to take a couple minutes to see what's available
there. BTW, there are many other types of magazines available as well, such as for business, finance,
education, sales, industry, automotive, manufacturing, and marketing. I earn a few pennies when you
sign up ...
Tech Headlines for March 2, 2016
New Tracking Antenna to Communicate with Rockets & Satellites
A Major
Flaw in AM Revitalization?
Plans for Europe's Biggest Onshore Wind Project
To Get Wind Power You Need Oil
Is Your Smartphone Listening
to You?
Armed Forces Day 2016 Communication Test to Include Direct Military-Ham Contact on 60
Meters
STMicroelectronics Highly Integrated Automotive 77 GHz Radar Chip
"STMicroelectronics is now supplying its latest long-range (77 GHz)
radar chips to leading automotive
customers. 24 GHz systems have spearheaded the introduction of on-board automotive radar by enabling
affordable, short- and mid-range smart-driving features such as blind-spot detection, collision avoidance,
and lane-departure warning. ST has delivered over 35 million 24 GHz radar transceiver ICs to date,
and continues to build its customer base ..."
U.S. Amateur Radio Numbers Continue to Soar
"Amateur Radio
is alive and well! Growth in the US continued in 2015, with a record 735,405 licensees in the FCC's
Universal Licensing System (ULS) database by the end of the year. That's up 9130 over December 2014,
a 1.2 percent rise, continuing a steady increase in the Amateur Radio population in every year since
2007. In 2014, the Amateur Radio ranks grew by a net 8149 licensees. The
figures, compiled
..."
Keysight Technologies Announces Inaugural Scope Month Event - 1 Scope Each Day in
March!
This is pretty amazing -
I just entered. "Mark your calendars: March 1, 2016, starts the first annual
Keysight Technologies Scope Month! We're giving
away more than $500,000 in oscilloscopes—one every day and two on Fridays.
During Scope Month, look for: helpful measurement tips; new content on oscilloscopes; access to industry
experts; and your chance to win a scope." They even have a 'live' broadcast of the drawing on
...
How to Use Ohm's Law
Fortunately, there is a constant flow of people newly interested
in electronics who are seeking information on basic principles. Some will find an article this one on
Ohm's law fundamentals and decide maybe being just a user of electronics is good enough. Others
will, as did you and I, read this kind of material and be amazed at how ultimately predictable electrical
circuit parameters are. If he or she continues and launches into a career in electronics or electrical
engineering, it won't be long before he or she will, as do you and I
...
Notable Tech Quote: Ron Wayne Who?
"I honestly don't regret walking away at all." -
Ronald (Ron) Wayne, the 'other' Apple Computer founder of whom you've never heard.
He sold his 10% stake in Apple to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak ('the Woz') for $800 in 1976. It would
be worth tens of billions today. Does Mr. Wayne really expect us believe he doesn't regret walking away
from all that dough? Somehow a lifetime designing slot machines doesn't seem like a suitable substitute.
He gambled and lost - big time
...
Win a Free RF / Microwave Engineering Book!
Each
month I select someone to receive a free book
from those graciously provided by top-tier publishers like Artech House and Cambridge University Press.
How to enter? Send me an e-mail with "<Month> Book Drawing" in the subject
line, and some note in the body (empty e-mails go to spam folder). At
least one winner is drawn each month. Beginning with March 2016, the winner will need to pay the shipping
cost (typically <$5 in the U.S.). I have never passed contact information
of any sort to anyone for any reason ...
Tech News for March 1, 2016
How We Got Here:
Advice from Women Engineers
Raspberry Pi 3 Adds Wi-Fi and
Bluetooth
Stuff Keeps Getting Cheaper (interesting charts)
Anadigics Chooses II-VI's Final Matching Bid over Chinese Firm's Offer
4 Ways Engineering Resources Have Changed
China's New Radar Installation Raises Stakes in Pacific