Homepage Archive - May 2016 (page 2)

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.

Homepage Archive Pages

2024:  Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

2023:  Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

2022:  Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

2021:  Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

2020:  Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

2019:  Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

2018:  Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

2017:  Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

2016:  Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

2015:  Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

2014:  Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

2013:  Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

2012:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 (no archives before 2012)

This is Page 2 of the May 2016 homepage archives (click here for Page 1, 2, 3).

Raytheon's Tom Sikina to Keynote at EDI CON USA

Raytheon Company's Tom Sikina to Keynote at EDI CON USA Plenary Session - RF CafeEDI CON USA 2016, a conference that brings together engineers working on high-frequency analog and high-speed digital designs, is pleased to announce Tom Sikina, Principal Engineering Fellow at Raytheon Co. as a keynote speaker in the EDI CON USA Plenary Session that will be held on Tuesday, September 20 at 4:30 PM. As a renowned expert with more than 35 years of experience in a wide range of antenna design and development, Tom Sikina will take the EDI CON USA stage to discuss, "Innovation in Phased Arrays: Past, Present, and Future." Sikina will trace ..."

Triad RF 2.2-2.5 GHz Bidirectional Amplifier w/Bypass

Triad RF Systems 2.2 to 2.5 GHz Bidirectional Amplifier w/Bypass Feature - RF CafeTriad RF Systems, founded in 2010, designs and manufactures high-performance, high-power RF and microwave amplifiers operating at frequencies from 10 MHz to 20 GHz. The TTRM1104 is a bi-directional amplifier designed for UAV video, data link, and C2 applications. It has a selectable gain control to vary the amp output based on link distance, and can also be placed in bypass mode when the BDA is not required. An analog RSSI output is also included.

Practichem Employee Benefits to Include Tesla Model 3

Practichem Employee Benefits to Include New Tesla® Model 3 - RF Cafe"Practichem, the Raleigh-based maker of browser controlled scientific instruments, today announced a new Tesla® Model 3 for each employee. 'Our vision shares similarities with Tesla Motors; both companies positively impact humanity with real change,' said Nick DeMarco, founder and CEO. 'People driven to solve big issues share core values. Many of our employees have marveled at Tesla's approach. Their compelling all-electric vehicles drive ..."

Many Thanks to Empower RF for Continued Support!

Empower RF  Systems logoFounded in 1999, Empower RF Systems is a global leader in power amplifier solutions that are critical to defense, commercial, and industrial market applications. With our origins in the design of Empower RF Systems - RF Cafebroadband and band-specific solid state power amplifiers, Empower continues to advance the science of RF power amplification to produce rugged, power efficient, and cost-effective solutions in the industry. It is our priority to design and deliver high quality, innovative products which solve customer systems and business requirements ...

UK Engineers Develop Shape-Shifting Electronic Device

UK Engineers Develop Shape-Shifting Electronic Device - RF Cafe"A handheld, shape-sifting computer could pave the way for a new generation of multi-functional devices its developers have claimed. Cubimorph, created by engineers at Bristol University, in collaboration with academics at the Universities of Purdue, Lancaster and Sussex, holds touchscreens on each of its six module faces and uses a hinge-mounted turntable mechanism to self-reconfigure in the user's hand. It can for instance, instantly transform itself from a phone into a games console. Proof of concept prototype of ..."

Nokia Back in Mobile Phone Business

Nokia Back in the Mobile Phone Business - RF Cafe"Nokia has announced plans that will see the Nokia brand return to the mobile phone and tablet markets on a global basis. Under a strategic agreement covering branding rights and intellectual property licensing, Nokia Technologies will grant HMD global Oy (HMD), a newly founded company based in Finland, an exclusive global license [1] to create Nokia-branded mobile phones and tablets for the next ten years. Under the agreement, Nokia Technologies will receive royalty payments from HMD for sales of Nokia-branded mobile products, covering ..."

NI AWR Load-Pull App Note for Designing Base Station PAs

Application Note Describes the Use of Advanced Load-Pull Features in NI AWR Software for Designing Base Station PAs - RF Cafe"Designing with Enhanced Load Pull Measurements for Base Station Power Amplifiers" is a new application note that describes how to use the advanced load-pull features in NI AWR Design Environment™ to design matching networks and associated circuitry directly from measured load-pull data. Load pull has been used for decades in RF circuit design flows, especially for high-power applications such as base station PAs. Recent advances in data file formats by load-pull measurement system vendors have significantly expanded the usefulness ...

Radio Service Data Sheets for Stromberg & Majestic

Majestic Models Fairfax and Sheffield 8-Tube Superheterodynes Radio Service Data Sheet, May 1932 Radio-Craft - RF CafeHere are two more additions to the growing collection of radio service data sheets for vintage radio sets. Most people will have no need for them, but for the few who have one of these old sets and want to restore or service it, this information can means the difference between owning a non-working conversation piece or a functional piece of America's history. These are for the Stromberg-Carlson No. 29, 9-Tube Superheterodyne Receiver and the Majestic Models Fairfax and Sheffield 8-Tube Superheterodynes.

Anatech Electronics Newsletter for May 2016

Anatech Electronics Newsletter for May 2016 - RF CafeAnatech Electronics, a manufacturer of RF and microwave filters, has published its May 2016 newsletter. As always, it includes both company news and some tidbits about relevant industry happenings. This month, Sam Benzacar discusses the increasing challenge that interference is to military systems, how a new record has been set for spectral efficiency using a 256-QAM system, IoT being a prime target for hackers, and more. Anatech's business is to make certain that system and circuit designers have ...

Engineering Magazine Articles for May 2016 

RF & Microwave Engineering Articles for May 2016 - RF CafeMany great new RF-type magazine articles that have appeared in the trade magazines in the last couple weeks. Tom Perkins' article on "misused" terminology hits on some key peeves for some people (including me); however, there is still some disagreement over the technical difference between a diplexer and a duplexer. Also, Chris DeMartino implies (according to my inference) that the UHF connector is not so commonly used anymore - and that is probably so for commercial installations - but amateur radio operators still use the UHF connector ...

What's in a Name? Clarifying Misused RF/Microwave

    Terminology, by Tom Perkins

What Are the Differences Between Coaxial

    Connectors?, Part 1, by Chris DeMartino

LTE and Wi-Fi Coexistence or Convergence?, by

    James Kimery, Erik Luther, Dr. Achim Nahler  <more>

X-Microwave Adds Peregrine's RF Products to Simulator

X-Microwave Adds Peregrine Semiconductor's RF Products to Online Simulation and Prototype System - RF CafeX-Microwave, the innovative leader in modular system design, and Peregrine Semiconductor, founder of RF SOI and pioneer of advanced RF solutions, announce their collaboration and the addition of Peregrine's RF products to X-Microwave's online simulation tool and hardware prototyping system. X-Microwave's building-block system simplifies the modular design process and enables RF engineers to easily simulate and prototype RF and microwave circuits. To kick off this relationship, 16 Peregrine products are being added to the X-Microwave system as drop-in X-MWblock™ components ...

Tech Startups Use Some Creative Definitions for 'Profitable'

Tech Startups Come up with Some Creative Definitions for 'Profitable' - RF Cafe"Last September, SpoonRocket was running out of money. Founders of the Berkeley, Calif., meal-delivery company had initially sold investors on aggressive expansion plans and the promises of a high-growth business. By the time it completed a planned rollout to San Diego and Seattle early last year, the funding environment had changed. Venture capitalists had begun to prioritize profit over growth. After just a few months, SpoonRocket retreated from its new markets and focused on improving ..."

GE Radio Advertisement: Metal Tubes

General Electric Radio Advertisement, September 1935 QST - RF CafeWhen metal-encased vacuum tubes came on the electronics scene in the 1930s, they were billed as the innovation that was going to radically change the radio world. The built-in Faraday shield properties of the tubes did in fact stop the effects of cross-coupling between adjacent tubes and permit more densely packed circuits, but they also caused some other problems as well. Capacitance between tube elements and the shield caused electron flow control issues and affected operational frequency. Packing tubes closer together also meant the rat's nest of resistors, capacitors, inductors, and wires on the underside ... 

RF-Only Logic Makes RFID Tags Tinier

RF-Only Logic Makes RFID Tags Tinier - RF Cafe"Engineers at North Carolina State University have applied a new technology called RF-only logic to create passive RFID tags that are 25 percent smaller than today's. And a smaller tag means a cheaper tag. The space savings comes from eliminating a circuit usually considered crucial to the chip's operation—the rectifier. Passive RFID tags, the most common ones, are powered by an RF signal provided by the tag reader when it's nearby. The RFID's rectifier takes the AC radio signal ..."

Diamond ICs May Finally Debut

Diamond ICs May Finally Debut - RF Cafe"Diamonds may soon be the semiconductor industry's 'best friend.' Startup Akhan Semiconductor Inc. plans to make the promise of diamonds come true by licensing the diamond semiconductor process from the U.S. Energy Department's Argonne National Laboratory. Diamond semiconductors have been known to be faster, consume less power, be thinner and lighter weight that silicon, but Akhan Semiconductor is the first vendor with its foot-in-the-door of actually realizing its capabilities. Since before 2000, Argonne National Lab has been experimenting with diamond chemical vapor ...

ARRL "Lightning" Calculators Advertisement in QST

ARRL Lightning Calculators Advertisement, May 1939 QST - RF CafeThe ARRL (American Radio Relay League) might be considered as one of the first app developers. At 50¢ and $1 per app, the price was in-line with one of today's typical not-for-free Apple or Android app. A user willing to shell out $4 for all six had at his fingertips calculators and reference tables for capacitive and inductive reactance, resonant frequency, gain and power, conductor amperage, transformer turns ratio, resistor, capacitor, and inductor series and parallel combination, and other values. These six apps were comprised of cardboard, plastic, and a metal eyelet ...

Breakthrough Boosts 2D Semiconductor Photoluminescence

Breakthrough Boosts 2D Semiconductor Photoluminescence - RF Cafe"Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have come up with a technique to enhance the photoluminescence efficiency of tungsten diselenide, a 2D semiconductor. According to them, the discovery could light the path for the application of such semiconductors in advanced optoelectronic and photonic devices. Tungsten diselenide is a single-molecule-thick semiconductor that is part of an emerging class of materials called transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), which have the ability to convert light to electricity ..."

P1dB Releases Phase Stable Test Cable Series

P1dB Releases Phase Stable Test Cable Series - RF CafeP1dB, an RF and microwave component supplier, releases a new series of test cables that are phase stable under continuous flexure. These new test cables are built using P1dB's new 195TM coaxial cable, which has been designed and tested to be phase stable under 50,000 flexures. The P1dB test cables are also constructed using specialized stainless steel connectors that are designed for high retention and stability under more than 5,000 mating cycles. The new RF test cables are further enhanced using ...

How Light Is Detected Affects Atom That Emits It 

How Light Is Detected Affects Atom That Emits It - RF Cafe"Flick a switch on a dark winter day and your office is flooded with bright light, one of many everyday miracles to which we are all usually oblivious. A physicist would probably describe what is happening in terms of the particle nature of light. An atom or molecule in the fluorescent tube that is in an excited state spontaneously decays to a lower energy state, releasing a particle called a photon. When the photon enters your eye, something similar happens but in reverse. The photon is absorbed by a molecule in the retina and its energy kicks that molecule into an ..."

Transmission-Line Feed for Short-Wave Antennas

Transmission-Line Feed for Short-Wave Antennas, October 1932 QST - RF CafeWhen someone with the first name of "True" writes an article about transmission line feeds for short-wave antennas, you should probably take note. This very topic has been covered in detail many times since the use of impedance-matched transmission lines have been in use (more than a century), but since there are always people new to the concept, it is good to keep introducing the topic on a regular basis. Even in this era of prefabricated everything, it still often comes down to winding coils and adjusting cable lengths to get optimal impedance matches between transceivers ...

Empower RF Systems Live Demo at IMS 2016

Empower RF Systems Live Demo at IMS 2016 - RF CafeEmpower RF Systems is once again conducting live demonstrations of broadband, high power amplifiers with compelling performance, industry leading small size, IOT interface, and user selectable functionality that dares to challenge legacy products offered in the market. Next appearing at IMS 2016 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, we will be showcasing a variety of RF modules along with our 1 to 3 GHz, 1 kW HPA in a 5U chassis. This is an extraordinary design which includes an integrated (internal) dual directional coupler and instrument ...

Swarms U.S. Navy Drones Hibernating Deep Below Sea

Swarms U.S. Navy Drones Hibernating Deep Below Sea - RF Cafe"Pods will hold naval drones on the sea bed for years at a time. If a threat emerges, pods are released remotely and float to the surface. Drones then unfurl their wings and take flight. They could spend months on the seabed, hibernating in special pods before emerging and flying into battle. U.S. defense chiefs have revealed radical plans for 'pods' to hold naval drones on the sea bed for years at a time. If a threat emerged nearby, the pods are simply released remotely, and float to the surface to open and unleash the drone within ..."

MIT Engineer Achieves 0 Resistance Edge State in Circuit

MIT Engineer Achieves Zero Resistance Edge State in Circuit - RF Cafe"A team of researchers led by MIT postdoc Cui-Zu Chang has achieved the first zero-resistance edge state in a circuit. Superconductors have also achieved zero resistance, but they are not spin-polarized, so they can only transfer electrical information, but not spin information. Chang's innovation exhibits the quantum anomalous Hall effect, a property that allows it to transfer information. This breakthrough was achieved using extremely thin materials called topological insulators (TIs). These materials allow electrons ... 

EDI CON USA Announces 2016 Gold Sponsors

EDI CON USA Announces 2016 Gold Sponsors for Event in Boston, MA - RF CafeEDI CON USA today announced the Gold Sponsors for its next event taking place September 20-22 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Mass. These sponsors will be highlighted throughout the EDI CON USA 2016 conference and exhibition, which is specifically organized for engineers working on high-frequency analog and high-speed digital designs. This year's Gold Sponsors for EDI CON USA include Computer Simulation Technology AG (CST) and Mini-Circuits. They join Host Sponsor Keysight Technologies, Diamond Sponsor R&S, and Corporate Sponsor NI/AWR as leading ...

Notable Tech Quote: Clarke's 1st Law

Arthur C. Clarke, Clarke's 1st Law - RF Cafe"When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong." - Arthur C. Clarke, Clarke's 1st Law

R&S Validates World's 1st LTE-Advanced UL CA & 64QAM

R&S Validates World's 1st LTE-Advanced UL CA & UL 64QAM - RF Cafe"The R&S TS8980 RF conformance test system from Rohde & Schwarz has achieved the world's first validation for both LTE-Advanced uplink carrier aggregation (UL CA) and LTE-Advanced Pro uplink 64QAM (UL 64QAM). RF conformance is a critical part of device certification as specified by the Global Certification Forum GCF. Mobile manufacturers that use the most advanced chipset solutions will now be able to certify their devices in line with GCF requirements for UL CA and UL 64QAM. With the validation of LTE-Advanced Pro uplink 64QAM ...

Dr. Martin Cooper "Father of the Cell Phone" at IMS 2016

Dr. Martin Cooper "Father of the Cell Phone" at IMS 2016 - RF CafeDr. Martin "Marty" Cooper, who appears in the iconic 1973 photo showing him making the world's first walk-around call on a cell phone in New York City, will be a keynote speaker at this year's International Microwave Symposium (IMS) show. His speech, to be delivered on Monday, 23 from 5:30-7:00 pm, is titled "The Birth and Death of the Cell Phone." It's hard to believe IMS 2016 festivities begin this coming Sunday!

New EMC Standard, IEC 61000-1-2:2016

New Electromagnetic Compatibility Standard, IEC 61000-1-2:2016 - RF Cafe"The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has released IEC 61000-1-2:2016. This standard deals with 'Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) – Part 1-2: General – Methodology for the achievement of functional safety of electrical and electronic systems including equipment with regard to electromagnetic phenomena.' The first edition can now be purchased on the IEC webstore ..."

USAF Anti-Tamper Program Targets Reverse Engineering

USAF Anti-Tamper Program Targets Reverse Engineering - RF Cafe"U.S. Air Force researchers are asking industry for new anti-tamper technologies to help safeguard U.S. military weapon systems from exploitation, reverse engineering, technology theft, and countermeasures. Officials of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, issued a broad agency announcement Wednesday for the AFLCMC/XZZ Anti-Tamper program. Military leaders need anti-tamper technology to prevent U.S. military secrets from falling into enemy hands from ..."

Magnetostriction Devices and Filters for RF: Part 1

Magnetostriction Devices and Mechanical Filters for Radio Frequencies, June 1953 QST - RF CafeIf you have ever heard the audible hum emitted by a power supply transformer, then you are familiar with at least one of the manifestations of magnetostrictive materials. I thought maybe shape memory metals ('muscle wire') would be considered magnetostrictive, but research shows they are classified separately because their shape change is attributed primarily to heating rather than magnetization. I also thought the old 'reeds' type receive decoders for pre-1960s-era radio control systems might be magnetostrictive devices, but no search turned up anything where the term was used. This article and its two succeeding articles discuss magnetostrictive filters at kilohertz IF frequencies. Part I covers the fundamentals of magnetostrictivity while Part II ...

Worldwide Semiconductor Capex to Decline 2% in 2016

Worldwide Semiconductor Capex to Decline 2% in 2016 - RF Cafe"Worldwide semiconductor capital spending is projected to decline 2% in 2016, to $62.8B, according to Gartner, Inc. This is up from the estimated 4.7% decline in Gartner's previous quarterly forecast. 'While the first quarter 2016 forecast has improved from a projected decline of 4.7% in the previous quarter's forecast, the 2% decline in the market for 2016 is still bleak,' said David Christensen, senior research analyst at Gartner. 'Excess inventory and weak demand for PCs, tablets, and mobile products ..."

Please Consider Advertising on RF Cafe

Advertise on RF Cafe for as Little as $35/Month - RF CafeRF Cafe typically receives 8,000-10,000 page views 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 10,000 pages in the Google search index, RF Cafe returns in favorable positions on many types of key searches, both for text and images. For as little as $35/month you get a display ad on the Vendor listing pages and your company logo with hyperlink to your website in the upper right border of all pages. Graphical banners ad slots are available as well. Please click to learn more about RF Cafe advertising.

IPP Intros SMD 90° Coupler for 690-6000 MHz

Innovative Power Products Intros SMD 90° Coupler for 690-6000 MHz - RF CafeInnovative Power Products introduces their latest 90 degree coupler that operates over the full 690 – 6000 MHz. band. The new Model IPP-7118, handles 50 watts CW and comes in a small SMD style package which is only 0.50 x 1.00 x 0.162 inches. The IPP-7118 will combine two signals up to 50 watts CW of total output power. This coupler has very good amplitude balance across the whole band and insertion loss of < 0.80 dB. The VSWR is less than 1.40:1 and the coupler has greater than 15 dB of isolation ...

Strathclyde to Develop System to Remove Satellites from Orbit

Strathclyde to Develop System to Remove Satellites from Orbit - RF Cafe"Technology to remove satellites from space – and prevent the further build up of man-made space debris – is being investigated by researchers at Strathclyde University. The team has been awarded some €116,700 of EU funding as part of the two-year TeSeR (Technology for Self-Removal of Spacecraft) programme that is being led by Airbus Defence and Space. According to NASA, over 500,000 pieces of space debris – made up of items including non-functioning spacecraft and abandoned ..."

UPSat, an Open-Source Greek Satellite

UPSat, an Open-Source Greek Satellite - RF Cafe"University of Patras (MEAD and ECE departments) initiated the design and development the first micro-satellite made in Greece: UPsat. The project was completed with the contribution, development and integration by the Greek based non-profit 'Libre Space Foundation.' With the contribution of scientists, engineers and programmers, UPSat is developed to participate in the QB50 international thermosphere research mission ..."

The Concinnitas Project

The Concinnitas Project - RF CafeThe January 2016 issue of Scientific American ran an article by Clara Moskowitz titled "Elegant Equations" that presented a few prints from "The Concinnitas Project" which "...is a collection of ten aquatints produced from the contributions of ten mathematicians and physicists in response to the prompt to transcribe their 'most beautiful mathematical expression.'" My personal favorite is "Ampère's Law," by Simon Donaldson, because it incorporates a simple line drawing along with the familiar equations. It brings back memories of sitting in electromagnetics class at the University of Vermont watching my seriously brilliant professor (no kidding), Dr. Kenneth Golden, draw ...

NuWaves Engineering Offers Quick-Turn Filters

NuWaves Engineering Offers Quick-Turn Filters - RF CafeNuWaves Engineering, an international Radio Frequency (RF) and Microwave solutions provider, revealed its latest product offering, custom quick-turn RF filters to meet the filtering demands for Military and Commercial applications. NuWaves Engineering provides a large selection of options for customized quick-turn filters including: frequency range of HF to 20 GHz, 3 dB bandwidths from 0.1% to 28%, and up to 50 W power handling. Available filter shapes include bandpass, lowpass, highpass, and bandstop in order to provide one-of-a-kind solutions for ...

World Telecommunication and Information Society Day

World Telecommunication and Information Society Day Is MAy 17 - RF Cafe"The world's oldest international organization - the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) - will mark the anniversary of its founding on May 17. The ITU was established on that day in 1865. The theme of the 2016 World Telecommunication and Information Society Day will be 'Information and Communication Technology (ICT) entrepreneurship for social impact.' The ITU asserts that ICT entrepreneurs and startups, and small to medium size enterprises 'have a particularly relevant role in ensuring economic growth in a ..."

Many Thanks to MECA Electronics for Continued Support!

MECA ElectronicsSince 1961, MECA Electronics has designed and manufactured an extensive line of RF & microwave components with industry leading performance including fixed attenuators, directional & hybrid couplers, isolators & circulators, power dividers / combiners, RF loads, DC MECA Electronics V-Line componentsblocks, bias tees, and adapters & cables. MECA serves all areas of the RF & microwave industries such as in-building apps, satellite communications, radar, radio communications, telemetry applications, mobile radio, aviation & air traffic communications. Please visit MECA today to learn how they can help you. Thanks.

Pentagon Shakes up Silicon Valley Outreach

Pentagon Shakes up Silicon Valley Outreach - RF Cafe"Defense Secretary Ash Carter is elevating and expanding the Pentagon's controversial technology sector outreach efforts—and replacing its leaders—just one year after launching a Silicon Valley initiative he calls crucial to keeping the U.S. military the best in the world. The Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, or DIUx, will also open a second office in Boston, where Carter has deep ties. The secretary announced the changes on his fifth trip to Silicon Valley since taking office, reflecting ..."

Anatech Electronics Intros 3 New Ceramic Duplexers

Anatech Electronics Intros 3 New Ceramic Duplexers - RF CafeAnatech Electronics, Inc. offers the industry's largest portfolio of high-performance standard and customized RF and microwave filters and filter-related products for military, commercial, aerospace and defense, and industrial applications up to 40 GHz. Anatech has introduced 3 new ceramic duplexer designs: a 1880 MHz / 1960 MHz ceramic duplexer , a 770.5 MHz / 715.5 MHz connectorized ceramic duplexer , and a 2535 MHz / 2655 MHz ceramic duplexer. Custom design are available ...

Phones at the Dinner Table: U-M Study Explores Attitudes

Phones at the Dinner Table - RF Cafe"Checking email for work. Posting a photo to Facebook. Texting the kids to come downstairs. Sending a quick snap to a friend. People of all ages might use their smartphones in these ways during shared meals. A new study from the University of Michigan explores how people use mobile phones during meals and how they feel about other people doing so. The researchers surveyed 1,163 people between the ages of 8 and 88 in English-speaking countries around the world. The survey reveals that people's attitudes about whether or not you should ..."

Antenova's 'Plug and Play' FPC Antennas for 3G, 4G and LTE

Antenova's 3 New 'Plug and Play' FPC Antennas for 3G, 4G and LTE Bands - RF CafeAntenova Ltd, manufacturer of antennas and RF antenna modules for M2M and the Internet of Things, is announcing three brand new flexible printed circuit antennas to cover the 3G, 4G and LTE bands. These brand new products are the company's first flexible antennas for 4G and LTE. Together, this set of three antennas offers options for all of the world's 4G and LTE bands, as well as a choice of antenna shape and size. The antennas are as follows: Mitis, part number SRFL026, and Moseni, part number SRFL029, have been ...

Ham Petitions FCC for “Symbol Communication” Subbands

Missouri Radio Amateur Petitions FCC to Designate "Symbol Communication" Subbands"James E. Whedbee, N0ECN, of Gladstone, Missouri, has petitioned the FCC to designate Morse (radiotelegraphy) Amateur Radio band segments as "symbol communication" subbands. The FCC has invited comments on his Petition for Rule Making (RM-11769), filed on May 2. Arguing that retaining the current regime of “legacy” CW subbands has proven to be grossly inefficient, Whedbee said he'd like to see ..."

Neutrons into Magnetism in Topological Insulators at High T

Neutrons Tap into Magnetism in Topological Insulators at High Temperatures - RF Cafe"A multi-institutional team of researchers has discovered novel magnetic behavior on the surface of a specialized material that holds promise for smaller, more efficient devices and other advanced technology. Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and their collaborators used neutron scattering to reveal magnetic moments in hybrid topological insulator (TI) materials at room temperature, hundreds of degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the extreme sub-zero cold where the ..."

Hybrid Tube Amp for the Raspberry Pi

Hybrid Tube Amp for the Raspberry Pi - RF Cafe Cool ProductVacuum tube products, once the domain of vintage equipment collectors and restorers (like moi), are increasingly becoming part of the mainstream retro electronics movement. Usually the tube portion of a circuit is limited to the output amplifier or maybe a preamplifier in an audio frequency application, where amplitude stability is not a major performance factor. RF tuning and detector circuits use, thankfully, modern microelectronic components in order to benefit from precision digital tuning and even computer interfaces. Audiophiles have long held that the microphonic action of physical elements within the vacuum tube adds a warm quality to sound that cannot be replicated with solid state devices ...

RFMW Offers Skyworks' LNAs for Set Top Boxes

RFMW Offers Skyworks' LNAs for Set Top Boxes - RF CafeRFMW, Ltd. announces design and sales support for two Skyworks Low Noise Amplifiers (LNAs) for Set Top Box (STB) applications. The SKY65450-92LF and SKY65452-92LF both provide high linearity (28.4 dBm OIP3) and excellent gain (15 dB) over a wide bandwidth of 40 to 1000 MHz. Characterized for 75 ohm environments, both devices are applicable to cable modems, home gateways, PVRs, DVRs, and terrestrial/cable set top boxes. With noise figure of 2.9 dB, the SKY65450-92LF and SKY65452-92LF boast best-in-class NF, gain flatness, linearity and low ...

Ode to a New Rig

Ode to a New Rig, May 1933 QST - RF CafeEach month for many decades, a page or two in each issue of QST presented a feature of odds and ends called "Strays," as in stray signals. That is where you could often find bits of poetry, anecdotes about some Ham's experience while operating, and news about amateur radio related happenings. The May 1933 QST included "Ode to a New Rig," by Mrs. W8ETH (whoever W8ETH was), which title might have been inspired by Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn ..."

Triad RF Systems 700-6,000 MHz GaN SSPA Produces 20W

Triad RF  Systems TA1164 GaN SSPA - RF CafeTriad RF Systems introduced the TA1164, a broadband GaN SSPA designed for general purpose RF test and military jamming applications. Internal DC conversion allows for a 12 to 36 Vin supply voltage. CW output power is 10 W min, 20 W typical across the 700-6000 MHz band ...

Engineering Career and Job Hunting Advice for May 12, 2016

Engineering Career and Job Hunting Advice for May 12, 2016 - RF CafeSpring is in the air, which means college seniors graduating and moving into their first full-time career endeavors. A lot of advice has been written regarding what to do and what not to do during job hunting and during the first months of employment. As with technology, the list of do's and don'ts regarding all aspects of a career change over time. Workers today need to know about how to exploit and/or avoid social media, how to handle interviews within the constraints ...

Top Startups Tips: Engineers Tell Their Startup Stories

    at ESC Boston 2016

Graduates: 5 Practices to Accelerate You from Entry-

    Level to Professional

How to Handle Co-Workers Who Push Your Buttons

Telltale Symptoms of Career Stagnation  <more>

Modular Mining Systems Needs a Wireless Comms Engineer

Modular Mining Systems Needs a Wireless Communications Engineer - RF CafeAs a Communications Engineer, you will play a key role in support, design, test and turn up, and documentation of new and existing customer wireless networks in a mining environment. Position responsibilities will be implementation, support and monitoring of wireless communications networks for MasterLink Enterprise (Modular Mining Systems) - RF Cafeour customers at Corporate and Regional levels. This will require you to negotiate with internal and external resources to plan and execute your projects. International travel availability, and ability to work at high altitudes is required. Mining or military wireless experience is desired. 2 years of hands-on experience with industrial WLAN 802.11a/b/g/n ...

Researchers Solve Mystery About Lithium Air Batteries

German Researchers Solve Mystery About Lithium Air Batteries - RF Cafe"Lithium air batteries could soon replace the bulky lithium ion batteries that power most of today's consumer electronic devices. They should be much lighter and offer better performance, but there is one big obstacle: lithium air batteries only last a few charging cycles. Although there is no solution yet, researchers at Germany's Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Forschungszentrum Jülich believe they have finally pinpointed the source of the problem. The potential for rechargeable lithium ..."

Hetrofil-An Aid to Selectivity

Hetrofil-An Aid to Selectivity, September 1939 QST - RF CafeThis 'Hetrofil,' (sometimes errantly referred to as a 'Heterofil') shorthand for 'heterodyne filter,' was conceived of, designed, and built by author Raymond Woodard. A Wien bridge is used to selectively null out interference caused by leakage of the heterodyne beat frequency into the audio (phone) circuit. The beauty of the Hetrofil is only a few inexpensive passive components are needed. It is inserted between the receiver headset jack and the headset. A couple years later, Wade Caywood applied the Hetrofil concept to an oscillator tuning and ...

Single-Atom Sensor Offers New View of the Nanoscale

Single-Atom Sensor Offers New View of the Nanoscale - RF Cafe"It was a eureka moment when IBM researchers first realized that they were imaging the surface of an atom with what came to be known as the scanning tunneling microscope (STM). Many believe that invention triggered the field of nanotechnology. Now researchers at the University of California Santa Barbara have created a next-gen microscope that can image phenomena like magnetism on the atomic scale across a huge range of temperatures. The heart of the microscope is a single atom or, perhaps more accurately ..."

London Science Museum to Rebuild the UK's 1st Robot

London Science Museum Wants to Rebuild the UK's 1st Robot - RF Cafe"The Science Museum in London is on a mission to rebuild the UK's first humanoid robot. "Eric" was invented by William Richards and Albert Herbert Reffell, two veterans of the First World War, in 1928. He was a large, burly machine covered in aluminium, and was able to stand up, move his arms and change the position of his head. Eric's movements could be controlled remotely over a wireless connection, or directly using voice commands, much to the amusement of the public. He was built initially to open an Exhibition of the Society of Model Engineers in London, but later travelled ..."

Tech News: May 12

IC Capital Spending Forecast Improves Slightly

Lockheed Martin Makes Major STEM Push to Inspire Young Space Innovators

Over-the-Horizon Radars, Fishery and Taxi Traffic, Buoys, and Broadcasters Continue to Mar Ham Bands

AC/DC: Engineers Shrink Size and Cost of RFID Chips

Nokia Posts Loss in Q1 2016 as Sales Decline (how the mighty have fallen)

U.S. Reaping the Results of a Poisoned Relationship with IT Industry

Pasternack Waveguide Twists for 18 to 110 GHz

Pasternack Unveils New Portfolio of Waveguide Twists Operating from 18 to 110 GHz Across 7 Bands - RF CafePasternack, a leading provider of RF, microwave and millimeter wave products, introduces a brand new family of precision waveguide twists operating from 18 to 110 GHz across seven frequency bands. Ideal for systems requiring a gradual turn in the polarization and waveform, these twists are designed and constructed to prevent unwanted distortion in the signal's transmission. Pasternack's new waveguide twists are useful components when building a waveguide system, as they allow the waveguide to be turned at a precise angle ...

Cellular Link Paves Road to 5G

Cellular Link Paves Road to 5G - RF Cafe"Engineers officially started work on a new way to connect base stations and data centers that could enable lower cost, more flexible cellular networks as well as new 5G capabilities. IEEE 1914 will pave a way for carriers to deploy hundreds of antennas in field sites and process signals from them on central pools of low cost servers. The Next-Generation Fronthaul Interface (NGFI) will use Ethernet to handle quality of service, synchronization and data security ..."

Many Thanks to Saelig Company for Its Support!

Saelig Company Electronics Distributor - RF CafeSaelig Company is a marketer and distributor for more than 100 manufacturers from all over the world. Founded in 1988 by Alan Lowne, Saelig has earned a growing reputation for having notable products not found elsewhere. "Saelig" is an Olde English word for "happy, prosperous, blessed." They sell and support a wide range of electronic control and instrumentation equipment and components to customers ranging from Fortune 500 industrial users, military, educational institutions and hospitals to individual end-users. Please visit Saelig to see how they might help you.

EDI CON USA Announces Technical Advisory Committee

EDI CON USA Announces Members of Technical Advisory Committee - RF CafeEDI CON USA 2016, a conference that brings together engineers working on high-frequency analog and high-speed digital designs, taking place September 20-22 in Boston, Mass. at the Hynes Convention Center, has announced the participants in this year's Technical Advisory Committee. The EDI CON USA 2016 Technical Advisory Committee is made up of leading experts in RF/microwave and high-speed digital design who are committed to the educational mission of EDI CON. They volunteer their time to review and evaluate submitted abstracts ...

You've Heard of a Copyright, But How About a Copyleft?

You've Heard of a Copyright, But How About a Copyleft? - RF CafeNo, this is not a liberal vs. conservative thing, although you might be tempted to think so when considering the terms of each. A copyright, as you know, is legal protection against unauthorized usage or obvious modification of original works, something a right-winger would like because it represents a right to private property. A copyleft, on the other hand, is a left-winger's dream because it permits free distribution of original works with the only restriction being that it and/or derivative works also be declared copyleft material. That explains why evil capitalist companies like IBM copyright and patent everything it creates, and why liberal-dominated companies like ...

Teslaphoresis: How It Makes Self-Assembling Circuits

So, What's Teslaphoresis? And How Can it Make Self-Assembling Circuits? - RF Cafe"Have you heard the term 'Teslaphoresis?' You can forgive yourself if you haven't because a group of scientists at Rice University just invented the term to describe a new phenomenon that could have big implications for electronics assembly and nanotechnology. Paul Cherukuri, an adjunct assistant processor of chemistry at Rice, said the easiest way to think of Teslaphoresis is as 'self-assembly at a distance [or] ... long-distance assembly of materials.' While experimenting with Tesla coils, a team, led by Cherukuri, decided to see what would happen if they applied a long-range force field ..."

Keysight Technologies Demonstrations at IMS2016

Keysight Technologies to Demonstrate Wireless Communications, Aerospace & Defense Measurement Solutions at the International Microwave Symposium - RF CafeKeysight Technologies today announced it will demonstrate the latest design, simulation and test solutions for wireless communications and aerospace & defense at the IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS2016), Booth 1239, San Francisco, May 24-26. Keysight's hardware, software and technical expertise help engineers and designers gain insight into the toughest component and system engineering challenges. This is accomplished by providing solutions for aerospace & defense (radar, electronic warfare, satellite and NewSpace) and wireless communications (5G, Internet of Things, 802.11ad ...

Tech News: May 11

Smartphones Harming Children's Ability to Hold Conversation

Navy's New Jammer Passes Critical Design Review

Just How Much Power Do Your Electronics Use When They Are 'Off?'

Smart Cities Could Waste $341B by 2025 on Non-Standardized IoT Deployments

U.S. Army Shrinks to Smallest Level Since Before World War II

Stochastic Resonance, Chaos Transfer in Optomechanical Microresonator