Friday 22
 According to the somewhat
limited unique information available about the "nuvistor"
vacuum tube amplifier, it was superior to many glass-encapsulated vacuum tubes.
Lower noise figure, smaller size, greater ruggedness, intrinsically shielded, and
relatively higher operating frequency were the main marketing standpoint. RCA introduced
the nuvistor in 1959, and shortly thereafter GE, started making them, and then by
1964 Hitachi was offering nuvistors. The manufacturing process, where the entire
assembly was performed in a vacuum chamber, made nuvistors more expensive than competitor
glass tubes. The nuvistor concept might have been big if transistors had not been
making such rapid progress in supplanting most vacuum tubes. In fact, nuvistors
(a portmanteau of "new" and "transistor") were supposed ...
 "Part 1 of this series [by Kenneth Wyatt] described how digital
signals propagate through PC boards. In part 2, we look at specific board designs
to achieve
low EMI. The biggest issue I see in my clients' board designs
is poor layer stack-up. Reiterating the two fundamental rules from part 1 and realizing
digital signals and power (transients) are electromagnetic waves moving in the dielectric
layer, we see there are two very important principles when it comes to PC board
design: Every signal and power trace (or plane) on a PC board should be considered
a transmission line. Digital signal propagation in transmission lines is really
the movement of electromagnetic fields in the space ..."
 Smiths Interconnect currently has a job opportunity
for a
Manufacturing Engineer. Smiths is always looking for curious minds. For new
colleagues who want responsibility and relish a challenge. Those who would like
to use their talents to help make the world safer, healthier, more efficient and
more connected. Job Description: Develops and Implements production and assembly
methodologies for High Reliability high frequency RF electronics used in commercial
and military applications, Development of assembly fixtures and RF Test fixtures,
Conducts manufacturability and variation analyses to insure that manufacturing process
capability matches requirements, Analyzes design/build concepts to evaluate producible
products, Root cause analysis, Continuous flow ...
 This
vector circuit matching quiz will hurt the brain a little more than most of
the ones that were printed in Popular Electronics. In order to score well, it helps
to visualize the circuits relative to where they would appear on a Smith Chart.
Capacitive impedances lie in the bottom half and have negative phases (-s, -jω).
Inductance lie in the upper half and have positive phases (s, jω). The familiar
'ELI the ICE man' mnemonic helps, too. Be sure to pay attention to the color of
the vector arrow heads. Example: In a purely inductive circuit like #4, voltage
leads current by 90°. Since phase rotation is CCW, you need to look for lettered
phase diagram where the white arrowhead (voltage) is 90° ahead of the black arrow
head ...
 "To keep up with Moore's Law - an observation
made in the 1960s that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles
about every two years - researchers are finding ways to cram as many transistors
as possible onto microchips. The newest trend is 3D transistors that stand vertically,
like fins, and measure about 7 nanometers across - tens of thousands of times thinner
than a human hair. Tens of billions of these transistors can fit on a single microchip,
which is about the size of a fingernail. A modified chemical-etching technique,
called
thermal atomic level etching (thermal ALE), was used to enable
precision modification of semiconductor materials at the atomic level ..."
 Custom MMIC Design Services is a
fabless RF and microwave MMIC
designer entrusted by government and defense industry OEMs. Custom and off-the-shelf
products include switches, phase shifters, attenuators, mixers and multipliers,
and low noise, low phase noise, and distributed amplifiers. From next-generation
long range military radar systems, to advanced aerospace and space-qualified satellite
communications, microwave signal chains are being pushed to new limits - and no
one understands this more than Custom MMIC. Please contact Custom MMIC today to
see how they can help your project ...
Thursday 21
 Z-Comm announces a new RoHS compliant Fixed
Frequency Synthesizer model SFS0640A-LF in the UHF frequency. The
SFS0640A-LF is a single frequency synthesizer that operates at 640 MHz
with an external 10 MHz reference and features a typical phase noise of -100 dBc/Hz,
-105 dBc/Hz, and -124 dBc/Hz at the 1 kHz, 10 kHz and 100 kHz
offsets, respectively. The SFS0640A-LF is designed to deliver a typical output power
of 0 dBm with a VCO voltage supply of 5 Vdc while drawing 25 mA (typical)
and a phase locked loop voltage of 3 Vdc while drawing 9 mA (typical).
This Fixed Frequency Synthesizer ...
 Quinstar Technology, an AS9100 certified
aerospace hardware design and manufacturing company in Torrance, CA, is currently
looking for an
Tester
/ Technician to join our team! We are primarily looking for candidates with
experience and/or background in RF/microwave testing. Preference will be given to
those with relevant experience. Primary job responsibilities include testing of
microwave components and associated duties. Employment is contingent upon successfully
passing a background check and pre-employment physical and providing proof of eligibility
to work in the U.S. ...
 These NEETS training modules created by the
U.S. Navy appear to have originally come out in 1990s and has been modernized a
few times since then, so the information is fairly up to date. You will still find
a lot of descriptions of vacuum tubes, but that is because even in 1998 the military
still had a lot of legacy equipment that needed to be maintained. This particular
module provides the student with an introduction to and history of
semiconductor physics. The chapter runs a total of 62 pages so there's a lot
of content ...
 "The aerospace giant Lockheed Martin is working
with Sequans Communications to develop new
LTE for satellite technologies. The two companies are enabling
LTE end user devices to connect directly to geostationary satellites in what they’re
describing as a world-first achievement with wide application. 'Sequans has expertise
adapting LTE technology for special purposes such as this one,' said Scott Landis,
a director at Lockheed Martin, in a press release. 'Sequans engineers modified their
existing LTE chips to enable a new LTE-to-satellite communication specification
developed by Lockheed Martin. LTE to satellite represents an important breakthrough
in mobility and connectivity ..."
 "Praetersonic" - now that's a word you don't
run up against very often. It is a combination of praeter* (beyond) and sonic (related
to sounds), or what more familiarly is called ultrasonic. If fact, praetersonics
was the early term given to
surface acoustic wave (SAW) piezoelectric devices. Amazingly, even as far back
as the early 1970s, SAW filters were being fabricated that worked in the 40 MHz
realm. This Popular Electronics article does a really nice job of introducing the
basics of SAW and BAW (bulk acoustic wave) technology at the time it was coming
into the mainstream. Lots of hurdles still needed to be overcome, like high insertion
loss, difficult to control impedances and internal signal reflections, etc. As with
many new technologies, pundits cast hopeful prediction ...
 ConductRF's close partnership with TE in
its development of its new
Nano-miniature RF Solutions for VITA67.3 has put us in a great
position to support your VPX RF cable assembly needs. We can support solutions up
to the top frequencies of the new connector system. ConductRF's PFT33 Series of
Micro Flexible Cable Assemblies has been designed directly with TE Connectivity
involvement and in partnership to maximize the capabilities of TE's new Vita67.3
NanoRF VPX Modular connector system. ConductRF offers its soft FEP jacketed ø0.047"cable
to facilitate maximum flexibility and provides solutions for jumper cables or assemblies
to SMA, MCX ...
 BBTLine offers a unique patented
combiner / splitter design that
allows for more compact devices while maintaining low insertion loss, excellent
return loss and excellent amplitude/phase balance. These are not standard Wilkinson-style
RF splitters. 2-, 4-, and 8-way, broadband 0.5 - 6 GHz, low loss (0.7 dB @ 6 GHz),
excellent amplitude / θ balance (±0.1 dB, ±1°), surface mount & connectorized.
Please visit BBTLine today to see how they can help your project ...
Wednesday 20
 Transtector Systems, an Infinite Electronics
brand, today released a new, comprehensive line of NEMA-rated
weatherproof equipment enclosures that are engineered to securely protect mission-critical
electronics and are available with same day shipping to meet crucial deadlines.
The new TEF14-series includes 45 enclosure configurations and 15 essential accessories
available for immediate shipment. The line features multiple configurations for
global applications including industrial automation, SCADA, oil and gas, mining,
transportation, public works, security and automation, and much more. Each enclosure
provides vital protection for key electronic ...
 "Researchers from the Moscow Institute of
Physics and Technology teamed up with colleagues from the U.S. and Switzerland and
returned the state of a quantum computer a fraction of a second into the past. They
also calculated the probability that an electron in empty interstellar space will
spontaneously travel back into its recent past. The study is published in Scientific
Reports. 'This is one in a series of papers on the possibility of violating
the second law of thermodynamics. That law is closely related to the notion of the
arrow of time that posits the
one-way direction of time from the past to the future,' said
the study's lead author Gordey Lesovik ..."
 How many
of you remember listening to Casey Kasem's
American
Top 40 show on the wireless (aka radio) on Saturday afternoons back in
the 1970s and 80s? WPGC was my station of choice. The opening music and
tag line by
Kasem is forever etched on my mind. I fill my days listening to the local Oldies
station here in Erie (WMCE),
so the familiar songs are still current to me. As with most things these days, extensive
archives of the original American Top 40 broadcasts are available online. It
is interesting to listen in on announcements of "new" songs making the Charts that
are now 40 years old. If you like to wax nostalgic, tune in to a few ...
 "The undersea West African Cable System links
Africa with Europe. Huawei Marine Networks Company made upgrades. A new front has
opened in the battle between the U.S. and China over control of global networks
that deliver the internet. This one is
beneath the ocean. While the U.S. wages a high-profile campaign
to exclude China's Huawei Technologies Company from next-generation mobile networks
over fears of espionage, the company is embedding itself into undersea cable networks
that ferry nearly all of the world's internet data ..."
 Transient Specialists specializes in
EMC test equipment rentals
and carries a complete line of ESD guns, surge immunity test equipment, and EFT
generators. Rentals available for military (Mil-Std 461), automotive (ISO 7637),
and commercial (IEC 61000-4) EMC testing. Flexible terms, accredited calibrations
and technical support on EMC testing equipment offered. Equipment consists of top
EMC Test System manufacturers, including Teseq, Thermo Keytek, EM Test and EMC Partner ...
Tuesday 19
 BBTLine has introduced version 2 of its successful
8-way, surface mount (SMT), RF Power Combiner / Divider. It uses an exclusive patented
(US9570792) circuit configuration for achieving unparalleled broadband operation
with low loss and excellent flatness. BBTLine_8Way_V2_SMT is an 8-way surface mount
RF power combiner / divider with a new configuration – the Common port is on the
opposite side of the other eight ports. It features broadband performance and high
power handling capability as a splitter. Insertion Loss less than 2.7 dB at
6 GHz, Input / output return Loss is better than -12 / -19 dB, isolation
greater than 18 dB, power handling is greater than 20 watts as an RF splitter,
and amplitude and phase balance is better than ±0.4 dB / ±7° at 6 GHz ...
 If
television was "a chinch," in 1953 as this Radio-Electronic article
claims, the world would have had it long before then. Just like looking up the work-out
solutions to a physics problem in the back of a textbook, a lot of things look simple
and obvious once someone else has already done it. I guess that's not really a fair
criticism of this piece since author Aisberg's goal is to assuage some of the doubts
and misconceptions a lot of people had about the relatively new technology. 1953
is the year that the NTSC formalized its color TV standard, which, BTW, was careful
to accommodate B&W transmissions on the same channels - similar to how AM-FM
stereo and stereo FM radio can coexist with monaural (mono) broadcasts. Television,
in case you are not aware, began as an electromechanical system with picture frames
and shutters, spinning discs, and other Rube Goldberg contraptions ...
 Rohde & Schwarz has produced a new webinar
titled "Automated
RF Component Test for Design Engineers Without Programming," available for viewing
at no cost. Martin Lim, National Applications Engineer at R&S, is the presenter.
"The complexity of RF designs is increasing and the pressure to hit market windows
is too. Enabling the automation of repetitive tests like a power sweep over frequency
can greatly help confirm if a new design is ready or if further work needs to be
done. Unfortunately, programming is usually outside the normal responsibilities
of most RF designers and include time-consuming drawbacks like wading through long
programmers manuals and debugging code. This On Demand Webinar ...
 The more
things change, the more they remain the same. People (including, admittedly, me)
don't want to have to pay for any type of media delivery, especially when it arrives
via air waves or the Internet. Six months before I was born, a reader of Radio-Electronics
magazine wrote to declare his outrage at the fledgling industry of
Pay Television. That a viewer would be expected to pay the broadcaster for a
show that was being, in his opinion, amply subsidized by advertisers, was an outrageous
concept, an unthinkable assault on all that is holy. While his indignation was probably
shared by the majority of the television viewing public, evidently the maniacal
scheme succeeded. In the 1950s and even through part of the 1970s, television shows
typically included about 10-12 minutes of commercials and other non-show segments
for each hour of broadcast. Season 1, Episode 1 of Star Trek, for example, ran for
50 minutes; that was in 1966 ...
 Quinstar Technology, an AS9100 certified
aerospace hardware design and manufacturing company in Torrance, CA, is currently
looking for a
Product
Engineer to join our team! We are primarily Looking for a highly motivated quick
learner with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering or equivalent
industry experience and who is a U.S. citizen. Should have experience with the design
and layout of microwave and millimeter-wave products and subassemblies, including
LNA, frequency converters, antennas, and PA. A knowledge of mechanical design of
new housings, PA and heat sink configurations is desirable. Experience with HFSS,
AWR, SolidWorks or similar software is desired ...
 "Gene Frantz may have been the visionary
for DSP back in the 1970s, but now he thinks we need to turn our attention back
to
analog to tackle the big challenges of artificial intelligence (AI). Previously
a principal technology fellow at Texas Instruments, Frantz is now a professor at
Rice University. He is also the co-founder and chief technology officer at at Octavo
Systems, a fledgling semiconductor-in-package (SiP) company based in Austin, Texas.
Speaking during the launch of Octavo's OSD32MP1 - the company's first SiP based
on the newly announced STMicroelectronics STM32MP1 microprocessor - Frantz told
EE Times that he believes SiP and analog processing will be the future. He said
AI needs a better solution and suggested that we should consider going back to analog
signal processing ..."
 Nova
Microwave is a leader in technically differentiated electronic and radio frequency
Ferrite Circulators and Isolators
that connect, protect and control critical commercial and military wireless telecommunications
systems. Our staff is dedicated to research and development of standard and custom
design quality Ferrite Circulators and Isolators from 380 MHz to 26.5 GHz.
Please visit Nova Microwave today ...
Monday 18
Software Defined Radio Handbook (Pentek)
14th Edition
 Pentek has published the 14th edition of their
popular "Software Defined Radio Handbook." The download is free, but
you need an account to access it on their website. Written by Pentek vice-president
and cofounder Roger Hosking, it is mostly an infomercial for their products, but
the first dozen pages contain good background information on topics such as sampling,
principles of SDR, and FPGAs. A readily accessible version is available
here
if you do not like creating new accounts ...
 "A 3D printing technique from UC Berkeley
shapes objects all at once rather than layer by layer, allowing for more complex
and smooth objects. A new
light-based 3D-printing approach and machine can fabricate complex
objects in minutes that are smoother and more flexible than what's currently possible.
Dubbed the 'replicator' - a reference to the Star Trek television program - and
developed by researchers at UC Berkeley, the printer uses a ray of light to transform
liquids into objects all at once rather than layer by layer, which is how typical
3D printers create objects. The replicator was a device on the famous program that
would materialize any object on demand ..."
 We hear and read a lot in the news about
the electronic surveillance
carried out by governments - on both foreign entities and civilians. If you think
this is a phenomenon that has only existed since the age of cellphones and the Internet,
you might be interested in this article that appeared in a 1945 issue of the ARRL's
QST magazine. Long before the entire textual content of the Encyclopedia
Britannica could be carried on a USB stick in your pocket - and access virtually
all the information in the world on your iPhone, engineers were developing recording
media to facilitate the capturing and later analysis of over-the-air and wired communications.
They wanted both encrypted and unencrypted conversations. The National Archives
has a huge store of magnetic tapes, vinyl discs ...
Smiths Interconnect currently has a job opportunity
for an
RF Test Coordinator. Smiths is always looking for curious minds. For new colleagues
who want responsibility and relish a challenge. Those who would like to use their
talents to help make the world safer, healthier, more efficient and more connected.
Job Description: Coordinates and performs the operation, training, maintenance and
continuous improvement of the BTPA RF lab, Compact Antenna Test Range (CATR) &
Environmental Stress Screening (ESS) lab, and the MMW Far-Field (FFR) & Near-Field
Ranges (NFR). Duties & Responsibilities: Utilize engineer drawings, test procedures,
and processes to support Antenna mechanical and test assemblies. Plan performance
schedule for various test and measurement needs to support production schedule and
SII's internal / external customers. Assist Manufacturing Engineering and Test Coordinators ...
 Ha! I've never heard the term "not-spot" before to describe a area with no coverage. "Start-up
UbiquitiLink reckons it’s cracked the challenge of affordable satellite connectivity
to regular handsets through the use of nanosatellites. You can't use traditional
geostationary satellites to fill regular cellular coverage gaps because they're
too expensive and are positioned 35,000 km above the surface of the earth, which
is way further than cellular signals are designed to go and introduces excessive
lag to the signal. An obvious solution is to use satellites at a much lower orbit,
but until now that hasn't been economically viable. UbiquitiLink reckons it has
the answer to this conundrum and went to MWC last week to tell everyone all about
it ..."
 PCB Directory is the largest directory
of Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Manufacturers, Assembly houses, and Design Services
on the Internet. We have listed the leading printed circuit board manufacturers
around the world and made them searchable by their capabilities - Number of laminates
used, Board thicknesses supported, Number of layers supported, Types of substrates
(e.g., material, flexible, rigid), Geographical location, and more ...
Sunday 17
 This very large crossword puzzle will keep
you busy for a while. Since 2000, I have been creating custom
technology-themed crossword puzzles for the brain-exercising benefit and pleasure
of RF Cafe visitors who are fellow cruciverbalists. The jury is out on whether or
not this type of mental challenge helps keep your gray matter from atrophying in
old age, but it certainly helps maintain your vocabulary and cognitive skills at
all ages. A database of thousands of words has been built up over the years and
contains only clues and terms associated with engineering, science, physical, astronomy,
mathematics, chemistry, etc. You will never find a word taxing your knowledge of
a numbnut soap opera star or the name of some obscure village in the Andes mountains.
You might, however, encounter the name of a movie star like Hedy Lamarr ...
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Find a Signal's Bandwidth from Its
Harmonics
 Bob Witte has an interesting article on the
website titled, "Find a Signal's Bandwidth from Its Harmonics." It begins, "There
are several ways to evaluate the bandwidth of a signal in the time domain and frequency
domain. Previously we looked at the classic relationship of rise time (tr) and bandwidth
(f3db), captured by this equation: Eric Bogatin also provided Rule of Thumb #2 for
estimating the signal bandwidth from the clock frequency. Eric emphasizes that you
really should use the rise time to calculate signal bandwidth, but you can get a
reasonable answer quickly using this Rule of Thumb: In Eric's article, he makes
a key ..."
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 "A new 'quantum radio' has been demonstrated that can detect the weakest
signals allowable under quantum mechanics. Researchers have demonstrated how to
detect the weakest radio signals allowed under quantum mechanics, opening the door
to advances in radio astronomy and medicine, and physics. The Quanta in the Noise
Researchers at Delft University of Technology (DUT) in the Netherlands have built
a quantum circuit that allows them to listen to the faintest signal allowable under
quantum mechanics, leading to possible advances in radio astronomy, medicine, and
attempts to reconcile quantum mechanics and relativity ..."
 "Intel Corporation and the U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE) will build the first supercomputer with a performance of one
exaFLOP in the U.S. The system being developed at DOE's Argonne
National Laboratory in Chicago, named 'Aurora,' will be used to dramatically advance
scientific research and discovery. The contract is valued at over $500M and will
be delivered to Argonne National Laboratory by Intel and sub-contractor Cray Computing
in 2021. The Aurora systems' exaFLOP of performance - equal to a 'quintillion' floating
point computations per second - combined with an ability to handle both traditional
high performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence ..."
 "The Army's Engineer Research and Development
Center wants to put
radar systems that identify environmental phenomena on unmanned
aerial and ground vehicles so they can be used to survey previously inaccessible
locations and cover more territory from the air. Currently, ground-penetrating radar
systems are large arrays mounted on the front of military vehicles to detect improvised
explosive devices. Smaller commercial versions exist as well. Ground penetrating
radar has non-military uses as well; it is currently being used to find cracks and
corrosion in pavement. The Robotics Assisted Bridge Inspection Tool ..."
 "By completing the anechoic chambers in Europe,
AGC has established a framework for accelerating the research and development of
antennas to meet demand for 'connected' cars in the age of IoT and supporting automobile
development by its customers on a global scale. With the completion of this R&D
facility, AGC has established a tri-polar R&D framework for automotive
on-glass antennas in Japan, the United States and Europe for
the first time in the glass industry. In a future mobility society, cars will be
equipped with devices such as cameras, LiDARs and sensors. Cars will need to be
both connected to each other and have communicative functionality that delivers
V2X ..."
 "A new organic plastic material allows electronics
to function at
extreme temperatures without sacrificing performance. Most electronics
only function within a certain temperature range but blending two organic materials
together creates electronics that withstand extreme heat. The new plastic material
could reliably conduct electricity up to 220 °C (428 °F). One of the materials
is a semiconductor that can conduct electricity and the other is a conventional
insulating polymer. One of the plastics transports the charge and the other can
withstand high temperature. When blended together, the correct ratio must be found
so that one material ..."
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