 Friday 25 Thursday 24 Wednesday 23 Tuesday 22 Monday 21  When I saw this photo of the Mount Säntis television transmission tower in Switzerland, the first thing I thought of was the scene in the James Bond "Moonraker" movie where 007 battles the infamous Jaws while riding a cable car. That took place in an area around the Mediterranean though, so maybe it was "Where Eagles Dare" or some other spy / military movie I was thinking of. The tower is featured on a Wikipedia webpage where it states in part: "Located at the peak of the Säntis is a 123.55 meter high transmission tower, which was commissioned in November 1997. The original tower stemming from the year 1955 had to be renovated several times due to the rough ...
 RF Cascade Workbook 2018 is the next phase in the evolution of RF Cafe's long-running series, RF Cascade Workbook. It is a full-featured RF system cascade parameter and frequency planner that includes filters and mixers for a mere $45. Built in MS Excel, using RF Cascade Workbook 2018 is a cinch and the format is entirely customizable. It is significantly easier and faster than using a multi-thousand dollar simulator when a high level system analysis is all that is needed. An intro video takes you through the main features. Hundreds of hours have gone into developing this tool ...
 Withwave has introduced a new line of High Speed & High Density Multicoax Cable Assemblies (WMX Series) that provide a wide range of multiple coax connectors and flexible cable assemblies with a choice of 20, 40, 50, and 67 GHz configurations based on precision array design and superior high frequency cabling solutions. The WMX Series are excellent signal integrity solutions for bench-top testing and automated test equipment to meet increasing demands of semiconductor test equipment and optical testing industries. These products consist of high performance flexible assemblies which can be bundled in housings (8 and 16 channels) and the interface to board is compression type ...
 This Radio Service Data Sheet provides schematics and parts lists for Westinghouse Models H-161, H-168 and H-168A receivers. Most - if not all - electronics servicemen had subscriptions to these magazines because they were a ready source of not just these service sheets, but because of the extensive articles offering advice on servicing radios and televisions. In fact, many electronics manufacturers had a policy of supplying service data only to bona fide shops. A large list is included at the bottom of the page of similar documents from vintage receiver schematics, troubleshooting tips, and alignment procedures. They were originally published in magazines like Radio-Craft, Radio and Television News, Radio News, etc. I scan and post them for the benefit of hobbyists who restore and service vintage ...
 "Silver dipoles are arranged across the folds of a Miuri-Ori pattern to enable frequency blocking. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have devised a method for using an origami-based structure to create radio frequency filters that have adjustable dimensions, enabling the devices to change which signals they block throughout a large range of frequencies. The new approach to creating these tunable filters could have a variety of uses, from antenna systems capable of adapting in real-time to ambient conditions to the next generation of electromagnetic cloaking systems that could be reconfigured on the fly to reflect or absorb different frequencies. The team focused on one particular pattern of origami ..."
 TotalTemp Technologies has more than 40 years of combined experience providing thermal platforms. Thermal Platforms are available to provide temperatures between −100°C and +200°C for cryogenic cooling, recirculating circulating coolers, temperature chambers and temperature controllers, thermal range safety controllers, space simulation chambers, hybrid benchtop chambers, custom systems and platforms. Manual and automated configurations for laboratory and production environments. Please contact TotalTemp Technologies today to learn how they can help your project.
Sunday 20  For two decades, I have been creating custom engineering- and science-themed crossword puzzles for the brain-exercising benefit and pleasure of RF Cafe visitors who are fellow cruciverbalists. This October 20, 2019, puzzle uses a database of thousands of words which I have 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 or a geographical location like Tunguska, Russia ...
|  I usually take you straight to the source of a survey, but in this case you're better served reading EE Times' report on the newly released "IEEE GlobalSpec 2019 Pulse of Engineering Survey." Martin Rowe provides a comparison between the 2018 and 2019 results. One of the most significant differences I see is response to "New hires are being added to handle additional work, not just to replace staff vacancies" dropping from 38% last year to 28% this year. Mr. Rowe offer two possible reasons, but a third reason might be that employers hired most of their needed engineers last year ...
 With a cover date of August 25, 1945, this issue of The Saturday Evening Post obviously went to print some time prior to the dropping of the two nuclear bombs on Japan that ended World War II. Victory in Japan Day (V-J Day), was August 14, 1945. There is no hint inside the magazine that the end of the war was nigh. There were, however, plenty of ads by companies touting their contributions to the war, and even some ads, particularly food ads, anticipating the end of rationing. Within this edition is also a short quiz entitled, "How's Your Radio Knowledge?" The author, Captain James F. C. Hyde, Jr., challenges readers to identify the locations of radio stations just by looking at their call signs. As is done today, most stations attempt to get call signs that are relevant to their location ...
 Skyworks is pleased to launch the SKY66405-11, a 2.4 GHz front-end module (FEM) designed for ZigBee®, Thread, and Bluetooth® (including Low Energy) ultra-low power IoT applications spanning sensors, beacons, smart meters and thermostats, wireless cameras, smoke and CO detectors, wearables and medical wearables. This high-performance, integrated multi-chip module comes in a compact form factor (1.9 x 1.9 x 0.56 mm) and provides increased efficiency as well as more than 4X range extension versus system-on-chip (SoC) alone. The solution includes a power amplifier, low-noise amplifier, low-loss bypass path, transmit and receive switches ...
 As I have pointed out in the past, by the end of 1944, everyone - at least in the United States - was pretty much convinced that World War II was all but done. Advertisements and articles in most of the magazines were going full force with promoting a plethora of great new consumer products that would soon be flowing from post-war factories and into the homes of the families who had sacrificed life, limb, fortune, and opportunity on the parts of fathers, brothers, boyfriends, and husbands who fought Axis powers during the past four and a half years. Parents, children, and wives of those who went "Over There" played an invaluable part back home in the success by managing single-parent households and filling in on jobs formerly performed by the servicemen. Life was difficult at home and on the battlefield but they perservered. We still refer to them collectively as "The Greatest Generation." Interestingly, one of the main impediments to implementing the aforementioned grand plan was difficulty in transporting raw materials and piece parts to manufacturing plants, and then distributing finished goods to the stores. Recall that ...
 RF Cafe typically receives 8,000-15,000 website visits each weekday and about half that on weekends. RF Cafe is a favorite of engineers, technicians, hobbyists, and students all over the world. With more than 7,000 pages in the Google search index, RF Cafe returns in favorable positions on many types of key searches, both for text and images. New content is added on a daily basis, which keeps the major search engines interested enough to spider it multiple times each day. Items added on the homepage often can be found in a Google search within a few hours of being posted. I also re-broadcast homepage items on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. If you need your company news to be seen, RF Cafe is the place to be. Banner advertising begins at $175/month ...
RF Cascade Workbook 2018 is the next phase in the evolution of RF Cafe's long-running series, RF Cascade Workbook. It is a full-featured RF system cascade parameter and frequency planner that includes filters and mixers for a mere $45. Built in MS Excel, using RF Cascade Workbook 2018 is a cinch and the format is entirely customizable. It is significantly easier and faster than using a multi-thousand dollar simulator when a high level system analysis is all that is needed. An intro video takes you through the main features ...  With more than 780 custom-built symbols, this has got to be the most comprehensive set of Visio Stencils available for RF, analog, and digital system and schematic drawings! Every object has been built from scratch to fit proportionally on the provided A- and B-size drawing page templates (you can use your own page if preferred). Components are provided for equipment racks (EIA and ETSI) and test equipment, system block diagrams and conceptual drawings, and for schematics ...
|  "Researchers from Japan have developed a highly sensitive rectifying element in the form of a nanowire backward diode, which can convert low-power microwaves into electricity. The research was carried out by leading communication technology company, Fujitsu, in partnership with the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), and the Tokyo Metropolitan University. Through JST's Strategic Basic Research Programs, the technology was developed by researchers led by Kenichi Kawaguchi of Fujitsu Limited and Professor Michihiko Suhara of the Tokyo Metropolitan University. The new technology can generate electricity from ambient radio waves ..."
 "Researchers in Switzerland and the U.S. have a non-destructive technique that can reverse engineer an entire chip without damaging it. Ptychographic X-ray laminography can scan an entire chip or zoom in on a particular spot to reveal its circuits. Scientists and engineers in Switzerland and California have come up with a technique that can reveal the 3D design of a modern microprocessor without destroying it. Typically today, such reverse engineering is a time-consuming process that involves painstakingly removing each of a chip's many nanometers-thick interconnect layers and mapping them using a hierarchy of different imaging techniques, from optical microscopy for the larger features to electron microscopy for the tiniest features ,... "
 "Researchers from the University of Maryland, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL) and the University of Oxford have observed a rare phenomenon called re-entrant superconductivity in the material uranium ditelluride. The discovery furthers the case for uranium ditelluride as a promising material for use in quantum computers. Nicknamed "Lazarus superconductivity" after the biblical character who rose from the dead, the phenomenon occurs when a superconducting state arises, breaks down, then re-emerges in a material due to a change in a specific parameter - in this case, the application of a very strong magnetic field ..."
 "Only eight lithography masks to create a low-power custom logic chips, compared with 20+ for CMOS, is the claim of Nottingham-based fabless chip start-up 'Search For The Next' (SFN). As such, production lead time is reduced – the target is two weeks by December 2020, according to company CEO David Summerland. Using just those eight layers, he continued, it is also possible to include power and analogue components. Key to the whole scheme, branded Bizen, is a novel transistor - essentially a pnp device whose base is driven through a quantum tunneling junction, and which includes a second tunneling junction to internally self-bias the transistor ..."
 "ReQutech and Forsway together with a research team from the Linköping University of Technology have collaborated to develop a new phased array antenna solution for Satcom applications on mobile platforms. This project is supported by the strategic innovation program 'Smarter Electronic Systems' - a joint venture by Swedish innovation agency Vinnova, Formas and the Swedish Energy Agency to promote Swedish technology. This program is a part of a pivotal development initiative by ReQuTech within Phased array antennas. The company aims to introduce the completed solution to the global market once it is complete ..."
 "Just a few weeks ago a very heated discussion erupted in my Denver neighborhood's Nextdoor social networking channel. The reason for the debate was the appearance of new 30-foot 5G small cell tower on a nearby block. The discussion thread contained warnings of how RF emissions can cause all type of serious health problems ranging from headaches to cancer. Eventually neighbors moved onto to other topics but this wasn't the first time I had heard 5G being blamed for health problems. A few months ago a friend sent me a link to a news segment from a group called RT America in which 'experts' warned that 5G signals might cause all kinds of dire health problems including brain cancer and autism ..."
 "Amazon responds to recent FCC questions about the odds that any of its Kuiper communication satellites will collide with space debris. For the first time, we have a complete, representative number for the overall orbital collision risk of a satellite mega-constellation. Last month, Amazon provided the U.S. FCC with data for its planned fleet of 3,236 Kuiper System broadband Internet satellites. If one in 10 satellites fails while on orbit, and loses its ability to dodge other spacecraft or space junk, Amazon's figures show that there is a 12% chance that one of those failed satellites will suffer a collision ..."
 "North Sea Link, a subsea electricity cable linking the UK with Norway, will be the longest interconnector of its kind in the world. Jon Excell explores the engineering challenges behind this milestone energy project It's perhaps surprising, given the increasingly divisive nature of the Brexit conundrum. But at a time when all we seem hear about is the severing of political ties to Europe, the UK is becoming ever more closely connected to the European mainland via an ambitious series of underwater power cables linking its energy network with the grids of its nearest continental neighbors. Across Europe, these so-called interconnectors, which enable countries to trade and transfer electricity across borders ..."
|
