 Friday the 22nd
Thursday the 21st
 The
Barkhausen-Kurz (B-K) oscillator is credited as being the first high power
microwave generator that exploited the electron transit time effect. It was
developed in 1920 by German physicists Heinrich Georg Barkhausen and Karl
Kurz. As this article's author points out, the vacuum tube and supporting
circuits were difficult to produce and were not very well understood theoretically.
Shortly thereafter, the magnetron and klystron tubes came along and dominated
the high power microwave generation realm. Included in Part II of "Microwave
- Generation of Microwaves" is a good, brief explanation of the operation
of both B-K and magnetron circuits...
 This assortment of custom-designed
themes by RF Cafe includes T-Shirts, Mouse Pads, Clocks, Tote Bags, Coffee
Mugs and Steins, Purses, Sweatshirts, and Baseball Caps. Choose from amazingly
clever "We Are the World's
Matchmakers" Smith chart design or the "Engineer's Troubleshooting Flow
Chart." My "Matchmaker's" design has been ripped off by other people and used
on their products, so please be sure to purchase only official RF Cafe gear.
My markup is only a paltry 50¢ per item - Cafe Press gets the rest of your
purchase price. These would make excellent gifts for husbands, wives, kids,
significant others, and for handing out at company events or as rewards for
excellent service. It's a great way to help support RF Cafe. Thanks...
 Anatech Electronics (AEI) manufactures
and supplies
RF and microwave filters for military and commercial communication systems,
providing standard LP, HP, BP, BS, notch, diplexer, and custom RF filters,
and RF products. Standard RF filter and cable assembly products are published
in our website database for ease of procurement. Custom RF filters designs
are used when a standard cannot be found, or the requirements dictate a custom
approach for your military and commercial communications needs. Sam Benzacar's
monthly newsletters address contemporary wireless subjects. Please visit Anatech
today to see how they can help your project succeed.
Wednesday the 20th
 In 1945 when this series was published
in Radio-Craft magazine,
microwaves were pretty much the realm of corporate and university research
laboratories and - often coincidentally - secret Department of War projects.
Radar was the primary application, although some work was being done on high
bandwidth communications by the aforementioned entities, in some cases following
in the footsteps of amateur radio operator's discoveries about how the higher
frequencies were affected by the ionized layers of the Earth's atmosphere.
Immediately following the end of World War II, the government began declassifying
a lot of information learned about microwave, and magazines were fast to pick
up on it. In fact, there were instances where editors saw fit to write columns
asserting their right to do so when criticisms were heaped upon them by readers
accusing them of divulging critical security-related...
 Axiom Test Equipment, an electronic
test equipment rental and sales company has published a new blog post entitled
"Welcome
the New Year by Upgrading Test Gear," that tells you how to determine
when it's time to upgrade your test equipment. Learn about the different opportunities
and think about what requirements you have coming up in order to recognize
the right time and equipment to upgrade. Test instrument upgrades provide
opportunities for improvement: to make up for what is missing in an instrument
or test setup, be it measurement speed, accuracy, bandwidth, sensitivity,
resolution, even more measurement channels. Other times, equipment becomes
obsolete and prompts an upgrade to newer equipment that is still supported
by the manufacturer or gives you increased performance...
 "U.S. military researchers needed
a weapon data link radio to help steer hypersonic weapons to their targets.
Officials of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in
Arlington, Va., announced a $4 million contract to BAE Systems last month
to develop two weapon data link prototypes for test and integration of the
future hypersonic Tactical Boost Glide (TBG) vehicle. The TBG program is a
joint DARPA and U.S. Air Force effort to develop technologies for future air-launched,
tactical-range hypersonic boost glide systems. Boost glide uses a rocket to
accelerate a weapon payload to high speeds, after which the payload then separates
from the rocket and glides unpowered to its destination..."
 The old-time radio broadcasts available
on the Internet are obviously recorded version of shows made long ago. However,
back in the day those shows were
originally performed live in front of microphones and recorded in a broadcast
studio. With a cast of two or three or even more, the actors would voice their
lines with as much talent and effort as those performing for movies. The crew
usually included a group of people responsible for creating background sound
effects like horses running, car horns tooting, airplanes buzzing by, and
dogs barking. All was done real-time with split-second timing required to
pull it off and sound convincing. Radio audiences were unaware of all the
work required as they sat intently listening to the Adventures of the Lone
Ranger and The Shadow. Behind the scenes were dozens of engineers and technicians
tending local radio broadcasting equipment and all-important telephone landlines
used for synchronizing stations across the country...
 Triad is pleased to announce that it
continued to outperform revenue projections in the second half of 2020. The
year's
record−high revenue and orders were driven by the company's rapidly growing
reputation as a premier supplier of feature-rich, ultra−efficient radios,
RF/microwave bi−directional amplifiers, custom multi−functional amplifier
systems, CubeSat frequency converters and amplifiers and wideband amplification
for EW and counter UAS systems. Triad delivered some of the highest data−rates
and longest−range ISR wireless links available for Unmanned Land, Sea, and
Air Systems this year. Triad achieved several financial and operational goals
in 2020 and positioned itself for future growth with the introduction of its
new line of amplified radios, investment in operations, and the addition of
key team members...
 Res-Net Microwave has a complete line
of precision RF &
microwave components including attenuators, terminations, resistors, and
diode detectors for commercial, military, and space applications. Products
range from the small flange type to large 2,000 watt connectorized power attenuators
and/or terminations at frequencies up to 26.5 GHz. In-house photo etch
and laser trim capability. The company is a leader in development and production
of the films required for these type of RF/microwave components. Please check
out Res-Net Microwave's website to see how they can help with your current
project.
Tuesday the 19th
 We've all heard of a Van de Graaff
(Robert J.) electrostatic generator, but have you heard of a
Wommelsdorf (Heinrich) generator (aka influence machine)? I hadn't prior
to reading this article entitled "Electric Space Ships" from a 1951 issue
of Radio-Electronics magazine. It took careful reading to get my head around
the propulsion scheme detailed by Professor Hermann. At first I thought he
was describing electric propulsion, but in fact his machine uses electrical
energy generated from the sun to accelerate some form of liquid propellant
via static electric charges. Therefore, this is not a system capable of indefinitely
sustaining itself and its payload (which includes human inhabitants). In fact,
the good professor proposes a geostationary refueling station above the Earth...
 "In recent years, physicists and
electronic engineers have been trying to identify materials that could be
used to fabricate new types of electronic devices. 1-D and 2-D materials have
been found to have particularly advantageous characteristics, particularly
for the development of new generations of nanoelectronics (electronic components
at the nano scale). Such 1-D and 2-D materials, such as graphene, monolayer
molybdenum disulfide, silicon nanowires and silicon nanosheets, could also
play a crucial role within the semiconductor industry, as they could help
to develop increasingly small transistors. Despite their well-documented advantages,
emerging low-dimensional materials can have a relatively small amount of so-called
free charges compared to 3-D materials. In the context of electronic components,
a
free charge is an electron or hole..."
 Copper Mountain Technologies (CMT)
is seeking a
Lead RF Design Engineer to develop new VNAs for customers all over the
world. Our USB VNAs are next generation analyzers designed to meet the needs
of 21st Century engineers. Our VNAs include an RF measurement module and a
processing module, a software application which runs on a Windows or Linux
PC, connecting to the measurement hardware via USB interface. The Lead RF
Design Engineer will lead a team of engineers developing new USB VNAs, meeting
new customer requirements, and evolving current product line. This individual
will work closely with product management, manufacturing and other engineering
teams to ensure delivery of quality solutions to customers. Take this opportunity
to join a great company. Preferred location for this position...
 Having spent a lot of my career working
for defense electronics companies in classified programs, I am somewhat torn
between sympathizing with Hugo Gernsback from his perspective as editor of
Radio-Craft and what I know is a valid reason for guarding certain
technological information for the sake of military advantage. It is often
the case that people who have had no exposure to the 'black' side of industry
cannot appreciate the need for it. Their argument postulates that suppressing
knowledge does more harm than good because an opportunity for more people
to gain from breakthroughs will result in more rapid advancement in technology
While that is true, the downside is that the enemy rarely feels obliged to
reciprocate in the same manner, and will exploit your generosity...
 Skyworks Solutions, an innovator of
high-performance analog semiconductors connecting people, places and things,
today announced that its high-performance Wi-Fi 6E front-end modules are featured
on the world's first
ultra-fast Wi-Fi 6E gaming router from ASUS. Utilizing the FCC's newly
allocated 6~7 GHz extended band to double the capacity of traditional Wi-Fi,
the Wi-Fi 6E standard enables faster connectivity and supports an increased
number of connected users meeting the unprecedented demand for increased video
conferencing, online gaming, streaming TV, AR/VR, home security cameras and
online exercise apps. An established leader in the networking market, ASUS
is the first to deliver the increased and wider bandwidth 160 MHz channels
of Wi-Fi 6E with its ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 gaming router...
 Centric RF is a company offering from
stock various RF and
Microwave coaxial components, including attenuators, adapters, cable assemblies,
terminations, power dividers, and more. We believe in offering high performance
parts from stock at a reasonable cost. Frequency ranges of 0-110 GHz
at power levels from 0.5-500 watts are available off the shelf. Order today,
ship today! Centric RF is currently looking for vendors to partner with them.
Please visit Centric RF today.
Monday the 18th
 "Necessity is the mother of invention,"
is an oft-heard maxim that is validated continually. Such was the case, as
pointed out here in this National Union Radio Corporation ad which appeared
in a 1944 issue of Radio-Craft magazine. The development of many
new metal alloys was required in order to obtain the kind of performance and
reliability needed in ever-evolving electronics products. Already available
metals for filaments, coils, grid wires, getters, electron guns and many other
constituents of
vacuum tubes that are subject to high temperatures (many hundreds of degrees)
and mechanical conditions (unequal coefficients of expansion, for example,
which can cause stress fractures), were not sufficient for the task. Metallurgists
had their work cut out for them...
 Empower RF Systems' tactical up-armored
Model 2224 is a compact SSPA operating from 1 to 2 GHz, delivering 150
Watts CW output. The amplifier includes a fast Tx/Rx switch and is designed
for rugged outdoor and tactical deployment of data com links. The all-weather
heavy duty NEMA 4 enclosure houses a complete amplifier system using our Next
Generation architecture so all the local and remote control, monitoring, protections
and user remote GUI are identical to our COTS rack systems. The 2224 comes
complete with internal directional coupler, internal forward and reverse power
sampling and an easy to use remote web GUI. In depth health monitoring can
be viewed remotely and pushed out via the Ethernet port...
 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 13,000 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. If you need
your company news to be seen, RF Cafe is the place to be.
Advertising begins at $40/month.
 The high-tech vehicle you see here
was state-of-the-art in 1935 when engineers at the
Cruft Laboratory
at Harvard University outfitted it to do radio research. The story appeared
in QST magazine. The mission of the mobile unit is to enable laboratory equipment
to be carried into the field to make observations on various radio phenomena.
Clad with copper and chromium fittings, the vehicle contained transmitting
and receiving equipment along with various test equipment that included a
high stability frequency reference. In the article a "tungar" charger is mentioned.
A tungar vacuum tube is a high current rectifier with a tungsten element and
an argon gas filler...
 Rhode & Schwarz has published
a whitepaper entitled "Optimizing EMI Input Filters for Switched Mode Power
Supplies," which includes an interesting analysis of
differential mode versus common mode noise. "The conducted emissions of
the converter where no filter components are applied is shown in Fig. 4-1.
The top part of the measurement window illustrates the differential noise
emissions (M1) whereas the bottom window shows the common mode noise (M2).
The math which is required to distinguish between the two modes is set in
the math channel menu and visible on the right. The time domain signals are
not shown in detail in the main window because the frequency domain is the
focus in this case study..."
 NextPCB is one of the most experienced
PCB manufacturers in China, has specialized in the PCB and assembly industry
for over 15 years. NextPCB provides the most innovative printed circuit boards
and assembly technologies in the highest quality standards, turnaround time
as fast as 24 hours, the lowest manufacturer direct prices, and the most dedicated
customer service in the industry. Turnkey service without a broker including
components sourcing, PCB prototyping, manufacturing, assembly, quality testing,
and final shipment. Certified by IATF16949, ISO9001, ISO14001, UL, CQC, RoHS
and REACH.
Sunday the 17th
 This
Radio Technology Theme crossword puzzle for January 17th contains only
words and clues related to engineering, mathematics, chemistry, physics, and
other technical words. As always, this crossword contains no names of politicians,
mountain ranges, exotic foods or plants, movie stars, or anything of the sort
unless it/he/she is related to this puzzle's technology theme (e.g., Hedy
Lamarr or the Bikini Atoll). The technically inclined cruciverbalists amongst
us will appreciate the effort. Enjoy!
Friday the 15th
 "Portable" is a matter of perspective
when it comes to large systems. Anything that can be put on wheels and moved
over land is technically portable, but the speed at which it can be brought
into operation once relocated is what really defines whether something is
portable or not. To be truly portable, all of the requisite support equipment
must travel with it; e.g., electric generators, fuel, water, food, personnel
facilities (if needed), etc. The MPN−14
portable airport surveillance radar (ASR) and precision approach radar
(PAR) unit I worked on in the USAF truly qualified since it was entirely self-contained
and the necessary power generators were supplied by a separate shop within
the 5th Combat Communications Group to which I belonged. Other shops provided
creature comfort facilities, ground-based and satellite radio communications,
tactical air navigation (TACAN), security, and managerial services. A few
times each year we had what were called "Healthy Strikes" where claxons would
sound in the barracks...
 On Wednesday, January 20th at 2:00
PM EST (GMT -5:00), Copper Mountain Technologies will present another of its
VNA Master Class Webinar series entitled "Materials
Measurement at 5G Frequencies." This webinar will demonstrate the use
of free-space spot probes to characterize materials at 20 to 40 GHz,
of interest to new 5G millimeter wave frequencies. A table-top measurement
system using CMT's S5243 VNA will be used to determine transmission and/or
reflection of materials. From these measurements, the webinar will discuss
the calculation of dielectric properties of measured materials. The agenda
consists of free space measurement description, example measurements &
dielectric calculation and a Q&A session at the end...
 Ha, I thought WA referred to Washington
state, but not so. It's a good thing because I was going to accuse them of
using a phony photo that includes the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds which
are not visible from Washington! "A remote outback station about 800 km
north of Perth in Western Australia is one of the best places in the world
to operate telescopes that listen for radio signals from space. It's the site
of CSIRO's Murchison
Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO) and is home to three telescopes (and
soon a fourth when half of the Square Kilometre Array, the world's largest
radio telescope, is built there). But it's important these telescopes don't
pick up any other radio signals generated here on Earth that could interfere
with their observations. That's why the observatory was set up with strict
rules on what can and can't be used on site..."
 Before the current generation began
destroying its hearing with smartphone earbuds, their parents and grandparents
(that includes mine) destroyed our hearing with ridiculously
powerful loudspeakers, often in boom boxes perched on shoulders right
next to the ears (not me). The "concert hall" - or concert auditorium - experience
has been long sought-after since recorded music has been available, which
has only been about a century. As evidenced by the sudden increase in articles
and advertisements in my growing collection of vintage electronics magazines,
the early and mid 1950s saw a sudden swell of articles promoting the equally
swelling supply of high fidelity (hi-fi) recording and playback equipment
hitting the markets. Subjects ranging from homebuilt projects to reports of
top end commercially products filled the pages each month. Television saw
the same treatment in the late 1950s and early 1960s. All, of course, relied
on vacuum tubes - with just enough relatively expensive semiconductors...
 Qorvo, a leading provider of innovative
solutions that connect and power the world, today introduced two
Wi-Fi 6E front end modules (FEMs) designed to maximize throughput and
range in high-bandwidth applications such as 8K video streaming, online gaming
and virtual reality. Wi-Fi 6E is an extension of Wi-Fi 6 that operates in
the recently opened 6 GHz frequency band, in addition to the traditional
2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. Wi-Fi 6E triples Wi-Fi capacity with contiguous
spectrum to accommodate 7 additional 160 MHz-wide channels or 14 additional
80 MHz channels. Qorvo's Wi-Fi 6E FEMs unleash the full potential of
this new spectrum, delivering leading linearity performance and maximizing
throughput and capacity at peak permissible indoor power levels. The Qorvo
QPF4656 and QPF4632 deliver robust and rugged performance with world-class
energy...
 ConductRF is continually innovating
and developing new and improved solutions for RF Interconnect needs. See the
latest TESTeCON RF Test
Cables for labs. ConductRF makes production and test coax cable assemblies
for amplitude and phased matched VNA applications as well as standard &
precision RF connectors. Over 1,000 solutions for low PIM in-building to choose
from in the iBwave component library. They also provide custom coax solutions
for applications where some standard just won't do. A partnership with Newark
assures fast, reliable access. Please visit
ConductRF today to
see how they can help your project!
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 Withwave's precision
2.92 mm to SMPM mm Adapter Series are designed based on precision
microwave interconnection technologies. These adapter series are manufactured
to precise microwave specifications and constructed with male and female gender
on both side. The precision microwave connector interfaces ensure an excellent
microwave performance up to 40 GHz. VSWR is 1.2:1 (max), M-M, M-F, F-F,
F-M interface combinations, passivated stainless steel body. Useful in laboratory
and productions test setups, prototyping, and production interconnections...
RfCaFe
autodidacts
Operation Chaos
Electronics-Themed
Comics June 1951 Radio-Electronics
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 13,000 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. If you need
your company news to be seen, RF Cafe is the place to be.
Advertising begins at $40/month.
 RF Cascade Workbook 2018 is the next phase in the evolution
of RF Cafe's long-running series, RF Cascade Workbook. Chances are
you have never used a spreadsheet quite like this (click
here for screen capture). 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 1000
custom-built symbols, this has got to be the most comprehensive set of
Visio Symbols available for RF, analog, and digital system and
schematic drawings! Every object has been built to fit proportionally
on the provided A-, B- and C-size drawing page templates (or can use your
own). Symbols are provided for equipment racks and test equipment, system
block diagrams, conceptual drawings, and schematics. Unlike previous versions,
these are NOT Stencils, but instead are all contained on tabbed pages within
a single Visio document. That puts everything in front of you in its full
glory. Just copy and paste what you need on your drawing. The file format
is XML so everything plays nicely with Visio 2013 and later...
This assortment of custom-designed
themes by RF Cafe includes T-Shirts, Mouse Pads, Clocks, Tote Bags, Coffee
Mugs and Steins, Purses, Sweatshirts, and Baseball Caps. Choose from amazingly
clever "We Are the World's
Matchmakers" Smith chart design or the "Engineer's Troubleshooting Flow
Chart." My "Matchmaker's" design has been ripped off by other people and used
on their products, so please be sure to purchase only official RF Cafe gear.
My markup is only a paltry 50¢ per item - Cafe Press gets the rest of your
purchase price. These would make excellent gifts for husbands, wives, kids,
significant others, and for handing out at company events or as rewards for
excellent service. It's a great way to help support RF Cafe. Thanks...
 RF Cafe's raison d'être is and always
has been to provide useful, quality content for engineers, technicians, engineering
managers, students, and hobbyists. Part of that mission is offering to post
applicable job openings..
HR department employees and/or managers of hiring companies are welcome to
submit opportunities for posting at no charge. 3rd party recruiters and temp
agencies are not included so as to assure a high quality of listings. Please
read through the easy procedure to benefit from RF Cafe's high quality visitors...
|
 "A team at the University of Nottingham
used graphene, a material with high electrical conductivity, in an
ink-jet printing process to build up mesh together electronic structures
that can perform functions such as converting light into electricity. Related:
New 2D Materials Show Promise for Future Electronic Devices The approach demonstrates
a new way to use the material for 3D printing processes as well as provides
insight into the design of next-generation electronic devices, researchers
said. Led by Professor Mark Fromhold, head of the university’s School of Physics
and Astronomy, the team used quantum mechanical modeling to identify how electronics
move through 2D-material layers..."
 "Characterizing
microstrip superconducting film at millimeter-wave frequencies is difficult
without undergoing a complex thin film fabrication process. This characterization
includes measuring the ohmic loss at a resolution of 10100 parts per million
(ppm). Typically, characterizing microstrip superconducting film utilizes
antenna-coupled bolometers as part of the superconducting film structure.
Bolometers are components that measure incident electromagnetic radiation
via the heating of a material with a temperature-dependent electrical resistance;
however, this process is disadvantageous as embedded detectors, such as bolometers,
make the superconducting film fabrication process more difficult. This process
also requires various millimeter-wave components, further complicating film
fabrication. Additionally, characterizing superconducting film..."
 "EPFL engineers have developed a
computer chip that
combines
two functions - logic operations and data storage - into a single architecture,
paving the way to more efficient devices. Their technology is particularly
promising for applications relying on artificial intelligence. It's a major
breakthrough in the field of electronics. Engineers at EPFL's Laboratory of
Nanoscale Electronics and Structures (LANES) have developed a next-generation
circuit that allows for smaller, faster and more energy-efficient devices—which
would have major benefits for artificial-intelligence systems. Their revolutionary
technology is the first to use a 2-D material for what's called a logic-in-memory
architecture, or a single architecture that combines logic operations with
a memory function. The research team's findings appear today in Nature..."
 "Why do some thin films of single-wall
carbon
nanotubes
take on colourful hues even though as-synthesized films are usually black?
A team of researchers in Finland, the US and China has now come up with a
possible answer in a development that could prove useful for future display
screens and solar cells. Single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are rolled-up
sheets of carbon just one atom thick, with a diameter of about 1 nm. Atoms
in these sheets are arranged in a hexagonal lattice and the direction in which
the sheet is rolled - its chirality - dictates whether the tube is a metal
or a semiconductor. When these SWCNTs are sorted by their diameter or chirality
- two traits denoted by an '(n,m)' numbering system..."
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