|
 These two
circuit puzzlers appeared in the April 1966 issue of Radio-Electronics magazine. When working out the problems, I managed to
interpret the goal in the "Two Currents" one. Despite the name, I instead solved
for the two values of resistance, not the two currents. So as not to have wasted
my effort, a photo of it is posted to the left. At the bottom of it, I
multiplied my two resistances by the author's two currents and arrived at the
stated 2 watts for each. QED. The "Rise Time" challenge is similar to one posted
a short while ago. If you've used an oscilloscope to measure rise times, you are
probably familiar with the phenomenon...
 Dark energy is one of the most profound
and enigmatic concepts in modern cosmology, embodying the mystery of the accelerated
expansion of the universe. Its origins trace back to the early 20th century when
Albert Einstein introduced the concept of the cosmological constant, represented
by the Greek letter Lambda (Λ), in his equations of General Relativity. Einstein
initially formulated this constant to balance the force of gravity and achieve a
static universe, which was the prevailing cosmological model at the time. However,
after Edwin Hubble's discovery in 1929 that the universe was expanding, Einstein
reportedly dismissed...
 Anatech Electronics will be participating
at the 4th annual UAV Technology USA conference, taking place in Arlington, VA,
on February 3-4, 2025, showcasing some of its products used in UAV projects. Present
your system challenges, such as performance needed, interference problems, or a
project that requires RF filtering. We will address those challenges and present
some solutions. Our technical staff will be available to answer any questions you
might have. About
UAV Technology USA Conference 2025: The premier event for unmanned aerial systems
in modern warfare. Bringing together top military leaders, international allies,
and industry experts, the conference offers valuable insights, discussions, and
the latest UAV technology advancements through briefings and panels.
• Parents Pressured to
Buy Young Children Smartphones
• Job
Seekers Targeted by Mobile Phishing
• FCC Clarifies
Satellite System Spectrum Sharing Rules
• Europe Is the
Top Target for Hacktivists
• Qorvo
RF Front-End Module for Wi-Fi 7
 This is the first of a two-part "Radar
Principles" article by British engineer and researcher Dr. R.L. Smith-Rose.
It appeared in the April 1945 issue of Radio-Craft magazine. Dr. Smith-Rose explains
the basics of radio detection and ranging using simple illustrations and calculation
examples. When these articles were written, radar had recently been credited with
playing a major role in helping the Allies successfully wage war against aggressive
Axis powers that were ravaging London and other European cities with air attacks
comprised of both manned and unmanned vehicles. While the principles...
 LadyBug Technologies was founded in 2004
by two microwave engineers with a passion for quality microwave test instrumentation.
Our employees offer many years experience in the design and manufacture of the worlds
best vector network analyzers, spectrum analyzers, power meters and associated components.
The management team has additional experience in optical power testing, military
radar and a variety of programming environments including LabVIEW, VEE and other
languages often used in programmatic systems. Extensive experience in a broad spectrum
of demanding measurement applications. You can be assured that our Power Sensors
are designed, built, tested and calibrated without compromise.
 Dr. Albert W. Hull, whose passing is
noted in this 1966 Radio-Electronics
News Briefs section, is credited with the invention of the dynatron, thyratron,
and magnetron high power radio frequency (RF) oscillators. He worked for many years
at the General Electric Research Laboratory (GERL) and held 94 patents - not bad
for a guy who started out as a Greek scholar. Also announced by Radio Corporation
of America (RCA) was a "sun-pumped" communications laser for future use on deep
space exploration craft. Note how at the time the universe was deemed to be "some
billions" of years old since the Big Bang, now believed to be 13.787±0.020 billion
years. That implies an uncertainty...
 When this was originally posted, it was
the Friday before Christmas vacation and nobody was thinking about work. Maybe you
were stopping by RF Cafe to kill time until the boss let you go home (early, preferably).
Not that you really have needed something to get you in a festive mood, but here
are a few funny
amateur radio-themed (aka Ham-themed) comics from a 1966 issue of Popular
Electronics magazine, compliments of artist Buz Holland. When I saw the comic
with the parrot squawking CQ while including his call sign - WA4YKK - my first thought
was to check the FCC's UULS to see to whom...
 "Xiao Su, a chemical engineering professor
at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told EE Times that a team he
leads has developed a process to
remove PFAS chemicals from the chipmaking process.. However, chipmakers who
could use his help are not sharing information with him. PFAS substances are toxic
chemicals that accumulate in the tissues of humans and are used widely in the semiconductor
industry. The 'forever chemicals' that have become widespread in the environment
are difficult to isolate and destroy. Chipmakers..."
 BroadWave Technologies has developed a 50 Ω,
UHF band power divider to support commercial wireless communications, defense, homeland
security, and public safety systems. Model 151-308-008 is an
8 way power divider with SMA female connectors. This device operates from 500
to 3000 MHz and exhibits typical isolation of 25 dB. Nominal insertion
loss above theoretical split at 3000 MHz is 1.5 dB and maximum VSWR is
1.50:1 In addition to power dividers with SMA female connectors we also offer power
divider with BNC, N, and TNC connectors...
 Collins Radio Company (later on Rockwell
Collins and now Collins Aerospace) has been around since 1933. Like the vast majority
of U.S. companies during the World War II era, they - management and employees -
took great pride in doing their part for the war effort. Unlike today, when a relatively
few people actually know someone on active duty in the armed forces, workers were
very likely to have a brother, son, father, or husband in the service. Here is an
advertisement that I scanned out of my copy of the April 1945 QST magazine.
It mentions that many of the employees are amateur radio operators. During the war...
 Copper Mountain Technologies develops innovative
and robust RF test and measurement solutions for engineers all over the world. Copper
Mountain's extensive line of unique form factor
Vector Network Analyzers
include an RF measurement module and a software application which runs on any Windows
PC, laptop or tablet, connecting to the measurement hardware via USB interface.
The result is a lower cost, faster, more effective test process that fits into the
modern workspace in lab, production, field and secure testing environments. 50 Ω
and 75 Ω models are available, along with a full line of precision calibration
and connector adaptors.
 RACEP (Random Access and Correlation for
Extended Performance), was an early form of
frequency hopping spread spectrum (HFSS) devised by the Martin Company (now
Lockheed-Martin). It was used for secure voice communications and worked by sampling
speech in small "slices" and then transmitting each slice modulated onto a carrier
whose frequency was determined by a predetermined sequence of center frequencies.
A receiver with a matching sequence key would then decode the speech and, with appropriate
filtering, reassemble it into its original content. President John F. Kennedy had
such systems at his disposal whether on the road or in the Oval Office. General
Electric (GE) had a different idea it dubbed "Phantom"...
 Innovative Power Products'
IPP-5032 and IPP-5033 (Patent-Pending) are surface mount, single-ended impedance
transformers engineered to reduce the size and complexity of board-level impedance
matching networks. These products transform real impedances from 50 Ω to 25 Ω
(IPP-5032) or to 12.5 Ω (IPP-5033). Despite their small footprints - 0.55"
x 0.50" for the IPP-5032 and 0.55" x 0.60" for the IPP-5033 - both models deliver
a power handling capacity of 100 Watts (CW). View product specs, mounting footprints
and S-Parameters for these products at IPP-5032 and IPP-5033...
 These three
electronics-themed comics appeared in the November 1961 issue of Radio-Electronics
magazine. I have to admit to not quite "getting" the one on page 80. The 6BR8
vacuum tube is a triode-pentode, meaning it had both a single grid (triode) and
a triple grid (pentode) amplifier contained within the same envelope. They share
a common heater element, but have separate, isolated cathodes. Maybe you need to
have lived through the era to know the insider's joke. The page 52 comic is
one you can relate to if you have ever needed to pull a hot tube from a socket...
 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!
 Here are three new circuit puzzlers in the
"What's Your EQ?" section of the October 1963 Radio-Electronics magazine.
All three are as applicable today as they were then, since none involve outdate
technology like vacuum tubes. The first one involves a 3-phase motor fed by a 3-Ø,
220 V line source. My answer differs from the creator's in that I assumed maybe
the source change was from a 3-Ø wye transformer to a 3-Ø delta transformer, thus
depriving the photocell circuit local step-down transformer of a true ground-referenced
neutral point, as a wye has. In a wye line supply for 3-Ø, 220 V, the potential
between any phase and neutral/ground is 220/√3 = 127 V. That is close enough...
 This
Electronics Metals Quiz appeared in the October 1964 edition of Popular
Electronics magazine. Given the era and obsolescence of some technologies,
a couple of the drawings might not be recognizable to you. Accordingly, I feel obligated
to clue you in on those. "B" is a television iconoscope, which was used in early
TV video cameras. "D" is a phonograph stylus. For "F," keep in mind the prevailing
semiconductor material at the time. "I" is a type of heater element that could be
screwed into a light bulb socket (I used to have a couple). "J" is supposed...
 "Engineers from the University of Glasgow
are teaming up with colleagues from the Tyndall National Institute's Wireless Communications
Laboratory (WCL) for a project, called
Active intelligent Reconfigurable surfaces for 6G wireless COMmunications, or
AR-COM. Together with key industry partners, they will work to improve the design
of smart materials called intelligent reconfigurable surfaces (IRS) which are expected
to play a key role in the ultrafast 6G wireless networks of the future. AR-COM is
supported by £1 Million in funding from the UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC)..."
 For your convenience, everythingPE (Power
Engineering) has created a very nice
online app for identifying resistors by their color codes. The color bands on
a resistor are used to represent the resistance value, tolerance, and sometimes
the temperature coefficient of the resistor. These color bands follow a standardized
color code to help identify the resistor's characteristics. The number of color
bands on a resistor can vary, but most commonly, you will find resistors with either
four or five bands (and sometimes a sixth). Our calculator works with all three
varieties...
 This story in the April 1955 issue of
Radio & Television News magazine might be the first public disclosure
of Bell Telephone Laboratories'
flexible waveguide design. Operating at 50 GHz, the new waveguide will
replace hundreds of existing coaxial cables that can each carry only 600 telephone
channels and two television channels. It can also increase the distance between
amplifiers from 12 miles to 50 miles. Construction consists of a hollow flexible
tube lined with a spiral winding of copper wire. Incidentally, the lower cutoff
frequency...
 We
take for granted today that we are able to legally use radio control systems without
obtaining an
operator's license, but that has only been the case since the late 1970s. Prior
to that, a Citizens Radio Station License needed to be procured from the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC). No examination was required, but a fee was charged.
I think mine cost something like $5. FCC Part 15 rules permitted license-free
operation in designated frequency bands then as it does now, with a limit on maximum
power output for both intentional and unintentional...
 "As we march toward 2030, the relentless
demand for wireless data is reshaping the landscape of connectivity. Meeting this
demand requires a well-orchestrated strategy to secure new spectrum and optimize
existing bands. The
success of 6G, with commercial deployments expected to start around 2030, hinges
on the timely availability of spectrum. Given the complexity of the spectrum allocation
process, initiating activities to ensure spectrum readiness for 6G are imperative
and cannot be delayed..."
 Robert Radford's (not to be confused with
Robert Redford) "Electromaze"
is a unique - and weird - sort of word puzzle that appeared in the April 1966 issue
of Popular Electronics magazine. You will probably want to print out the maze grid
and find an old guy who should still have a pencil stowed away somewhere you can
borrow to use for filling in the boxes. Note that in my opinion the answer given
for clue number 2 is technically wrong. What say you?
 "NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL) and the historic Mount Wilson Observatory in California appear to be unscathed
by the Eaton fire burning through Pasadena and Altadena - for now. However, over
150 JPL employees have lost their homes, said the center's director Laurie Leshin
in a post on X on Friday morning. The center lies in the foothills of Pasadena,
within the Eaton fire's mandatory evacuation zone. The Eaton fire, which has burned
14,000 acres and 5,000 structures as of Friday afternoon, is one of several fires
raging in the L.A. region this week amid dangerously high winds and dry conditions..."
 Sometime around late 1977, a year or so
prior to reporting to Lackland AFB for Basic Training with plans to pursue a career
in electronics, I began boning up on my admittedly lacking electronics skills. Having
spent the past few years as an electrician, including a couple years in vocational
school, I was familiar enough with the big stuff that could easily kill me, but
I didn't know much about about electronics with its small components and low voltages.
To assist me with my goal, I purchased a couple Heathkit kits and carefully studied
all the information provided, then proceeded to assemble and test everything. My
first project was this
IM-17 Utility Solid-State Voltmeter. It was simple enough...
 The September 1966 issue of Radio-Electronics
magazine had a plethora of good News Briefs, including an item where editor Hugo
Gernsback is presented with yet another honor - this time from the International
Press Group. It's like today with Dr. Ulrich Rohde (N1UL), who, deservingly, seems
to be receiving new commendations and awards on a regular basis. In the "Famously
Wrong Technology Predictions" department, COMSAT's president, Dr. Joseph
Charyk, declared that direct satellite-to-home television broadcasting was not a
likely possibility. Sylvania's General Telephone & Electronics...
 "Scientists are making significant strides
in creating
nuclear clocks, a new frontier in ultra-precise timekeeping. Unlike optical
atomic clocks that depend on electronic transitions, nuclear clocks harness the
energy transitions within atomic nuclei. These transitions are less influenced by
external forces, offering potentially unparalleled timekeeping accuracy. Despite
their promise, nuclear clocks face steep challenges. The isotope thorium-229, essential
for these clocks, is rare, radioactive, and prohibitively expensive in the required
quantities. In a recent study published..."
 A
time domain reflectometer (TDR) is an electronic instrument designed to characterize
and locate faults in electrical transmission lines and cables. It works by sending
a fast rise-time pulse down the cable and measuring the reflected signal. The time
it takes for the signal to return, combined with its amplitude and polarity, provides
information about the location, type, and severity of faults in the line. The principle
behind the TDR is based on transmission line theory and wave reflection phenomena,
making it a cornerstone in cable diagnostics and electrical engineering. The TDR
was first conceptualized in the early 20th century as wave propagation and reflection
principles were better understood, but practical devices emerged...
 "A massive fire broke out at a Californian
power plant early Friday morning, threatening one of the largest
battery energy storage facilities in the world. The blaze began in a building
containing lithium-ion batteries hours earlier, an official at the Monterey County
Sheriff's office told the BBC. The Moss Landing power plant was evacuated. No injuries
were reported. Officials are
not actively fighting the fire, the Monterey Sheriff
spokesperson said, and are instead
leaving the building and the batteries to burn on the advice of fire
experts. Hundreds of people have been ordered to evacuate..."
|
 Banner Ads are rotated in all locations
on the page! RF Cafe typically receives 8,000-15,000 visits each
weekday. RF Cafe
is a favorite of engineers, technicians, hobbyists, and students all over the world.
With more than 17,000 pages in the Google search index, RF Cafe returns in
favorable positions on many types of key searches, both for text and images.
Your Banner Ads are displayed on average 225,000 times per year! 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. If you need your company
news to be seen, RF Cafe is the place to be...
 You've heard of the World's Fairs, the most
familiar probably being the 1933 Chicago World's Fair where the theme was "A Century
of Progress." World's Fairs have been held in various cities worldwide since the
late 1790s. In 1929, the World's Fair was held in the United Kingdom, but the "Radio World's Fair," which began its annual run in 1924
(click on stamps thumbnail), was held in New York
City. Surprisingly little exists on the Internet about the events. It was more of
a trade show to introduce new products than it was a fair, as can be seen from the
photos. Radios with decorative wooden cabinets were becoming popular as the number
of commercial broadcast stations was growing rapidly. Remote control in the day
meant a handheld unit with a cable attached to the main system. Crosley introduced
its first gendered radio model - the Monotrad...
 If you think electric cars are a new idea,
read on. I saw this article, "The Amazing
Collection in Thomas Edison's Garage," on another website (the equivalent of
Jay Leno's Garage from a century ago) and thought it was a special report,
but then I noticed it was actually a paid promotion. So, I contacted the company,
B.R. Howard & Associates, Inc., asking for permission to re-post it in its entirety
on RF Cafe. They kindly agreed to it. Per their mission statement: "Our company
focuses on the conservation of historic artifacts in accordance with the principles
defined in the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works
Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice." Their portfolio of projects include
transportation, industrial, scientific, military, and archeological artifacts. An
opportunity to help support the preservation effort is provided...
 OK, I am ashamed to admit that with just
a quick guess I thought Rx in question 6 would be 180 Ω rather than the
correct value of 20 Ω. I knew the ratio of 150 Ω to 50 Ω (3:1) would
be the same as for 60 Ω to Rx, but stupidly went the wrong way. In order for
the
bridge to be balanced, the voltage division between the left and
right arms of the bridge had to result in the voltages on both sides of the meter
to be 0 V. I did manage to get the equivalent resistances of Q8 ...
 Electronics World magazine editor W.A.
Stocklin commemorated the fortieth anniversary of the publication's existence with a
long look back to 1919 when it debuted as Radio Amateur News. Two months previous
to this July 1959 issue was the first instance of the name change from Radio &
Television News, which was known as simply Radio News from June 1920 through
July 1948. Finally, in 1972 Electronics merged with and became Popular Electronics.
The inestimable Hugo Gernsback, a prolific writer and inventor, was the progenitor of
this magazine series - and many other magazines, fiction, and non-fiction books. Stocklin
had taken over as editor a couple decades earlier as Gernsback moved on to other projects...
 According to the Radio Museum website, B.F. Goodrich,
of Akron, Ohio, manufactured the
Mantola line of radio receivers. It was evidently a low quality, low price,
short-lived run of models. The simplicity of the schematic shows the low parts count.
A lack of multipole filter circuits likely means selectivity was fairly marginal.
One good feature is that unlike many earlier radios and TVs, the AC line connection
is DC-isolated through a 150 kΩ resistor (R13). Look at the schematics of older
sets and it is not uncommon to see one line of the AC supply tied directly to the
metal electronics chassis. An isolation transformer right at the input is the
safest way to do it.
 This week's
wireless engineering-themed crossword puzzle, as is the case every
week, contains only words pertaining to science, engineering, amateur radio, physics,
mechanics, mathematics, etc. Making a special appearance is the name of the most
recent company to support RF Cafe through advertising. You will see their banner
graphical ad appearing in the right page border sometime this week ...
 It was a lot of work, but I finally finished
a version of the "RF &
Electronics Schematic & Block Diagram Symbols"" that works well with Microsoft
Office™ programs Word™, Excel™, and Power Point™. This is an equivalent of the extensive
set of amplifier, mixer, filter, switch, connector, waveguide, digital, analog,
antenna, and other commonly used symbols for system block diagrams and schematics
created for Visio™. Each of the 1,000+ symbols was exported individually from Visio
in the EMF file format, then imported into Word on a Drawing Canvas. The EMF format
allows an image to be scaled up or down without becoming pixelated, so all the shapes
can be resized in a document and still look good. The imported symbols can also
be UnGrouped into their original constituent parts for editing...
 This installment of "Stereo
Scene" was the 12th in a series run by Popular Electronics magazine
in the early 1970s. As mentioned previously, stereo equipment was a big deal in
the 1960s and 1970s. Amazingly - or maybe not amazingly - some of the issues of
the day have persisted through today's audiophile community. One of the most fervently
debated topic is whether audio power amplifiers that use vacuum tubes produce higher
quality sound than do transistorized power amplifiers. The pro-tube argument holds
that the physical flow of electrons and the ability of metal internal components
to vibrate microscopically in response to signals imparts a quality to the output
that rigid semiconductors cannot. Many attempts at designing circuits to artificially
add such "quality" to transistorized amplifiers ...
 Here is an editorial excerpt from a 1965
issue of Electronics magazine that could be from a contemporary news publication:
"If U. S. manufacturers continue to abandon their engineering and production for
Japanese products, they are headed for oblivion because they cannot
compete with the purely merchandising organizations such as Sears, Roebuck &
Co. and Montgomery Ward* which buy Japanese products too." Of course you could easily
substitute South Korea, China, Taiwan, or any other now-prominent technology company
in place of Japan. American economic "experts" assured us in the 1990s that we no
longer needed to manufacture anything; rather, we would become a service and retail
economy. That worked out real well, eh?...
 Sugar Grove, West Virginia, is within the U.S.
National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ), which also encompasses the Green Bank,
WV area. It was established by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in
1958 to protect hypersensitive, cryogenically cooled radio astronomy receivers
from manmade terrestrial signal sources. As you can imagine, there are not many
places remaining in human-inhabited regions of earth that are not massively
invaded by radio frequency energy. If you visit the area today, you had better
not have your cellphone, computer, or other RF-producing device turned on or you
can be subject to a hefty fine. Roving signal detecting trucks monitor the
region for offenders. This 1961 report on advances in electronics also features
the world's first computerized bank check...
 What got my attention in this 1955 Radio &
Television News magazine article was the "picture-on-the-wall"
concept being predicted by General Electric (G-E) engineers, based on its light-amplifying
phosphor invention. Determining exactly how the device works is difficult based
on the information given, but it appears that the ultraviolet light source which
is being amplified is projected onto the surface of the amplifying substrate, and
then an exact duplicate of the image is reemitted toward the viewer. The conceptual
drawing of a large screen hanging on the wall is most likely driven by a UV projector
located near the ceiling, akin to how the large screen home theaters popular in
the early 2000s worked (though with no amplification by the screen). Obviously the
scheme never came to commercial fruition since such systems were never widely used.
Other anticipated applications included x-ray fluoroscopy, photography, "seeing-in-the-dark"
(aka infrared night vision) devices...
 I and others joke frequently about the promise
of flying cars, automated homes, and miracle pills to cure any maladies that were
predicted to be commonly available by the end of the 20th century. Magazines like
Popular Science, Mechanix Illustrated, Science and Mechanics,
et al, regularly printed stories about these and a host of other inventions that
were just around the corner. Most have never been realized, but we're appreciative
of the dreamers and those people who dedicated their lives - often to the point
of financial and/or physical ruin - while trying to succeed. Taking a different
approach, Edwin Lawrence, in this 1956 article in Popular Electronics,
solicits readers to consider inventing a few 'needed
inventions" that he throws out. Among them death ray that will incapacitate
or kill at great distances, a speech-into-writing translator, a buried explosive
detector, a 3-dimensional visual display, a device for recording television programs,
and a handful of other ideas. Interested parties are bade to contact the National
Inventor's Council...
 For a few years, each month's edition
of Radio-Electronics magazine included a column entitled "The Radio Month,"
which was a collection of a dozen or so relevant news items. The March 1953 issue
reported on transistorized hearing aids (those old vacuum tube types didn't fit
in your ear very well), how the number of TV sets in the U.S. had out-paced the
number of telephones thanks to new UHF channels, the continued rapid expansion of
television in Europe, and the upcoming 1953 I.R.E. Show (Institute of Radio Engineers)
in New York City. Of particular note was the new germanium ore source discovered
in Kentucky - not the first place I think of with a semiconductor mother lode. At
the time,
germanium (Ge) was still the primary element used in transistors and diodes,
although silicon was making rapid inroads. The story was germanium sold for $350
per pound in pure metallic form...
 Seamless integration of wireless communications
with wired communications has not always been a yawn in technical strategy discussions.
It has really only been since the early 1990s with the introduction of ubiquitous
cellphone systems that someone on a wireless device could connect directly with
a wired (i.e., landline) contact and not need an intermediary operator to facilitate.
Some
military comms, the Inmarsat system and a few other proprietary systems were
available, but not to the public at large. This article reports on some of the
Army's early attempts at implementing wireless-to-wired communications,
specifically as implemented during the Normandy Invasion on D-Day. Unlike
present day systems that rely heavily on data compression and massive
multiplexing, those systems allocated the standard audio (voice) bandwidth ... Friday 17
 Dang, I swapped two answers and scored an
80%. Haste makes waste, as the saying goes. Don't rush through this 1967 Popular
Electronics "Electronic Angle Quiz" like I did and you'll probably ace it with
the greatest of ease - especially if you have been in the electronics realm at least
since the 1980s. Generation X'ers can have a two-question handicap (might never
have seen real-life example of drawing "A" or "E") and Millennials (might never
have seen drawing "A," "B," "D," or "H") get a four-question handicap...
 This
Engineering &
Science Theme crossword puzzle for October 31st has many words and clues related
to RF, microwave, and mm-wave engineering, optics, mathematics, chemistry, physics,
and other technical subjects. 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., Reginald Denny or
the Tunguska event in Siberia). The technically inclined cruciverbalists amongst
us will appreciate the effort. Enjoy!
 Raise your hand if you have ever owned a
CB (Citizens Band) radio. Waaaaay back before everyone carried a cellphone (pre-late-1990s),
the most common form of
unlicensed communication was CB radio. Actually, up through the mid 1970s you
were supposed to purchase a license from the FCC, although no test was required
as it was for amateur radio. My first CB was a 23 channel job that I installed in
my 1969 Chevy Camaro SS, during my senior year in Southern Senior High School.
It was right in the middle of big CB radio craze with CW McCall's "Convoy" song
topping the U.S. Billboard charts. My self-appointed 'handle' was "RC Flyer." Most
people had no idea what it referred to (radio-controlled model airplanes). Now that
all cellphones use internal antennas, almost nobody even thinks of them as being
radios. CB radios reminded you of their true nature by requiring that a 1/4-wave
vertical antenna (typically with a loading coil to keep it shorter than its 27 MHz
operational frequency...
Anytime I see a photo or story about the
1964 New York World's Fair, I immediately think of the scene at
the end of the first "Men in Black" movie when Agents K and J face off with the
alien invader who has come to Earth in search of "The Galaxy." This story from an
April 1964 issue of Electronics magazine reports on preparations made for
the grand opening on April 22 of that year. Based on the typical three to six month
lead time for publishing magazines back in the day, this material would have been
gathered long ahead of time. Of course now that half a century has passed we hardly
consider any of the whiz-band technology presented there as being anything wonderful,
but then half a century from now our grandkids will laugh at what we consider amazing
at the present time. Here is an interesting statement from the article that really
gives you an idea of generational progress: "The World's Fair alone will contain
some 300 television..."
 The newest release of RF Cafe's spreadsheet
(Excel) based engineering and science calculator is now available -
Espresso Engineering Workbook™. Among other additions, it now has a Butterworth
Bandpass Calculator, and a Highpass Filter Calculator that does not just gain, but
also phase and group delay! Since 2002,
the original Calculator Workbook has been available as a free download.
Continuing the tradition, RF Cafe Espresso Engineering Workbook™ is
also provided at no cost,
compliments of my generous sponsors. The original calculators are included, but
with a vastly expanded and improved user interface. Error-trapped user input cells
help prevent entry of invalid values. An extensive use of Visual Basic for Applications
(VBA) functions now do most of the heavy lifting with calculations, and facilitates
a wide user-selectable choice of units for voltage, frequency, speed, temperature,
power, wavelength, weight, etc. In fact, a full page of units conversion calculators
is included. A particularly handy feature is the ability to specify the the number
of significant digits to display. Drop-down menus are provided for convenience...
 All RF Cafe quizzes would make perfect fodder
in employment interviews for technicians or engineers - particularly those who are
fresh out of school or are relatively new to the work world. Come to think of it,
they would make equally excellent study material for the same persons who are going
to be interviewed for a job. This particular quiz challenges your knowledge of
radar fundamentals. Do you know what a
"radar mile" is? Bon chance. |
