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Test Equipment Teaser Crossword Puzzle

Crossword Puzzle - Test Equipment Teaser, March 1959 Radio & TV News - RF CafeJohn Comstock created many crossword puzzles for Radio & TV News magazine, and a couple others, in the 1950s and 1960s. This one titled "Test Equipment Teaser," appeared in the March 1959 issue. It is not a densely populated grid with complex intersections of crossing words (unlike the RF Cafe crossword puzzles, which do have them), but at least with this kind, all of the words and clues are directly related to electronics and technology (like RF Cafe crosswords). Anyway, it shouldn't take you too long to zip through this one. The only clue/word that might give you trouble is 32 Across. Enjoy...

Exodus Mission-Ready SSPAs for UAV Counter-UAS Systems

Exodus Mission-Ready SSPAs for UAV Counter-UAS Systems - RF CafeExodus Advanced Communications' representatives, in discussions during last month's EMV (Elektromagnetische Verträglichkeit) show in Cologne, had many attendees express interest in receiving an Exodus brochure covering our RF amplifier solutions for drone (UAS) applications. Exodus supports defense contractors with a family of RF amplifier modules optimized for UAV, drone, mobile, and fixed Counter-UAS platforms. At the center of this portfolio is the AMP10008, an ultra-lightweight solid-state RF amplifier module that demonstrates what is possible when SWaP is treated as a primary design driver rather than a compromise...

Resistor Trial by Test

Resistor Trial by Test, February 1954 Radio & Television News - RF CafeThe cover of this month's Radio & Television News magazine is part of the issue's story on performance testing of resistors. The author was an engineer for International Resistance Company (IRC), which is still in business as part of TT Electronics. The massive ovens were used for load-life testing to certify resistor products for both military and commercial uses. When required, humidity enclosures subjected resistors to increased levels to test for insulation breakdown at high voltage. As the article observes, since a 10-cent resistor can take down a multi-thousand system, it is important to guarantee every component's integrity...

Please Thank Werbel Microwave for Continued Support!

Werbel Microwave Passive RF Components - RF CafeWerbel Microwave is a manufacturer of RF directional and bidirectional couplers (6 dB to 50 dB) and RF power dividers / combiners (2- to 16-way) with select models operating up to 26.5 GHz and 100 W of CW power (3 kW peak). All are RoHS and REACH compliant and are designed and manufactured in our Whippany, NJ, location. Custom products and private label service available. Please take a couple minutes to visit their website and see how Werbel Microwave can help you today.

Espresso Engineering Workbook - Free!

Espresso Engineering Workbook™ for Excel - RF CafeRF Cafe's spreadsheet-based engineering and science calculator, Espresso Engineering Workbook™, is a collection of electrical engineering and physics calculators for commonly needed design and problem solving work. The filter calculators do not just amplitude, but also phase and group delay (hard to get outside of a big $$$ simulator). It is an excellent tool for engineers, technicians, hobbyists, and students. Equally excellent is that Espresso Engineering Workbook™ is provided at no cost, compliments of my generous sponsors. 49 worksheets to date...

U.S.A. Calling - Your Meters Go to War!

U.S.A. Calling - Your Meters Go to War!, December 1942 QST - RF CafeAlthough the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, was a complete surprise and shock to the nation, that fact that the United States would eventually be drawn officially into World War II was well known. The amateur radio community had begun talking about the potential impact on radio communications hobbyists earlier in the year, as evidenced by articles printed in QST and other magazines. Within a couple weeks of Congress declaring war, all unauthorized transmissions from Ham stations were terminated in order to prevent both intentionally and unintentionally conveyance of information that could proves useful by the enemy. Along with being a patriotic bunch that were eager to help defeat Axis powers, they also...

Electronics-Themed Comics

Electronics-Themed Comics January 1950 Radio & Television News - RF CafeHere, for your work-week enjoyment, are a half dozen electronics-themed comics that appeared in the January 1950 edition of Radio & Television News magazine. When is the last time you saw a comic in a technical magazine? I particularly like the one with the "green worm" displaying on the television. There is a list of other comics at the bottom of the page...

New 8-Prong "Glass-Metal" Tube

Just Announced - A New 8-Prong "Glass-Metal" Tube (754), August 1935 Radio-Craft - RF CafeIf this Radio-Craft magazine article is accurate, it was sometime around 1935 that the 8-pin glass-encased vacuum tube base came into existence. The glass-metal designation refers to these being glass enclosed equivalents to otherwise metal encased vacuum tubes. Evidently, the relatively new (and expensive) line of metal tubes sported 8-pin bases so these glass tube designs had to conform in order to be suitable substitutes...

Don't Fry That Ham!

Don't Fry That Ham!, October 1960 Electronics Illustrated - RF CafeIf some of the images in this issue of Electronics Illustrated magazine were made within the last couple years, I would swear they were AI-generated. Surely, there are not really people as stupid as those shown here... but, alas, there apparently are. These photos were published in 1960. The ARRL has always published recommended safety practices - particularly regarding high voltages from overhead power lines and lightning strikes. How anyone, like the guy in the first photo, could ever even considering standing on a ladder and sticking his arm between even the 240-volt house supply line from the utility pole - without even a current-limiting device like a fuse or circuit breaker inline - is beyond comprehension. Clearly, the antenna already installed...

Mac's Radio Service Shop: The Worm Turns - and Squirms

Mac's Radio Service Shop: The Worm Turns - And Squirms, January 1953 Radio & Television News - RF CafeThis episode of "Mac's Radio Service Shop" goes down a drastically different path than most, at least until the very end where a completely unrelated anecdote about interference with a remote garage door opener is told by Mac. Although the exact issues chanted by electronics technician cum repairman Barney Gallagher regarding many manufacturers' penchant for designing and selling unserviceable equipment is dated, the principle remains the same. We have all wished a designer had to service the product he/she has designed and sold to us...

Scientists Can't Seem to Stop Going Missing Under Mysterious Circumstances

Scientists Can't Seem to Stop Going Missing Under Mysterious Circumstances - RF Cafe"Ten U.S. researchers and scientists have reportedly died or disappeared over the past 33 months amid increasing speculation about the cause of some of the disappearances, according to news coverage. Steven Garcia, a 48-year-old government contractor who allegedly had top-level clearance at a key nuclear facility disappeared in August 2025 after reportedly leaving behind his phone, wallet and keys, taking a gun and leaving his home in New Mexico on foot, NewsNation reported Thursday. Moreover, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. William Neil McCasland similarly went missing on Feb. 27 after leaving his home in Albuquerque on foot, the outlet reported. Eight other well-known scientists and researchers..."

Radio & Radar Crossword Puzzle

Radio & Radar Crossword Puzzle for January 24, 2016 - RF CafeFor the sake of avid cruciverbalists amongst us, each week I create a new crossword puzzle. All RF Cafe crossword puzzles are custom made by me, Kirt Blattenberger, and have only 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!

Bendix Models 636A, C, D Schematic & Parts List

Bendix Models 636A, C, D Schematic &amp; Parts List, February 1947 Radio News - RF CafeHere is Bendix Models 636A, C, D schematic and parts list as featured in a 1947 edition of Radio News magazine. No operational or alignment information was provided. The 636A is a tabletop radio using five vacuum tubes in the detector and amplifier stages, and a single vacuum tube rectifier in the power supply. Its shiny Bakelite cabinet sported an Art Deco style, which was popular back in the day. The images to the left are from a recent eBay listing, for $60, where the seller says it is in working condition. As mentioned many times in the past, I post these online for the benefit of hobbyists looking for information to assist in repairing or restoring vintage communication equipment...

Please Thank to Johanson Dielectrics for Support

Johanson Dielectrics - RF CafeJohanson Dielectrics has been a worldwide producer of high quality ceramic chip capacitors for over 60 years. We design and manufacture capacitors in a state-of-the-art facility in Camarillo, CA. Standard and high voltage SMT ceramic chip capacitors, as well as a variety of standard and custom high voltage & high capacitance value ceramic capacitors.

IGY - An 18 Month Report

International Geophysical Year (IGY) - An 18 Month Report, March 1959 Radio & TV News - RF CafeThe 1958-59 International Geophysical Year was an unprecedented eighteen-month global scientific initiative involving 30,000 participants from 66 nations who invested up to 1.5 billion dollars to study Earth's interior, oceans, and atmosphere. Utilizing military rockets and emerging satellite technology, researchers achieved major breakthroughs, most notably Dr. James Van Allen's discovery of the radiation belts surrounding Earth and enhanced understanding of ionospheric radio propagation, solar flares, and geomagnetism. While the project aimed to improve communications...

Erie Resistor Corporation Advertisement

Erie Resistor Corporation Advertisement, January 1952 Radio & Television News - RF CafeWhen I first saw an Erie Resistor Corporation advertisement in the December 1958 issue of Popular Electronics, I decided to research its history here in Erie, Pennsylvania, where I live. Click on that hyperlink if you are interested in what I discovered. This advertisement appeared in the January 1952 issue of Radio & Television News magazine, so I figured I'd post it as well...

Windfreak 5 MHz-8 GHz, 15-Band RF Filter

Windfreak Intros 5 MHz to 8 GHz, 15-Band, Switchable RF Filter - RF CafeWindfreak Technologies is proud to announces the availability of our FT108, an innovative programmable bidirectional filter bank spanning a frequency range of 5 MHz to 8 GHz in 15 bands. Band selection can be controlled through USB, UART or at high speeds through powerful triggering modes. Each unit is factory tested via network analyzer with unique data stored in the device to help with its use. Crossover frequencies are stored so the user can send a frequency command and the FT108 will utilizes Intelligent Band Selection logic to automatically toggle the optimal filter path based on minimum insertion loss. Readback of FT108 insertion loss at any frequency between crossover points allows for easy amplitude leveling...

Radar on the Great Lakes

Radar on the Great Lakes, February 1947 Radio News - RF CafeAn article title with both "radar" and "Great Lakes" in the title is sure to catch my attention, as did this. Author Norman Schorr reports on the state of the art of radar equipment and usage for the purpose of maritime navigation. Research and development, along with an ample surplus of components left over from World War II facilitated a rapid adaptation of radar to many venues. Included among its applications were airway and waterway navigation, rocket trajectory tracking, security systems, speed measurement, weather observation, and aerial mapping...

Many Thanks to Johanson Technology for Support!

Johanson Technology - RF CafeJohanson Technology (originally part of Johanson Dielectrics), located in Camarillo, CA, has for over 25 years designed and manufactured high quality RF & microwave ceramic chip capacitors, inductors and integrated passives. These includes chip-format antennas, capacitors, lowpass, highpass, and bandpass filters, couplers, inductors, baluns, power dividers, substrates, chipsets.

Infrared - A New Field of Electronics and Optics

Infrared - A New Field of Electronics and Optics, March 1959 Radio & TV News - RF CafeDetails the evolution of infrared technology, tracing its origins from William Herschel's 1800 discovery to its deployment in military and industrial sectors, are presented in this 1959 Radio & TV News magazine article. It emphasizes the shift from active, illuminating systems to passive, sensitive detectors capable of identifying thermal signatures in total darkness. The piece highlights infrared's superior resolution compared to radar, noting its utility in applications ranging from missile guidance and ballistic tracking to industrial quality control and chemical analysis. Since the publication of this article, infrared technology has achieved remarkable sophistication, evolving from bulky lab instruments into the invisible, ubiquitous...

Coupling to 300-Ω Flat Lines

Coupling to Flat Lines, August 1947 QST - RF CafeAn ample supply of surplus coaxial cable after the end of World War II provided an inexpensive and easy to use form of transmission line. Not having to worry about cable routing and unintentional radiation makes transitions through walls, running along metal surfaces, and routing high power transmission lines near habitable areas a no-brainer. Issues like power handling, bend radius, and higher attenuation need more attention during the installation design phase, but that pales in comparison to coaxial cable's advantages. Author Byron Goodman addresses some of the issues Hams accustomed to using flat transmission lines...

A New Pocket Radio

A New Pocket Radio, January 1955 Radio & Television News - RF CafeNot surprisingly, there is a website dedicated to only the Regency TR-1 transistor radio and its history from development through retail sales. As reported in this January 1955 issue of Radio and Television News, The TR-1 was the world's first commercially available, fully transistorized portable radio. A complete schematic and functional description is provided. It used four germanium transistors and operated on a 22-1/2 volt battery, which provided about twenty hours of listening pleasure. The unit weighed eleven ounces and cost $49.95...

Marconi - Father of Radio?

Marconi - Father of Radio?, January 1939 Radio-Craft - RF CafeThis is a must-read article for all persons interested in the history of wireless communications. Seriously. Stop what you are doing and read it. I guarantee the vast majority have never heard of this challenge to the veracity of Mr. Guglielmo Marconi's bestowed title of "father of wireless telegraphy." Most of us are at least passingly familiar with challenges to Samuel Morse's, Thomas Edison's, and a few other notables' claims to being the first at a particular technical breakthrough, but herein, as penned by of Lieutenant-Commander Edward H. Loftin, is a first-hand account of multiple successful challenges by the U.S. Patent Office against...

Please Thank ConductRF for Their Long-Time Support

ConductRF coaxial cables & connectors - RF CafeConductRF 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! 

¼-Wave Impedance Matching Nomograph

¼-Wave Impedance Matching Section Nomograph, March 1959 Radio & TV News Article - RF CafeThis nomograph from a 1959 issue of Radio & TV News magazine simplifies matching a source (sending - s) impedance (Zs) and a load (receiving - r) impedance (Zr) using a quarter-wave transmission line. To use it, locate your Zs value on the left vertical scale and your Zr value on the right scale. Lay a straightedge across these points; the intersection with the center vertical scale reveals the required surge impedance - also called characteristic impedance - (Z0). Surge impedance is the ratio of voltage to current for a wave traveling along an infinite transmission line, dictated by the physical geometry and dielectric properties of the cable, defined as Z0 = sqrt (L/C), where L is inductance per unit length and C is capacitance per unit length. The quarter-wave transformer relies...

Electronics-Themed Comics January 1949 Radio & Television News - RF CafeHere is a batch of electronics-themed comics that appeared in the January 1949 edition of Radio & Television News. The scene seen (hey, homonyms) on the page 138 comic was commonplace in the 1940s when televisions were relatively new and not every household had a set. The scenario repeated itself in the 1960s when color sets were hitting the consumer market. Now, people can watch TV on their smartphones while not at home so gathering 'round the television display in a store is relegated pretty much to little kids watching the Disney movies that seem to always running on them. There is a growing list of other comics at the bottom of the page...

Technical Headlines - RF Cafe

• U.S. Manufacturing Sector Flexes Its Muscles

• Meta to Ax 10% of Workforce Being Replaced w/AI

• Middle East Conflict Rewiring Global Supply Chains

• Ham HOA Antenna Protection in Indiana

• FCC Expands Use of Broadband Spectrum

Today in Science History - RF Cafe
Homepage Archives - RF Cafe

The RF Cafe Homepage Archive is a comprehensive collection of every item appearing daily on this website since 2008 - and many from earlier years. Many thousands of pages of unique content have been added since then.

How to Target RFCafe.com for Your Google Ads

Google AdSense - it makes good sense - <em>RF Cafe</em>One aspect of advertising on the RF Cafe website I have not covered is using Google AdSense. The reason is that I never took the time to explore how - or even whether it is possible - to target a specific website for displaying your banner ads. A couple display opportunities have always been provided for Google Ads to display, but the vast majority of advertising on RF Cafe is done via private advertisers. That is, companies deal with me directly and I handle inserting their banner ads into the html page code that randomly selects and displays them. My advertising scheme is what the industry refers to as a "Tenancy Campaign," whereby a flat price per month is paid regardless of number of impressions or clicks. It is the simplest format and has seemed to work well for many companies. With nearly 4 million pageviews per year for RFCafe.com, the average impression rate per banner ad is about 225,000k per year (in eight locations on each page, with >17k pages)...

Bell Telephone Laboratories Invents Wire-Wrapping

Bell Telephone Laboratories, October 1953 Radio & Television News - RF CafeIf you believe this 1953 advertisement in Radio & Television News magazine, engineering at Bell Telephone Laboratories invented the wire-wrapping process. A little additional research shows that indeed it was a Bell Telephone engineering team led by Arthur Keller who developed the method and a wire-wrap tool to do the job. Field technician needed a fast, durable, and reliable electrical connection when making hundreds or thousands of splices at relay stations and while up on telephone poles. The key to making a good wire-wrap connection is sharp corners on the wrapping post so that the corner pushes through any oxidation or contaminant on the bare wire. NASA and the DoD have exacting workmanship standards to guarantee...

Electronics-Themed Comics, June 1951 Radio-Electronics

Electronics-Themed Comics, June 1951 Radio-Electronics - RF CafeWhen looking a these vintage electronics-themed comics from Radio-Electronics magazine (and others), it probably is a case of "you had to have been there" to appreciate the humor in them. In a world of 24/7 broadcasting of every TV channel, the first comic wouldn't even make sense to someone who was born after about 1990, after which time most local over-the-air broadcast stations signed off at 1:00 or so, played the National Anthem, and then displayed a test pattern until about 6:00 am. The second comic is from the era of high voltages inside radio and TV chassis for vacuum tube plates and CRT accelerator grids. That big bulky thing the guy in the last comic is carrying is a thing called a cathode ray tube (CRT), which old people used to use...

Comes the Revolution - or - "40 Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong"

Comes the Revolution or "40 Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong", May 1966 Popular Electronics - RF CafePopular Electronics printed in April 1966 its first notice of new frequency units to be used beginning with the June edition. The May issue included this Old World Standards Breaking Through - Reader Response, June 1966 Popular Electronics - RF Cafepiece titled, "Comes the Revolution - or - '40 Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong'." Predictably, not everyone liked it. With the June issue came the promised change and along with it the first in a series of reader responses. I also found a reader's opinion from the August issue as well. Evidently, not everyone wanted to honor Heinrich Hertz by naming the base unit of frequency in his honor...

GE Model 250 Radio Service Data Sheet

GE Model 250 Radio Service Data Sheet, August 1946 Radio-Craft - RF CafeThe General Electric (GE) Model 250 portable radio was considered a "suitcase" style because it looked kind of like - guess what? - a suitcase. It ran on either 120 volts AC or an internal 2.1 volt battery. A charging circuit was provided for the battery, which was a nice feature so the owner didn't have to keep buying new batteries. Fortunately, there seems to be many of these GE 250 radios available in various states of reconditioning. eBay* currently has four listed ranging in price from $40 to $150. One listing has very nice photos of the internal workings and of the Willard model RADIO-25-2 wet storage cell battery (see below, right). Click on the thumbnails for larger images. The nomenclature label for the radio is fully legible. This Radio Service Data Sheet for the GE 250 radio appeared in the August 1946 issue of Radio-Craft magazine...

RF & Electronics Stencils for Visio

RF & Electronics stencils for Visio r4 - RF CafeWith more than 1000 custom-built stencils, this has got to be the most comprehensive set of Visio Stencils available for RF, analog, and digital system and schematic drawings! Every stencil symbol has been built to fit proportionally on the included A-, B-, and C-size drawing page templates (or use your own page if preferred). Components are provided for system block diagrams, conceptual drawings, schematics, test equipment, racks, and more. Page templates are provided with a preset scale (changeable) for a good presentation that can incorporate all provided symbols...

The Packard-Bell Color TV Line

The Packard-Bell Color TV Line, July 1957 Radio & TV News - RF CafeEven if you are even old enough to remember the Packard Bell line of desktop computers that appeared during the PC revolution of the late 1980s, you probably do not know that before making PCs, Packard Bell made television sets. Before that they made radios. Herb Bell and Leon Bell formed the company in 1933, then marketed their first radio model, the 35A. Neither Packard nor Bell had any direct family ties to the automobile maker or the telephone company of similar names, respectively. Packard Bell was sold to Teledyne in 1968, then in 1986, an American businessman named Beny Alagem and a group of Israeli investors bought the Packard Bell name from Teledyne...

How to Use Filter Equations in Software and Spreadsheets

How to Use Filter Equations in a Spreadsheet - RF CafeDo a WWW search for filter equations and you will find thousands of pages, including a few here on RF Cafe. However, if you want an example of how to implement the transfer functions in a spreadsheet or software, examples of actual code are elusive (other than maybe a Matlab or MathCAD worksheet). As one who has incorporated equations for Butterworth, Chebyshev Type 1, Chebyshev Type 2, and other filter functions in many spreadsheets and software over the past few decades, I figured it might be useful to post snippets of my code so that someone else can copy and paste it directly into other work. BTW, I do not consider myself to be a filter expert by any means and there is no ground-breaking knowledge here; it's just hopefully easier to find. Writing a macro to use in a spreadsheet is the preferred...

EW&RS Engineering Handbook - Doppler Shift

Electronic Warfare and Radar Systems Engineering Handbook - Doppler Shift - RF CafeFor a long time, the Electronic Warfare and Radar Systems Engineering Handbook was very difficult to locate unless you knew right where to go. Over time, some websites had been posting the file on their own servers, but it is a pretty big PFD file, and it really has not been very well indexed by Google or Yahoo or the other search engines. Therefore, I have broken it into smaller parts and posted it in HTML format. That will make viewing specific chapters much faster and easier. This chapter on Doppler Shift is typical of the manner in which subjects related to EW and radar engineering are put in layman's terms...

Mac's Radio Service Shop: Mac's "System"

Mac's Radio Service Shop: Mac's "System", May 1950 Radio & Television News - RF CafeReading an episode of "Mac's Radio Service Shop" always has me wishing I had been born a couple decades earlier and had taken the path of running an electronics repair shop. For sure it was no picnic either from the standpoint of needing to keep abreast of constantly changing product designs and finicky customers, but the thrill of the hunt (for the cause of "trouble") and the satisfaction in knocking them out (the "shooting") is something people like us (you, too, I assume, since you're reading this) understand. Back in my USAF days as an air traffic control radar repairman, day-to-day routine system alignments and preventative maintenance could be pretty dull, and most problems were fairly easily resolved in an hour or two. However, every once in a while a real doozy of a case would crop up that would have a full shift or two of fellow technicians agonizing over it until the cause was finally discovered...

Are Your Electrolytics Leaky?

Are Your Electrolytics Leaky?, March 1957 Radio & Television News - RF CafeAnyone who has dealt with older electronics equipment knows that one of the first kinds of components to go bad is the electrolytic capacitor. Materials used at the time degraded fairly rapidly, especially compared to modern materials, which facilitated leakage of stored charge between the rolled up layers of conductive plates and interstitial insulating paper (or other material) layers. As outlined in this 1957 article from Radio & Television News magazine, symptoms of electrolytic capacitor malfunction in radio and television are most often some form of audible noise, light or dark lines within the picture scan, or outright power supply failure. Since electrolytics are typically large valued capacitors, they are used in power supply circuits for filtering the line 50 or 60 Hz (depending on your country) AC frequency (and their harmonics) and for interstage AC coupling. This article presents a simple method for testing leakage levels in electrolytic capacitors to determine whether they should be replaced. Many restorers of old electronic equipment routinely replace all the original electrolytic capacitors because it is almost certain that leakage will either...

Jury Told of Fraud in Radio Telephone (1917 NYT)

Jury Told of Fraud in Radio Telephone (New York Times - Thursday, November 27, 1913) - RF CafeMotivated by the series of articles about Lee de Forest in the January 1947 issue of Radio-Craft magazine, I did a search of U.S. newspapers from 1905 through 1947 looking for news items on him. In particular, I was hoping to find something about the lawsuit levied by the Marconi Company against Lee de Forest wherein the judge was reported to have told him, "...to forever desist from the manufacture, sale or operation of any system of wireless telegraph." Alas no such information was discovered, but the search will continue. I did find this piece and many other interesting items that will be posted as time permits. Here, Mr. de Forest sued, with the assistance of the U.S. Government, an investment company for defrauding investors in regard to company stock sales, using a charge of mail fraud to assist in prosecution. Mail fraud, tax evasion, interstate commerce and other such non-state related charges were (and still are) routinely used by the Feds...

The American Radiator Delay League

The American Radiator Delay League, April 1933 QST - RF CafeHumor in 1933 was evidently very different than it is today. This is part of what was in the April edition of the ARRL's QST magazine from that year. Unlike the unannounced "April Fools" features that may or may not appear in a given year's April issue nowadays (the April 2022 issue of QST has a gag article on page 40 - the page 38 article is actually real), much ado was made over the gags back in the day. You might have noticed the humor in some of the older electronics-themed comics also sometimes invokes the "what am I missing?" response. Shown below on the left is the gag table of contents page and on the right is the "real" table of contents. I get the thumbing the nose by the little dude in the margin, and I get the play on American Radio Relay League, but what the hey does "Liberian Dog-Apple Growing" mean? Any ideas? Maybe you'll be able to appreciate the intended humor here...

RF & Electronics Symbols for Office™

RF & Electronics Schematic & Block Diagram Symbols for Office™ r2 - RF CafeIt 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...

The Eagles' Joe Walsh: "I'm an Analog Guy"

The Eagles' Joe Walsh: "I'm an Analog Guy", Kirt's Cogitations #354 - RF CafeEach month, the American Radio Relay League's (ARRL's) QST magazine runs a feature called "Member Spotlight." Usually, the person being paid homage is a non-celebrity who has done remarkable work to promote Ham radio. Occasionally, a well-known celebrity type gets the honor, as is the case with the December 2023 issue's personality, Joe Walsh (WB6ACU), who has been the lead guitarist with the Eagles rock band since the mid-1970s. Joe earned his license waaaay back in the year 1960, when Morse code proficiency was a requirement. In the articles he states, "I'm an analog guy. I like knobs more than a mouse." Many older Hams share the sentiment.  Having spent my teenage years in the 1970s, I am of course very familiar with the Eagles and the name Joe Walsh. Don Henley, though, is probably the name most associated with the Eagles...

Arvin Models 150TC, 151TC Schematic & Parts List

Arvin Models 150TC, 151TC Schematic & Parts List, December 1947 Radio News - RF CafeThere are still many old-timers and beginning nostalgic collectors out there who nurse heirloom and otherwise procured vacuum tube radios - like this Arvin Models 150TC, 151TC combination radio / phonograph - back to health (operating condition) and/or keep them in good health. While it is possible to purchase schematics, parts lists, and service instructions from many different models, there are still some that have escaped the scanners of those publishers. For those kindred spirits in search of such reference materials, I happily scan, clean up as necessary, and post this collection (see complete list at bottom of page). I have dozens more that will eventually be added over time, so check back later or send me an e-mail if I have an issue (check the lists first, please) of Radio News, Radio-Craft, etc. known to contain the information you need...

Simpson Electric Company Model 260 Advertisement

Simpson Electric Company Model 260 Advertisement, July 1944 QST - RF CafeI was first introduced to the Simpson 260 volt-ohmmeter (VOM) in the radar shop where I was assigned un the USAF. Here is the modern version of that classic, the Simpson 260-8 VOM; it looks a lot like the original. Here is an advertisement that I scanned out of my copy of the July 1944 QST magazine. It highlights the precision to which its meter movement pivots are manufactured. "While Simpson Electric Company, chartered in 1934, is a firm with a distinguished past, it is just as importantly an organization with a dynamic present and a definite future." There is an entire website dedicated to the history of the Simpson 260. The famous 260 Volt-Ohm-Milliammeter put Simpson on the map and cemented a reputation for quality that still defines Simpson in the marketplace today." You can still buy a brand new Simpson 260 (-8) from Amazon, or grab a vintage...

France Electronics Market

France Electronics Market, December 27, 1965 Electronics Magazine - RF CafeThis is the electronics market prediction for France, circa 1966. It was part of a comprehensive assessment by the editors of Electronics magazine of the state of commercial, military, and consumer electronics at the end of 1965. President Charles de Gaulle wanted more money spent on the military - their "force de frappe" (strike force). Compagnie Générale de Télégraphie Sans Fil (later Thomson CSF) was building ground and airborne radars, IC productions was ramping up; computers were coming online, and basic R&D funding was increasing. Unless you can find a news story on the state of the industry, detailed reports must be purchased from research companies like Statista. Their website has a lot of charts on France's current electronics market showing revenue in the consumer...

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