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Today in Science History -
 An ability to interpret the
display on an oscilloscope is absolutely essential to efficiently diagnose a
circuit when troubleshooting. In the days of an electronics repair shop in every
town when televisions, radios, phonographs, tape recorders, and other consumer gizmos
were actually meant to be repaired rather than thrown away and replaced, technicians
needed to be able to compare a measured signal to the one represented in the factory
service manual, or what was known from experience to be the expected signal. Especially
with TV where complex analog broadcast signals were decoded and routed to circuits
for stereo audio, red, green and blue color channels, scan synchronizations, and
other functions, phase shifts and signal distortion caused by any number of component
failures or parameter changes could be very difficult to troubleshoot. If you have
read some of the "Mac's Radio Service Shop" episodes...
 "Researchers at UC San Diego may have found
a solution that enables
lithium-ion batteries to be safely recharged within minutes for thousands of
cycles. Quick battery recharge is something scientists are constantly working on
as people get more and more dependent on their electronic devices. Now researchers
at UC San Diego may have found a solution in a new anode material that enables lithium-ion
batteries to be safely recharged within minutes for thousands of cycles. The material
is a disordered rock salt, which is comprised of earth-abundant lithium, vanadium,
and oxygen atoms..."
 Just in time for Halloween: "A Radioman's
Nightmare" - another sampling of electronics poetry, circa 1945... BTW, for
those unfamiliar with "Mairzy Doats," the song is a comical slurring of words
that make new, nonsensical words in the process. 'Mairzy Doats', for instance,
is a slurring of 'Mares Eat Oats,' 'And Liddle Lamzy Divey' is really 'And
Little Lambs Eat Ivy." "Mairzy Doats" was written in 1943...
 A
new AWR.TV video playlist features seven videos that enable users to take a
deep dive into the key features in the V15 release of Cadence® AWR Design Environment®
software. The V15 videos highlight: New and improved antenna measurements for peak
power, including direction, total power, and amount of power radiated in peak direction.
Driving circuitry in calculations can also be included. New electromagnetic (EM)
features in the AWR® AXIEM® and Analyst™ simulators. AXIEM software offers improved
meshing with fewer high-aspect ratio facets (HARFs), a true DC solver for biasing
that is 40X faster and sub nanometer meshing for metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors...
 Nova Microwave is a leader in technically differentiated
electronic and radio frequency Ferrite Circulators and Isolators that connect, protect and control
critical commercial and military wireless telecommunications systems. Our staff
is dedicated to research and development of standard and custom design quality Ferrite
Circulators and Isolators from 380 MHz to 26.5 GHz. Available in single
or multi-junction topographies, the Nova Microwave product line of is specifically
designed for use in varied environmental and temperature extremes.
 Radio-Electronics magazine ran a
regular industry news column entitled "The Radio Month." The headline item in the
December 1949 issue was the emergence of a new type of digital memory device using
nearly microscopic
magnetic toroidal coils with a matrix of even tinier wires threaded through
them in order to write and read 1's and 0's. RCA created this 10,000-bit magnetic
core memory assembly in order to overcome the size and speed limitations of alternate
methods available in the day - primarily mercury-based delay lines. UNIVAC II,
commissioned in 1958, was the first major digital electronic computer to use this
magnetic core memory, but given that transistor development was still in its infancy,
vacuum tubes were used to address...
 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...
 "SDA announced October 5 two contract awards
for the first generation of the
Tracking Layer. These awards represent the next major and highly visible steps
toward developing the National Defense Space Architecture's inaugural tranche (called
Tranche 0). Once fully operational, the SDA Tracking Layer will consist of a proliferated
heterogeneous constellation of Wide Field of View (WFOV) space vehicles (SVs) that
provide persistent global coverage and custody capability combined with the Missile
Defense Agency (MDA) Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) Medium
Field of View (MFOV) SVs that provide precision global access capability. This set
of contract awards will initiate the development of the first eight low-cost proliferated
WFOV SVs..."
 There is an old adage that goes thusly: "If
you want to build an
oscillator, design an amplifier. If you want to build an amplifier, design an
oscillator." Its basis is the difficulty that can be experienced in obtaining the
right combination of feedback phase and amplitude. Of course experience, use of
simulators, and careful circuit construction minimize the opportunity for validating
that saying. The basic requirement for an oscillator is feedback from the output
to the input that is in-phase and great enough in amplitude to maintain, via the
amplifier's gain factor, a constant output level. Tuned L-C (inductor-capacitor)
tank circuits are often used as simple frequency-determining elements because of
their combined resonance characteristics. Phase shift oscillators are a type of
oscillator that can be built without inductors...
 Silicon Labs, a leading provider of silicon,
software and solutions, today announced a new high reliability (HiRel) isolation
partnership with Teledyne e2v HiRel, a leading provider of high-performance, high-reliability
semiconductors to the aerospace and defense market. Under the new agreement, Teledyne
will offer a new specialized line of high reliability products based on Silicon
Labs'
isolated gate driver technology optimized for space, aerospace, military and
oil and gas markets. Teledyne e2v HiRel will market custom high reliability solutions
based on Silicon Labs' Si827x isolated gate driver family that are optimized for
space, aerospace, military, oil and gas and other markets requiring advanced technology
and high reliability...
 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.
 RCA (Radio Corporation of America) is not
really the first company name that comes to mind when thinking about
radar, be it weather, aircraft navigation, or nautical navigation. Instead,
I think of radios and televisions and even satellites; RCA developed the circa 1958
SCORE series. According to this 1955 article in Radio & Television News
magazine, RCA designed and built a a C-band airborne radar system for detecting
adverse weather conditions enroute, at a range of up to 150 miles. Operating at
around 5.4 GHz at 75 kW peak, the AVQ-10 radar unit was primarily meant
for weather avoidance rather than for terrain and aircraft avoidance. The installed
weight of 125 pounds was rather amazing considering the use of vacuum tubes and
a CRT display (also a vacuum tube), along with leaded passive components and bulky,
heavy (relatively) transformers for providing high voltage...
 PCBONLINE, a one-stop custom PCB/PCBA manufacturer
for prototypes, small-batch, and massive production, recently published a technical
blog to explain
how to create a custom PCBA. It answers what is a PCBA, how to create a custom
PCBA, the techniques used for manufacturing the PCBA, etc. When a PCB is mounted
with electronic components, it becomes a PCBA (printed circuit board assembly),
which is a semi-finished electronic product that achieves the vital function of
an electronic device. PCBAs are used in almost all electronics industries. PCBAs
manufactured by PCBONLINE include the high frequency PCBA, multilayer PCBA, rigid-flex
PCBA, aluminum PCBA, etc. 1 to 100 layer PCBAs can be delivered in 3 days...
 "For around 10 years, smartphones and computer
screens have been based on a display technology composed of so-called thin film
transistors. These are inorganic transistors that require very little power, and
they have proven themselves capable, given their widespread adoption. But they have
limits that researchers have been busy trying to overcome. 'We explore new ways
to improve upon thin film transistors, such as new designs or new methods of manufacture,'
said Gyo Kitahara, a Ph.D. student from the Department of Applied Physics. 'Organic
thin film transistors, for example, have a bright future in LCD screen devices.
Compared to the inorganic kind currently used..."
 Here is an advertisement by
RCA Victor (Radio Corporation of America) from the November 6, 1948, edition
of the The Saturday Evening Post. As was common in the day, the company
specifically addresses Americans in an American magazine. Rarely anymore does a
major American company use the word "America" or "American" in promotional material
because of globalism and the fear of being too committed to the well-being of its
native country. The same is true of most western countries' corporations, where
their country names can be substituted for "America" in this piece. Up through about
the 1980s it was commonplace to specifically address countrymen. Once manufacturers
ramped up offshoring efforts the practice began disappearing. Offshoring is distinctly
different from importing another...
 ConductRF is pleased to offer
Low Smoke / Zero Halogen Jacketed RF Cables for various applications Indoor
and Outdoor for Naval Ship-Board applications. We have two ranges of solutions aimed
at differing RF requirements with our SBA series aimed at Higher Frequency 18 GHz
needs. These are 100% factory tested to exacting VSWR and Loss standards because,
We know, Results Count! ConductRF manufactures a range RF Cables in support of Ship
Board applications, where Low Smoke, Zero Halogen requirements are mandated. These
cable have Low Smoke Polyolefin Jackets that are suitable for Ship Board Environments.
The Cable solutions are commonly available in 3 sizes with cable OD of 0.240", 0.405"
and 0.590"...
 PCB Directory is the largest directory of
Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Manufacturers,
Assembly houses, and Design Services on the Internet. We have listed the leading
printed circuit board manufacturers around the world and made them searchable by
their capabilities - Number of laminates used, Board thicknesses supported, Number
of layers supported, Types of substrates (FR-4, Rogers, flexible, rigid), Geographical
location (U.S., China), kinds of services (manufacturing, fabrication, assembly,
prototype), and more. Fast turn-around on quotations for PCB fabrication and assembly.
 It seems Amateur radio operators in every
country have perpetually been in a battle against government bureaucrats. Early
on, Hams were allocated small segments of available "usable" spectrum and a fairly
wide swath of the less desirable spectrum. That was especially true of the microwave
bands when there was not a lot of components and equipment available that could
operate at the higher frequencies. Those familiar with history are familiar with
the situation where Amateurs developed a lot of the technology for operating in
the upper MHz and into the GHz realm, and then the government snatched it from them
for commercial and military use. Hams pretty much pioneered
atmospheric scatter as a means for long distance (DX), over-the-horizon communications
using those upper frequencies. This editorial from a 1955 issue of Radio & Television
News magazine reports on a relatively newer...
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