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Module w/Diversity Xfer Switch
 RFMD's new
RFFM6904 is a single-chip front-end module (FEM) for applications in the 868 MHz/900 MHz
ISM Band. It addresses the need for aggressive size reduction for typical portable
equipment RF front-end design and greatly reduces the number of components outside
of the core chipset, thus minimizing the footprint and assembly cost of the overall
solution.
 This is cool. I saw a
U.S. Air Force recruitment ad in a 1960 edition of Popular Electronics pitching
careers as radar operators (air traffic control) and
technicians (maintenance). The picture has the dual-display
glide path and elevation sweeps from the MPN/13/14 radar system that I worked on
in the late 1970s - early 1980s. A photo I took circa 1980 of our unit based at
Robins AFB, Georgia, is shown below. The precision approach radar
(PAR) operated at x-band (10 GHz)
with an operational range of 10 nautical miles. The
Equipment Trailer nearest in photo, Maintenance trailer inline and connected
to the rear, RAPCON separate and to the right. ASR & IFF antennas toward center
of trailer, PAR Elevation antenna nearest. (circa 1979-82)
azimuth and elevation antennas were mechanically swept with...
by Kumu Networks (Startup)
 Kumu Networks, has commercialized some RF technology
that was developed at Stanford University. Our research there was concerned with
building full-duplex transceivers, operating in the same frequency band at the same
time! We're currently making our first hires, and are looking for Senior RF Engineers
to help us build our first product!
Measurements in the Field
 Techniques for Precise Interference Measurements
in the Field, by Agilent and TESSCO, September 26, 2012, 1:00 PM ET. Testing
interference in a wireless environment is no easy task, demanding new measurement
techniques and placing added requirements on existing measurement instrumentation.
Addressing it effectively requires an advanced measurement tool like a high-performance
spectrum analyzer, to evaluate, monitor and manage the interference levels between
various wireless systems.
Heathkit TCR-1, MOBIDIC
For many years, Popular Electronics had a
monthly column titled "Transistor Topics" that reported on news in the world of
those newfangled semiconductors. To wit, this article from the April 1960 edition
begins, "Each month, more and more transistorized consumer products are developed
as replacements for vacuum-tube designs." The Heathkit TCR-1 clock radio is featured
for its six-transistor superheterodyne AM receiver circuit. A mechanical clock is
still used since other than using Nixie tubes, digital displays were not commercially
available. The MOBIDIC "super" computer is also covered for its total transistorization.
At about 4 feet wide and 6 feet tall, it is hard to believe that the "MOB" portion
of the acronym stands for "mobile...
and Humor
Turtles or Snakes- Which do cars hit more?
ROADKILL EXPERIMENT, by Mark Rober.
My daughter, Sally, sent
me this video link. For some reason she thought I would appreciate it - probably
due to my love of the scientific method ;-)
Radio host Sam Roberts
(never heard of him) is on the scene in Manhattan
talking to someone who has been sitting in line for her new
iPhone 5 for two days. Recently
posted, this video has near half a million views already. Incoherency, irrationality
and self-contradiction are mild adjectives for describing the poor girl's responses
to Sam's questions. In her defense, sitting in line for two days straight can take
its toll on the mind... but then sitting in line for a phone for two days is not
much of a defense for incoherency, irrationality and self-contradiction. Some people
think it's staged since she is well groomed and wearing nice clothes. What do you
think???
Data-Corrupting Pocket
 Sherlock Ohms is a regular feature of Design
News that presents submissions from readers about troubleshooting challenges and
how they were solved. This one is titled "Case of the Data-Corrupting Pocket"
the Internet
Here is an interesting article in the
NY Times discussing the immense amount of power consumed
by Internet data centers. Google's
consume nearly 300 MW and Facebook's about 60 MW. They require an awful lot of coal,
natural gas, uranium, and wood chips; i.e., not very green. Only a small percentage
comes from wind and solar. A consulting firm determined that only 6-12% of power
was actually used by microprocessors to run the machines; the rest was feeding idle
circuits on standby for surges or as redundancy in case of failures. I'm guessing
the people who claim to boycott non-eco-friendly businesses do not opt themselves
out of Internet usage... but think you and I should.
RF & Connector Technology
(RFCT), +82 505 274 0002 / Suwon, Kyounggi ,Korea Coaxial connector, cable assembly,
RF passive components, WiFi routers.
Crossword for 9/23/2012
For the sake of avid cruciverbalists, each
week I create a new
crossword puzzle
that has a theme related to engineering, mathematics, chemistry, physics, and other
technical words. You will never be asked the name of a movie star unless he/she
was involved in a technical endeavor (e.g., Hedy Lamar).
Vintage Christmas Catalogs
While searching for information on vintage
model airplanes and rockets, I ran across these pages from
1930s era Christmas catalogs from the Spiegel and Sears Roebuck companies. I
can remember as a kid in the 1960s carefully leafing through the Christmas Wish
Books when they came in the mail, being sure not to miss a single control line airplane,
slot car racing set, model train setup, BB gun, chemistry set, GI Joe action figure
(although they weren't called that at the time), backyard tent and camping equipment,
bicycle, mini bike, and a host of other "guy" stuff. According to the 1933 Spiegel
Christmas catalog, a tabletop 5-tube AC-DC radio from Philco plus an RCA Victor
phonograph combo cost $49.95. It sure seems like a heck of a deal until you consider
that the BLS CPI* inflation calculator says that price in 1933 is equivalent to
$885.19 in 2012 dollars...
September 2012 Newsletter
Q-par Angus has released its
September
2012 Newsletter.
 Q-par is pleased to announce the launch of
a high performance 3 port, 1.2 to 8 GHz, 180 degree power divider, intended for
use with dual polarised high power wideband antennas requiring balanced feeds.
 High performance microwave antennas and Microwave
engineering consultancy service available.
Awards from ZTE
Skyworks Solutions today announced that it
has received the Best Vendor and Outstanding Delivery Awards from
ZTE for supporting their growing RF business
without a single part shortage in the last three years.
Skyworks is now ZTE's leading
front-end solution supplier and has supported several major product launches.
Distributor for India
 Pasternack maintains inventory of more than
35,000 RF and microwave components and assemblies, all available for same-day shipment
from the United States. Spur
Microwave joins the growing list of international distributors who are helping
Pasternack expand their
product offering and customer service worldwide. With this new partnership, Spur
Microwave's customers now have access to the industry's broadest selection of quality
RF and microwave components.
 Here it is the year 2012, a full 81 years
after this editorial was published in ARRL's QST magazine, and nobody is any more
certain of the origin of the term "Ham" being applied to amateur radio operators
than they were in 1931. Being closer to the date of origin, though, might have given
editor Kenneth Warner a bit more insight. In fact, the term Ham is usually uttered
in a mildly pejorative manner; e.g., "he is such a ham." Per the QST's editor's
research, Ham might be a shortening of Hamlet, referring to Shakespeare's play and
the 2-bit actors who endlessly recited the lines in an attempt to impress others.
Analogously, a Ham radio operator would be a professional broadcaster wannabe. However,
Mr. Warner offers and even more plausible explanation that has the term descending
more directly from the craft of amateur radio operation. Read on to find out...
 The old adage about a picture being worth
a thousand words is validated often with charts and graphs made for science, engineering,
and finance. This chart illustrates levels of
collaboration between
25 countries on scientific papers published in 2011 in a select group of journals.
Author John Sexton uses color and line width to indicate origin and volume between
countries. Circumferential length is relative volume overall. He also includes a
similar chart showing internal collaboration within the 10 countries with the highest
scientific paper output. Per Mr. Sexton, in 1996 about 25% of scientific articles
were authored by people in two or more countries; today it is 35%. Non-commercial
"Big Science" projects like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, with multinational
funding, contribute largely to the increase. Aptly pointed out is how global access
to and...
 RF and Microwave Engineering: Fundamentals
of Wireless Communications, by Frank Gustrau, addresses a wide range of
radio-frequency and microwave topics with emphasis on physical aspects including
EM and voltage waves, transmission lines, passive circuits, antennas, radio wave
propagation. Up-to-date RF design tools like RF circuit simulation, EM simulation
and computerized smith charts, are used in various examples to demonstrate how these
methods can be applied effectively in RF engineering practice.
 4 tubes and sockets, 12 capacitors, 7 resistors,
4 inductors, 3 transformers, a crystal, a meter movement, a switch , a bulb, 3 jacks
(for a tuning meter), a project box, a handle and and little hookup wire and
solder. That's all it used to take to construct a home brew dual band (5- and 10-meters)
amateur radio transmitter as featured in the February 1941 edition of QST. You can
probably find all the parts at a Hamfest to make one today, but you will need to
modify the 5-meter band circuit to current 6-meter band operation since there is
no 5-meter band anymore (lost to VHF television)...
 It is common in electronics courses for an
analogy to be drawn between electrical and mechanical phenomena. In fact, a
lot of circuit analysis methods and equations apply directly to mechanics, and vice
versa. An LC (inductor-capacitor) oscillating tank
circuit is akin to a spring and dashpot. Resistance of a wire is likened to skin
friction of water flowing through a hose. Who among us can forget those lessons?
This Electronic Analogy Quiz from the November 1961 edition of Popular Electronics
presents a challenge both because some not-so-familiar examples of analogies are
offered, and because some are a real stretch. Therefore, don't feel too bad if you
don't get a few. That's my way of saying that I didn't get all of them right...
Graphical RF Signal Editor
 X-COM Systems, LLC, a subsidiary of Bird Technologies,
today introduced Version 3.0 of its RF Editor Graphical RF Editor software, the industry's most
advanced tool for modifying and building custom RF signal waveform files for use
in defense, commercial, and system verification applications. RF Editor Version
3.0 is more intuitive, faster, and adds useful features that expand its capabilities.
Microwave Test Equipment
everything RF, the leading online
RF Product Search website,
has now added a parametric search tool for Test & Measurement Equipment to the
website. Users can now search for Equipment like Spectrum Analyzers, Network Analyzers,
Signal Generators and Power Meters by specification across multiple manufacturers
and compare products that meet their requirement side by side.
for Continued Support!
AWR provides high-frequency EDA
software for the design of wireless telecommunications equipment & semiconductors
Microwave Office, Analog Office, Visual System Simulator™ (VSS), APLAC, Axiem 3-D
EM simulation.
 According to 39% of recruiters, the single
biggest obstacle for an unemployed candidate in regaining employment is having a
history of "hopping jobs," or leaving a company before one year of tenure.
31% consider being out of work for more than a year as the greatest challenge in
regaining employment, followed by having gaps in your employment history
(28%).
 Here's a little more
electronics humor from the November 1961 Popular Electronics. This time the
topic is stereo equipment...
as a New Sponsor!
Q-par Angus designs and manufactures antennas,
positioners, components and complete subsystems across the radio frequency spectrum,
with specialisation in microwave & millimetric systems. Custom products designed
to your specifications available. I recommend you read the story on how
Q-par Angus got their name!
 Australian photographer Chris Tangey caught
this rarely seen "fire devil" on video.
Just as a water spout is formed when a tornado touches down on a body of water and
sucks water up into itself and a dust devil sucks up dust from the desert surface,
this tornado landed on a brush fire and sucked the flame up into a 100-foot high
towering inferno. Hence the name fire devil. I wonder why water spouts aren't called
water devils?
w/ Separate Coupled Ports
 Innovative Power Products introduces their
Model IPP-8051, a 150 watt,
20 dB, Surface Mount Dual Directional Coupler that operates from 800–2500 MHz.
The IPP-8051 is a unique broadband design which provides separate coupled ports
for both forward and reflected signals with internal Terminations. SMD package size
is 1.50 x 1.00 inches. IL is less than 0.40 dB, main line VSWR <1.25:1,
coupled flatness is < ±0.85 dB and directivity > 20 dB.
Call for Papers
 RWW2013 is presently accepting a limited
number of “Late News” papers. Please refer to
Summary Submission Author's Guide for the details.
Focused on Antenna Design
 AXIEM Application Note:
Design of a Near Field Communication Antenna System - This app
note describes a sample Rohde & Schwarz NFC design. AWR Connected™ Application
Note:
Design Flow for Base Station Antennas - This design note describes
how antennas designed in Antenna Magus can be exported as models to AWR's Microwave
Office/ AXIEM software.
Essentials of OFDM and MIMO
This webcast explains the
principles
of both OFDM and MIMO with an intuitive approach, and describes how they operate
so well together in demanding applications. MIMO is contrasted with other multi-antenna
techniques such as diversity and space-time coding. Common measurements are discussed
along with the practicalities of single-channel and multi-channel testing.
Contract Engineering Jobs
 "Career contractors." That's what Joseph Salvucci,
owner and CEO of Peak Technical Staffing USA, calls many of the engineers who find
work through his firm. These highly trained professionals aren't looking for full-time
jobs that will last them 20 or 30 years. Instead, they're looking for contract work:
short-term jobs — anywhere from a few months to a couple of years — that pay well,
offer certain degrees of flexibility and give them a chance to practice their craft
at a very high technical level.
Miniaturized VCO
 Z-Communications announces a new RoHS compliant
VCO model USSP1217-LF in the L-band. The
USSP1217-LF operates at 1210 to 1230 MHz with a tuning voltage
range of 0.5 to 3.0 Vdc. This miniaturized VCO features phase noise of -102 dBc/Hz
@ 10 kHz offset while operating off a 3.3Vdc supply and typically drawing only 13mA
of current.
...Just Plain QRM
 Here is a little electronics hobbyist humor
in the form of comics. For the non-Ham, QRM is the Q-code for "manmade
interference." You don't need to be an amateur radio operator to appreciate
those first two scenarios. The others are more generally related to electronics...
 Here is another
electronics quiz for you to try. It covers the functions of resistors in various
circuits. The quiz appeared in the January 1962 edition of Popular Electronics.
I got 100%, just for the record. Having worked with tubes helps with figure B since
it does not really have a direct transistor equivalent, but by process of elimination
you can get it...
•
RF Component Integration-Saving Space in High Performance Apps
(p.30), by A. Elghamrawl and E. Nash
•
Simplified Power Handling Analysis of Microwave Filters, by
M. Hagensen, Guided Wave Technology and A. Edquist
•
Harmonic Suppression of Edge Coupled Filters Using Composite Substrates,
by J. Coonrod
• Design a Double-Layer Shield, by R. Xiong, B. Chen, B. Zhou,
and Y. Mao
•
Building More Efficient Amps, by Jack Browne
•
Materials Pave Way to Military Advances, by Jack Browne
the Bypass Capacitor
 Bypass capacitors play a vitally important
role in electronic circuit design. Many people do not know the proper way for deciding
which capacitor or capacitors is/are needed for effective noise and/or signal bypassing
without either overdoing or underdoing it. Needs change over the years as frequencies
and signal characteristics occupy new realms of the spectrum. A Fourier analysis
of some of today's complicated waveshapes for switching power supplies shows how
sometimes tailored responses to bypassing is required. This article from the January
1962 Popular Electronics does not delve into the intricacies of complex filters,
but it does provide a nice introduction to the need for bypassing and how to stand
a good chance of being successful at it. In rare instances, no amount of bypassing
will solve problems with spurious signals and a more engineered approach is required
where the functional circuit needs to be modified (I know this from experience!)...
 Spur-Free Switching
Power Converters for Analog and RF Loads, by AWR, Beeser, & MWJ, Tuesday,
September 18, 11 am ET
Amplifiers Cover DC to
28 GHz
 Hittite Microwave has launched two new power
amplifier products which are ideal for microwave radio, EW, ECM and radar applications
to 28 GHz. Also released is a unique
wideband LNA which operates from 300 MHz to 20 GHz and is ideal
for wideband multi-chip-module and subsystem applications.
for Aerospace and Defense
 Analog Devices has introduced three high-performance
16- and 14-bit transmit DACs
with extended operating temperature ranges and high-reliability packaging for radar,
secure communications, avionics, and other defense electronics applications. Designed
for signal synthesis applications, including pulse-modulated waveform generation
and for synthesizing the modulated carrier in quadrature digital architectures.
The Search function is now working again on RF
Cafe. I did not even know it was broken until Google displayed an error message
on the Webmaster maintenance page. Somehow I managed to tell it not to index the
homepage so it ignored everything. This only affected Google search, not any of
the other search engines.
Rejecting 4 W at 4-20 GHz
 RF Cafe Circuits & Components Forum contributor
has posted a question asking about effectively shielding DC power cables when passing
through a shield enclosure. Please respond if you have an idea. Thanks.
Crossword for 9/16/2012
For the sake of avid cruciverbalists, each
week I create a new
crossword
puzzle that has a theme related to engineering, mathematics, chemistry, physics,
and other technical words. You will never be asked the name of a movie star unless
he/she was involved in a technical endeavor (e.g., Hedy
Lamar).
$1 Billion in Coins
 Remember the recent epic patent-related court
battle that resulted in Samsung being ordered to pay Apple one billion dollars in
damages? Well, Samsung paid payed up - with 30 truckloads of 5-cent coins! Per the
article: "This morning more than 30 trucks filled with 5-cent coins arrived at Apple's
headquarters in California. Initially, the security company that protects the facility
said the trucks were in the wrong place, but minutes later, Tim Cook (Apple CEO)
received a call from Samsung CEO explaining that they will pay $1 billion dollars
for the fine recently ruled against the South Korean company in this way." While
this certainly is hilarious, the fact is that it must have cost Samsung a significant
amount of money to have 30 trucks filled with coins and to pay for the security
for having it transported to Apple. Sure, it'll cost Apple some amount to process
the exchange (no pun intended on the "change" part of "exchange"), but Steve's ghost
and Apple shareholders are doing the real laughing as they deposit an additional
$1,000,000,000 into the coffers and then collect dividend checks. Word has since
come out that this is a fake story!
I will be away from my computer for a few hours at a time this afternoon and
tomorrow evening, so there could be a delay in responses.
PowerSmart® for Galaxy Note II
 RF Micro Devices announced today that it is
enabling Samsung's next-generation GALAXY Note II with RFMD's
PowerSmart®
Power Platforms – the industry's first and only converged multimode, multiband
(MMMB) power amplifiers.
Phase Noise Amp Modules
 Hittite Microwave has recently reduced the
list price of several of the GaAs HBT Ultra Low Phase Noise Amplifier modules. These
rugged connectorized amplifiers are ideal for high performance applications in microwave
radio, military & space, radar systems, test instrumentation and synthesizer
applications from 1.5 to 12 GHz.
 The ambition of amateur hobbyists has always
amazed me. In practically every area of technology, amateurs have contributed significantly
to the effort of pushing back the frontiers of ignorance by developing new applications,
improving existing products, and demonstrating to commercial companies a need for
new features or products. Many of those innovative hobbyists make a living in the
field they choose for off-hours recreation. As a heavy reader of technology and
hobby magazines of all sorts, I know this to be true for musicians, boaters, pilots,
radio operators, gardeners, science experimenters, woodworkers, and many others.
Levels of quality of finished products are awesome in the master class competitions.
The amount of money spent by some for their "hobbies" is shocking. This
laser communications article from the May 1970 Popular Electronics is a prime
example of that. The author uses off-the-shelf components to...
 Here is a really good introductory article
on electromagnetic
(EM) fields as they pertain to inductors, transformers,
and antennas. It appeared in the April 1942 edition of QST. The FCC had only been
in existence for eight years at the time and was pretty much just figuring out how
to regulate the heck out of everything. The author discusses compliance issues for
these newfangled RF devices that were becoming more and more numerous. Interestingly,
the first sentence says, "Every time you threw the transmitting switch in pre-war
days...," bringing to mind how the Feds banned Amateur Radio during most of World
War II for security reasons as well as to assure that scarce resources went toward
building and servicing military gear as needed. Many Hams offered their gear either
as a...
 VidaRF is offering
Low PIM versions
of the popular 7/16, Type N, and SMA connector that can deliver Low PIM performance
as low as -170 dBc Just like with all of the RF Components that VidaRF offers,
we are happy to build to your specifications.
 Analog guru Jon Titus has posted this short
review on anti-alias filters for use in digital sampling systems. A nice thing about
Jon's articles are that he will usually answer questions posted on the page by readers.
 VidaRF
offers a wide selection of directional couplers, dual directional couplers and hybrid
couplers, designed to cover 0.1-20 GHz. Average power from 50 W to 1 kW.
Standard coupling values 3, 6, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 dB. Custom solutions available.
Coupler, Circulator
 The
AM1650DC836 directional coupler operates from 800 - 2500 MHz with a 13
dB coupling value. The
AM625-875CIR191 circulator operates from 625-875 MHz with
isolation of at least 18 dB. The
AE803NS2065 bandstop filter has a notch bandwidth of 800 - 806 MHz,
rejection greater than 70 dB.
Without Really Trying
 Acrylic wall-to-wall carpeting really came
into vogue in the late 1960s to early 1970s - just in time for the arrival of
miniaturized microelectronics (is that redundant
or just superfluous?). Gate widths were being shrunken rapidly as the birth
of the Moore's Law era was in its infancy (born in a
1965 paper written by Intel engineer and co-founder Gordon Moore). The result
was copious quantities of electronic gadgets being zapped when the unsuspecting
user would walk across the Van de Graaff generator in the form of floor covering
and reach for a dial or switch. A couple thousand volts could easily build up on
a body clad in lime green polyester pants (remember the
era), then fzzzzt, there goes the clock radio...
Dynamics for Their Support!
Measurement and
termination equipment for RF Digital broadcast equipment - RF monitors, high power
meters, plug-in elements, field strength meters, line sections & elements, signal
samplers.
April 1942 QST
 "There's a WAR to be won." So goes the headline
in an advertisement in the April 1942 edition of QST magazine. Like many American
companies during World War II,
Cardwell Manufacturing Corporation gave its highest priority to serving the
needs of our nation's military. Patriotism was actually taught in schools back in
the day, and the majority of citizens understood the need to devote their efforts
to achieving victory, even if it meant putting personal interests on hold. The ad
content typifies that attitude...
Antenna Cosite Interference
 Antenna Cosite Interference Analysis in a
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), by CST, Thursday, September 13, 11:00 am EDT
Website of the Stars
 There is a new computer font available to
astronomers: Galaxy. Well, not really, not yet, but at some point there probably
will be. The rendition of "rf cafe" shown here was generated automatically by a
website called "My Galaxies." Thanks to thousands of volunteers worldwide that have
participated in The Galaxy Zoo's project of classifying galaxies, a set of letter-shaped
galaxies has been identified that can be used to write words like "rf cafe." It
appears that so far God (or the Big Bang - take your
pick) did not create a full set of upper case letter-shaped galaxies. Some
letters can be considered upper or lower case, like Cc Ii Jj Oo
Pp Ss Uu Vv Ww Xx Zz. As you might imagine,
there are number-shaped galaxies as well. After all, mathematics...
250 W from 500 MHz
to 2.5 GHz
 Narda Microwave-East today introduced
Model 2372A-2, a high-power, 2-way power divider that operates from 500 MHz
to 2.5 GHz, handles up to 250 W CW input power (2 kW peak power),
and is well suited for both commercial and military applications.
& Power Amplifier Modules
 Hittite Microwave has recently reduced the
list price of several of our pHEMT Low Noise and Power Amplifier modules. These
rugged connectorized amplifiers are ideal for high performance applications in microwave
radio, military & space, radar systems, test instrumentation and synthesizer
applications from 1 to 36 GHz.
Library for MWO (50+ Added)
 The Modelithics COMPLETE Library is a collection
of the industry's most advanced simulation models for passive components, transistors,
diodes and more. The combined product offerings of
Modelithics libraries alongside AWR's Microwave Office software
gives microwave designers immediate access to high-fidelity parameterized models
that better predict real-world behavior when simulated within the AWR design environment.
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