March 31, 2013
Every Sunday I create a
crossword puzzle using a word list that
I personally created and added to during over a decade of making puzzles. All of the words are related to engineering, science,
mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, etc. There are no numbnut clues about movie stars or clothing designers. Enjoy.
Contra-polar (negative)
energy is a concept that has been investigated by many researchers beginning in the mid 19th century, when the nature
of energy was beginning to be understood from a truly scientific perspective. Entire theories of universe and matter-antimatter
creation have been published, reviewed and refined. This article from the April 1955 edition of Popular Electronics
reports on then-current applications of contra-polar energy. At the time, most such work was performed in secret government
laboratories and at test ranges that were closed to the public and results banned from publication, but since that time
freedom-of-information-act requests have opened much contra-energy research information for public access.
Fissile Mass Fragments
This is an interesting
news item that made headlines recently. If its claims pan out, there could be a major shift in the electronics industry
in terms of both product costs and product reliability. Scientists have evidently figured out a way to bombard heavy element
isotopes with designer molecules to split the atoms in a specific manner, being able to produce atoms of gold, silver, titanium, etc., from
atoms of uranium, lead, and other commonly available elements. Although the fissile fragments are at least for now considered
an 'industrial' form (as opposed to for jewelry), it will greatly reduce the need for traditional
minerals and elements so that prices should drop considerably. It also means engineers can be more generous with gold plating
thicknesses on connector contacts, decorative trimmings, anti-corrosion coatings, etc. Materials engineers will be plenty
busy figuring out ways to exploit (and profit from) the new technology.
Capacitors:
Technology and Trends, by R. P. Deshpande. "Capacitor
technology is changing rapidly in sync with emerging applications. Capacitors are increasingly being used for energy
storage in UPS systems, in cellular phones, cameras and automobiles. In power utility grids, capacitors continue to enhance
transmission capacity and reduce losses. Capacitors: Technology and Trends provides the reader not only current usage and
trends for its application in the electrical and electronic sectors but also the basics of capacitor physics and the evolution
of raw materials and manufacturing processes. The book aims to serve as a ready reference to students, researchers, manufacturers
and users of capacitors."
Continued Support!
NIC is a leading manufacturer of custom
RF & Microwave Filters, phase shifters, diplexers, TCXOs, discriminators,
amplifiers, and many other RF / microwave assemblies. For over 20 years, they have been a trusted partner for military,
commercial & space solutions. NIC headquarters is located in Overland Park, KS with additional sales and manufacturing
operations in Washington, DC and India.
Author Pappenfus presents in this article
an alternative antenna for people operating at long wavelengths who do not particularly want or are prohibited from having
a Yagi or similar structure. At 80 meters, for instance, a Yagi is only a little smaller than a football field - or so it
seems. The sight of such a structure towering over a neighborhood house is to a Ham what the face of an ugly baby is to
its mamma (something only a mother could love, per the old yarn). A conical monopole antenna
may be a reasonable compromise. The conical monopole antenna is a base-fed vertical antenna having an omni-directional pattern in azimuth
but with an elevation pattern that keeps most of the energy down close to the horizon, where it belongs for long-distance
transmission.
Leo Esaki invented the
tunnel
diode in 1957 while working at Sony (Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo at the time). Tunnel diodes have
a very narrow, heavily doped p–n junction only around 10 nm (100 Å) wide that exhibits
a broken bandgap, where conduction band electrons and therefore on the n-side are approximately aligned with valence band
holes on the p-side facilitate the quantum mechanical tunneling process after which the diode is named. A negative
differential resistance in part of their operating range makes them useful for high frequency oscillators. This article
in a 1960 edition of Popular Electronics introduces the device's characteristics and potential uses.
...with a New Twist
My son-in-law, Matt, showed me this video demonstrating the
incredible thermal conduction property of graphene. A miracle material for seemingly every other realm of physics, thermo-conductive
pyrolytic graphite (TCPG) conducts heat with twice
the efficiency of diamond, and 6x the efficiency of copper and silver. Because of the extreme thermal conductivity, the
heat from the guy's fingers is enough to slowly force the
graphene sheet through the ice cube. In the future, the colloquial saying for expressing how easily a material is cut
might change from "like a hot knife through butter" to "like a body-temperature graphene sheet through an ice cube."
HPA Software Update Capability
A next generation, "size matters"
1 kW Power Amplifier from Empower RF Systems, already deployed
at a customer site overseas, had its operating software and user interface successfully updated via a software patch that
was downloaded from a secure web portal and installed with a USB drive inserted directly into the back panel of the amplifier. The
upload process was streamlined for "ease of use" with a self extracting and self loading file that contained all updates,
confirmed successful installation, and automatically reset the amplifier monitoring, control and performance parameters. No
operator intervention or procedures were required other than downloading the software file onto a USB drive and inserting
the drive into the USB port on the back of the unit.
Hams are a lot like most other dedicated hobbyists in that when it comes to enthusiasm
in their chosen pastimes, there are no international barriers. Such is evident by this 1933 article in QST magazine reporting
on a Hamfest in Japan. The world
was a much larger place back then with propeller-driven airplanes making multiple stops on their way around the globe, transcontinental
telephone was a service reserved mostly for the wealthy, and postal mail could (and often did)
took weeks or months to be delivered from Iowa to Tokyo. The first television broadcasts were only a few years old so other
than visiting far off lands, movies and photos were the only exposure the vast majority of people had to foreign cultures.
Amateur radio operators of all social and economic standings were more cosmopolitan than most corporate managers in 1933.
Their Long-Time Support
Skyworks Solutions is an innovator
of high performance analog semiconductors. Leveraging core technologies, Skyworks supports automotive, broadband, cellular
infrastructure, energy management, GPS, industrial, medical, military, wireless networking, smartphone and tablet applications.
The Company's portfolio includes amplifiers, attenuators, circulators, demodulators, detectors, diodes, directional couplers,
front-end modules, hybrids, infrastructure RF subsystems, isolators, lighting and display solutions, mixers, modulators,
optocouplers, phase shifters, PLLs, synthesizers, VCOs, power dividers & combiners, power management, receivers, and
switches.
iPhone 5 vs. Galaxy S3
Blendtec
blender guy Tom is at it again, this time pitting an iPhone 5 side-by-side against a Galaxy S3 in yet another
"Will It Blend?" adventure. This might be a first in Blendtec history
- two blenders going at the same time! ...and to think you were alive at this moment in history to witness it personally
(sort-of)! Slo-mo photography really adds to the excitement and anticipation. Early in the
game the iPhone 5 is really taking a beating by the
Blendtec Total Blender's razor sharp hardened steel blades, powered by one of the industry's most powerful
motors. The tough case of the Galaxy S3 is still intact long after the
iPhone 5 is reduced to fine black powder and a
few bits of metal. Finally, the challenger subdues and meets a similar fate, brought low by the relentless pounding of the
Blendtec. Hear Tom's hilarious description of the remains at the end of the video.
QST
occasionally ran a crossword puzzle with an electronics theme. This one appeared in the April 1967 edition. Enjoy!
Mechanical meter movements have been around
since the late 1800s. In 1882 Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval and Marcel Deprez developed a meter movement with a stationary permanent
magnet and a moving coil of wire which survives today as the dominant form. Lord Kelvin's galvanometer preceded d'Arsonval's
by a decade or so, but it relied on the Earth's magnetic field and needed to be properly oriented to work.
d'Arsonval's
movement incorporated a permanent magnet instead to improve sensitivity and convenience. I'm not sure why d'Arsonval
gets sole billing on the name - why not the Deprez movement? This article in Popular Electronics from 1960 is as relevant
today as it was half a century ago.
I will be traveling for the next few days and will have limited access to e-mail and
computer. Thank-you for your patience.
Terminations & Splitters
Microwave
Electronic
Components
of
America Electronics is pleased to announce its
Low PIM Loads / Terminations with
industry leading -170 dBc (typical) Passive Intermodulation the 698 – 2700 MHz bandwidth. Ideal for
IDAS & ODAS and In-Building, base station applications. Available in 20 W, 50 W, and 100 W versions.
All models feature 7/16 DIN male & female or Type N male & female connectors. VSWR 1.10:1 (typical).
Here is a
little electronics hobbyist humor in the form a comic series titled "Hobnobbing
with Harbaugh," compliments of Popular Electronics. Citizens Band radio and dirty hippies were the topic of
the day in the 1970, so that's what you see in a couple of these comics. The "Inventions Wanted" comic is my favorite, followed
by "Mayday... Mayday!" You don't need to be an amateur radio operator to appreciate these comic strips.
There is little
incentive to build your own field strength meter these days when commercial instruments are readily available and relatively
inexpensive. For instance, you can buy an MJF-801 FSM with a 100 kHz to 500 MHz bandwidth for just $30, brand
new. More sophisticated, calibrated instruments are available for a lot more, but this basic unit is dirt cheap. However,
if you want to read a little about the theory behind a field strength meter and see how one goes together, this article
from Popular Electronics provides that opportunity.
GPS Modules
The new R4 and F4 Series
GPS modules from Linx make it cost effective to add GPS capability to new and existing applications through a simple serial
interface. Designed with the SiRF-IV chipset, the R4 and F4 Series offer enhanced GPS solutions over older SiRF-III, with
improved accuracy to 2.5 meters, 2X faster cold start times using CGEE 3 day satellite prediction, built-in jammer remover,
and better reliability by tracking up to 48 satellites simultaneously. The
R4 Series GPS module can
be used as a drop-in replacement for the existing Linx SG Series GPS module, adding SiRF-IV technology to existing designs
at a lower cost.
2 Unmanned Aircraft Contracts
NuWaves Engineering announced today that it has been
awarded two contracts in support of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) programs related
to communication data link range extension. The awards, both from U.S. Department of Defense prime contractors and related
to small unmanned aircraft, include developmental work to customize NuWaves' field-proven
NuPower™ miniature commercial-off-the-shelf
(COTS) power amplifier (PA) modules.
Gift Initiative for a 4th Year
AWR Corporation
announces that it will continue to offer its popular Graduate Gift
Initiative to graduating engineering students worldwide for a record fourth consecutive year. The AWR Graduate Gift
Initiative program provides qualified electrical engineering graduates with free and fully functional one-year licenses
of AWR software, inclusive of Microwave Office and Visual System Simulator software suites as well as AXIEM 3D
planar EM simulation software.
& Schematic Symbols
Electronics symbols for schematics and wiring diagrams have remained amazingly consistent
for the last hundred years, although obviously many new ones have been added. You can see from this set of
standardized wiring diagram and schematic symbols from a 1955 edition of Popular Electronics what I mean.
Even symbols for newly introduced devices tend not to change. There are some variations such as whether or not to draw a
circle around a transistor or how many lightning bolt lines to use with photon emitters and detectors, but that's about
it. The digital world adopted IEEE Standard 91-1984 for logic and microprocessors, although you will still occasionally
see variants in symbols, especially in early digital circuit schematics.
Microwave for Their Support
For over 25 years Res-Net
Microwave has manufactured precision
RF & microwave
attenuators, terminations, and other components, and now
diode detectors for commercial, military, and space applications. Res-Net Microwave is a leader in the
development and production of the metal films required for these types of RF/microwave attenuators, terminations, and resistors
up to 2 kW.
for Android
Cabe Atwell,
a contributing editor for Design News, comes up with a lot of good stuff in his blog that focuses on hardware and software
design. This one highlights the
EveryCircuit
app for the Android market. "It is possibly the best circuit design and simulation app at the moment. It pulls in
SPICE models of almost every component out there. Anything
that can be done on a bench is in this app -- function generators, oscilloscopes. However, this app takes design to a whole
new level of interactivity beyond that of even desktop apps. Watch how every component reacts in the circuit." Its price
is a whopping $10.
QST often includes a
couple gag articles in their April issues. A successful ruse contains enough information to appear legitimate while lacking
detail that would normally be included in articles typical of the subject. I spotted three articles in the April 2013 edition
that are potential candidates, but only one am I absolutely sort-of sure is a gag. All three
suspect articles are technically feasible, but a lack of practicality is
what tingles my spider senses.
"For God's sake, go down
to reception and get rid of a lunatic who's down there. He says he's got a machine for seeing by wireless! Watch him — he
may have a razor on him." - Editor of the Daily Express (London), 1925, when TV inventor
John Logie Baird came to demonstrate
his technology
HR Person Won't Tell You
About a year ago Reader's Digest posted
a couple articles with confessions from Human Resources
representatives and hiring managers. They revealed some of the practices that can help get you hired, and some that can
keep you from being hired. Tips to keep you off the top of the layoff list are included as well. Here are a couple gems
to whet your appetite.
* The No. 1 thing in job security is your relationship with your boss. Even if he says, "I'm sorry I really wanted to
keep you, but they made me lay you off," that's almost never true. He probably made that decision.
* I know a lot more about you when you walk in the door than you realize. I'll search for you on the web and often use
my own personal network to do a pre-interview reference check.
* You're right to be paranoid. The company is always watching you, and there's a record of everything you do: every phone
call, every text, every tweet and instant message. At most companies, they save that data forever.
* If it's been a week or two and I tell you "I don't have an update yet," that often means there's a better candidate
we're talking to, but we can't tell you that in case they decide not to take the job.”
Listing Added
Mr. Nandi
Logan, of AnalogRFic Design Services company, invites you to visit his
website to determine whether the expertise he and his expert partners have to offer can be of use to you. Per Nandi, "We
are a group of analog & RF engineers providing design services & solutions. From the very first feasibility study
to the final finished product, our consultants provide world class solutions in a timely manner. We provide designs &
IP cores using the latest CMOS & BiCMOS technologies and on PCBs (FR4, Rogers, Duriod).
On chip analog & RFIC designs – complete transceivers & ADCs. RF board designs from the antenna down to the baseband
interface. Fast turn around MPWs & PCB prototypes. Expert witness services. Test & measurement services & automation
programs."
Their Complete Adventures
Carl & Jerry: Their Complete Adventures is now available. "From 1954 through 1964, Popular
Electronics published 119 adventures of Carl and Jerry, two teen boys with a passion for electronics and a knack for getting
into and out of trouble with haywire lashups built in Jerry's basement. Better still, the boys explained how it all worked,
and in doing so, launched countless young people into careers in science and technology. Now, for the first time ever, the
full run of Carl and Jerry yarns by John T. Frye are available again, in five authorized anthologies that include the full
text and all illustrations." I have posted a handful of the
Carl & Jerry stories from scanned copies of the vintage Popular Electronics magazines. If you want
old fashioned, clean adventures for yourself or your kids, this is it.
Vubiq has been added to the RF Cafe
vendor listings. Located, Aliso Viejo, CA, Vubiq utilizes
expertise in millimeter wave wireless to create disruptive applications for markets in which enormous bandwidths, low power
consumption, and low cost are key considerations. Current products include turnkey Tx/Rx modules and attendant development
systems in the globally unlicensed 60 GHz band, also 60 GHz wireless Ethernet links. If you've ever had a hankering
to experiment in the mm-wave band, this is your chance. See the MVP article on Vubiq in the February 2013 edition of
Microwave
Journal.
The folks at Rev Response have a pretty big collection of whitepapers on a very wide
range of subjects that are free for downloading. Well, not quite free - they do require you to sign in, but no $$$ is involved.
I make a few pennies on each download, so you're helping to support RF Cafe if you participate. Here are a few of the newer
ones that might interest you:
-
Migrating to BlackBerry 10:
-
Make Yourself Irreplaceable
-
Visio 2010 Quick Ref Card
-
How 3D Printing Works
-
Entrepreneur Equation
-
Before You Hire Employees
Field Applications Engineer
AWR has an immediate opening for a highly motivated,
self-directed Field Applications Engineer with experience using AWR's Microwave Office design suite, AXIEM 3D planar electromagnetic
simulator or other high-frequency electronic design automation (EDA) tools. The successful candidate will conduct technical
presentations and live software demonstrations to customers, including customized presentations as required. They will
support technical evaluations / benchmarks and drive the process to deliver AWR solutions, as well as support strategic
sales campaigns to generate product bookings at new and existing AWR accounts.
March 24, 2013
Every Sunday I create a
crossword puzzle using a
word list that I personally created and added to during over a decade of making puzzles. All of the words are related to
engineering, science, mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, etc. There are no numbnut clues about movie stars or clothing designers.
Enjoy.
Microwaves & RF:
Optimize Time Gating
in Spectrum Analysis, by Bob Nelson
Test & Measurement:
What's So Scary About Test Automation?, by Alex Henthorn-Iwane
Tower 4 Has No Base Current
Sherlock Ohms
is a regular feature of Design News that presents submissions from readers about troubleshooting challenges and
how they were solved. This story titled "Antenna Tower 4 Has No Base Current" relates a broadcast station engineer's experience in
troubleshooting a transmission cable problem
between the radio station and its tower located ¼-mile away. Anyone not familiar with the type of lines run over
those distances might be surprised at the culprit. Jim Flinn,
friend from my USAF radar tech school days, spent many of his post-USAF years running his own commercial radio broadcast
station maintenance company. The stories he has told and pictures he has shown me of some of those installations, which
he says is more the rule than the exception, make you wonder how anyone stays on the air.
High Power Limiter
TPMI Model Number
LM-30M3G-C3-1 is a high power limiter
that operates from 30 MHz to 3.0 GHz. This limiter can handle input power levels up to 5 watts CW and provides
a maximum leakage of +10 dBm. The insertion loss is 1.2 dB maximum with a maximum VSWR of 1.5:1. The recovery
time is less than 1usec. This limiter is offered in a coaxial package.
March 2013 Newsletter
Anatech Electronics has published its
March 2013 newsletter. As always, it includes both company news and some tidbits about relevant industry events, regulations,
and standards. Anatech Electronics' Sam Benzacar invites you to visit them in booth #2710 at the IMS 2013 trade show in
Seattle, Washington.
Capacitors: Technology and Trends, by R. P. Deshpande. "Capacitor technology is changing
rapidly in sync with emerging applications. Capacitors are increasingly being used for energy storage in UPS systems, in
cellular phones, cameras and automobiles. In power utility grids, capacitors continue to enhance transmission capacity and
reduce losses. Capacitors: Technology and Trends provides the reader not only current usage and trends for its application
in the electrical and electronic sectors but also the basics of capacitor physics and the evolution of raw materials and
manufacturing processes. The book aims to serve as a ready reference to students, researchers, manufacturers and users of
capacitors."
While
sorting through boxes of archived items recently, I ran across a pile of folders full of
U.S. Air Force documents for base assignment, shot
records, TDY deployment, training, performance reports, etc.. A lot of paperwork accrued in four short years. For out-processing
(1982), I was issued a checklist that required going all over the base (Robins AFB, Georgia) to collect files, turn in issued gear, and sign multiple statements regarding why
I was making the unwise decision to not re-enlist. Very few papers survived my purge; only the most significant remain.
Here are a few of those documents, arranged in chronological order of issuance. If you, too, were in the USAF, many will
look familiar.
Who cares about
television antennas these days, you're probably asking? Many people might care soon. The December 2012
edition of the IEEE's Spectrum magazine had an article titled, "TV's Future: The Broadcast Empire Strikes Back."
According to author Lynn Claudy, the ATSC is working on a standard called Mobile DTV in the United States. MDVT
enables broadcast stations to deliver programming to some cellphones, laptops, tablets and to moving television screens
in cars, trains, and buses. Furthermore, a scheme to enable on-demand programming, user feedback
(voting, polls, quizzes, games), and other advanced features is under investigation in research labs and field trials.
Local businesses welcome a rebirth of regional over-the-air-broadcasts to provide pricing competition with dominant cable
TV. So, although this article was originally written in 1958...
The Radio Club of Junior
High School 22 (WB2JKJ) in New York is running a campaign to get people to donate unused Ham radio gear. Per the group's website: "Turn your excess
Ham Radios and related items into a tax break for you and learning tool
for kids. Donate your radio or related gear to an IRS approved 501 (c)(3) charity. Get the tax credit and help a worthy
cause. Equipment picked up anywhere or shipping arranged. Radios you can write off - kids you can't." This applies to a
school near you as well.
U.S. patent number
3,102,311 was issued to a group of Thomas & Betts Corporation employees on September 3, 1963, for
a "Unitary Bundling Strap,"...whose purpose is to secure "linear
articles, arranged in bunched parallelism, with its tail end passed through its head and drawn taught thereon..." These
devices were originally used primarily in electrical work, but have over the last half century evolved in use for everything
from packaging to law enforcement. Can you guess what it is? Be careful if you are dyslexic and might misread the quoted
part as "its head passing through its tail end" or you might conclude it describes a politician.
Moments?
I normally avoid a headline like that,
but Rajan Bedi, author of this short story on proton radiation
susceptibility testing, really seems to like the term since it is used repeatedly throughout. It is funny and conjures
up a number of less-than-flattering images. We are accustomed to reading about testing with electromagnetic beams
(cosmic rays, x-rays, microwaves, mm-waves, etc.) and electron beams
(beta rays), but proton beams (alpha rays) are mostly an unfamiliar
entity. Most of us can tell you how to create the former, but how about creating the latter, and why is there a need to
test for susceptibility to them? How do you shield against alpha rays? Fast-moving protons, being large and heavy, can dislodge
atoms from semiconductor lattices, potentially affecting a circuit. Proton beams are generated using nuclear accelerators.
Spaceborne platforms are particularly vulnerable. The test setup described used thick, paraffin-impregnated blocks, which
I always thought were used for blocking neutrons, not protons, so maybe that is the secondary radiation mentioned. If the
proton source is anything other than a hydrogen atom (not deuterium or tritium), then it probably
has a neutron or two attached to it.
Brown, lead underpants, though, will stop the protons.
"YL" is the shorthand used by
amateur radio operators when referring to female operators - Young Lady. Although still chosen as a hobby in larger numbers
by men, ladies have long been avid participants in the art/science of Ham radio. The American Amateur Radio League's QST
magazine devoted this "YL News and Views"
column to their contributions many years ago - trendsetting in its day. This particular issue introduces Louise Ramsey Moreau
as its new editor. Her interest in Ham radio was piqued when she realized "all the women heard on their receivers were not
'just wives,' but licensed operators." The rest, as said, is history.
Bandpass Filter
R Electronics part number 3097 is a
2.5 MHz bandpass filter. The filter has a
minimum 3 dB bandwidth of 1.5 MHz and has a sharp transition to the stopband attaining over 60 dB at 1 MHz
and 4 MHz. Other center frequencies and bandwidths are available. Please consult the factory. Features 2.5 MHz Bandpass
Filter 1.5 MHz min 3 dB Bandwidth Sharp Transition to the Stopband 60 dB min at 1 MHz & 4 MHz 50 Ω Source and Load PCB
Mount Can also be supplied with connectors Data sheets are available at
www.krfilters.com.
Each week the IEEE-USA sends
out an e-mail that usually has at least one worthwhile - often more - story. Here are the ones that pass my test.
Nailing Your Performance Review Won't
Guarantee You a Raise
The Reshoring Trend is Good for U.S. Engineers
and America
Sci-Fi: Chicken or Egg?
Feds Plan to Increase Public Access
to Research-Related Publications and Data
GaAs Sourcing Strategy
RF Micro Devices announced today
a new Gallium Arsenide sourcing strategy intended to increase manufacturing flexibility, expand gross margin, and support
aggressive growth. RFMD will phase out manufacturing in its Newton Aycliffe, UK-based GaAs pHEMT facility and transition
most GaAs manufacturing to its GaAs HBT manufacturing facility in Greensboro, NC. RFMD will also partner with leading GaAs
HBT foundries for additional capacity. The transition will occur over the next nine to 12 months to support existing mm-wave
customer contracts. Once implemented, RFMD expects annual cost savings of approximately $20 million, or $5 million per quarter.
Low-Cost Drop-In Isolators
VidaRF offers low cost Drop-In, 1”x1”
Circulators & Isolators designed for various wireless and power
amplifier applications. The robust design provides high performance and reliability, typical specs: VSWR 1.13
/ Loss 0.25 dB / Isolation 23 dB, great IMD, and is magnetically shielded. Circuit tab can be straight or
bent flush with base for surface mounting. To help ensure long term performance in a variety of applications, these packages
are BeO-free and Neodymium-free. VidaRF also offers a wide selection of Isolators and Circulators designed to cover
80 MHz to 40 GHz. Configured to Coaxial, Drop-In, Surface Mount or Waveguide.
Symposium - April 14-18
The
IEEE MTT-S International Wireless Symposium (IWS) is being
held this year from April 14 through 18 in Beijing, China. It is a major technical and commercial event. The IWS is
organized by the IEEE. It is intended to provide bilateral technical and commercial access for the Chinese microwave
and wireless community, which is rapidly growing, but presently without sufficient interaction with the global community.
As the first of its kind, IWS will lead the way to similar events in other parts of the world with similarly developing
technical communities. The IWS will be an annual event, rotating between locations within China that have significant microwave
and wireless communities.
Do
you know what a Fahnestock clip is? Chances are you would know one if you saw one, but you never knew what it was called.
This article, requested by RF Cafe visitor Jan C., references a Fahnestock clip in the parts list for constructing an easily
tunable long-wire antenna. The simple circuit uses just a handful of components for matching the high impedance antenna
to a relatively low impedance coaxial cable feeder. A flashlight bulb and a few turns of wire act as an RF sniffer to tune
for best match. A high quality ground is essential to the setup's operation so the author describes using copper sulphate
crystals or rock salt to treat the ground rod vicinity for better conduction. It's a short article so go ahead and read
it - if for no other reason than to see what a
Fahnestock
clip is.
A Must-Watch Video
How many of us would like to believe
we have the guts to appropriately deal with this kind of pr**k? I love seeing guys like this get their
comeuppance. The world is filled with his
ilk who count on the public being too afraid to strike back.
Advertisement
Since I live
in Erie, Pennsylvania, an erstwhile very industrial, albeit small town, it is always nice to run across information on the
area in my electronics magazines. There are still a few electronics businesses in Erie, but as with most of the manufacturing
from long ago, high tech here is found mostly on the shelves of Best Buy and not on manufacturing lines. One notable exception
is Bliley Electric Company, maker of crystal
oscillators, who was established in Erie in 1930. Bliley still operates today in a building about two miles from my house.
This advertisement from the December 1958 edition of Popular Electronics is by Erie Resistor Company. In doing a Google
search, I found a brief history of the company on a UK website. According to the author,
Erie Resistor opened a
division in Yarmouth in 1932. Here is a reference to Erie Resistor Company...
Tube Tester Advertisement
A
few days ago I posted an old ad for
Radio Shack and mentioned the tube testers that used to be in the stores for customers to use free of charge. Of course
they also had a nice stock of replacement tubes for you to buy if needed. This advertisement for a typical
tube tester by Century Electronics appeared in the December 1958 edition of Popular Electronics. According
to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' inflation calculator,
that $134.50 price in 1958 (the year I was born) would be equivalent to $1,080.50 in 2013 money - not too bad really especially
since today such a contraption would be built in China.
- A.C. and Ohmmeter Ranges
Popular Electronics ran
a 5-part series on test equipment usage. This final article is on the
use of a vacuum tube voltmeter (VTVM). Also in this edition is a construction article for RCA's
VoltOhmyst VTVM kit, so the two compliment each other. Author Larry Klein discusses mainly the AC and
ohmmeter functions, providing both functional descriptions of the circuits and how to use them for making accurate measurements.
FET-input digital multimeters (DMMs) have largely replaced VTVMs, but they can still be found in some older electronics
development labs and hobby benches.
World for Support
PCB Material World is an independent distributor
and market maker of PCB raw materials. We buy and sell PCB raw materials such as Copper Clad Laminates, Copper Foil, Drill
Backer and Entry, among other items.
"My dynamite will sooner
lead to peace Than a thousand world conventions. As soon as men will find that in one instant Whole armies can be utterly
destroyed, They surely will abide by golden peace." -
Alfred B. Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prizes (those who can't do rhymes write in free verse)
March 17, 2013
Every Sunday I create a
crossword puzzle using a word list
that I personally created and added to during over a decade of making puzzles. All of the words are related to engineering,
science, mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, etc. There are no numbnut clues about movie stars or clothing designers. Enjoy.
As with most hobby and how-to magazines, QST has
had a long-running monthly column featuring handy tips from readers and sometimes from the column editor's (currently Steve
Sant Andrea) own experiences. It has taken various names over the years such as "Gimmicks and Gadgets" and now "Hints &
Kinks." This installment from the December 1966 QST presents a short introduction to a
VHF 'Lazy-H' antenna for mounting
in the attic (outdoor restrictions were common even half a century ago). It is of simple construction using lamp cord in
the configuration and element lengths given - still useful in 2013.
Selection Guide
Hittite Microwave has released the
March 2013 Selection Guide which summarizes over 1075 products including
20 new products. New for this publication is a Dual Low Pass Filter in the IF Baseband Processing Product line featuring
an integrated ADC driver, programmable input impedance, and adjustable output common mode voltage from 0.9V to 3V with a
2 Vpp signal. The Selection Guide is organized by RF & Microwave, Analog & Mixed Signal, Clocks &
Timing and LO Frequency Generation IC sections along with Modules and Instrumentation. The New & Expanded Product Line
section includes new Amplifiers, Crosspoint Switch, Data Converters, Mixers, Optical Modulator Drivers, PLLs with Integrated
VCOs, Transimpedance Amplifier and Transceivers.
When it comes to
low loss transmission media, it's
hard to beat waveguide and open wire. Open wire can exhibit less a couple tenths of a decibel per hundred feet at low frequencies,
but it is very susceptible to perturbations from nearby objects, wind and moisture. Waveguide exhibits a few tenths of a
decibel per 100 feet at very high frequencies, but it is expensive and difficult to work with. In the middle is coaxial
cable, which for a good quality product of appropriate size, you can get very low attenuation. As with most things, you
get what you pay for in coax cable. I once used really expensive Andrew (now Commscope)
Heliax coax cable on an S-band
radar (2.8 GHz) system that had only a little more than 1 dB/100 ft, which was necessary from a receiver
noise figure requirement rather than for transmitter power efficiency. This article from QST covers some of the basics of
low loss cable.
Low Noise Amplifier
PMI Model No.
PE2-25-218-20-12-SFF is
a 2.0 to 18.0 GHz Low Noise Amplifier that provides greater than 25 dB of gain while maintaining a maximum gain
flatness of ±1.5 dB maximum over the operating frequency. The noise figure is 4.5 dB typical and offers an OP1dB
of +20 dBm minimum. The operating voltage is +12 to 15 VDC and the current draw is 300 mA maximum. This amplifier
is supplied in a our PE2 package that measures 1.08" x 0.71" x 0.29".
to Deliver This Website
Orbel is a precision solutions manufacturer of Photo Etched
Components, Board Level Shielding, EMI/RFI Gasketing, Custom Metal Stampings,
Fabric over Foam Gaskets and Plated Foils. Orbel's board level shielding products offer engineers the most flexibility for
surface mount or thru-hole designs. Orbel specializes in custom single and dual junction Circulator and Isolator lead frames
in beryllium copper and copper materials.
The Google Resume: How to Prepare for a Career and Land a Job at Apple, Microsoft,
Google, or any Top Tech Company, by Gayle Laakmann McDowell. "The Google Resume is the only book available on how to win a coveted spot at Google, Microsoft,
Apple, or other top tech firms. Gayle Laakmann McDowell worked in Google Engineering for three years, where she served on the hiring committee and interviewed over 120
candidates. She interned for Microsoft and Apple, and interviewed with and received offers from ten tech firms. If you're
a student, you'll learn what to study and how to prepare while in school, as well as what career paths to consider. If you're
a job seeker, you'll get an edge on your competition by learning about hiring procedures and making yourself stand out from
other candidates."
Commute Cost You?
How far do you commute each day for the privilege
of doing your part to push back the frontiers of technical ignorance and to boldly go where no engineer - or technician
- has gone before (split
infinitive by Roddenberry, not me)? Do you
know what the cost equates to you each year? This handy-dandy poster by the folks at Streamline Refinance lays out some
gruesome numbers. Those with a weak stomach probably should pass on viewing this one. Here's a hint at what you will see:
See that big $795 in the thumbnail image? That's the average cost per year for commuting -- per mile! Yessiree, if you live just 10 miles from work, you're losing
nearly $8k per year, depending on you automobile type, on gas, tires, maintenance, devaluation, and loss of your personal
time (which is valuable, after all). Back in the early 1990s I drove 45 miles each way to
Comsat, which took about 65 minutes due to miserable traffic. That's 130 minutes round-trip, or 2 hours and 10 minutes (about the run time of an average movie) each day. Figuring two weeks
vacation and 10 holidays, that leave 48 weeks x 5 days/week = 240 days per year of commuting. 240 days...
Low Noise Amplifier
PMI Model No.
PUB-15-30M20G-20-LCA is
a 30 MHz to 20.0 GHz Low Noise Amplifier which provides 15 dB of gain while maintaining a gain flatness of
±2.5 dB typically over the operating frequency. The noise figure is 3dB typical and offers a typical OP1dB of +20 dBm.
The amplifier requires +12 to +15 VDC and the current draw is 225 mA typical. The unit is supplied with SMA(F)
connectors in our standard PE2 housing.
Highpass Filter
KR Electronics part number 3094-1 is a
124 MHz highpass filter. The filter has
a sharp transition to the stopband and attains over 70 dB by 110 MHz. Other bandwidths are available. Please consult
the factory. Features 124 MHz highpass filter sharp transition to the stopband 70 dB min at 110 MHz high
stopband attenuation 50 Ω source and load SMA connectors or surface mount.
Advertisement c1962
Radio Shack was opened in 1921 by brothers Theodore and Milton Deutschmann, then was
bought by Tandy Corporation in 1962, reportedly for $300k. As well as being an outlet for hobbyists to buy common electronics
parts, Radio Shack sold its own line of electronics like radios, calculators, and stereo systems under the brand name
Realistic. A lot of people don't like Radio Shack the same way many don't like Walmart - usually for no good reason.
I first started shopping at Radio Shack in the mid 1970s when I needed parts to build a homebrew stereo radio receiver from
an article in Popular Electronics (if I remember correctly). I still like going in the store
and looking around, occasionally actually buying something. Do you remember the Free Battery card they issued where you
could get one free battery per month? How about the vacuum tube testers that were in the stores until the late 1970s? When
our TV would crap out...
Just as today's generation of engineering
students grew up with and are totally accustomed to and proficient at using computers, smartphones, positioning devices,
CAE software, and various combinations of the aforementioned, so have the latest cadre of pilots grown up with GPS and electronic
flight charts and planners in the cockpit. The difference is that whereas engineering students are not still required to
learn to use a slide rule and a drafting table to earn an engineering degree, pilots are still required to learn to navigate
using primitive (not meant derisively) instruments and
ground-based navaids to earn a pilot's license. That's not a bad thing, though, because whereas if your graphing, 2500-function
calculator quits working, the only thing at risk is your test score if you happen to be taking an exam. However, if your
electronic navigation fails while in a limited visibility environment or in controlled airspace, you had better be able
to do some seat-of-the-pants flying or you could be in deep doo-doo. This 1958 article from Popular Electronics presents
the newfangled TACAN and Loran systems recently introduced (at the time) by the CAA, which
is now the FAA. It was to dead reckoning navigation what the HP-35 calculator was to the slide rule.
Microwave for Support
Fairview Microwave, located in Fairview, Texas, is a "value added" distributor of RF, Microwave, Wireless &
Fiber Optic passive coaxial components including coaxial cable assemblies
, connectors, couplers, adapters, DC blocks, 90° hybrids, terminations, waveguide, and much more. Compliance screening
is available.
Competition Begins
Now in its 11th year, the
FEKO Student Competition
is open to all under-graduates and post-graduates who work on a supervised project in electromagnetic engineering and make
use of FEKO. This annual competition is organised to give students an opportunity to showcase their work. There are some
great prizes up for grabs – a state-of-the-art laptop computer or attendance to an industry related conference anywhere
in the world!
Online Company Directory
everything RF, the leading online product search tool for the RF & Microwave Industry, announced the release of an online directory
dedicated to the RF & Microwave Industry. The directory lists companies in over 250 Categories/Sub Categories and enables
users to narrow down on the list of companies by category, location, certification, or type of service provided. "We support
over 250 categories and sub categories in the directory on everything RF and plan to add high quality companies to each
category, making it a useful research tool for users who are looking for manufacturers and companies in a particular category,"
says Raghav Kapur, founder of everything RF. A basic listing in the directory is free, however this is subject to an approval
process. If you would like to add your company to the RF Directory –
Click Here.
This
electronic component quiz appeared in the August 1963 edition of Popular Electronics. It challenges you
to match the common food-related term for a device with its picture. If you've been around electronics labs and/or read
electronics hobbyist magazines for a while, chances are you have run across most of the terms. A couple of the names
I have to admit not being familiar, so they seem rather 'corny'... get it?
and TNC Connector Lines
VidaRF has developed an all new line-up
of Type N, Type N Right Angle, and TNC connectors that provide excellent performance from DC-18 GHz. The new designs
from VidaRF can provide a significant cost savings
when compared to traditional 18 GHz Type N and TNC connectors. Stainless steel passivated construction – can be built
to accommodate any cable type.
There is a series of articles on the
Test & Measurement website that are very much worth reading if your job or hobby involves hunting down
RF/EMI leakage into or out of a PCB or enclosure. Author
Kenneth Wyatt has an impressive bag of tricks you
can use. One slick trick used by his colleague Doug Smith involves
a literal bag with a few coins in it. Shaking said bag-o-coins generates EMI with edges in the 100 ps realm. I know
from much experience about the electrical noise caused by metal-to-metal contact from the days of 27 and 72 MHz radio
control systems in model airplanes. Throttle control arms on the carburetors used to be made of metal, and using a metal
pushrod for connection would almost guarantee jittering servos from
EMI interference. Meshing metal gears on early R/C helicopters was a nightmare. But I digress. Another nifty trick used
by Mr. Wyatt is to use an igniter from a patio gas grill to generate wideband EMI. He has an easy-to-make spark gap tool
as well. Take a few minutes to scan through some of the info; you'll be glad you did if for no other reason than the "well,
huh!" factor.
Asia Pacific Tech Universities
AWR Corporation today announces the addition of
two new stories to its roster of university student and professor design successes using AWR software. These new stories
include contributions from Okinawa National College of Technology in Japan and Macquarie University in Australia. Okinawa
National College of Technology Dr. Koyu Chinen, professor at Okinawa National College of Technology, not only uses AWR design
tools for his courses at ONCT, he also uses both Microwave Office® circuit design software and
Visual System Simulator™ systems design
software for his research projects, the most recent of which is the design of a large, complex climatology communication
system using WiMAX, optical communications, and a climate satellite from the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric
Administration.
Used in Text and Drawings
Grammar and formatting standards
have changed over time. As technology evolves and society devolves, things like
abbreviations,
use of capital letters, the 'verbization' of nouns (e.g., 'verbization'), interchanging of
homophones (e.g., 'their' and 'there'), and the growingly popular offense of eliminating the
space between a number and its associated unit (e.g., '914MHz' vs. '914 MHz') are becoming
more prevalent. Look at nearly any press release or datasheet from a component manufacturer in the past year and you will
notice the number-unit change (I correct many of the ones I post on RF Cafe). Some publishers
(NPR) are particularly offensive at taking liberties (aka laziness)
and others (New York Times) are stalwart standard bearers (good
for them). I see many examples during my daily search for technical headlines. We have gotten accustomed to many
changes, and some have been around so long that most people have never seen the former usage. Since I post a lot of articles
from vintage editions of the ARRL's QST magazine...
...an EDN Feature
This episode,
titled
Rush-Project Troubleshooting Comes Down to the Wire, is included here not necessarily because the
technical aspect of the story is exceptional, but because of the prank described in it.
Wire-wrap board woes are all-too
familiar to those of us who lived through them for prototyping in the 1970s and 1980s (before surface mount obsoleted DIPs).
I personally built more than a hundred over the years. If you like waxing nostalgic over the era, read it anyway, but mainly
read to learn a great gag to perpetrate upon a fellow engineer or technician. I rate it on par with rigging a length of
Tyvek tubing stealthily into a chassis and having a cigarette smoker blow smoke through it from afar while someone is working
on the circuit. Ah, those were the good old days!
Systems for Their Support
Empower RF Systems is a global leader in
RF power amplifier solutions that are critical to defense, commercial,
and industrial market applications. With their origins in the design of broadband and band-specific SSPAs, Empower continues
to advance the science of RF power amplification to produce the toughest, most efficient and cost-effective solutions in
the industry. Their priority is to design and deliver high quality, innovative products which solve customer systems and
business requirements.
-Archive-
"To my mind, surveillance
videos stand to be abused less if ordinary people routinely wear their own video-gathering equipment, so they can watch
the watchers with a form of inverse surveillance." –
Steve Mann, electronic
augmented eyewear pioneer, U. of Toronto Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Questions and Answers
Here is a good old fashion
Q & A session
on Ham radio topics... with the emphasis on 'old.' QST magazine published a couple of these columns in the 1960s, and
this is the second in the series. I didn't read anything that wouldn't be applicable today, especially if you have some
vintage gear. As with most such articles, there is something to be learned by just about anyone who deals with electronics,
especially in the RF realm. One particularly interesting part is where the author, in response to a question about building
and tuning your own radio, states, "Too many beginners are concerned about making 'Chinese Copies' of
[manufactured] equipment described, even down to the same placement of nuts and bolts." Little
did he know then that nearly every piece of equipment purchased new by Amateurs nowadays would actually be made in China
and not in the USA.
I'm a little conflicted and even a bit dubious about this article that appeared in
the March 2013 edition of Inc magazine. The short piece by Chris Heivly, co-founder and managing director of the
Triangle Startup Factory, insists that start-ups looking for investment capital
should not expect initial talks to be predated upon the signing of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). To do so, says the author,
destroys 'deal flow' - the momentum he and his brethren investors need in order to quickly assess potential in many ideas
being presented from many comers. In that case, the risk lies almost entirely with the investment seeker since he either
lays his most valuable cards on the table in hopes that the investor is honest enough to not divulge his competitive forte,
or forfeit an opportunity to develop his life's dream. What if your exposed plan that does not pass muster with the investor
happens to provide just the tip needed for one of the investor's active clients either currently or in the future? Even
an honest player can inadvertently tip off your hand. It's a tough call.
for March 10, 2013
Every Sunday I create a
crossword puzzle using a
word list that I personally created and added to during over a decade of making puzzles. All of the words are related to
engineering, science, mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, etc. There are no numbnut clues about movie stars or clothing designers.
Enjoy.
Application Specialist Needed
Advanced Test Equipment Rentals has
a job opening for a Test Equipment Product and Application Specialist. The successful candidate will have previous marketing
experience in product management in electronic test equipment or related field, marketing or sales experience with electronic
test equipment manufacturers, basic understanding of the equipment and applications used by engineering departments in the
design and test of RF, Microwave, EMC, AC and DC Power, Telecom and general purpose test equipment. He/she will identify
and recommend products and related peripherals and accessories to add to our rental inventory, recommendations based on
analysis and understanding of market needs, trends, competitive intelligence, and ROI. Also forecast revenues in various
equipment categories and gather market data ensuring our rental inventory levels are in line with market demand.
Advanced Test Equipment Rentals has
a job opening for a Technical Manager.
The successful candidate will have minimum of 5 years' experience in a civilian cal lab, must be familiar with a wide variety
of test & measurement equipment, must be computer literate in Mudcats, and must have a good attitude and be able to
work under stress in a fast paced environment. He/she will write UM for Cal Lab, write Cal Procedures & create templates,
and train technicians on Calibration.
Microwave for Their Support
Dow-Key Microwave Corporation is the world's largest manufacturer
of solid state, electro-mechanical RF and optical switches, along with programmable attenuators and delay lines. They are
AS9100/ISO-9001 certified and committed to providing unparalleled customer service, competitive pricing, on-time delivery
and switch products that are distinguished by quality and reliability.
w/Separate Coupled Ports
Innovative Power Products introduces their Model
IPP-8042, a 100 W, 35 dB, Surface Mount Dual
Directional Coupler that operates from 225–2500 MHz. The IPP-8042 is a unique broadband design which provides separate coupled ports for both forward and reflected
signals with internal Terminations. This coupler is produced in a Surface Mount package size of 0 1.00 x 1.00 inches. Insertion
Loss is less than 0.30 dB, main line VSWR is less than 1.25:1, coupled flatness is ± 1.0 dB and directivity
is greater than 18 dB.
MIMO
Communication for Cellular Networks (Information Technology: Transmission, Processing and Storage),
by Howard Huang, Constantinos Papadias, and Sivarama Venkatesan. "As the theoretical foundations of multiple-antenna techniques
evolve and as these multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques become essential for
providing high data rates in wireless systems, there is a growing need to understand the performance limits of MIMO in practical
networks. To address this need,
MIMO Communication for Cellular Networks presents a systematic description of MIMO technology classes
and a framework for MIMO system design
that takes into account the essential physical-layer features of practical cellular networks. In contrast to works that
focus on the theoretical performance of abstract MIMO channels, MIMO Communication for Cellular Networks emphasizes the
practical performance of realistic MIMO systems."
This is the first of a two-part series on the
move of the WWV transmitter stations operated by the National Bureau of Standards (now called National Institute of Standards
and Technology) from Greenbelt, Maryland, to Boulder, Colorado.
WWV Part II appeared
in the February 1967 edition of the ARRL's QST magazine. WWV began transmitting time / frequency standards in 1920
in order to provide a means for remote stations and laboratories to calibrate local standards that would prevent transmitting
stations from interfering with each other. Although most people don't realize it, the 60 kHz signal that their 'atomic'
clocks and watches use to self-adjust time emanates from the WWVB antenna in Boulder. This first installment of the article
discusses the history and rationale for relocating the WWV facility to a new location. The second part gets into the technical
aspects of the WWV facility's equipment and operation. As usual, I am amazed at the pioneers who conceived of, designed,
and implemented these kinds of operations.
Give up Data Secrets
A lot of people sit around thinking
about ways to compromise digital data, but who says to himself, "I think I'll try putting a
cellphone in the freezer for a while to see if I
can get it to give up its encrypted data?" Well, a group of geniuses (meant as a compliment)
at Germany's Erlangen's Friedrich-Alexander University (FAU) just did. Using a program called Forensic
Recovery Of Scrambled Telephones (FROST), the
team discovered that by lowering the temperature of the semiconductors and performing a manipulation of the battery and
button presses, the phone could be made to start up in its 'fastboot' mode to access Recovery Mode. Next, find the FDE key
file and crack the 4-digit PIN using FROST. It's that easy. This gives a whole new meaning to a 'cold' boot.
Wanted by Pasternack
Pasternack
Enterprises is a B2B Direct Marketer to the RF and Microwave industry niche. The company makes available the broadest selection
of engineering grade components and assemblies available for same day shipment to a global customer base. We are currently
looking for an experienced Product Manager to provide technical guidance and support to customers, suppliers, production,
purchasing and sales and marketing. The successful candidate will demonstrate depth of knowledge and experience with a wide
range of RF components and assemblies and understand the applications and technical market drivers in the RF industry.
Oscillators on Systems
Crystek Corporation's
Ramón M. Cerda has published a new white paper titled
Impact of Ultralow Phase Noise Oscillators
on System Performance. "There is an abundance of information available regarding system performance and phase
noise, but sometimes it is difficult to 'ferret out' the interesting material. This week we bring you a different perspective
on this all important topic... This paper gives a new look at the relationship between
phase noise in the frequency domain, and
jitter in the time domain."
Mount 1 kW Power Amps
Empower RF Systems
is delivering units from its “Size Matters” 1 kW Power Amplifier portfolio to Richardson RFPD as an integral part of a test & measurement promotion
that Richardson RFPD is sponsoring on its website. Empower's 1 kW HPAs in a 5U chassis are unique in the industry
- the collaboration between Empower and Richardson RFPD to have these units (and complimentary
cables, coupler, and adaptors) readily available for customers is unique as well. Currently available in the frequency
ranges of 20-500 MHz, 500-1000 MHz, and 20-1000 MHz.
of Watts
Most of the visitors
to RF Cafe are either engineers, technicians, or hobbyists who deal with watts in terms of electrical power. This article
from the January 1957 edition of Popular Science deals primarily with watts in terms of acoustic power, but it also addresses
how obtaining acoustic watts relates to electrical watts. Audiophiles will appreciate the table of speaker
watts needed based on your room volume as well as rules of thumb for selecting the amplifier power required to deliver that
sound effectively.
Infotainment Systems
Skyworks Solutions announced
that its industry-leading Silicon-on-insulator
(SOI) switching technology is now being utilized by European, Japanese, Korean and North American car manufacturers for
advanced infotainment systems. Specifically, Skyworks' solid state technology is enabling seamless low noise and broadband
switching between audio, Blu-ray/DVD, navigation, cell phone and vehicle security display inputs as well as a variety of
other high bandwidth media sources in automobiles.
Aviano Air Base, circa 1970
Fellow USAF radar tech
Greg Bucchieri just sent me some pictures he took while
at Aviano Air Base in Italy. One is of the AN/MPN-14 mobile radar system that he helped bring back from Vietnam. The other
is a photo of the radar clutter fence erected at Aviano AB. An incredible view of the Alps in the background which
alone makes viewing the picture worthwhile, even if radars do nothing for you.
in China Jumpstarts Careers
AWR Corporation, the innovation leader in high-frequency EDA software,
today announced the sponsorship of two major student design competitions in China as part of the company's continuing focus
on working with universities worldwide to empower students with RF/microwave software tool experience and jumpstart their
engineering careers. AWR's objective in sponsoring these competitions is to encourage students in China to become involved
in the dynamic profession of microwave and RF engineering and to apply their knowledge to practical designs using the highly
efficient AWR design methodology.
Appreciation of Their Support!
DYNE-TECH manufactures
RF & microwave components and subsystems for military and
commercial telecommunications systems. Their products benefit from application of experience gained on government and university
research programs. DYNE-TECH has built a reputation as a reliable supplier of stable, quality components. Specializing in
large volume production of RF filters, terminations, couplers, connectors & adapters, dividers & combiners, and
lightning arresters.
Here is a good short tutorial on
1/f noise
from the EDN website. Says TI's Bruce Trump, in part, "It's also called flicker noise, like a flickering candle. Seen on an oscilloscope with a slow sweep it has a wandering
baseline (figure 1) because the high frequency noise rides on larger low frequency content. Pink noise, another metaphoric
name, also suggests the stronger low frequency component. Flicker noise seems ever present in physical systems and life
science. Weather/climate patterns, for example, have a 1/f component..."
1/16-inch Thick
Am I the only one
who thinks the trade magazines have been getting thinner? The March 2013 edition of IEEE's spectrum magazine arrived today
and it is only 1/16 inch 
(1.6 mm)
thick! A lot of magazines are migrating toward online-only publication in order to
save money. Online isn't free be any means, especially
when you have to archive millions of pages of text and accompanying images. The thumbnail above shows the British Library's
new Newspaper Storage Building that will archive every available issue of the newspaper dating back into the 1800s. A robot
will retrieve hard copies to the requester. The room will be airtight and climatically controlled to preserve the papers
and prevent fires. By contrast, a cluster of hard drives about the volume of my desk could probably hold the equivalent
in digitized format.
This is a story with a lesson learned by the author and thousands of others ever since
electric power appliances and tools first became available. Fortunately, his Ham buddy was not permanently harmed, but even
today with all the effort put into educating the public, people continue to use ungrounded (2-wire type, or with the ground
prong removed) extension cords in conjunction with 3-wire power cords on tools and end up
electrocuting themselves (or somebody
else). I've told the story before about a friend of mine from high school who shortly after graduation was making a piece
of furniture in a garage that had a damp dirt floor, and was electrocuted to death by the metal-framed circular saw that
had no ground connected. Nowadays we often have power provided by a GFCI receptacle when working outdoors or under a house,
but I sure would not rely on it performing properly in lieu of taking prudent safety precautions. Hopefully you don't, either.
EEmployees Unhappy
Inc magazine recently conducted a poll
about what employees need from their employers in
order to be happy and stick with their jobs. Responses depended heavily on gender (that thing we're
told has no distinction in the workplace) and age (which is OK to discriminate against).
Here are some findings. Overall, 69% like their co-workers and 54% like their bosses. 33% hate the stress level and 28%
think they're not being paid enough. 18% expect free beverages, 17% feel owed a personal smartphone, and 8% want free massages.
45% of Men want more money and 39% want a promotion, while 51% of Women want reduced hours and 50% want flexible hours
(uh-oh, that doesn't fit the media template).
the February 2013 Book Winner
Walt G., of Delmar, DE, is the winner
of the February 2013 Book Drawing!
LCP for Microwave Packages and Modules is a "Comprehensive overview of electrical design using
Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP), giving you everything you need to know to get up-to-speed on
the subject. This text describes successful design and development techniques for high-performance microwave and millimeter-wave
packages and modules in an organic platform. These were specifically developed to make the most of LCP's inert, hermetic,
low-cost, high-frequency (DC to 110+ GHz) properties. . Graciously
provided by Cambridge University Press
-Archive-
"I am tired of all this
thing called science... We have spent millions in that sort of thing for the last few years, and it is time it should be
stopped." - U.S. Senator Simon Cameron (1861),
re funding for the Smithsonian Institution.
the "Ham in the Basement"
Have you seen this? "You know that guy that's got a
Ham Radio in
his basement?? He can can talk to China, Mongolia, and all the Koreas, and he eats Velveeta Shells & Cheese. So
who are you calling 'Amateur?'" Liquid Gold.
Eat like that guy you know." Be sure to pick up a pack of Velveeta Shells & Cheese on your next shopping trip.
Windfreak Technologies!
Windfreak Technologies designs,
manufactures, tests and sells high value radio frequency products such as RF signal generators / synthesizers, RF power
detectors, RF mixers, upconverters and downconverters.
SynthNV is a 37.5 MHz - 4.4 GHz USB powered and programmed RF Signal Generator / RF Power Detector.
MixNV is a 30 MHz - 5 GHz USB powered and
programmed RF Mixer / Signal Generator. SynthUSB
is a 137.5 MHz - 4.4 GHz USB powered and programmed RF Signal Generator
for March 3, 2013
Every Sunday I create a crossword
puzzle using a word list that I personally created and added to during over a decade of making puzzles. All of the words
are related to engineering, science, mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, etc. There are no numbnut clues about movie stars
or clothing designers. Enjoy.
Low Noise Amplifier
PMI Model No.
PUB-15-30M20G-20-LCA is
a 30 MHz to 20.0 GHz Low Noise Amplifier which provides 15 dB of gain while maintaining a gain flatness of
±2.5 dB typically over the operating frequency. The noise figure is 3dB typical and offers a typical OP1dB of +20 dBm.
The amplifier requires +12 to +15 VDC and the current draw is 22 5mA typical. The unit is supplied with SMA(F)
connectors in our standard PE2 housing.
Bi-Directional Notch Filter
KR Electronics part number 3092
is a 40 MHz absorptive notch filter. The
filter has a typical 3 dB bandwidth of 16.5 MHz and has a maintains 50 dB rejection from 39 MHz to 41 MHz.
The filter is absorptive in both the forward and reverse direction providing excellent match even at the notch frequency.
The filter is supplied in a surface mount package measuring 1.0” x 0.5 x 0.3”. Other notch frequencies and bandwidths are
available.
by Semtech Corp
Semtech, a leading supplier of high-quality analog and mixed-signal
semiconductor products for smartphones, notebook computers, WLAN modems, AMR, satellite communication, cellular infrastructure,
and more, has an opening for a Quality Manager. The candidate must make significant contributions to preventing quality
issues and to making continuous improvements. He/she also defines and specifies the implementation of standards, methods,
and procedures for inspecting, testing, and evaluating the precision, accuracy, and reliability of company products.
Essentials
of RF and Microwave Grounding, by Eric Holzman. Grounding is a widespread and serious problem in
microwave and RF engineering and, up until
now, there hasn't been a practical, authoritative resource dedicated to the topic. This first-of-its-kind volume offers
professionals a comprehensive understanding of the proper grounding techniques to use when working on varied microwave circuit
and antenna design projects. Practitioners learn what problems can occur when grounding design is inadequate, and how to
avoid them. The book covers a wide range of critical topics, from the fundamentals of low frequency circuit theory and the
differences between DC and RF short circuits...to grounding in active microwave component design and grounding issues related
to antennas.
