This is Page
1 |
2 of the December 2016 homepage archives.
Thursday 15
Mexico Still Not Extending Reciprocal Amateur Radio Operation to U.S.
Even after
tens of millions of its citizens have 'migrated' here to the U.S. and continue to receive virtually
unlimited social welfare and education privileges, the Mexico
Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones still does not extend reciprocal operating
privileges to U.S. Hams within its borders. Just as Mexico enforces a severe policy of keeping non-citizens
out of its country, it has built a virtual wall to keep non-citizen amateur radio operators from plying
their craft there. What a crock
...
Flexible Supercapacitors Can Charge Devices and EVs
in Seconds
"Allowing mobile devices to charge within minutes remains a Holy
Grail of sorts for energy storage researchers. Now a team of scientists at the University of Central
Florida (UCF) is that much closer to achieving this milestone with the development of
flexible supercapacitors that can store more energy than typical batteries and be
charged tens of thousands of times without degrading. The team from the university's NanoScience Technology
Center advocates
..."
Front-End Modules Make Smart Connections for IoT
Skyworks
has a pretty nice article in the December 2016 issue of Microwave & RF magazine titled
Front-End Modules Make Smart Connections for IoT. "The basic idea of the Internet
of Things (IoT) may seem simple: wireless communications between sensors and the Internet. But for engineers
faced with designing its component parts, such a simple description is much less than the tip of the
iceberg. Challenges are presented by every component within an IoT product, the software that enables
it, and
..."
Canada Telecoms Regulator Revises Amateur Radio Service Requirements
"Canada's
telecoms regulator
Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada (ISED) — formerly Industry
Canada (IC) — has issued a revised version of the Radiocommunication Information Circular 3 (RIC-3),
'Information on the Amateur Radio Service,' replacing the previous 2005 version. According to ISED,
RICs are issued for the guidance of those engaged in radiocommunications in Canada, and the information
they contain is subject to change without notice. 'Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC)
..."
Nanoantennas on Glass: Path to Full Photonic Night Vision?
No, it's not an insect. "In a paper published in Nano Letters,
a team of researchers from the Australian National University (ANU) are revealing a new way to fabricate
nanoantennas so as to be able to lay them evenly on top of a transparent glass substrate.
This new feat, they explain in the paper 'Nonlinear Generation of Vector Beams From AlGaAs Nanoantennas,'
makes it possible to observe and characterize the nanoantennas' behaviour with respect to different
light frequencies shone at them
..."
Japan Launching Space Junk Collector
"Japan launched a cargo
ship Friday bound for the International Space Station, carrying a 'space junk'
collector that was made with the help of a fishnet company. The vessel, dubbed "Kounotori"
(stork in Japanese), blasted off from the southern island of Tanegashima
attached to an H-IIB rocket. Scientists at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are experimenting
with a tether to pull junk out of orbit around Earth, clearing up tonnes of space clutter including
cast-off equipment ..."
Wednesday 14
3 New Vintage Radio Service Data Sheets
Your patient indulgence is appreciated once again as I post notice
of these three additional Radio Service Data Sheets from the November 1935 issue of Radio-Craft
magazine. Google and Bing (the only two search engines that count) scan the RF Cafe homepage hourly
for new content, so putting the hyperlinked text here expedites their registration in the search databases.
There's no better way to get your company news noticed than to have it appear here, BTW.
"With
a nod to Wi-Fi calling, the U.S. Dept. of Transportation (DOT) is taking comments on a proposal to regulate
voice calls on passengers' mobile devices on flights to, from and within the United States. The DOT
notes that the FCC currently prohibits the use of certain commercial mobile bands onboard aircraft,
but that ban does not cover
Wi-Fi and other means by which it is possible to make voice calls. In 2013, the
FCC proposed lifting its existing ban, so long as certain conditions
..."
CoreHW Added to RF Cafe's RFIC Design Services Page
CoreHW, located in Tampere, Finland, is a
fabless RFIC Design Service Company, developing
state-of-the-art RF integrated circuits to customers worldwide. CoreHW is focused in the development
of advanced integrated circuits for wireless data transmission, sensor interfaces and space applications.
CoreHW offers high quality full custom RFs, analog and mixed-signal IC Design Services, IPs and ASIC
Solutions with cutting edge performance for semiconductor products. +358-50-4667350
Decades from now, readers will look back at today's science magazines
reporting on topics such as breakthroughs on quantum computing and quantum entanglement the way we now
look back at articles from the middle to latter half of the last century, and be amazed at how the understanding
and exploitation of various technologies was just getting started. This particular piece on quantum
device is not at all related to the two aforementioned topics; rather, it introduces the concept of
discrete (quantum) energy levels of atomic electron orbitals and how they determine photon absorption
...
Open Source Foundations Adopt oneM2M Standards
"oneM2M, the global standards partnership for Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications
and the Internet of Things (IoT), has revealed its standards are being used by a number of independent
open source foundations and projects, in addition to commercial deployments, as the industry looks to
accelerate take up of IoT products and platforms. Several open source foundations and projects have
been actively using oneM2M standards in various applications and services since
..."
Europe's Galileo Satellite Navigation System to Go Live
on Thursday
"Europe's Global satellite navigation system is all set to go
live this Thursday. Seventeen years and more than €10B ($11B) later, Europe's
Galileo satnav system promises to outperform U.S. and Russian rivals while boosting
regional self-reliance. Initial services will be free to use worldwide on smartphones and navigation
boxes fitted with Galileo-compatible microchips. Some devices may only need a software update to start
using the new technology, as several smartphone companies were
..."
Tuesday 13
Thermoelectric Material Made in Paintable Liquid Form
"Scientists have developed
liquid-like
thermoelectric (TE) materials that can be painted on almost any surface. This new technology can
convert exhaust heat into electricity for vehicles and other applications. These newly developed materials
are both shape-engineerable and geometrically compatible in that they can be directly brush-painted
on almost any surface. The thermoelectric effect is the direct conversion of temperature differences
to electric voltage and vice versa. This effect can be used either for heating or for cooling
..."
Highland Technology
announces the latest release in its line of standalone test and measurement modules, the
P620 Resistance Simulator.
The P620 includes six independent, isolated channels that can simulate platinum RTDs and resistances
ranging from 5 Ω to 5 MΩ. It uses entirely solid-state simulation to eliminate
transient errors associated with relay switching and provides for monotonic resistance changes. Any
channel may be rerouted, under software
...
Hallicrafters - A Message for Christmas
Halli(gan) and
(hand)crafters was founded in Chicago in 1932 by
William J. Halligan.
The company designed and manufactured radio equipment for hobby, commercial, and military applications
and quickly became very popular amongst their users. As was customary for U.S. businesses, Hallicrafters
ran a Christmas advertisement in the January issue of magazines where they appeared. The January edition,
as is common even now, is typically mailed in early December, getting it in the hands of readers in
time ...
Chief Technology Officer Wanted by Aethercomm
Aethercomm, Inc., a leading
edge RF amplifier design and manufacturing firm is seeking a strategic engineering leader. The
Chief Technology Officer must
have excellent people management skills and exceptional leadership skills to mentor engineers in a high
growth, very dynamic environment. Must have Technical expertise is all aspects of RF and Microwave design.
With emphasis on RF amplifiers, microwave substrates, microwave circuits, from VHF to 40 GHz
...
Electron Highway Inside Crystal
"Physicists of the University
of Würzburg have made an astonishing discovery in a specific type of
topological insulators.
The effect is due to the structure of the materials used. The researchers have now published their work
in the journal Science. Topological insulators are currently the hot topic in physics according to the
newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Only a few weeks ago, their importance was highlighted again as the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Physics to three British
..."
"The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic
and Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued proposed guidelines that it says will help to reduce accidents
and fatalities attributable to distracted driving. Issued just prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, the
voluntary guidance calls on electronics manufacturers to modify their devices to include a 'driver
mode' that would block certain features and applications from being accessed by a driver when a
vehicle is in motion. Regulators see the recommended modification as similar to the 'airplane mode'
feature ..."
Selenium Rectifiers
Before silicon and germanium semiconductors came online for use
as diode rectifiers, selenium was the material du jour.
Selenium devices were widely adopted for use as bridge rectifiers in power supplies and as detectors
in AM radios, where applicable, in place of vacuum tubes. At the time, they were not particularly cheaper
to implement, but there was an advantage in greater ruggedness, longer lifetime, and lower power consumption
(no heater element or high bias voltage required). Electronics magazines of the era published many articles
...
Bluetooth 5 is Finally Here!
"The Bluetooth Special Interest
Group (SIG) has officially announced the adoption of
Bluetooth 5 as the latest version of the Bluetooth core specification. Key updates
to Bluetooth 5 include longer range, faster speed, and larger broadcast message capacity, as well as
improved interoperability and coexistence with other wireless technologies. Bluetooth 5 will continue
to advance the Internet of Things (IoT) experience by enabling simple and effortless interactions across
a vast range of connected
..."
5 Suppliers to Hold 41% of Global Semi Market Share in 2016
"Vigorous M&A activity in 2015 and 2016 has reshaped the
landscape of the
semiconductor industry, with the top companies now controlling a much greater percentage
of market share. Not including foundries, IC Insights forecasts to top five semiconductor suppliers
- Intel, Samsung, Qualcomm, Broadcom, and SK Hynix - will account for 41% market share in 2016. This
represents a 9-point increase
..."
Electronics Technology Crossword Puzzle for December 11, 2016
For the sake of avid
cruciverbalists amongst us, 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). Enjoy
...
Friday 9
Frequency Modulation, Facsimile, & c.
Each month, Radio-Craft magazine ran a feature titled
"In Review," which covered a variety of late-breaking news topics related to communications. Most of
the time the focus was on wireless advances, but occasionally, as in the November 1939 issue, you would
see things like a huge public address & music system installation at Union Station or a flash about
Nazi control over radio broadcasts. Modern news publications follow the same template with round-up
type articles. The up and coming
frequency
modulation (FM) scheme leads here, followed by the wonders of facsimile machines that transmit "facsy"
formatted news to remote offices
...
Pentagon to Unveil New Electronic Warfare Strategy
"The Pentagon's soon-to-be
published Electronic
Warfare strategy calls for increased investment in advanced electronic warfare technology designed
to defend U.S. assets and proactively use the electromagnetic spectrum to attack enemies. A key part
of the calculus for this strategy will be to integrate new EW technologies with existing Army, Navy
and Air Force emerging EW weapons. This includes developing EW systems such as the Navy's Next Generation
Jammer, Army vehicle-mounted EW and Air Force
..."
The Gadget Apocalypse Is Upon Us
"Remember gadgets? They were
little electronic things that did stuff for you. They would play music or record videos or give you
directions or let you play games on the go. They were fun. Everyone had them. Everyone wanted them.
There were whole magazines and websites and even TV shows devoted to them. For 30 or 40 years, through
recessions and war, through stability and revolutions, they were always there, one
gadget after another, from transistor radios to
..."
December 6, 2016 - Meteor Turns Russian Night Sky into Day
Is Russia in the wrong place on Earth or what? Yet another massive meteor
(bolide) streaked cross the
Khakassia sky, but cause no damage, unlike the
Chelyabinsk superbolide
in 2013 that shattered windows and injured nearly 1,500 people. The world's
Near Earth Objects sentinel systems never saw
this one - or the other one - coming. The Chicxulub crater on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico is postulated to have been caused
by the impact of a 10 km diameter asteroid with an energy of 420 zettajoules. Its age of 65 million
years coincides with the time dinosaurs disappeared from Earth. The next big event is overdue.
Thursday 8
Wireless Innovation Forum Releases Specs for 3.5 GHz Shared
Spectrum
"The Wireless Innovation Forum announced today member approval
and public availability of its Spectrum Sharing Committee's (SSC) highly anticipated signaling protocols
and procedures to be used in the U.S.
3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band for the Spectrum Access System
(SAS) – Citizens Radio Broadband Service Device (CBSD) and 'Spectrum Access System (SAS) – SAS' Interfaces.
These standards are the first of their kind addressing the new FCC Part 96 rules for CBRS. Publication
of
..."
Ofcom Declines to Act in Nightmare Neighbour Next Door
Ham Radio Episode
Typical stupid news media people: "UK telecoms regulator Ofcom
has declined to act on formal complaints about an October 27 episode of the Channel 5 television program
Nightmare Neighbour Next Door (S05E08 not currently
available). That episode focused on 75-year-old Armando Martins, M0PAM, of Kent, whose neighbors
had made unsubstantiated claims that RF radiating from his 30-foot vertical antenna was detrimental
to their health. The
Radio Society of Great Britain weighed in following the airing of the show.
Radio amateurs across the UK also complained that the program episode was replete with false claims
and pointed
..."
'Photonic Water' Could Be Boon for Optoelectronic Applications
"A
two-dimensional metal oxide material called
titanate nanosheets has remained pretty much off the radar of flatland materials
expected to transform the worlds of electronics and optoelectronics. Its biggest claim to fame has been
that it is pretty effective at cleaning up contaminants. However, it would seem that titanate nanosheets
history of being overlooked in the catalogue of 2D materials may
..."
War Comes! - January 1942 QST
This was the front page of The Erie Daily News on the
morning after the Pearl Harbor
attack. The news stunned everyone. Emergency measures were implemented nationwide. Amateur radio operators
had their transmission privileges curtailed immediately, similar to restrictions during WWI. Just as
President Woodrow Wilson issued an executive order prohibiting unauthorized transmissions by amateurs,
President Roosevelt had the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ban the radio transmissions of Hams.
The fear ...
Thin-Film Transistors Provide Faster Electrical Circuits
"The
secret to improved electrical circuits has become something of a holy grail in recent years. As technology
has evolved to be smaller and more adaptable, so too has the need for versatile electrical circuits
that can bend with designs while still retaining speed and efficiency. And after many false starts and
errors, it looks like scientists have finally found a way to create the speedy electrical circuits our
technology so badly
..."
Wednesday 7
Electronic Crossword Puzzle from the May 1963 Issue of Electronics World
Nearly every week I create and publish a
crossword puzzle filled with words and clues all of which are relevant to the realms of engineering,
science, mathematics, chemistry, mechanics, optics, communications, amateur radio, etc. It is rare to
find a crossword puzzle that contains no 'filler' type words used just for the sake of being able to
construct a puzzle. I use software that takes my custom-built dictionary of a few thousand words and
definitions, and fits them to grids that I create
...
Should NASA's Charter for Space Exploration Include AGW?
NASA, DoD, and other federal government functions' budgeted monies
have been diverted to AGW projects while starving legitimate needs to fulfill original charter responsibilities.
For instance, the Navy is forced to buy $25/gallon
biofuels for some fleet operations. The Army must build expensive 'green' electric power s sources for its installation. Meanwhile, funds to replace battle-worn
components are scarce and veteran health care is notoriously atrocious. This Space Daily article
touches on the potential changes to come under new executive-level administration
...
Navy Advances Aegis Radar, RF in Destroyer Overhaul
"The Navy is modernizing its
destroyers and cruisers with Aegis technology equipped with new multi-mission signal processors, kill
assessment systems, and radio frequency upgrades, service officials said. The upgrades are part of an
intense effort to arm the fleet of destroyers and cruisers with modernized
Aegis radar
technologies to help the ships better attack adversaries and defend themselves from enemy missiles.
Aegis radar, a technology now on destroyers and cruisers, provides terminal phase ballistic missile
defense and an ability to knock ..."
Thanks to Saelig for Supporting RF Cafe!
Companies like
Saelig that advertise on RF Cafe
are responsible for its existence. 3rd-party ads from Google and GlobalSpec provide a pretty good income,
but I much prefer serving private ads because #1: I totally control the content
(to make sure it is relevant) and #2: my GIF files are much smaller and
serve much faster than the 3rd-party ads. Saelig sells and supports a wide range of electronic control
and instrumentation equipment and components to customers ranging from Fortune 500 industrial users,
military, educational institutions and hospitals to individual end-users
...
Four More Radio Service Data Sheets Added to the RF Cafe
Archive
There are now 156 Radio Service Data Sheets in the archive, all
of which were scanned and cleaned up from issues of vintage electronics magazines like Radio-Craft,
Radio & Television News, etc. Equipment manufacturers generally only made this information
available to certified service shops, so the availability of these was of great value to both hobbyists
and repair shop owners.
American-Bosch
Model 43OT,
Montgomery Ward "Airline" Series 7GM,
RCA Victor
Model C9-4, and
RCA Victor
Model T5-2
Tiny Device Pumps out 1 Electron at a Time
"Physicists
should finally be able to rid themselves of the cumbersome and inaccurate definition of the ampere.
That is the claim of metrologists in Germany, who have measured electrical current by counting
single electrons travelling along a microscopic wire. The researchers say that their
technique will allow scientists in a number of different disciplines to make better measurements of
tiny currents. The move to revamp the ampere is
..."
Tuesday 6
Canon Joins Japan's Space Race for Satellite Launches
"Canon
is helping Japan build a low-cost "mini-rocket" for future
satellite launches as private companies seek to give the country's lagging space
industry greater thrust. Engineers from Canon Electronics, a unit of the Japanese imaging devices maker,
have joined a team led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, that is building what stands
to be the world's smallest satellite launch vehicle -- about the size of a utility pole. The company's
..."
Mac's Radio Service Shop: A.C.-D.C. Bread and Butter
This installment of
Mac's Radio Service Shop could stand alone as a chapter in a troubleshooting manual for vacuum
tube radios. John Frye's (or a trusty consultant's) knowledge of circuit operation is abundantly clear
here. Recall that Mr. Frye later authored the Carl & Jerry teenage techno-sleuth series
in the next decade. A couple things stood out to me. The first is the heretofore unfamiliar phrase "play
hob with," which means to cause trouble for. The second is mention of a metal tuning dial indicator
needle
...
Please Visit Empower RF's Website in Appreciation of Their Support
Empower RF Systems is
a global leader in power amplifier solutions. Products include high power RF amplifier modules, amplifier
systems, and custom designed amplifiers.
Investments in both
hardware and software engineering are yielding next generation products with significant size, weight,
and interface functionality advantages over legacy products in the market
...
Boeing to Upgrade Radar on 71 USAF F-15s
"Jet
fighter experts at the Boeing Co. will upgrade 71 U.S. Air Force F-15 combat jets with new
radar under terms of a half-billion-dollar order announced Wednesday. Officials
of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, awarded a $558.5M
contract modification to the Boeing Defense, Space & Security segment in St. Louis to install the
upgraded radar systems on Air Force F-15C/D jet
..."
Free Engineering Magazine Subscriptions & White Papers
The free
whitepapers, pamphlets, books,
magazines, and chapter
examples listed here are a small sample of a lot of new items that are offered for FREE through
TradePub.
The publishers make them available to qualifying people as a promotional campaign for their full line
of offerings. The publishers make them available to qualifying people as a promotional campaign for
their full line of offerings. Topics include
careers,
manufacturing,
engineering...
Graphene-Based Antenna Still Looking for Path to Commercialization
"Graphene
is a pure conductor, just like a metal, which has led researchers to examine applications like antennas
to see if graphene could serve as a replacement. Along this line of inquiry, researchers at the National
Research Council Institute for Organic Synthesis and Photoreactivity (CNR-ISOF) in Italy, which is part
of Europe's Graphene Flagship, have developed a
graphene-based near-field communication (NFC) antenna. Unlike today's NFC antennas
their devices are flexible and have greater
..."
Monday 5
CCA, CTIA Urge FCC to Deny Boeing's Satellite System
"Both CTIA and the Competitive Carriers Association are coming
out against Boeing's proposal to operate a non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO) system in the 37.5-42,
47.2-50.2 and 50.4-51.4 GHz bands, saying it threatens spectrum for terrestrial 5G operators. Boeing
filed an application last summer with the FCC to launch and operate an NGSO fixed satellite service
(FSS) system operating in low Earth orbit (LEO) in the 37.5-42.5 GHz, 47.2-50.2
..."
1st Graphene Photodetector to Operate in the Microwave
"While graphene may be losing its luster in the field of digital
electronics because of its lack of an inherent band gap, in the world of optoelectronics graphene's
gapless band structure seems to be winning a new set of acolytes. This is seen no more keenly than in
photodetectors, where
graphene is enabling near-terahertz-speed photodetectors that are more energy efficient.
Now, researchers at the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST)
..."
Diamond / Nuclear Waste Battery Could Last 5,000 Years
"A
diamond battery made from nuclear waste could last more than 5,000 Years. The man-made
diamond produces a charge simply by being placed in close proximity to a radioactive source. There are
no moving parts and no emissions involved and no maintenance is needed. The researchers created a prototype
'diamond battery' using radioactive isotope Nickel-63 as the radiation source. They are now working
on improving the efficiency of the battery. To do this, they are using carbon-14, a radioactive version
..."
E. F. Johnson Christmas Ad
"Merry Christmas!" We're now saying it for the first time in
a long time without concern for verbal reprisal by hateful, bigoted fanatics, emboldened by government
thought police. But, I digress. Here is a 2-page advertisement run by the
E.F. Johnson
company in the December 1953 issue of the ARRL's QST magazine. E.F. Johnson was a major
player in amateur radio, and then later Citizens Band (CB) radio. They also manufactured a large array
of point-to-point commercial radio products (Land Mobile Radio
...
Torsion-Bar Antenna Adds Twist to Gravity Wave Search
Physicists
in Japan have developed a new kind of compact gravitational-wave detector that works by measuring the
tiny rotations of two suspended blocks of aluminum. A far cheaper alternative to the more conventional
interferometer-based devices, this "torsion-bar antenna" could plug a gap in the gravitational-wave spectrum – between
the high-frequency waves observable today from the ground and the lower-frequency radiation potentially
...
RF Engineering Crossword Puzzle for December 4, 2016
Take a break from the daily grind to work this week's RF
Engineering-themed crossword
puzzle. All the words are pulled from a hand-built list of terms, names, and abbreviations that
have only to do with science, mathematics, and engineering. If you want a crossword with names of movie
stars and obscure countries, try the local newspaper. Go ahead and print out this page on real paper,
grab a pencil or pen, and do it the old fashioned way
...
Friday 2
FCC Special Counsel Laura Smith: Amateur Enforcement to Be
Aggressive
"FCC Special Counsel Laura Smith told a standing-room-only audience at the ARRL Pacific
Division Convention in October that, despite FCC cutbacks, Amateur Radio enforcement will not be compromised.
Smith spoke for nearly an hour and a half on a variety of FCC issues related to Amateur Radio, and the
entire presentation is available on YouTube, thanks to Bob Miller, WB6KWT, and his son Robert
..."
Anatech Electronics Intros 3 New Filter Designs
Anatech
Electronics offers the industry's largest portfolio of high-performance standard and customized
RF and microwave filters and filter-related
products for military, commercial, aerospace and defense, and industrial applications up to 40 GHz.
Anatech has introduced 3 new filter designs: a 4,675 MHz cavity bandpass filter with SMA connectors,
a 782/751 MHz surface mount ceramic duplexer filter, and a 987.5 MHz cavity bandpass filter
...
Raytheon Tests Directed Energy Weapon on Drones
"There are all kinds of creative ways of dealing with rogue drones:
Radio jamming. Other drones with nets. Trained eagles. None of these are really designed to handle military
drones, however, and large, fast-moving UAVs are still a potential threat, especially if more than one
is coming at you at once. It's no surprise that the U.S. Army has been developing solutions for this
potential threat— we're not sure what they're working on now, but as of late 2013, Raytheon was successfully
testing a long range, high power
directed microwave weapon capable of taking out
..."
Filter Building Made Easy
Designing,
building, and tuning
low frequency filters
is much easier for the person without a professional grade suite of software, fabrication, and test
equipment than is RF / microwave frequency filters. Most of my design and integration work has been
with system level transmit and receive racks for radar and satellite earth station installations, and
typically for prototyping and/or very low quantity production. Accordingly, I used connectorized components
cascaded together where each functional block was predefined and tested. I would be handed a system
input/output document that specified parameters for gain, phase noise
...
Germanium Can Take Transistors Where Silicon Can't
"Nearly
70 years ago, two physicists at Bell Telephone Laboratories—John Bardeen and Walter Brattain—pressed
two thin gold contacts into a slab of
germanium and made a third contact on the bottom of the slab. The flow of current
through this configuration could be used to turn a small signal into a larger one. The result was the
first transistor—the amplifier and switch that was, arguably, the greatest invention of the 20th century.
Thanks to Moore's Law, the transistor has delivered computers far beyond anything thought
..."
Thursday 1
Navy Updates Radar Software on Stealthy Zumwalt
"One of the biggest question
marks remaining for the DDG 1000 USS Zumwalt is whether its radar and missile systems will work as redesigned and
radar manufacturer Raytheon is wasting no time in making sure its sensor meets U.S. Navy needs. The
ship is slated to test and certify its combat system after it arrives later this year in its homeport
of San Diego. But Raytheon officials say
..."
Saelig Cyber Week Sale !
Saelig's huge
Cyber Week sale runs through Sunday, so don't forget
to check them out for great prices on test equipment.
Russian Army to Get Advanced Stealth Drone Hunting Radar
"The Zavod Electromash plant in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod
has created a unique stealth robotic system capable of detecting unmanned aerial vehicles, Zavod Electromash
spokesman Valery Pyatkin told Sputnik. In an interview with Sputnik, Valery Pyatkin, spokesman for the
Nizhny Novgorod-based Zavod Electromash plant, said that they had developed an advanced stealth robotic
system capable of
detecting reconnaissance and attack drones. The mobile optical-radar, non-emitting
complex is due to enter service at
..."
Earth's 'Technosphere' Now Weighs 30 Trillion Tons
"The
technosphere
is a major new phenomenon of this planet – and one that is evolving extraordinarily rapidly" – Professor
Mark Williams, University of Leicester An international team led by University of Leicester geologists
has made the first estimate of the sheer size of the physical structure of the planet's technosphere
– suggesting that its mass approximates to an enormous 30 trillion tons. The technosphere is comprised
of all of the structures
..."
Kenyon Transformer Holiday Message
The Christmas holiday season is here officially now that Thanksgiving
is over. When deciding which articles from vintage electronic magazines to post, I always try to pick
a few that pertain to specific holidays, like Christmas, Independence Day, Halloween, etc. Many companies
ran advertisements - often full-page - in QST, Radio News, Electronics World,
etc. Here is one by the
Kenton Transformer
Company, of New York, New York. Interestingly, it alludes to the military buildup
...
RF/Analog Design Engineer Needed by L3 Telemetry & RF Products
We
are seeking a talented
RF/Analog Design Engineer with a solid understanding of satellite communications systems, with an
emphasis on RF and analog designs. The position is in San Diego, California. Relocation assistance is
available. Responsible for all aspects of the RF and analog detailed design and development, including:
system and module level design and definition, schematic capture, circuit design, derating and Worst
Case Analysis (WCA). Estimate task schedules and budgets (BOEs) for programs, proposals and IR&D
efforts. Estimate task
...
RF Cafe began life in 1996 as "RF Tools" in an AOL screen name web space totaling
2 MB. Its primary purpose was to provide me with ready access to commonly needed
formulas and reference material while performing my work as an RF system and circuit
design engineer. The World Wide Web (Internet) was largely an unknown entity at
the time and bandwidth was a scarce commodity. Dial-up modems blazed along at 14.4 kbps
while tying up your telephone line, and a lady's voice announced "You've Got Mail"
when a new message arrived...
Copyright 1996 - 2026
All trademarks, copyrights, patents, and other rights of ownership to images
and text used on the RF Cafe website are hereby acknowledged.
Highland Technology
Empower RF Systems
Investments in both
hardware and software engineering are yielding next generation products with significant size, weight,
and interface functionality advantages over legacy products in the market
We
are seeking a talented
RF/Analog Design Engineer with a solid understanding of satellite communications systems, with an
emphasis on RF and analog designs. The position is in San Diego, California. Relocation assistance is
available. Responsible for all aspects of the RF and analog detailed design and development, including:
system and module level design and definition, schematic capture, circuit design, derating and Worst
Case Analysis (WCA). Estimate task schedules and budgets (BOEs) for programs, proposals and IR&D
efforts. Estimate task
...