|
This is Page 1 of the June 2016 homepage archives (click here for Page
1,
2).
Pasternack debuts a new line of
semi-rigid test probes designed to assist
in testing microwave circuits. By soldering the outer conductor to the signal ground
and the exposed center conductor to the trace carrying the signal of interest, sampling
measurements with these probes can be made without having to create a separate subassembly
circuit board or add a connector to the circuit layout which can take up valuable
real estate. Pasternack's new test probes are offered in 3 different diameters of
semi-rigid
Webinar: Faster Analysis of Complex
RF Signals (Using Power Sensors)
Faster Analysis of Complex RF Signals
(Using Power Sensors), by Boonton and MWJ. "Today's
rapidly evolving communications standards provide challenges for the Test and Measurement
industry. Modern Wi-Fi and LTE signals, as well as the new 5G mobile communications
technology, must comply with specifications determined by international standards
organizations. The Boonton family of wideband USB Power Sensors can make fast and
accurate time and statistical domain power measurements of these types
..."
 As someone who spends a lot of time surfing
the Web in search of interesting electronics and technical news, I am painfully
aware of the annoyances caused by intrusive, overwhelming advertisements. The most
detestable are the full-screen ads that get in your face before ever seeing the
webpage, and/or once on the page some cursed ad with video and audio plays automatically.
It is no wonder that an exponentially increasing portion of Internet users are employing
ad blocking software. If you are an advertiser paying for proprietary
representation on a website, you are advised to determine whether your ads can be
blocked.
...
MIT Researchers Turn Graphene Light On and
Off
 "A team of international researchers from
the U.S. (MIT), Israel, Croatia, and Singapore, have discovered that under certain
circumstances, a flow of electric current running through a sheet of
graphene can exceed the speed of slowed-down
light and produce a kind of optical 'boom': an intense, focused beam of light
..."
 Since this is a presidential election year,
I figured it would be a good time to post a tongue-in-cheek- story that appeared
in the November 1952 issue of QST magazine about a fictional American president
J. Willoughby Winkelspoof. The American Radio Relay League
(ARRL) always has been and still is apolitical, so
don't take seriously anything you read here. If you are an astute follower of politics,
you might pick up on the nuances woven into the story, and might even marvel on
how much the political landscape has changed in the half century since Pres. Winkelspoof
graced the Oval Office
...
Our UltraCMOS® high frequency portfolio debunks the industry's perceived boundaries
of RF silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology. It is our UltraCMOS technology platform
that enables Peregrine to reach these high frequencies without compromising performance
or reliability. At the International Microwave Symposium (IMS) 2016, we announced
the addition of the UltraCMOS
PE41901
image reject mixer into our growing portfolio
 "The W1720
Phased Array Beamforming Kit provides
system architects in 5G, Radar/EW, and Satellite communications with the essential
tools to evaluate phased array and beamforming subsystems, including RF, Digital,
and Hybrid beamforming architectures. Consider RF nonlinear & noise effects,
Gain/Phase quantization, and Monte Carlo variations effects on total beam quality,
sidelobe levels, and effective radiated power. Also supports dynamic system-level
scenarios with algorithms for adaptive beamforming
..."
 Unashamedly I offer up these vintage yet timeless
electronics-themed comics for your enjoyment. I freely admit to reaching for the
comics page(s) of the newspaper to read the latest antics of Beetle Bailey, Dilbert,
Hagar the Horrible, Peanuts, Blondie, and many others. As if that was not bad enough
in some people's opinion, what would really keep me from getting invited to any
more high class dinner parties if the word got out is the fact that I actually try
to spot the 6 differences in Bob Weber, Jr.'s drawings
...
 "The knock against using graphene in digital
electronics has been that it
lacks an inherent band gap. However, over
the years there have been a number of approaches that have been able to engineer
a band gap into the material. One of the most promising methods has been nitrogen
doping, which actually increases the material's conductivity rather than reduces
it. Now researchers
..."
 "Bluetooth
5 is set to make its formal debut June 16 at the Discover Blue media event in
London, reported the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). The wireless standard
is getting a major upgrade from Bluetooth 4.2. The newest version of Bluetooth will
pack twice the speed, and four times the range, of existing low-energy Bluetooth
transmissions ..."
 This advertisement for the Collins Radio 17D
Autotune transmitters serves a couple purposes. The first and to me the most important
is that it features the magnificent Douglas DC-3 twin engine commercial airliner.
The military version, the C-47 Skytrain transport, was listed by Dwight D. Eisenhower
as being among the four most important pieces of hardware
(the others were the bazooka, the jeep, the atom bomb) that helped win World
War II in the European theater. It dropped the paratroopers and towed troop
gliders during the D-Day invasion. Interestingly, although Collins claims the 17D
Autotune transmitters were widely installed
...
 When semiconductor devices first came onto
the electronics scene, there was a lot of resistance (no
pun intended) to adopting and designing them into circuits. Some of the reluctance
(doh, another unintentional pun) was justified in
that reliability could be an issue, due primarily to the mechanical contacts that
interface wire leads to the semiconductor elements. In an effort to mitigate some
of the fear of a new type of component, often times familiar names were given to
them, such as with this
duo-diode. Duo-diode vacuum tubes, the integration of two separate
diodes into a single glass enclosure, were commonly used in balanced
...
  "In a deal between companies that promise to unite
"the world's leading professional cloud and network,"
Microsoft and LinkedIn have reached an
agreement for Microsoft to pay $196 per share to acquire the professional networking
service. That equals $26.2 billion or to put it in terms runners will understand,
roughly one billion dollars for each mile of a marathon. The companies say that
the deal has received the unanimous approval of both
..."
 Ham radio operators who build their own equipment
have never shied away from tackling leading-edge, technically challenging projects.
Indeed, many Amateurs have pioneered radio circuit, antenna, and propagation concepts
that were later adopted by military and commercial concerns. One of the first examples
was the relegation of hitherto believed to be unimportant shortwave frequency bands
for amateur radio use. Quite unexpectedly, Hams quickly took up the challenge and
exploited the unique long range communications capabilities possible due to atmospheric
channeling and reflection phenomena. Here,
coaxial resonant cavities are used to
...
On-Chip Supercapacitors Dump Carbon in Favor of
Silicon
 "Tiny supercapacitors that can fit right
on a chip have been hotly pursued for at least the last half decade. We've seen
the usual suspects—graphene, titanium carbide and porous carbon—proposed for making
the electrode material for these on-chip supercapacitors
..."
P1dB, an RF and Microwave component supplier, releases its improved
YouForm™ conformable cable assemblies that can be built to an
ultra low VSWR, such as 1.08:1, and at a comparable price to standard conformable
cables. YouForm™ cables can also be phase matched to 1 degree, depending on the
frequency and configuration. YouForm™ cable assemblies are available in 0.034 inch
(0.86mm), 0.047 inch (1.19mm),
0.086 inch (2.18mm), 0.141 inch
(3.58mm) and 0.250 inch (6.35mm)
coax
 For the sake of avid cruciverbalists amongst
us, each week I create a new
crossword puzzle that has a theme related to RF, microwave, electrical
and mechanical engineering, mathematics, chemistry, physics, astronomy, mathematics,
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!
...
The TTRM1081 is
an L-Band bi-directional SSPA suitable for high data-rate wireless links. Applications
include UAVs and military mesh networks. Rx noise figure is approximately 1.3 dB
and Tx/Rx switching speed is 1 µS. This class AB LDMOS module is designed
for both military and commercial applications. It is capable of supporting any signal
type and modulation format, including but not limited to 3-4G telecom, WLAN, OFDM,
DVB, and CW/AM/FM
 A regular feature in the ARRL's magazine
QST during the early days of radio was "New Receiving Tubes." It usually
had your standard editorial listing of products, but the May 1941 installment included
a comic commissioned my the Magnolia Radio Lab people that is done in the manner
of Ripley's Believe It or Not. I'm guessing that there really is no Magnolia
Radio Lab because nothing came up on a fairly extensive Internet search for the
company. Most good humor has an element of truth in it that makes the subject matter
believable - almost
...
 This could be a modern day photo of an American
DHS or an Israeli IDF agent displaying a body bomb found on an attempted suicide
bomber after thwarting an attack, but it's not. In actuality, it is a 1934 Burgess
battery advertisement that appeared in QST magazine with the intent of
demonstrating to Hams the kinds of research the company was doing. This design was
called a 'ribbon battery,' and it could conveniently be wired in a flexible
manner with almost any number of series and parallel connections to accommodate
required voltage
...
 Neon bulbs used to show up in lots of commercial,
military, and consumer products, but have given way to LEDs because of efficiency
in cost, size, weight, and reliability. The 1950s vintage radar I worked on in the
USAF used lots of them as indicators. Before the availability of Zener diodes, they
were used quite often as constant voltage references because of their characteristic
of maintaining a fairly steady voltage value over a wide range of currents. One
of the more useful tasks remaining for
neon
bulbs is for troubleshooting RF circuits because of their ability to glow in
the presence of a strong electromagnetic field while only having physical
...
 Since the majority of people no longer receive
paper copies of the magazines, I try to drive a little traffic to their websites
by highlighting titles that appeal to my interest and like-minded RF Cafe visitors.
-
11 Myths About Antenna Design,
Dustin M. and Kyle S.
-
Proper O-Scope Setup for Correct
ESD Measurements, Mike H.,
Loren D., Mark M. & Dan S.
- Preventing PIM in Microwave
Systems, Jack Browne
-
ESR Losses in Ceramic Capacitors,
Richard Fiore <more>
Southwest Antennas is pleased to announce the introduction of two new S-Band
RHCP & LHCP patch antennas to their growing line of
body worn antenna products. These two new products offer superior
directional antenna performance over existing designs available on the market, and
feature a best-in-class form factor that only weighs 1.3 ounces. Designed to be
light weight and easily worn and hidden in tactical clothing, these body
 I beg your indulgence again. Here are 4 more
Radio Service Data Sheets for those who might be searching for such information
as part of a restoration project. The
Brunswick Panatrope was billed as the world's first all-electric
phonograph (as opposed to the mechanical crank-up models),
combined with an AM radio. It was designed with the assistance of RCA, many of whose
components were integrated into the unit. A video of a restored Panatrope is embedded
on the page.
Brunswick Model 31 Combination Radio and Panatrope Radio Service Data
Sheet,
Stewart-Warner Series 900 Radio,
Zenith 5-Tube Triple-Wave Superhet. Chassis nos. 5508 and 5509 Radios,
Emerson Models 38, 42 and 49, 6-Tube Dual-Wave Super. (Chassis U6)
Radio.
 October 29, 1929, aka 'Black Tuesday,' is
a date that will live in infamy. It was the beginning of the U.S. stock market crash
that resulted in The Great Depression. Since magazines, particularly in the pre-digital
era, went to press a month or two prior to hitting the postal system and store racks,
almost nobody had any idea that by the time this issue of QST was being
read, investors would be hurling themselves out of high rise building windows and
off tall bridges. As the country was coming to grips with what would ultimately
be a nearly two decade long financial struggle, nonessential creature comforts like
concert quality recorded and broadcast music equipment like that facilitated by
Sangamo Electric Company's ...
 In this second part of a 3-part series,
author Yardley Beers discusses propagation effects,
modulation systems, and receiver techniques. A particularly interesting
topic included in this installment is that of using a form of pulse modulation in
FM broadcasting in order to exploit the 'capture effect' whereby a signal in the
presence of noise will tend to suppress the noise. I don't think modern stations
use that method, possibly because of incompatibility with stereo channels and data
added for digital readouts
...
The Shack Is Back
 Lou Frenzel,
over at Design News, posted an article reporting on the - at least temporary
- reemergence of the classic American electronics parts store
Radio Shack, now formerly
'General Wireless Operations Inc. dba RadioShack.'
 Radio
Shack, if you recall, filed for bankruptcy in 2015, and was bought by a hedge fund
company. 1,700 of the original 4,000 brick-and-mortar shops were retained, and their
online presence has been enhanced. The new management is hoping to exploit the growing
Maker and DIY community as well as STEM education efforts. Read Lou's article and
a follow-up here.
 Since I do not have time to watch television
on a regular basis, paying for a cable or satellite subscription cannot be justified.
My plan was to install a traditional
FM/VHF/UHF television antenna on the roof along with a rotator.
Some pretty nice models are still available from Channel Master, RCA, and a few
others. TV broadcast stations in the Erie area are all within 10 miles or so, so
signal strength would not be an issue. I listen to both AM and FM radio most of
the day, so being able to get an FM signal boost from a steerable antenna would
be a nice bonus since occasionally reorienting the FM dipole was needed to get a
clear signal. The entire outfit would cost less than a year's
...
 According to a tally crafted by Radio &
Television News magazine in 1949, the total number of
television sets sold in the United States in 1947 and 1948 was
964,206. There were approximately 146 million people at the time per the U.S. Census.
If there was an average of 4 people per household, that works out to around one
television set for every 36 houses. Some households already had TV sets during that
time, but far fewer than half owned a television. Nobody owned
...
 DIY (do-it-yourself)
is the relatively new term adopted to describe any activity engaged in by laymen
and even professionals plying their trades after hours. Subjects range from hanging
a kitchen cabinet or planting a tree, to a total engine rebuild or building a robot.
Reasonable quality and capability tools for performing around-the-house chores are
fairly cheap and available for purchase or rent for projects most people undertaking
such challenges. Cordless saws and drills, stud finders, airless paint sprayers,
and electronic readout levels can be had for under
...
Post Office Efficiency - Not
 While on the subject
of RF
Cafe Book Drawing winners, you might find it interesting that that March 2016
winner, who lives in Canada, reported his book, which was mailed from Erie, PA,
on April 18, finally arrived in Ottawa on May 22. It made its way to the Canada
Post Office in three days, and then sat in Customs (per the
online package tracking service) for more than a month! Books that have been
shipped to Australia have gotten there in three weeks, and past books to Canada
arrived in just a few days, so I can't imagine what took that one book so long in
customs.
 This 1955-era photo
of the "Portaphone" might be considered one of
the world's first commercially available portable phones. It cannot be considered
to be a cellphone in that there were no "cells" of transceiver stations capable
of servicing sets moving between cell coverage boundaries. Early portable - or mobile
- phones were serviced by a central tower that performed a relay service between
the RF device (handset) and the local telephone service. The earliest of those systems,
prior to automation, relied on a human operator to patch
...
VidaRF offers high performance "SMD"
circulators
and isolators with Low IMD covering the frequency band of 0.7-3.0 GHz.
This rugged design uses a screwed in cover and machined housing. Units are fully
tested to perform vibration, thermal shock and moisture making suitable for base
station and other infrastructural environments. RoHS Compliant
Ivor B., of San Diego, CA, is the lucky winner
of my May 2016 Book Drawing. Ivor wisely selected
Quantum Mechanics of Nanostructures, by
Vladimir V. Mitin, Dmitry I. Sementsov, and Nizami Z. Vagidov. Each month I choose
one or more names from people who have e-mailed to order
RF Cafe software or to let me know about an error somewhere on
the website. Ivor pointed out a typo in a capacitance quality factor equation. Two
other people have been notified re winning, but have not responded.
The book was graciously provided by
Cambridge University
Press.
 Dilbert creator Scott Adams has often incorporated
- albeit usually stealthily - his views on the economy, social mores, political
correctness, or even pure politics for that matter
 within the comic
strip. He recently posted an article on his blog titled "My Endorsement for President of the United States." When reading
it, look for the nuances of his message, the same type skill needed to fully appreciate
Dilbert, Wally, Alice, Dogbert, and Catbert. I believe I figured out his position
on the upcoming election, which is not necessarily as it seems on the surface. What
say you?
New Online Resource Library
A new resource
library has been added to the NI AWR Design Environment™ website so that visitors
can quickly and easily find and choose the specific/targeted content they need.
The site contains a breadth and depth of resources for using NI AWR software and
is organized by resource type, application, technology, product and industry
 If you think paying $80-$100 per night for
a relatively low end chain hotel/motel is outrageous, then this advertisement in
a 1930 issue of Radio-Craft magazine will help justify your indignation.
While in California for the IMS 2016 show two weeks ago, a convention-goer likely
paid $200 or more per night for a room within walking distance of the Moscone Center
in downtown San Francisco. Compare that rate to, say, the Eastgate Hotel or St.
Clair Hotel in Chicago in 1930. Room prices started at $2.50 - including free garage
parking
...
Triad RF Systems has introduced a 1.7 to 2.5 GHz, 5 W Solid State Power Amplifier
(SSPA). The TA1025
produces over 1 W of linear COFDM power and 5W peak. The amplifier is protected
from high, low, and reverse DC bias, thermal overload, and high output VSWR. The
amplifier draws 0.8 A (100% duty cycle), and measures only 3.75" x 1.9" x 0.5"
 Take a break and 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
...
 Most people engaged in circuit design and
adjustment in a professional environment own or have access to a spectrum analyzer
and/or digital oscilloscope with an FFT function, so measuring the
harmonic content of a signal is a fairly simple job. A lot of
instruments will display a listing of frequency makeup and the percentage of the
whole signal it occupies. Many, though, particularly hobbyists, use simple analog
o-scopes where determining harmonic content requires a largely subjective assessment
of the displayed waveform. In 1939 when this article
...
 A good primer on the physics behind and use
of
thermistors was published in the November 1956 edition of
Popular Electronics. Thermistors are fundamentally substances that exhibit
a large change in resistance for a given change in temperature, called temperature
coefficient of resistance (TCR, or RT). Standard resistors would ideally
maintain the exact same resistance regardless of temperature, but in reality most
resistor types increase in resistance with an increase in temperature; i.e., a positive
TCR. Most thermistors have a negative TCR, which makes them useful for cancelling
out
...
, a subsidiary of Bird Technologies, today announced that it has been awarded
a Government Services Agency (GSA) contract that allows federal agencies to purchase
X-COM Systems products online via GSA Advantage! in the shortest time, at the lowest
cost, and with the least difficulty. GSA Advantage! is the agency's online shopping
and ordering service designed to provide a streamlined and efficient purchasing
portal for federal agencies to acquire
 "Enhancing the company's expertise in RF
and microwave, cyber security, and anti-tamper technologies are cornerstones of
the recent acquisition by Mercury Systems of the embedded security, RF and microwave,
and custom microelectronics businesses from
Microsemi Corp. Mercury has completed its acquisition of the Microsemi
embedded security, RF
..."
 Carl Kohler has done it again with his saga
of a DIYer-gone-overboard saga titled "Operation Chaos." Nobody knows for sure whether the over-enthusiastic
husband in the series of techie stories that ran in Popular Electronics magazine
in the 1950s was actually Carl himself or maybe an alter ego version of himself.
Carl was also the artist of numerous tech-related comics. His wife, affectionately
referred to as "Old Big Eyes" and a certified "lady-telepath" is always quick to
recognize the impending disaster about to ensue, often with her as an unwilling
participant. This particular project is not one
...
 "The Radio Club of America, Inc. (RCA) and
the Electronic Technicians Association International (ETA) have signed a
memorandum of understanding of partnership.
Both RCA and ETA will offer reduced membership rates to the other's members. Each
will list the other's meetings and events on their respective websites. ETA provides
industry-recognized certifications with career training from approved providers.
RCA members who join ETA will be able to avail themselves of those services. RCA
..."
 Without warning, a couple days ago our hot
water heater became just a cold water storage tank. Our
A.O. Smith GCV 40 100 HWH had been functioning
perfectly since we acquired it with the house in 2008. Being a gas hot water heater,
I was a bit trepeidacious about messing with it since gas has a way of exploding
at the most inconvenient times - like when your face is staring into a burner chamber.
I attack electrical problems with near-reckless abandon from having dealt with AC
and DC supplies and controls for nearly five decades. Nevertheless, last December
when our Trane VX95 gas furnace decided it was time to be a cold air storage
...
Southwest Antennas is pleased to introduce their
new
small form factor "Turbo Cloverleaf" family of circularly polarized (CP) Omni antennas
in 1.98 - 2.2 GHz and 2.3 - 2.5 GHz frequencies. These new and innovative antenna
products deliver substantial increases in high data rate throughput and signal-to-noise
ratio (SNR) in a very compact, rugged radome that measures two inches or less on
each side. Each antenna
 All of the 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. Note: I earn a few pennies
(literally) when you download one of these or the many other pubs available,
so please help yourself.
 Early automobiles presented significant challenges
to mobile radio designers due to a combination of a fledgling understanding of electrical
and electronic circuits and quickly evolving automotive materials and configurations.
A 1935 issue of Radio-Craft magazine presented eight
automotive radio designs that represented break-through techniques
for dealing with some of those innovations. All of the technical issues involved
here have been pretty much solved in modern radios. Ignition interference is nearly
invisible to FM and satellite reception, although audio frequency circuits can still
pick up noise if not properly filtered
...
Who Should Attend: Engineers who use
wideband oscilloscopes to measure 5G,
WiGig, and Automotive RADAR signals. With emerging communication standards (e.g.
5G, WiGig) becoming more prevalent today, R&D groups to manufacturing teams
are looking for easy and accurate methods to measure these wideband signals. Keysight
can show you how to unlock the potential of your oscilloscope for these demanding
applications
|
