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This is Page 1 of the May 2016 homepage archives (click here for Page
1,
2,
3).
 Could this be the world's first publically
documented produced
rack-mounted AC power strip? The National Company of Cambridge,
Massachusetts, which began life as the National Toy Company, ran a long series of
advertisements in QST and other electronics magazines that were heavy on
text and light on pictures - definitely not the norm in advertising. This one, number
62, from a 1939 issue describes, along with a reference frequency oscillator, how
their engineering team fabricated what we now call an AC power strip for use in
an equipment rack. According to the sketch provided, there does not appear to be
an On/Off switch and almost certainly not any form of surge protection as is common
(maybe even required by UL) for modern power strips
...
 My first thought when seeing this headline
was, 'as opposed to wired communications with the aircraft?' The story is referring
to en route traffic and weather data that requires a high-speed communications link
heretofore not available to high speed aircraft. "For the first time ever, a team
of engineers at NASA's Glenn Research Center conveyed aviation data - including
route options and weather information - to an airplane over a
wireless communication system for aircraft
on the ground. The demonstration, which was conducted at Glenn's Communications,
Navigation and Surveillance
..."
 If you like pictures of sehr cool-looking
devices involving vacuum-filled (an oxymoron?) glass
enclosures, i.e., lamps and tubes, then you will want to spend a few minutes perusing
the personal collection of Giorgio Basile, of Nivelles, Belgium. Per the homepage
of his Lamps & Tubes website: "My collection consists of more
than 3,500 lamps and vacuum tubes. This is a wide area! In addition to well known
incandescent lamps, radio tubes and cathode ray tubes, it includes, among others:
arc lamps, light sources for the laboratory, transmitting tubes, camera tubes, flash
lamps, microwave tubes, photocells, photomultipliers, radiation detectors, rectifiers,
relays, thyratrons ..."
 "An international team of researchers from
the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), ITMO University (St Petersburg),
and the Australian National University have demonstrated that silicon nanoparticles can significantly
increase the intensity of the Raman effect. The results could be a boon to nanoscale
light emitters and nanoscale amplifiers used in fiber optic telecommunications.
In the Raman scattering effect, light interacts with certain materials to produce
longer or shorter wavelengths, or different colors
..."
Notable Tech Quote: Sherry Hess
 "When I am asked what I do for a living, I
say 'my company makes the products that allow you to use all the wireless gadgets
you love.'" -
Sherry Hess, VP of Marketing, National Instruments, AWR Group,
in an interview with Chris DeMartino of Microwaves & RF magazine. For
nearly a decade, Sherry has been championing the extensive
NI AWR Design Environment™
software product portfolio of high-frequency design environments consisting of System
simulation (Visual System Simulator™), Circuit simulation (Microwave
Office and Analog Office), and Electromagnetic analysis (AXIEM and
Analyst™).
 "A metallic quantum dot sandwiched between
two superconductors – which functions as an
electronic turnstile, only permitting
one electron through at a time – has been developed by researchers in France, Russia
and Finland. By driving an AC voltage through the device, the researchers can control
the tunneling of electrons into and out of the dot. While such turnstiles have been
made before, this is the first where electrons at only one quantum energy level
are allowed to pass through. This, say the researchers, makes the device ideal for
quantum-metrology applications. The ability to control the flow of current
..."
Tech News: May 10
Significant % of Postdoc Researchers Eye Non-Academic
Careers
Worldwide Smartphone Growth Goes Flat As Chinese Vendors Churn the
Top 5 List
Sequans' LTE Technology Selected for European
Aviation Network In-Flight Connectivity
"Urgent!! Ericsson Transmission Engineer--- Asian Prefered !!!"
(hmm... racism?)
Designing COTS Connectors That Can Stand up
to Military Environments
E-Compass Chip for Precision Dead-Reckoning
Navigation
 Electro-Photonics
LLC is a global supplier of RF & Microwave components. Their products include SMT hybrid
and
 directional couplers,
wire bondable passive components, and very useful test boards for evaluating components.
The Electro-Photonics team can support your small R&D design requirements with
RF & microwave test fixtures and save you valuable design and characterization
time. • SMT 90° hybrid & directional couplers • evaluation test boards • filters • microwave test fixtures • spiral inductors • alumina transmission lines, and more
...
 Authors Cohen and Hessinger warn about the
need to consider the capacitive loading effects of shielded and closely-space test
leads when measuring other than direct current or very low audio or line frequencies.
Lead capacitance is especially likely to affect measured values
when the frequency is high and/or the source and load impedances are high. As was
common in the day, capacitance units of μμfd (micro-micro
farads = 10-6 x 10-6 = 10-12 F) are cited,
which is equivalent to units of pF (10-12 F)
...
 "An Ivy League professor says he was interrogated
and his flight from Philadelphia to Syracuse delayed because another passenger thought
his cryptic writings, which turned out to be mathematical equations, were suspicious,
the Washington Post reports.
Guido Menzio, a 40-year-old professor
of economics at the University of Pennsylvania, told the Post that he was doing
work related to a talk he would be giving at Queens University in Ontario - Syracuse
was a connecting stop on the way to Canada - and the passenger next to him apparently
became
..."
 "Water molecules trapped in tiny channels
exist in a blurry
quantum superposition of six different
configurations that bears little resemblance to the structure of a free molecule.
That is the finding of physicists in the U.S. and UK, who have used neutron scattering
to map the locations of hydrogen atoms in water molecules trapped in the mineral
beryl – revealing that the atoms tunnel between the six configurations. The researchers
have also found evidence that, unlike normal water, a trapped molecule has a zero
electric-dipole moment
..."
 Wien bridge oscillators had been around for
a few years prior to this article in the January 1941 issue of QST magazine, but
evidently they had not been applied widely to amateur radio applications. In fact,
Hewlett-Packard's very first product, the Model 200A audio oscillator, employed
a Wien bridge oscillator as its frequency determining circuit. U.S. patent 2268872
provides a detailed description of its operation as well as the basic schematic.
It was considered breakthrough design because its amplitude and frequency stability
rivaled that of the beat frequency oscillators of the day - at a small fraction
of the cost, size, and weight. The Model 200A quickly became a staple instrument
on the benches of designers and launched HP into the Keysight
...
 This is pretty big news, released on April
29, 2016: "'IEEE, the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated
to advancing technology for humanity, today announced the acquisition of GlobalSpec,
a leading source of news, data and analytics for the global engineering and technical
community including the widely known brand name Engineering360. The new for-profit
subsidiary of IEEE has been renamed
IEEE
GlobalSpec, Inc. and will significantly complement IEEE's already broad offerings
for engineers as well as its emerging position in research analytics, further fueling
the organization's value to industry
..."
 "On Monday, you can watch Mercury sail across
the sun. It's an astronomical event known as the
Mercury transit, and it occurs about a
dozen times a century. During the trip, the planet will appear as a black speck
awash in the sun's light. You can track its celestial silhouette for about seven
hours, starting around 7:12 a.m. Eastern and ending around 2:42 p.m. Depending on
the weather, it should be visible from most parts of the world, except for Australia,
New Zealand and parts of East Asia. The best way to view it is through a telescope
or on several
live streams,
but don't try to sneak a peak with your
..."
Tech News: May 9
Families Struggling with Teens' Cellphone Addiction
Buckyball Pioneer Harold Kroto Dies at 76
Imec Honors Dr. Gordon Moore with 'Lifetime
of Innovation Award' (Forbes says Moore's worth $6.3e9)
Rich and Powerful Warn Robots Are Coming For
Your Jobs
Cupertino's Mayor Urges Apple to Pay More
Tax ("pioneer in corporate tax avoidance")
DISA Goes Commercial for milCloud 2.0
 Centric RF is a company offering from stock
various RF and Microwave coaxial
components, including attenuators, adapters, cable assemblies, terminations,
power  dividers,
and more. We believe in offering high performance parts from stock at a reasonable
cost. Their parts operate in the frequency ranges of 0-110 GHz, and at power
levels from 0.5-500 watts. Order today, ship today! Centric RF is currently looking
for vendors to partner with them. If interested please email expressing an interest
to
sales@centricrf.com
 After seven years and more than $7B, MUOS
is ready to go. There's just one problem with its Sicily station. Where there was
once a cork forest, there is now just barren land. Nothing grows behind the tall
fences that mark the 410-acre perimeter around the U.S. Navy area in Niscemi, Sicily.
Behind the fences, atop the only hill, three huge satellite dishes dominate the
panorama, standing 60 feet wide and as tall as a 10-story building. This is 1/4
of the most sophisticated military communication system
...
Skyworks is pleased to introduce two new SPDT 75 Ohm switches that are ideal
for set-top box and DVR applications. The
SKY13547-490LF and
SKY13548-385LF feature ultra-high linearity and meet the rigorous requirements
of DOCSIS 3.0/3.1 applications. They also boast very low insertion loss and high
power handling capability. Skyworks' new switches are fully integrated and internally
matched, reducing bill of material costs for customers. They are available in compact
1 x 1 x 0.45 and 2 x 2 x 0.55 mm packages, saving precious application board space
and cost for OEMs. These devices can also be used for terrestrial and cable set-top
box, cable modem and home gateway
 "Researchers from the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign have developed a
one-step, facile method to pattern graphene
by using stencil mask and oxygen plasma reactive-ion etching, and subsequent polymer-free
direct transfer to flexible substrates. Graphene, a two-dimensional carbon allotrope,
has received immense scientific and technological interest. Combining exceptional
mechanical properties, superior carrier mobility, high thermal conductivity, hydrophobicity,
and potentially low manufacturing cost, graphene provides a superior base material
for next generation bioelectrical, electromechanical, optoelectronic, and thermal
..."
 The Sr. Antenna Test Technician will perform all
antenna, material and environmental testing of antennas to meet tasking requirements
utilizing a planar near field range, anechoic chamber and environmental test chamber.
The Senior Antenna Test Technician will also perform the following: Maintain electronic
records library of test result data on completed customer testing tasks. Support
engineering tasks related to the repair, fabrication, assembly, production, installation
and testing of antennas and electronic hardware and systems. Utilize and interpret
schematics, wiring diagrams, test manuals, test procedures and performance specifications
to ...
 "Anybody who walks or drives past new
tracking billboards with a mobile phone
in their pocket can be spied on without their knowledge or consent: a potential
invasion of privacy that US Senator Charles E. Schumer wants the US Federal Trace
Commission (FTC) to investigate. Schumer, a Democrat from New York, delivered a
briefing in Times Square on Sunday, electronic billboards blinking and scrolling
behind him. These new 'spying' billboards raise serious questions about privacy,
Schumer said
..."
Tech News: May 6
BT Reports 9% Rise in Profit, Will Invest £6B in Fibre, 4G
FCC Proposes $51 Million in Penalties for
Lifeline Program (aka Obamaphones)
Physicists Abuzz About Possible New Particle
as CERN Revs up
No Need for Panic Regarding Synthetic Aperture
Radars on 70 cm
Chip Sales Edge up Slightly
Instagram
Hacked by 10-Year-Old Boy
 "Researchers at two Chinese universities,
the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University and the University of Bolton in
the UK, have produced a so-called
memristor device made from egg proteins, magnesium and tungsten.
A memristor – sometimes simply called a non-volatile resistive memory – is a two-contact
variable device that not only controls the flow of electrical current, like a resistor,
and does so as a function of its previous history, a memory effect and hence the
memristor name. Transient electronics and memristors have previously
..."
25 Highest Paying Companies in America for
2016
 "According to Glassdoor's latest report revealing
the
25 Highest Paying Companies in America for 2016, several companies
are offering employees six figure paychecks. This report is based on each company's
median total compensation, compiled by looking at salary reports ..." Unfortunately,
but not surprisingly, companies likely to employ electrical and RF engineers and
technicians are not well-represented.
#1: A.T. Kearney
- $167,534
#3: Juniper Networks
- $157,000
#5: Google -
$153,750
#10 :
Cadence EDA - $150,010
#12: Facebook - $150,000
#19: LinkedIn - $145,000
#22: Microsoft - $141,000
#25:
Broadcom - $140,000
 "Lime Microsystems has launched a crowd-funding
campaign to bring its
LimeSDR software defined radio platform
into full-scale production. The campaign, hosted on the Crowd Supply platform, aims
to raise $500,000 to fund the final stages of development and mass production of
the LimeSDR platform. The LimeSDR platform is a low cost application-enabled software
defined radio (SDR) platform that can be programmed to support virtually any type
of wireless standard – including Wi-Fi, ZigBee and Bluetooth through to cellular
standards such as UMTS, LTE and GSM and to the emerging IoT
..."
 We are accustomed these days with stores having
"no questions asked" return policies for just about anything. I once watched a guy
successfully return a 4" PVC plumbing fitting that had clearly been smeared with
glue in the coupling areas. Another time a guy returned a painting drop cloth that
was full of paint, declaring that it wasn't what he wanted. The return counter bins
of Walmart and other stores are always chock full of stuff. Such was not always
the case, though. This episode of
Mac's Radio Service Shop, mentions, among other thing, how busy
he and sidekick Barney had been right after Christmas doing troubleshooting and
repair on various electronic equipment that had been received as gifts. Imagine
receiving
...
 "Since lasers were invented more than 50 years
ago, they have transformed a diverse swath of technology - from CD players to surgical
instruments. Now researchers from France and Hungary have invented a way to print
lasers that's so cheap, easy and efficient they believe the core of the
laser could be disposed of after each use. The team reports its
findings in the Journal of Applied Physics, from AIP Publishing. 'The low-cost and
easiness of laser chip fabrication are the most significant aspects of our results,'
said Sébastien Sanaur, an associate professor
..."
Z-Comm announces a new fixed frequency phase locked loop model
RFS5900A-LF in the C-band. The RFS5900A-LF
is a fully integrated synthesizer operating at 5900 MHz which is phase locked
to a 10 MHz reference with a stability of ±2.5 ppm. This low cost PLL
features a typical phase noise of -80 dBc/Hz, -85 dBc/Hz, and -103 dBc/Hz
at the 1 kHz, 10 kHz and 100 kHz offsets, respectively. The RFS5900A-LF
is designed to deliver an output power of 3۬±2 dBm while operating off a VCO
voltage supply of 5Vdc and drawing
 "Among the expanding efforts to transform
the way the U.S. military develops and deploys new technologies based on models
perfected by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs is a new project designed to support what
organizers call a cadre of 'military intrapreneurs.' The Athena Project
convened last week in Silicon Valley to stage what amounted to a project-pitching
session. The idea is to develop new acquisition skills akin to technology startups
that would eventually allow the military services
..."
 Keysight is dedicated to meaningful collaboration
with educators and researchers at every level around the world. This year's DVD
has been updated with almost 200 new items in 7 key focus areas relating to
education and research. You will find timely application notes,
white papers, case studies, informative videos, and webcasts, as well as additional
resources relative to Keysight solutions in these focus areas: • Software Design &
Simulation Solutions • Communications Technology • Test & Measurement Science
• Nanotechnology & Material Measurement Classroom
...
 "While there are common elements to building
and retaining a team regardless of experience level, there are some unique considerations
involved in recruiting and retaining your experienced team members. Here are some
tips for recruiting and keeping your high value, senior engineering talent: 1. It's
Your First Level Network - An individual's personal network is not a thing that
is built overnight. It represents the value of your relationship with people over
a period of years
..."
 The Sr. RF Engineer will perform as a competent
specialist, consultant, and/or advisor on assignments requiring advanced application
of technical or engineering principles relative to Radio Frequency Engineering.
Assignments are generally complex in nature with considerable discretion given to
work details and approaches utilized. Specific responsibilities will include: •Provides
support in the design, development, and testing of radio frequency (RF) and/or microwave
systems architecture, components, circuits or products. Efforts may include analog
and digital circuits or products, frequency synthesizers, amplifiers, transmitters
and receivers, down converters, frequency multipliers, digital logic ...
 "Part of the issues that have held laser defense
systems back in the past is the incredible amount of power needed to operate the
mechanisms, as well as their operating inefficiencies. In theory, the technology
has shown a lot of promise when it comes to defense integration, and it would appear
that Lockheed Martin has begin to overcome some of the previously limiting factors
in the industry. Lockheed Martin claims to have developed 'innovative fiber
lasers, sophisticated beam control and auxiliary technologies,' pushing the boundaries
of what laser systems can do. Lasers can
..."
 "Doing an apprenticeship is a great way of
having real-life work experience and getting a feel of what it's like to actually
work in the industry. It is also one of the ways to avoid going to university but
still getting a career you desire. If this is something you'd be interested in,
continue reading! The following are top 10 tips that will help you find an apprenticeship:
1. Research is crucial! Read about all the different areas of engineering you can
potentially work in, which companies take more interns in, what skills are necessary,
etc. 2. Choose an area you are most interested
..."
 "High-frequency antennas transmit radio waves
across vast distances and even over mountain ranges using very little energy, making
them ideal for military communications. These devices, however, have one big problem:
They need to be huge to operate efficiently. Instead of adding more bulk, University
of Wisconsin–Madison engineers are working to increase the effective size of antennas by turning the military
vehicles that carry them into transmitters—using the structures that support the
antennas themselves to help broadcast signals. Troops in remote locations need to
communicate by radio
..."
KR Electronics announces the availability of an , part number 3225. The contiguous
multiplexer has low input VSWR across the entire band and uses selective elliptic
filters for each band. Please contact KR Electronics for details
 "Times Microwave Systems in Wallingford, Conn.,
is introducing the IPB
weatherproofing kits for RF and microwave
connectors in long-term outdoor deployments and mission-critical short term deployments.
The IPB boots come in two different interface sizes (N and 7/16 DIN). The 'N' boots
will cover anything smaller than a mini DIN. Boots are sized for a particular cable
and are available with either male or female threads. Boots are available for LMR-400
and 600 as well as quarter-inch and half-inch helically corrugated cables, and half-inch
and 7/8-inch annularly corrugated cables. O-rings are
..."
James Clerk Maxwell on Education
 "The aim of an experiment of illustration
is to throw light upon some scientific idea so that the student may be able to grasp
it. ...The educational value of such experiments is often inversely proportional
to the complexity of the apparatus." - James Clerk Maxwell,
The Scientific Papers of James Clerk Maxwell
- Vol. 2, p243, by W.D. Niven.
 An old electrician's saying goes "Ground is ground the world around," implying that every point
on Earth's surface is at the same potential - specifically 0 volts. We know, of
course, that it is not so. Maybe on average such a claim could be made, but just
as 'sea level' is not the same at all points on the ocean's surface
(hence we speak of 'mean sea level'), neither is the
voltage potential the same everywhere. Further, just as the salinity of all points
on the ocean surface do not have the same salinity (and thereby
conductivity), the conductivity of various places on dry land vary - often
significantly. Electric power systems are very concerned with soil electrical conductivity
in the vicinity of power generation installations
...
 The Sr. Antenna Test Engineer shall oversee and
manage personnel and resources associated with supporting antenna testing and environmental
testing of systems on program. Additional duties shall include: • Act as technical
resource regarding testing of antennas on antenna ranges to include far field, spherical
and planar near-field systems. • Develops and documents test procedures and schedules
associated with conducting antenna and material testing covering a wide frequency
spectrum. Analyzes test results and provides formal test reports to customer. •
Develops and documents test procedures and schedules associated with conducting
environmental ...
 "As of now,
graphene is too expensive to manufacture at an industrial scale, however, scientists
are actively working on producing a cheaper more viable method to apply it to devices.
The new smartphone displayed at the convention still lacks the standard image qualities
set by LCD and OLED displays. Although the image quality may not be at par with
current HD screens, the new
bendable graphene touchscreen phone remains an exciting feature
to look forward to when it will enable devices to be thinner, lighter, and incredibly
tougher. Let us know in the comments below what you think
..."
 the Engineer, a UK website, recently did
a reader poll titled "Do Engineers Complain Too Much About Pay?"
It was a big hit. "We've rarely had such an emphatic response to a poll. Of the
591 readers who responded, 2/3 picked the option that engineers did not complain
too much about pay and were not paid enough. Unfortunately, we can't separate out
whether respondents were agreeing with both parts of the statement or only one.
Of the remaining respondents, 15% thought that engineering
..."
 "Two-dimensional phosphane, a material known
as
phosphorene, has potential application
as a material for semiconducting transistors in ever faster and more powerful computers.
But there's a hitch. Many of the useful properties of this material, like its ability
to conduct electrons, are anisotropic, meaning they vary depending on the orientation
of the crystal. Now, a team including researchers at RPI has developed a new method
to quickly and accurately determine that orientation using the interactions between
light and electrons within phosphorene
..."
Pasternack, a leading provider of RF, microwave and millimeter wave products,
greatly expands their portfolio of in-stock solid state
PIN diode switches covering frequencies from
10 MHz to 67 GHz. 69 unique new models of 50 ohm PIN diode switches are available
in compact connectorized package styles and display impressive isolation, insertion
loss, and switching speed performance. Pasternack's new PIN diode switches offer
a broad range of solutions in applications where fast switching and long lifetime
are
 "Arrays containing as many as 20,000 Josephson
junctions have been created by physicists at CSIRO in Australia. The devices are
made from a high-temperature superconductor and operate at liquid-nitrogen temperatures.
With further development, the devices could be used in a range of applications,
including magnetic-field sensing and as radio-frequency antennas. The devices are
called
superconducting quantum interference filters
(SQIFs), which are 2D arrays of superconducting interference devices (SQUIDs). A
SQUID is
..."
 Presenting yourself or your company as being
modeled after a person of great accomplishment has been a common promotional tactic
for as long as there has been print media. The John Hancock chose in this issue
of The Saturday Evening Post to suggest, albeit by an indirect approach,
to elicit the admiration Americans had for
Thomas Edison's lust for innovation and desire to make people's
lives better in hopes that readers would associate Edison with the insurance company.
While the juxtaposition is strained, I do like one line in particular, "He lured
electricity into a bottle and taught it to glow with good cheer." This short tribute
to on of the world's greatest engineers is worth your a few moments of your valuable
time
...
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