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 The USA's Federal Communications Commission has issued a $34.9M fine against a Chinese
electronics manufacturer and online retailer, for selling
signal jamming devices to U.S. consumers.
So-called 'jammers' are radio frequency transmitters that intentionally block, jam, or interfere with wireless communications,
such as cellphone calls, GPS systems, Wi-Fi networks, and first- responder communications. It is a violation of federal
law to market, sell, import, or use a signal jammer in the United States. "In today's mobile world, cellular
..."
 "Radio amateurs in the US, Russia, Germany,
and the Netherlands topped the field in a European Space Agency (ESA) Education Office competition to be the first to hear
signals from three new, student-built CubeSats. All of the satellites were launched from Guiana on April 25 as part of ESA's
'Fly
Your Satellite!' program, and ESA challenged the Amateur Radio community, offering prizes to the first three radio amateurs
to submit a recorded signal from OUFTI-1 from France, e-st@r-II from Italy, and AAUSAT4
..."
 In a Scientific
American article titled "Elemental Urgency,"
Jennifer Hackett reported on a paper published in 2013 by Yale University's Thomas Graedel et al regarding the availability
(or unavailability) of the raw elements - and suitable substitutes - used extensively in modern manufacturing. Unlike half
a century ago when most products were made from relatively common and easily obtainable elements like lead, iron, tin, nickel,
aluminum, carbon, zinc, silicon, and even silver and gold, many more elements are now regularly included in mass manufacturing
processes. Rhenium (Re), used in high strength, temperature alloys
...
 Guerrilla
RF, a leading provider of high performance MMICs, today introduces new additions to the company's family of
high linearity gain blocks featuring
a unique combination of simple-application schematic, flat gain and high compressed output power which operate from 50 MHz
up to as high as 8 GHz. The GRF201X family of devices is offered in a 1.5 x 1.5 mm DFN-6 package and the GRF301X family
is packaged in the popular SOT-89. Devices from both families provide strong linearity measured over a wide temperature
range ...
 "Headaches and trouble sleeping? You may be
suffering from a 'tech hangover.' If you have a sore head and struggled to get out of bed this morning, last night's glass
of wine might not be to blame - you could have a
Technology Hangover.
New research has revealed more than one in three Brits (36%) suffer from regular, debilitating tech hangovers, leaving them
drained, exhausted and in pain. The research revealed physical symptoms such as eye pain cause concern for 36% of Brits
and ..."
 "Light waves could in principle be
used to drive future transistors. Since the electromagnetic waves of light oscillate approximately one million times in
a billionth of a second, i.e. at petahertz (PHz) frequencies,
optoelectronic
computers could attain switching rates 100,000 times higher than current digital electronic systems. However, to achieve
this goal, we will need a better understanding of the sub-atomic electron motion induced by the ultrafast electric field
of light ..."
Notable Tech Quote: Vadim Makarov
 "You need to be a bit older than
a teenager. And you need to have access to an optic lab. You don't have this technology in basements - yet." -
Vadim Makarov, February 2016
Scientific
American, regarding cracking of RSA encryption using quantum computers. Mr. Makarov and his team successfully decrypted
an supposedly secure quantum transmission system designed by ID Quantique,
using a portable suitcase of equipment.
 Byron Goodman published a very thorough
diode modulator article in a 1953 issue of
QST magazine. It was one of the first of such articles that used the very recently available semiconductor diodes rather
than the previously used vacuum tubes. Single-balanced bridge and ring modulator circuits are presented, along with the
theory behind their operation. It would be a few years more before double balanced mixers with their abilities to reject
even intermodulation products, and triple balanced mixers with very high overall spurious product rejection, would become
commonplace ...
 Rohde &
Schwarz has expanded its portfolio of midrange signal and spectrum analyzers. The new
R&S FSVA offers a 160 MHz analysis bandwidth over its entire frequency range, making it the only
analyzer in its class to do so at frequencies between 26.5 GHz and 40 GHz. With its enhanced phase noise performance, the
instrument offers users very high accuracy in spectral measurements on narrowband modulated signals and in phase noise measurements.
The advanced features of the R&S FSVA include more than the improved phase noise of typ. -117 dBc
...
 Well, at least the good news
is that robots won't
commit suicide by jumping off the building. Maybe human workers will be confined to the ground floor.
"Apple and Samsung supplier Foxconn has reportedly
replaced 60,000 factory workers with robots. One factory has 'reduced employee strength from 110,000 to 50,000 thanks to
the introduction of robots,' a government official told
the South China Morning Post. Xu Yulian, head of publicity for the Kunshan region, added: 'More companies
are likely to follow suit.' China investing ..."
 "It's midday, and your phone's battery
is dangerously close to the 20% mark. If you're like the majority of people, that red icon will leave you feeling panicked,
annoyed and hunting for a spare charger. LG has dubbed this condition 'Low Battery Anxiety' and says that nearly 9 out of 10 people suffer from the fear of losing power on
their phone. The company polled a random sample of more than 2,000 adult smartphone users in the US earlier this year
..."
 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! ...
 "Researchers have developed
a table-top instrument that obtains measurements more normally acquired in national high magnetic field laboratories. The
advance means that research into the development of next generation electronic devices employing 2D materials can now be
done at most research universities. Dr Darren Graham and a team of researchers from Manchester University's Photon Science
Institute collaborated with colleagues from
..."
 "Report of Partial Findings from
the National Toxicology Program Carcinogenesis Studies of Cell Phone Radiofrequency Radiation in Hsd: Sprague Dawley® SD
rats (Whole Body Exposures)" 5-19-2016. "CONCLUSIONS: Under the conditions of these 2-year
studies, the hyperplastic lesions and glial cell neoplasms of the heart and brain observed in
male rats are considered likely the result of whole-body exposures to GSM- or CDMA-modulated
RFR. There is higher confidence in the association between RFR exposure and the neoplastic lesions in the heart than
in the brain. No biologically significant effects were observed in the brain or heart of female rats regardless of modulation."
So, there is good news here per modern day thinking - only males will die from it!
 Triad RF Systems today introduced
the TA1029 PA,
designed for broadcast applications requiring linear power for COFDM digital video transmission. It utilizes GaN devices
for high efficiency while maintaining 30 dB ACPR with a COFDM video signal. The unit can be operated from a 9-36 VDC
supply voltage range. This class AB GaN 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
...
 Rob Spiegel, of Design
News, recently posted the results of a
salary survey conducted by PayScale website that listed the top-paying 15 engineering jobs. Petroleum
engineering ranks highest with early career pay at $101k and mid-career pay at $168k. Next up is nuclear engineering with
entry at $68k and mid at $121k. Down at #5 is electrical & communications engineer with entry at $65k and mid at $116k.
CS follows at $69k and $115k, respectively, which evidently begins higher but ends lower. Electrical and computer engineering
is #7 at $67k and $114k. Plain old electrical engineering is $66k and $108k, then mechanical engineering
...
 Antenova, manufacturer
of antennas and RF antenna modules for M2M, is shipping its first orders for the
TransferJet coupler, Zoma, which the company announced in September
2015, and is collaborating with partner Icoteq to build TransferJet designs for customers
worldwide. Antenova provides evaluation boards for customers to test the Zoma coupler with their designs. TransferJet is
a close proximity wireless transfer technology that radiates very low power radio waves
...
 "German researchers have
set a new world record for wireless data transmission at six gigabits per second. They sent the entire contents of a DVD in
less than ten seconds using radio waves. The data traveled from the Uni-Center Cologne to the Fraunhofer Institute for High
Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR in the city of Wachtberg, nearly 37 kilometers (23 miles) away. This demonstrates
that it is possible to wirelessly transmit large amounts of data across long distances. The technology could be used to
improve satellite ..."
 In the RF Power Division e2V partners
with our customers in a wide variety of markets, all around the world. Over 90% of the world's radiotherapy machines contain
our technology, we bring vehicles and boats to a safe stop, protecting people's lives, we stop boats colliding at sea, our
technology detects and deceives radar threats, we control the kicker magnet in CERN's large hadron collider, and much much
more. Do you want to join us and contribute to our future success? We are looking for a
Head of Sales for our USA sales team with experience
in managing a small ...
 "MID technology (molded interconnect device) represents a solution, allowing electrical
structures, such as antennas, to be applied to nearly any surface. HFT uses laser direct structuring in its development
work. With LDS, a laser beam structures a three-dimensional part made of an
LDS-doped plastic. The laser beam transfers the desired circuit layout onto the substrate while activating
the additive at the same time. In a subsequent electro-less metallization
..."
 It didn't take much in the early days of radio to capture the curiosity of consumers
with buzz phrases like a "Mystic Hand" to keep the radio tuned properly - really just AFC control, and a "Phantom Conductor"
circuit that boosted the volume of high level audio (a nonlinear amplifier). Here are 4 more Radio Service Data Sheets from
Radio-Craft magazine.
Crosley Model 1316 (in Model
167 Console) Radio Service Data Sheet,
Westinghouse Model WR 207 &
WR 208 5-Tube Dual-Band Superheterodyne Radio Service Data Sheet,
RCA Victor "High-Fidelity Electrola,"
Model R-99 Radio Service Data Sheet.
 "In a video interview from his home in Hawaii,
Gordon Moore shared his views on the future
of technology including the future of his landmark prediction that has fueled the semiconductor industry since 1965. He
also showed at 87 the humble engineer can still laugh at himself. 'It would not surprise me at all if we come to end of
scaling in this coming decade, but I'm impressed by engineers who keep overcoming
..."
 "The world's first
bendable smartphone made using graphene, which was first developed in Britain, is set to go on sale.
Made by a company in China, the device's graphene-based screen is so flexible that it can be worn as a chunky bracelet.
The revolutionary material combines being both extremely thin – one atom - and strong – 200x stronger than steel
..."
 "Nokia
and the Saudi Telecom Company (STC) have conducted a test of
MulteFire technology, which combines
the performance of LTE with the simplicity of Wi Fi deployment in unlicensed spectrum bands such as 5GHz. As data demand
continues unabated, mobile operators want to explore more opportunities in other spectrum bands, for example the 5 GHz band
..."
 "Using Amateur Radio to enhance engineering education will be the discussion topic during a May 24 session
at the IEEE International Microwave Symposium (IMS), taking place
this week in San Francisco. For the fourth consecutive year, the ARRL will be represented at the IMS. This year's theme
is, 'Connecting minds, exchanging ideas.' The IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society sponsors the conference and hosts
meetings of its various technical committees. Dubbed 'The World Series of RF,' the IMS annually attracts technology and
engineering professionals involved in all aspects of microwave theory and practice
..."
 Back in the days when I built
a lot of prototype electronic gear, project enclosures were generically referred as a "Bud Box." Lab stock rooms always
had a good variety of sizes and configurations of the soft aluminum and sometimes plastic boxes that were easily drilled,
punched, filed, and painted to make professional looking equipment. In reality, not all the project boxes were made by Bud
industries, but just as everyone knows you're talking about a cola when you say "Coke," it was understood that a "Bud Box"
was a chassis for a home-brewed circuit. They are still seen in construction articles of electronics hobby magazines
...
 "The
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is working now to develop a backup system to be used by service members
in the event that access to the Global Positioning System, or GPS, is denied to them by adversaries. The 'Spatial, Temporal
and Orientation Information in Contested Environments' project, or STOIC, is meant to provide position navigation and timing
in situations where GPS is denied to U.S. forces. 'Our main goal is a
backup
position navigation and timing system when GPS
..."
 "Ravi Shankar Prasad says with spectrum issues
out of the way, auction will happen in two to three months. India's much-discussed upcoming
spectrum auction will likely get underway
in late July at the earliest judging by comments made by the country's communications minister this week. 'Issues regarding
spectrum have been addressed ..."
 "Wireless mice and keyboards are the perfect
accessories for a world in which devices increasingly are shuffling off their connection coils, but those accessories -
especially untethered rodents - also can create new threats for those who use them. One such threat is
Mousejack.
The attack exploits a vulnerability found in 80 percent of wireless mice. With US$15 worth of off-the-shelf hardware and
a few lines of simple code, a wireless
..."
 Electronics World magazine
often published electronics-themed
crossword puzzles. Unlike RF Cafe engineering crosswords that use only technical
words and clues, this one does include some unrelated words. A couple clues I was surprised to see pertain to radar; e.g.,
32A: Small visible mark on a radar or scope screen, and 44A: Identification Friend or Foe. You'll need to print
this out on paper to work it
...
 "In 2010 the Nobel Prize in physics was awarded for the discovery of the exceptional
material graphene, which
consists of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice. But graphene research did not stop there. New
interesting properties of this material are still being found. An international team of researchers has now explained the
peculiar behavior of electrons moving through narrow constrictions in a graphene layer. The results have been published
in the journal Nature Communications ..."
 "A team of scientists working at the
U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and led by Northern Illinois University physicist and Argonne
materials scientist Zhili Xiao has created a new material, called 'rewritable magnetic charge ice,'
that permits an unprecedented degree of control over local magnetic fields and could pave the way for new computing technologies.
The scientists' research report on development of magnetic charge ice is published in the May 20, 2016 issue
..."
 P1dB, an RF and Microwave component
supplier, announces a line of RF Signal Balancing Attenuators with equal group delays. The
P1AT-SAMF-6G2W series attenuators are
a cost effective solution for amplitude balancing parallel signals while maintaining the same group delay. P1dB's SMA attenuators
can also be used to introduce an amplitude taper on a phased array antenna without affecting phase. The SMA attenuators
operate to 6 GHz and are available from 0 to 10 dB in 1 dB steps
...
 In my continuing effort to make archival info available to vintage radio enthusiasts,
here are four more Radio Service Data Sheets from Radio-Craft magazine:
AMRAD Model 81 ("Bel Canto"
Series) Receiver, Radiolas "Super
VIII" (AR-810, "Semi-Portable" (AR-812), 24 and 26 Radio,
Fada 103 Fadalette,
Stewart-Warner Series 108, DeWald 54 Dynette Sets,
RCA Victor R-27 and Philco
53 Ultra-Midget A.C.-D.C. Radio Receivers. All major search engines visit the RF Cafe homepage content as often as ever
hour, so posting links to the pages here helps to get them registered. Your indulgence is appreciated. Lots more will follow.
 "The professional social network
LinkedIn told members Wednesday that data from some 100 million users stolen in a 2012 hack had been leaked online,
and recommended a change in passwords. LinkedIn had said in 2012 that some 6.5 million user records may have been breached,
but this week learned that a much wider set of data had leaked. 'Yesterday, we became aware of an additional set of data
that had just been released that claims to be email and hashed
..."
 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 cavity bandpass filter designs: a 910-920
MHz cavity bandpass filter with "N" connectors, a 890.5-915.5 MHz cavity bandpass filter with SMA connectors, and a 902-928
MHz cavity bandpass filter with "N" connectors for outdoor use
...
 "We all know there
exists a great void in the public educational system when it comes to exposure to STEM courses. One educator named Dori
Roberts decided to do something to change this system. Ms. Roberts taught high school engineering for 11 years and noticed
there was a real void in quality STEM education at all levels of the public educational system. According to Forbes, Dori
said, 'I started
Engineering For Kids after noticing a real lack of math, science and engineering programs to enroll
..."
 This rather extensive
article from a 1947 issue of QST magazine describes the method used by author Philip Erhorn to experimentally determine
optimum spacing for the parasitic
elements of his antenna. Unless you have electromagnetic field simulation software available for designing antennas,
the procedure typically involves beginning with published formulas for element length and spacing, then resorting to a cut-and-test
method of finding a combination that works best for your installation and goals. Almost certainly no two Hams end up with
identical configurations because differences in terrain
...
 Copper Mountain Technologies
plans to shake things up at IMS by announcing several new models that will push the limits of current
vector network analyzer technology at the 2016 International
Microwave Symposium in San Francisco this week. New models include a patented one-port R60 vector reflectometer, two new
two-port two-path compact models S5065 and S5085, and finally CobaltFx, an entirely new approach to mmWave frequency extension
up to 110 GHz created in collaboration with Farran Technology, Ltd
...
 "Researchers at the Moscow Institute
of Physics and Technology (MIPT) have proposed a new
tunnel transistor based on bilayer graphene that could reduce its power consumption, allowing a significant
increase in processors' clock speeds. In their simulations, the MIPT researchers calculated that the clock speed could be
increased by as much as two orders of magnitude. 'The point is not so much about saving electricity—we have plenty of electrical
energy,' said Dmitry Svintsov of MIPT
..."
 "Marketing firm RnRMarketResearch
predicts that the worldwide electronic warfare market will grow at a CAGR of 4.29% during the forecast period of 2016 to 2021 to
reach $25.36B by 2021 with the electronic support segment leading the overall EW market growth. The growing number of wars
and transnational disputes, emergence of cognitive electronic warfare technology, increased system reliability and efficiency
due to the introduction of TWT-based systems, and advancements due
..."
 Bliley Technologies, leader in high performance
frequency control devices, today announced the world's lowest power ovenized oscillator, the
LP102 OCXO. Offering exceptional stability and phase noise
performance in a product that consumes only 135mW, the LP102 represents a major innovation in the frequency control industry.
"The goal with our LP102 product line was to offer the highest performance that is expected from a Bliley part, but with
a power budget that is a fraction of standard OCXOs," stated
...
 "Pupils at St
Thomas More (STM) Cathedral School in Arlington, Virginia, have begun tracking the orbit of
STMSat-1, the 1U CubeSat they built and which was deployed on May 16 from the International Space Station.
It is object 41476. After being place in orbit, the CubeSat had continued roughly in the same orbit as the ISS and of other
satellites deployed on May 16. Emily Laura at St Thomas More told ARRL on May 19 that STMSat-1 will turn itself on once
its batteries
..."
 everything RF, which provides the only
online searchable product database specifically for the RF & Microwave Industry, is providing in-depth coverage this
week (May 22-27) of the 2016 International Microwave Symposium (IMS) show
in San Francisco, California. The IMS 2016 event offers technical sessions, interactive forums, plenary and panel sessions,
workshops, short courses, industrial exhibits, application seminars, historical exhibits, and a wide variety of other technical
and social activities including a guest program. everything RF
...
 Optenni Ltd announces a new
version of the Optenni Lab™ matching circuit optimization and antenna analysis software featuring a new workflow for the
optimization of switchable matching circuits. After seven years of intense development, Optenni Lab has become the leading
professional matching circuit optimization software on the market, with many unique innovative features that are not found
in any other software. With
Optenni Lab 3.3,
we have added new features and usability improvements to speed up
...
 "It was first
released in 2004, and eventually sold over 130 million units. Now, Motorola is set to bring back the
Razr flip phone - as an android handset. The firm, now owned by Lenovo, has teased the new handset with
an ad promising it will 'flip back to the Razr days of yesteryear and get ready for the future.' The phone is set to be
unveiled at a Lenovo event on 9th June. Because of its striking appearance and thin profile, the Razr was initially marketed
as an exclusive fashion
..."
 This is Part II of a 3-part series of articles on
magnetostriction devices.
At audio and low IF frequencies, the use of ferrite elements to construct relatively high-Q resonant circuits for filtering
was a big deal in the middle of the last century. Although not presented in this article, design formulas and tables were
published to implement the familiar Butterworth, constant-k, Chebyshev, Gaussian, and other types. Tuning, particularly
for higher order filters, could be a chore since it involved a cut--and-try method on the ferrite rods. However, that is
what was available in the day, and it evidently worked well enough to be worth the trouble for desired
...
 "While the European Commission's decision
to block CK Hutchison's planned acquisition of Telefonica's British mobile operator O2 is credit negative for both Telefonica
and CKHH's UK telecoms operations, its consequences will be mixed for
Europe's telecoms sector, says Moody's
Investors Service today in a new report. 'The failed deal will likely accelerate fixed-mobile consolidation in the UK with
Telefonica looking for another buyer for O2. On the other hand,
we expect ..."
 Pasternack,
a leading provider of RF, microwave and millimeter wave products, introduces the new
PEM009-KIT
60 GHz development system which offers designers the ability to perform product development and experimentation of single
and multi-carrier high bandwidth modulation covering 57 to 64 GHz in the globally unlicensed ISM frequency spectrum. Applications
include baseband development up to 7 Gbps data rates using WiGig/WiFi 802.11ad and 802.11aj IEEE standards, GigE wireless
LAN, FMCW Radar, uncompressed HD video, RFID, radiometry
...
 "The rising cash holdings of U.S.
corporations is increasingly in the hands of a few U.S. companies, with just 5 tech firms having grabbed 1/3 of it. Apple,
Microsoft, Google, Cisco System and Oracle are sitting on $504B, or 30%, of the $1.7T in cash and cash equivalents held
by U.S. non-financial companies in 2015, according to Moody's Investors Service
..." All these companies are headed by major supporters of a political party supposedly committed to
ending this gross unbalance. You get what you vote for.
 Wolfspeed, true patrons of RF and Microwave Engineering education, are sponsoring FREE
access to Dr Fornetti's masterpiece, Conquer Radio Frequency:
A Multimedia Conceptual Guide to RF & Microwave Engineering, Based on AWR Microwave Office Video Tutorials. The
material takes an original approach to explaining the fundamental principles behind the design of passive and active RF &
Microwave circuits. It illustrates how to design, test and characterise practical circuits using NI AWR Microwave Office.
The simulator allows Dr Fornetti to dig deeper into the phenomena
...
 EngineringJobs.com recently released
a report titled "Where the Engineering Jobs Are: July 2015." The data
is nearly a year old, but at least in this sluggish economy the situation does not change very rapidly, so it is likely
still a good reflection of today's status. Rather than rank states by absolute number of engineering jobs, this system uses
per capita engineering job number. Doing so attempts to normalize the result so that states with very large populations
do not artificially dominate over states with small populations. Still, if you are looking for an engineering job, your
best chance ...
 "DX Engineering has announced two new acquisitions. It has acquired exclusive rights to Clifton Laboratories'
ham radio product line, and it has purchased TW Antennas. Clifton Laboratories manufactured preamplifiers and filters, which
DX Engineering will now produce. DX Engineering said that part numbers and design specifications will remain the same. The
company will manufacture more than a dozen Amateur Radio products and will offer parts and tech support for owners of Clifton
Laboratories legacy products. TW Antennas is the maker of the TransWorld Antenna
..."
 "Hamvention has begun! Clouds loomed all day, and finally gave way to rain in the afternoon. At the ARRL
EXPO, Hamvention visitors had the opportunity to meet and greet ARRL leadership like CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF; CFO Barry
Shelley, N1VXY, and ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR. There was also a 'Meet the Authors' table, where Glen Popiel, KW5GP
– author of High Speed Multimedia for Amateur Radio and Arduino for Ham Radio – and J.K. George, N3BB – author of Contact
Sport: A Story of Champions, Airwaves, and a One-Day Race around the World
..."
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