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3 of the November
2017 homepage archives.
Sunday 20
 For the sake of avid cruciverbalists amongst
us, each week I create a new technology-themed crossword puzzle using only words
related to engineering, science, mathematics, chemistry, physics, astronomy, etc.
At least 10 clues in this puzzle with an asterisk (*) are pulled
from this past week's (11/13 - 11/17) "Tech Industry Headlines" column on the RF
Cafe homepage (see the Headline Archives page for help). Enjoy!
Friday 17
 QuinStar Technology designs and manufactures
mm-wave products for communication, scientific, and test
applications along with providing microelectronic assembly, rapid prototyping, and
mass customization. • Amplifiers • Receivers • Oscillators • Switches
• Attenuators • Circulators • Isolators • Filters • Waveguide
• Antennas • Phase Shifters • Transceivers • Radar Subsystems
• Mixers • Detectors • Transducers. QuinStar specializes in
cryogenic amplifiers, circulators, and isolators. Please
visit QuinStar today to see how they can help your project
 "The Danish automotive designer behind cars
like the Aston Martin V8 Vantage and the BMW Z8 re-launched his electric car startup
this year and announced that the next car out the gate would be powered by a 'breakthrough'
in solid state batteries, one with a range of 500 miles and a charge time of one
minute. Originally, Fisker and his team were intending to use a brand new
graphene-based hybrid supercapacitor technology but eventually
settled on the standard lithium-ion instead. However "
 Akin to how the National Company ran a long
series ( a couple hundred altogether) of infomercial type ads in the ARRL's
QST magazine from the 1930s through the 1950s, Mallory had its "Tips for Technicians" run in Electronics World (and maybe
other electronics magazines of the era). Being a major capacitor manufacturer, its
ads featured brief tutorials on various types of capacitors, their characteristics,
and how they should be used in circuits - both for new design and when replacing
capacitors in existing equipment
Free webinar title: "Antenna Design for a Connected Home Multimedia Device." When:
November 21, 11:00 am EST. Presenter: Dr. Marc Rütschlin. "As the Internet of Things
establishes itself, more and more connected devices are finding their way into the
modern home. The 'connections' are of course wireless and antennas are the key enabling
technology which provides that wireless connectivity. This webinar will discuss
the case of a smart projector, exploring how antennas can be designed given the "
MegaPhase, a leading provider
of RF and microwave interconnects, is pleased to announce that has joined
the MegaPhase Team as Engineering Manager. Maddiel's career has involved developing
state-of-the-art RF connectors for space, military and commercial applications.
Maddiel led a team of technical staff in the design of RF Interconnect products
in his prior position at another cable and connector company. His design
 "Scientists at the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed an underlying architecture for a
new class of
quantum photonic circuits - chip-based devices that leverage the
quantum properties of light to process and communicate information. In research
described in the journal Nature Communications, the NIST researchers and their collaborators
in China and the UK developed a class of devices that are composed of networks of
low-loss waveguides and single-photon sources, all on a single chip "
Thursday 16
 Brigadier General David Sarnoff's name was
well known to most people in the realm of communications up to the time of his death
in 1971. His technical and leadership skills were recognized and rewarded throughout
his very accomplished lifetime in both military and civilian venues. This brief
biography of Sarnoff was printed in the March 1972 issue of Popular Electronics
magazine. As with many people of high acclaim, he had a few run-ins with other notable
people during his career - the most famous of which was the Battle of the Airwaves
fought between Edwin Armstrong and him over FM versus AM broadcasting
 "Researchers at the University of Washington
have found a way to make clothes smarter without on-board electronics using a new
type of data-storing fabric that leverages technology already found in smartphones.
One limitation to wearable technology is the need for electronics and wiring that
make so-called
'smart' clothing not so comfortable to wear. Researchers at the
University of Washington have found a way to make clothes smarter without on-board
electronics "
 Well, these are the last three Radio Service
Data Sheets I have from my collection of vintage electronics magazines. That makes
a total of 219 that I have scanned and posted over a span of 3 years. At some point
I will bid for other editions on eBay. They can cost $5 or more apiece, so the cost
adds up quickly.
•
Remler Model No. 36 6-Tube Dual-Wave Auto-Radio
•
Stromberg-Carlson 10 Tube No. 82 All-Wave Receiver
•
Fada Model 155 5-Tube Super Fadalette A.C.-D.C. Set
 "Researchers from the Cambridge Graphene
Centre have led a project that has successfully demonstrated printing of fully-integrated
electronic circuits directly onto fabric for the first time. The circuits, which
contain complex layered semiconductor devices, are printed using inks containing
graphene and a similar two-dimensional conductive material, hexagonal boron nitride
(h-BN). Previous attempts at printing electronics on fabric are have used inks containing
metal oxides "
Skyworks Solutions, an
innovator of high performance analog semiconductors connecting people, places and
things, today announced that its connectivity solutions are enabling next generation
tracking devices, a new and exciting Internet of Things application. Specifically,
Skyworks' high efficiency, front-end systems have been adopted by , a market leader
in wearable technology, to increase battery life and nearly double the range when
compared to other
 "Scientists aren't normally treated to fireworks
when they discover something about the universe. But a team of University of Chicago
researchers found a show waiting for them at the atomic level - along with a new
form of
quantum behavior. 'This is a very fundamental behavior that we
have never been seen before; it was a great surprise to us,' said study author and
professor of physics Cheng Chin. Published Nov. 6 in Nature, the research details
a curious phenomenon - seen in what was thought to be a well-understood system -
that may "
Wednesday 15
Saelig Company has introduced Siglent's
SDG6000X
series of Dual-Channel Pulse / Arbitrary Waveform Generators (AWG) that create test
signals up to 500 MHz using a sample rate of 2.4GSa/s and 16-bit vertical resolution
for an 80dB dynamic range. This series features Siglent's proprietary TrueArb and
EasyPulse technologies that solve the weaknesses inherent in traditional DDS waveform
creation. TrueArb technology generates arbitrary waveforms "point-by-point" to produce
a very low jitter output signal from stored memory
 "A seemingly paradoxical prediction in physics
has now been confirmed in an experiment: No matter whether an object is opaque or
transparent, the
average length of the light's paths through the object is always
the same. What happens when light passes through a glass of milk? It enters the
liquid, is scattered unpredictably at countless tiny particles and exits the glass
again. This effect makes milk appear white. The specific paths that the incident
light beam takes depend, however, on the opacity of the liquid "
 In his trademark style, electronics-themed
storyteller John T. Frye used his Mac's Service Shop venue to introduce readers
to another new development in the
medical electronics field - the "ultrasonoscope." It was the forerunner
to modern sonogram machines. Relatively recent advances in solid state electronics
and signal processing techniques - albeit mostly analog in nature - made design
and construction of compact devices practical and affordable by medical facilities.
Unlike today where many doctor's offices have their own x-ray and sonogram machines,
it was still mostly hospitals that owned them in the late 1960s when this piece
was written. Mac McGregor schools
 Axiom Test Equipment, a provider of efficient
and cost effective solutions customers' test equipment needs, offer the following
special deals on their inventory. Axiom offers our customers several practical,
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needs. Whether you need to
rent &
buy test equipment, repair test equipment, sell or trade equipment, we are committed
to providing superior customer service and high quality electronic test equipment
Over 30 new features and enhancements have been added to the latest release of
AntSyn™ automated antenna design, synthesis and optimization software.
This cloud-based, software-as-a-service (SaaS) product takes antenna design to the
next level by enabling engineers to input antenna requirements and automatically
produce a range of viable antenna designs as a result. Thirty-nine new antenna designs
have been added to the AntSyn antenna library
 "As our cars turn into rolling supercomputers,
it's easy to forget one of their emerging electronic needs: managing massive data
flows within the car. In a self-driving car, sensors should throw off some 4 terabytes
a day. 'Connectivity is one of the missing elements,' says Micha Risling, head of
the automotive business at Valens, a fabless semiconductor company in Israel. 'On
one hand you have the Nvidias of this world - the companies that offer processing
solutions - and, on "
Tuesday 14
 "Interoperability, adoption, use case, readiness,
and safety / regulatory are the key differentiating factors among these competing
technologies. Apple announced that its iPhones, AirPods, and other accessories will
all include Qi (pronounced 'chee')
wireless charging. The Qi standard is one type of wireless power
transfer, and certain to be a popular one due to Apple's adoption. However, other
types of wireless power transfer, such as AirFuel Resonant "
 Radio control hobbyists realized a huge technology
advance with the introduction of solid, proportional control system that began appearing
in the late 1960s. Prior to then, most R/C systems used vacuum tubes and necessary
accompanying large, heavy batteries. Size and weight was not too big of a deal for
the transmitter, but both factors significantly impact airplane design and performance.
The new systems enabled smaller, lighter weight aircraft that not only cost less,
but flew better. Of course other forms of R/C modeling like boats and cars also
benefitted from the advances, but weight and size was not as
 Mr. Al Rabassa (NW2M) had a great letter
in the November 2017 issue of the ARRL's QST magazine titled, "Saving the Neighborhood." In it, he described how his proactive
response to a new neighborhood with houses full of poorly designed arc fault circuit
interrupter (AFCI) circuits breakers resulted in him being regarded as a hero (of
sorts) rather than as a bad guy. Only ARRL members can access the online version,
but fortunately Mr. Rabassa placed a copy of it on his
Yaesu FT-101 Repair
Facebook page. (see my previous
AFCI comments)
 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. They've found remarkable
test equipment and components
from around the world with specs or prices you won't find anywhere else. Please
visit Saelig today for your test equipment needs
 Innovative Power Products introduces their
latest "Ultra Broadband" high power 4-Way Combiner/Divider model IPP-1271 which
covers the full 700 – 6000 MHz band. The Model IPP-1271 combines four coherent
input signals or divides one signal into four up to 300 Watts CW of total RF power.
This Combiner/Divider is produced in a 5.20" x 3.90" x 1.10" package with a type
N connector on the sum port and SMA connectors on the four other ports. Insertion
loss is less than 1.1 dB, phase balance is less than ±7 degrees and VSWR
 "Kyma Technologies, Inc., a developer of
advanced wide bandgap semiconductor materials technologies, announced it has used
its new K200 hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) growth tool to produce high quality
200mm diameter
HVPE GaN on QST (QROMIS Substrate Technology) templates. Today's
announcement of Kyma's development of 200mm diameter GaN on QST templates follows
its announcement in 2016 of its demonstration of 150 mm diameter GaN on QST templates "
Monday 13
 Unless you happened to live close to a television
broadcasting tower, receiving an acceptable signal has always been a matter of luck.
Obstructions such as buildings and terrain can greatly attenuate signal strength
and multipath can generate telltale ghost images and confuse the synchronization
portions of signals. It was bad enough with black and white (B&W) broadcasts,
but the advent of color made the situation notably worse because more information
needed to be received properly in order to display a good picture.
Color TV adoption really began to take off in the late 1960s,
and that is about
 This is a major change in technology transfer
policy! "Soon after Trump's departure, China Vice Premier Wang Yang, who ranks No.4
in the Communist Party, published an article under his own by-line in the Peoples'
Daily newspaper, saying that foreign companies would no longer be forced to turn
over technology to China in return for access to the China market. The forced
technology transfer has been a sore point with the USA for many
years and the U.S. government "
 ConductRF's skill in the manufacturing of
Phase Matched RF Cable
Solutions is second to none. We have phase matched a diverse array of solutions
from Low Frequency RG and LMR Cables to more premium exotic cables up to 70 GHz.
With a broad base of standard connectors and cables in stock, we turn solutions
around fast. We have solutions across all standard industry interfaces all the way
to 70 GHz with 1.85 mm Solutions. We support all variants of SMP/SMPM
as well as all common standards including SMA, SMB
 Axiom Test Equipment (1-760-806-6600) has posted a new entry on the website blog that
is a review of some of the essential measurement capabilities of a VNA and how to
go about selecting an instrument to suit your needs. "Vector network analyzers (VNAs) were once associated mainly with
RF/microwave frequencies, although they have gained popularity in recent years at
audio frequencies. They are unique among electronic measuring instruments in their
capabilities to measure circuits as networks and to understand the transmission
and reflection of signals through those networks "
 "Graphene has enabled the development of
the first
flexible terahertz detector, paving the way for high-powered electronics
on flexible materials. Graphene has shown its mettle as a breakthrough material
yet again, with researchers using it to enable for the first time the development
of high-power electronics on flexible, inexpensive materials. Researchers at Chalmers
University have developed a flexible detector for terahertz frequencies using graphene
transistors on plastic substrates. The detector "
Sunday 12
 For the sake of avid cruciverbalists amongst
us, each week I create a new
technology-themed crossword puzzle using only words related to
engineering, science, mathematics, chemistry, physics, astronomy, etc. At least
10 clues in this puzzle with an asterisk (*) are pulled from this
past week's (11/6 - 11/10) "Tech Industry Headlines" column on the RF Cafe homepage
(see the Headline Archives page for help). Enjoy!
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