See Page 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 of the December 2018 homepage archives. Friday 7
 A couple days ago I posted an update on the
Watkins-Johnson databook page that had an unauthorized gag graph titled, "WJ-G1/SMG1
Phase vs. VCTL vs. Frequency vs. Phase of the Moon." When RF Cafe visitor and sometimes
contributor Dr. Marek Klemes* read
that, he sent me a note about remembering this "Delayed
Light Turn-Off" circuit from the Signetics 555/556 Timer Databook. It took a
bit of creative Googling, but he managed to find the datasheet (to the right). The
text was a bit washed out from the original low resolution scan, so I reproduced
the labels (green). This Rube Goldberg-ish contraption works thusly: After a delay
determined by the values selected for R1 and C1, the output
of the NE555 timer goes high and causes resistor RL to heat up enough
to ignite match M1. M1 subsequently lights the fuse on firecracker
FC1, which has tied to its body a string that wraps around a pulley and
holds a rock (which weighs precisely 2π pounds...
 PierCon Solutions is a solid, tenured, and proven wireless consulting
and engineering firm based in Lincoln Park, NJ. PierCon is a recognized leader in
the wireless designs of in-building coverage, broadband, WiMAX/LTE, microwave, cellular,
public safety, PCS, iDEN, and WiFi. As a provider of world-class engineering and
consulting services our team of dedicated RF Engineers is seeking additional
talent to help us continue our path to success. This position acts as the Site
Engineer and Site Inspector for a large scale Public Safety communications
Project located in Harriman, NY. The Field Engineer will perform daily
surveillance and inspections of contractors / sub-contractors in accordance with
contract specifications...
 Kenneth Puglia has a good article in
Microwaves & RF magazine titled, "A Brief Tutorial on Microstrip Antennas - Part 1" (here is
Part 2). Says Mr. Puglia, "This article, the first of a multi-part
series on microstrip antennas, discusses antenna characterization - from antenna
parameters to key attributes. A significant performance element in communication
and radar systems - as well as wireless devices - is the antenna. It may be
defined as a transducer between a guided electromagnetic (EM) wave propagating
along a transmission line, and an EM wave propagating in an unbounded medium
(usually free space) or vice versa. The antenna is required to transmit or
receive EM energy with directional and polarization properties suitable for the
intended application. This multi-part tutorial explores the radiation..."
 With today being the 77th anniversary of
America's entry into World War II with the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor,
I thought this advertisement from a 1942 issue of the ARRL's QST magazine
would be of interest. Most of us have heard about the neighborhood collections for
tires, glass, newspaper, cans, and cloth in order to help support the war effort.
Probably not many have also heard about the
Signal Corps' call for milliammeters! That's right, the huge,
rapid build-up of electrical and electronic equipment for radios, vehicles, and
factory equipment. Many meters were needed for monitoring status and making
process adjustments. America had an ample supply of meters in the hands of
Amateur radio operators; all that was required was to separate the Hams from
their meters. Fortunately, an appeal to patriotism was sufficient motivation
back then...
 Withwave has introduced
Board Edge 2.92 mm (SMA) connectors are specially designed for
high frequency (DC-40 GHz) substrates to minimize electromagnetic transition
effects from coaxial to Microstrip/CPW structure. We solve your performance and
cost problems with various types of board edge connectors according to substrate
clearance. Board clearances of 0.6 mm to 3.6 mm available...
 ConductRF is continually innovating and
developing new and improved solutions for RF Interconnect needs. See the latest
TESTeCON RF
Test Cables for labs. ConductRF makes production and test coax cable assemblies
for amplitude and phased matched VNA applications as well as standard & precision
RF connectors. Over 1,000 solutions for low PIM in-building to choose from in the
iBwave component library. They also provide custom coax solutions for applications
where some standard just won't do. A partnership with Newark assures fast, reliable
access. Please visit ConductRF today to see how they can help your project!...
 "NTT DOCOMO and Rohde & Schwarz have
joined forces to set up the first
ultra-wideband channel sounder for mobile communications
exceeding 100 GHz. They conducted radio wave propagation experiments at
frequencies up to 150 GHz. The frequency bands from 100 GHz to 300 GHz are
expected to enable high-speed and large-capacity communication for the next
generation beyond 5G. In the experiments, DOCOMO and Rohde & Schwarz measured
and analyzed the effects of radio wave propagation characteristics and shielding
effects in the mm-Wave range. As a result, the two companies pioneered new
frequency bands and contributed to the realization of terabit-class mobile..."
Thursday 6
 As with so many aspects of electronics, physics,
economics, medicine (well, maybe not medicine), the basics do not change a whole
lot since first being discovered. If you are a newcomer to the world of electronics
and are trying to come up to speed on
transistor fabrication and operation, even this article that appeared
in a 1958 issue or Radio-Electronics magazine will be useful to you.
Figure 1 reminds me of a situation I witnessed while working as a technician at
Westinghouse Oceanic Division, in Annapolis, Maryland. If you've heard this
before, please indulge me. One of the managers there, who was not a degreed
engineer (although he held the title), one day while in the lab actually
soldered a pair of 1N4148 diodes together back-to-back per Figure 1 and tried
biasing it to function like a transistor. A "real" engineer, whom I greatly
admired, stood watching with his mouth agape as he watched. Before he could
politely explain why the diode pair is not the same as the intimate PN junctions
of an actual transistor...
 Anatech Electronics, Inc. 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 three new filter designs: a surface mount 2050 /
2250 MHz Ceramic Duplexer, a surface mount 62.5 MHz IF SAW Filter, and a 537-563
MHz / 2432-2480 MHz Duplexer with N-type connectors. Custom RF filters designs
are used when a standard cannot be found, or the requirements are such that a
custom approach is necessary...
 Even with the domination of LED, plasma,
and LCD displays, there are still a whole lot of cathode ray tubes (CRTs) on the
job. Hobbyists workbenches are filled with them for sure, but design and manufacturing
facilities still have huge inventories of test equipment with CRTs, and a lot of
computer equipment on the production line with CRTs sitting in racks. LED, LCD,
and plasma displays all have their own claims to genius on the part of their designers,
but cathode ray tube designers - and the designers of the driver circuits - deserve
special recognition. Consider the physics and materials involved: glass, phosphor,
magnetics, thermonics, electrostatics and electrodynamics, relativity (electrons
traveling at relativistic speeds gain mass, requiring stronger deflection
fields)...
 Transient Specialists, a leader in EMC rentals
for over 30 years, announces that they will be offering rentals, sales and a set-by-step
guide of the
IEC 61000-4-2 setup including all components and cords. This
complete ESD immunity setup includes vertical coupling plane (VCP), horizontal
coupling plane (HCP), ground coupling plane (GCP), ESD table, and all required
cords. EN/IEC 61000-4-2 puts forth specific requirements for all components of
the setup for this electrostatic discharge (ESD) standard. This setup can be
rented or purchased as a whole, or individually to enhance a preexisting test
setup. The setup includes, an all wood table with removable legs, vertical
coupling plane (VCP), horizontal coupling plane (HCP)...
 That fully exposed cable harness seems like
a major Achilles Heel to an otherwise hardened battle-ready system. "Russian state
media published video earlier today of its latest laser weapons system, the
Peresvet. The move comes just a day after the U.S. said it would
likely pull out of a key arms treaty between the two countries, and the timing of
the video's release doesn't appear to be a coincidence. 'Peresvet laser systems,
based on new physical principles, entered combat service in [a] testing regime
with the Russian armed forces,' Russian Defense Ministry's newspaper said,
according to an English translation. When President Vladimir Putin made his
annual address to Russia's Federal Assembly back in March..."
 Rohde & Schwarz develops, produces and
markets
test & measurement, information and communications
technology. Focus is on test and measurement, broadcast and media,
cybersecurity, secure communications, monitoring and network testing. Markets
serviced are wireless, the automotive industry, aerospace and defense,
industrial electronics, research and education, broadcast and media network
operations, consumer electronics, cybersecurity for business and governments,
communications and security solutions for critical infrastructures and the armed
forces, reconnaissance equipment for homeland and external security, and much
more...
 "BAE Systems has booked a $9.2M Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency contract to develop new machine learning algorithms and
other related tools for users to better identify radio frequency signals. Phase
one of the
Radio Frequency Machine Learning System program will see BAE
focus its creation work on using cognitive approaches to make the algorithms
with feature learning techniques. Scientists will also work to create algorithms
that help users determine signals that are important versus those that are not
in real time through a deep learning approach, BAE said Tuesday. DARPA envisions
this program as further advancing technology for autonomous vehicles and image
and speech recognition..."
Wednesday 5
 The
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress long-range bomber has been in
continuous service since 1954. Production of new aircraft ran from 1952 through
1962. Now 59 years hence at version 'H,' it is still our nation's primary
long-range bomber. That is a great testimony to the aircraft's initial design
and construction, but a sad testimony to our ability to design and build a
complete replacement. The B-1 bomber was a dismal failure and the B-2 Stealth
bomber is too expensive to build and maintain in large quantities. This story
from a 1957 edition of Radio & Television News reports on the "K-System"
computerized bombsight gear installed in early B-52s that used radar for
targeting. According to the writer, nearly 1,000,000 American defense company
workers at companies like Eastman Kodak, General Motors, General Mills (yes, the
breakfast cereal people), Motorola...
 Skyworks Solutions has created a video titled,
"Sky5 Makes 5G Work Video." It provides a simple explanation of
how 5G will work and explores how their Sky5™ platform resolves system
complexities and enables this next generation communication standard. As a
premier provider of wireless front-end solutions, Skyworks is an expert in
connectivity. They are enabling the 5G evolution by advancing our technology
leadership and extending our product reach to power some of the world's most
exciting communication platforms. Skyworks is a member and key contributor to
the industry's most influential standards organizations including ETSI and
3GPP...
 When you were a kid, did your mother warn
you about sitting too close to the television because doing so would cause you to
be near-sighted or otherwise "ruin" your eyes? Mine did, and I'm now very near-sighted,
but it is doubtful that sitting too close to the TV is the reason. In fact, according
to Linus Van Pelt's comments to his sister, Lucy, in this 1962 Peanuts comic strip,
ophthalmologists tried to counter the misconception about too-close boob tube viewing.
There is another strip where Linus challenges Lucy's assertion that reading in dim
lighting can hurt your eyes. The real concern as it turns out, according to professional
alarmists, was the massive doses of
x-radiation pouring out of the front of the early color TV
sets. To hear the distractors tell it, you could almost see the skeleton of
anyone sitting in close proximity to a color TV screen. The high voltage
(25-35 kV) on the cathode ray tube (CRT) produced x-rays...
 KR Electronics designs and manufactures high
quality filters for both the commercial and military markets. KR Electronics manufactures
all filter types: lowpass, highpass,
bandpass, bandstop and individually synthesizes filters for special applications
- both commercial and military. State of the art computer synthesis, analysis and
test methods are used to meet the most challenging specifications. Please visit
their website today to see how they might be of assistance...
 My
Vise-Grip pliers have performed a lot of hard duty over the decades.
Many rusted nuts and bolts would still be unremoved if it weren't for their
sharp, corrugated locking jaws. I have 10", 7", and 4" w/cutter, and 6" long
nose models. These are all manufactured under the Petersen Manufacturing Company
name, before they bought Irwin, who now manufactures Vise-Grips. Even high
quality tools eventually show signs of wear after decades of use and abuse. A
few of mine had jaws worn down to the point where they no longer would "bite"
into the bolt head or nut being clamped. I was about to buy a couple new pairs
of Vise-Grips, but then wondered if I could recondition the jaws to put the
pointed shape back on the jaws with a triangle file. Being hardened steel, a lot
of times a standard file will barely scratch the surface, but in this case I
managed to dress the jaws of four pairs of Vise-Grips before the file (double
taper triangle) got dull...
 Copper Mountain Technologies
develops innovative and robust RF test and measurement solutions for engineers all
over the world. Copper Mountain's extensive line of unique form factor
Vector Network Analyzers
include an RF measurement module and a software application which runs on any
Windows PC, laptop or tablet, connecting to the measurement hardware via USB
interface. The result is a lower cost, faster, more effective test process that
fits into the modern workspace in lab, production, field and secure testing
environments...
 "The proposed strategy relies on manipulating
with high precision an unimaginably huge number of variables.
Quantum computing is all the rage. It seems like hardly a day
goes by without some news outlet describing the extraordinary things this
technology promises. Most commentators forget, or just gloss over, the fact that
people have been working on quantum computing for decades - and without any
practical results to show for it. We've been told that quantum computers could
'provide breakthroughs in many disciplines, including materials and drug
discovery, the optimization of complex manmade systems, and artificial
intelligence.' We've been assured that quantum computers will “forever alter our
economic, industrial, academic..."
Tuesday 4
 Recognizing that many people were reluctant
to approach the theoretical aspect of electronics as it applied to circuit design
and analysis, QST magazine (the American Radio Relay League's monthly publication)
included equations and explanations in many of their project building articles.
Occasionally, an article would be published that dealt specifically with how to
use
simple mathematics. In this case, the June 1944 edition, we
have the second installation of at least a four-part tutorial that covers
resistance and reactance, amplifier biasing (tubes since the
Shockley-Bardeen-Brattain trio hadn't invented the transistor yet) oscillators,
feedback circuits, etc. In the July 1944 edition is the third installation
of at least a four-part tutorial that covers resistance and reactance,
amplifier...
 The
Early Television
Foundation is dedicated to the preservation of the technology from the early
days of television. Our website's mission is to preserve and make available to
the public the history of early television, from the mechanical systems of the
1920s through the introduction of color television in the 1950s...
 Axiom Test Equipment
allows you to rent or
buy test
equipment, repair
test equipment, or sell
or trade test equipment. They are committed to providing superior customer
service and high quality electronic test equipment. Axiom offers customers
several practical, efficient, and cost effective solutions for their projects'
TE needs and is committed to providing superior customer service and high
quality electronic test equipment. Please check out Axiom Test Equipment
today!...
 RF Cafe visitor and former Watkins-Johnson
engineer Paul Johnson (no relation to the "J" in WJ), recently sent me this note
regarding the Watkins-Johnson catalog page that contained the famous "Phase
vs. VCTL vs. Frequency vs. Phase of the Moon" graph on the WJ-G1/SMG1
Voltage-Controlled Attenuator Module (5 to 2,000 MHz). We all suspected it was
not an officially approved feature, but now a first-hand account of the prank
confirms it...
 Agile Magnetics is offering this "Design Considerations
for High Frequency Transformers" e-book as a free download. Taking a look at
the principles and calculations associated with custom high frequency
transformers With the need for more efficient and smaller power supplies
providing power to electrical equipment, high frequency transformers are a
critical component of supplying power to modern electronics. The book takes a
look at the principles and calculations associated with these types of custom
transformers. This guide will discuss: Basic Principles, SMPS Topology, Off Grid
Energy Production, Designing...
 San Francisco Circuits' (SFC) new website
provides customers with the information and tools necessary to effectively work
with SFC to build
Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) that meet demanding design
requirements. The site enables users to get a quote online by providing
specifications and uploading designs to SFC using a password protected customer
area of the site. In addition, the website hosts an educational PCB School, a
password-protected learning environment where engineers, designers, and others
involved in the design and use of PCBs can learn about the intricacies of their
creation, integration, testing and more. A number of PCB guides and explainers
on key topics are also available...
 Rohde & Schwarz develops, produces and
markets
test & measurement, information and communications
technology. Focus is on test and measurement, broadcast and media,
cybersecurity, secure communications, monitoring and network testing. Markets
serviced are wireless, the automotive industry, aerospace and defense,
industrial electronics, research and education, broadcast and media network
operations, consumer electronics, cybersecurity for business and governments,
communications and security solutions for critical infrastructures and the armed
forces, reconnaissance equipment for homeland and external security, and much
more...
 "Soldiers on the ground are now capable of
rapidly reacting to electronic and cyber data rather than waiting on their higher
echelons. Soldiers assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Armored
Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, currently deployed in Poland, are among
the first brigades supporting Atlantic Resolve to train on a new system that enables
a team to forward deploy and respond to enemy frequencies using new electronic warfare,
or EW, technology.
Electronic warfare, known as the battle in the electromagnetic
spectrum, relies on data and signals to survey, fight and defend. Collecting
enemy radio signals, sensing radar of an incoming threat, and utilizing radio
waves..."
Monday 3
 Nuts & Volts magazine has an article by Clark Hamilton titled, "Mass Confusion: The End of the Kilogram as We Know It," that
reports on the newly adopted standard for mass that is based on a quantum
mechanical property rather than a physical metal bar (which, BTW, has
inexplicably been losing mass over time). "This November, in Versailles, France,
representatives from 57 countries are expected to make history. They will vote
to dramatically transform the international system that underpins global science
and trade...."
The IEEE also has a news story titled, "Historic SI Unit Overhaul Redefines Kilogram, Ampere, More" on
it. "The International Bureau of Weights and Measures will redefine four base
units in terms of fundamental constants in nature. A governing body unanimously
voted Friday for the biggest ever overhaul of the international system of units
(SI), which will redefine four base units: the ampere, kelvin, kilogram, and
mole. 'It's a moment of quite major significance in our obsessive little world
of metrology..."
 RF Cascade Workbook 2018 is the next phase in the evolution
of RF Cafe's long-running series, RF Cascade Workbook. It is a full-featured
RF system cascade parameter and frequency planner that includes filters and mixers
for a mere $45. Built in MS Excel, using RF Cascade Workbook 2018
is a cinch and the format is entirely customizable. It is significantly easier
and faster than using a multi-thousand dollar simulator when a high level system
analysis is all that is needed. An intro video takes you through the main
features...
 Thanks to PCB Directory for deciding to
help deliver RF Cafe to you, my visitors. PCB Directory is the largest directory
of Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Manufacturers, Assembly houses, and Design
Services on the Internet. We have listed the leading printed circuit board
manufacturers around the world and made them searchable by their capabilities -
Number of laminates used, Board thicknesses supported, Number of layers
supported, Types of substrates (e.g., material, flexible, rigid), Geographical
location, and more...
 Fairview Microwave has recently expanded
their line of
RF coaxial probes into the 40 GHz frequency range for use in
high-speed communications, microwave components and networking applications.
Fairview Microwave's expanded line of coaxial RF probes now includes four models
that deliver 10 dB maximum return loss over a broad frequency range of DC-40
GHz. These new RF probes are offered in GS and GSG configurations with a pitch
of 800 or 1500 microns and a 2.92mm interface; they are gold-plated and feature
compliant pogo pin contacts that allow for a wide range of probing angles. These
coaxial probes can be used by hand, with or without a probe positioner, and can
be cable mounted or mounted with Fairview's multi-axis probe positioner. These
coaxial RF probes are ideal for signal integrity...
 If the technology futurists of the 1970s
had been correct, by now we would be reading historical articles on the early days
of holographic television. I have read, though, that any day now a battery-powered
flying car with a holographic dashboard / instrument panel display is going on sale.
Not. The Sadly, the Ercoupe (pronounced "air coupe") is still the closest thing
to "an airplane in every garage." But, I digress. This story from a 1953 issue of
Radio & Television News magazine reports on the roll-out of the country's
first color television system: The
field sequential system (aka the CBS system). It was a fine
system, but unfortunately the modulated signal format was not backward
compatible with the existing B&W system. That meant separate receivers for B&W
and color televisions. Even as CBS TV sets were being produced, the NTSC was
working on a replacement system that permits co-existence of B&W and color
signals. Note the mention of how the DPA, in 1951...
 Concentric Technology Solutions is your one
stop source for RF shield boxes,
RF enclosures, Bluetooth testers, WiMax testers, RFID testers and RF power
amplifiers. CTS can supply off-the-shelf or custom products for your testing
needs requiring maximum RF shielding in order to produce repeatable results in
laboratory and production environments. Manual and pneumatic operation is
available. TEM cells, glove boxes, forensic enclosures, and special purpose per
your requirements...
 "Reseachers at ETH Zurich have developed
a modulator with which data transmitted via millimeter waves can be directly converted
into light pulses for optical fibers. This could make covering the "last mile"
up to the internet socket at home considerably faster and cheaper. The high
oscillation frequencies of light waves make them ideally suited to fast data
transmission. They can be sent through optical fibers and easily carry hundreds
of billions of bits (gigabits) per second. The "last mile" from a central fiber
optic cable to the internet socket at home, however, is the most difficult and
expensive. Some alternatives, for instance 4/5G mobile telephony, are cheaper,
but they cannot provide all users simultaneously with the extremely high
transmission rates required by today's data-hungry applications such as
streaming TV..."
Sunday 2
 Each week, for the sake of all avid cruciverbalists
amongst us, I create a new
technology-themed crossword puzzle using only words from my custom-created
lexicon related to engineering, science, mathematics, chemistry, physics, astronomy,
etc. You will never find among the words names of politicians, mountain ranges,
exotic foods or plants, movie stars, or anything of the sort. You might, however,
see someone or something in the exclusion list who or that is directly related to
this puzzle's theme, such as Hedy Lamar or the Bikini Atoll, respectively. Enjoy...
|
