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5 of the October 2018 homepage archives. Friday 2
 Unlike those IQ tests conceived of and administered
by Ph.D. college professors with pulsating veins in their foreheads, this "Electronics
IQ Quiz," created by Popular Electronics quizmaster Robert Balin,
is a true measure of your real-world acumen. Here are a couple hints to assist
quiz takers not familiar with last century electronics. You need to have
knowledge of the NTSC-mandated broadcast television channel bandwidth for figure
A, but you might be able to guess it by process of elimination. For figure E,
consider the bandwidth limits in terms of dB, not MHz. Kinks in the
characteristic curves of the tube alluded to in figure D betray its number
(extra hint: it's not a diode or a triode). Good luck...
 An advertisement for Mini-Circuits' DIY
Vector Network
Analyzer Kit appeared in the October issue of Microwaves & RF magazine.
It is evidently the first of a planned series of University Projects. Billed as an attempt
to "Bridge the gap between textbook theory and real-world measurement," Project No. 1-UVNA-63
targets college laboratories as low-cost means of procuring a high performance vector
network analyzer (VNA) at a reasonable cost ($2,495.00). The frequency range is 100 MHz
to 6 GHz. Having the student build the 1-UVNA-63 provides a familiarity with a block
diagram level understanding of 2-port VNAs and gives hands-on experience with assembling
RF components. Included are filters, directional couplers, a transceiver PCB (made by
Vayyar)...
 Before there were side-view neon numerical indicator
vacuum tubes there were top-view neon
numerical
indicator vacuum tubes. Nixie tubes and pixie tubes were featured in "Readouts and
Counter Tubes" in the October 1959 issue of Electronics World magazine. At the
time, most were top-view designs whose size was restricted by the diameter of the tube
(typically about 0.8"). Switching to a side-view format did not enable the overall width
to increase much, but the aspect ratio permitted taller displays with characters that
appear as normally seen (rather than being squashed in height). This advertisement in
a 1965 issue of Electronics magazine for numerical indicator tubes from
Raytheon were likely some of the first side-view models available from any
manufacturer...
 Windfreak Technologies designs, manufactures, tests
and sells high value USB powered and controlled radio frequency products such as RF signal
generators, RF synthesizers, RF power detectors, mixers, up / downconverters. Since the
conception of WFT, we have introduced products that have been purchased by a wide range
of customers, from hobbyists to education facilities to government agencies. Worldwide
customers include Europe, Australia, and Asia. Please contact Windfreak today to learn
how they might help you with your current project...
 If you need to make presentations, advice in the
free "Six Rules of
Effective Public Speaking" e-book might be helpful. Great speakers don't
just speak - they perform. Whatever type of speaking you do - in business,
socially, or for personal pleasure - you're performing. We all perform roles day
in and day out, every day of our lives. Public speaking is no different. To be
effective in your speeches and presentations, accept this strong relationship
between performance and success. In fact, the more you can connect with
audiences rather than remaining in the comfort zone of your content, the more
successful you'll be. Here are the Six Rules of Effective Public Speaking that
will help you perform...
 "Though it doesn't fit our typical image of icebergs,
experts say the common shape has a simple explanation. In a world besieged by climate
change-induced chaos and disruption, one satisfying image of order has emerged. It's
an iceberg, shared online by NASA last Wednesday, that appears to be in the shape of
a
perfect rectangle with smooth, even walls, and 90-degree angles.
The iceberg sits like a giant floating sheet cake near the east coast of the Antarctic
peninsula. NASA's IceBridge aircraft spotted the iceberg during a routine aerial
survey..."
 Nova
Microwave is a leader in technically differentiated electronic and radio frequency Ferrite
Circulators and Isolators
that connect, protect and control critical commercial and military wireless
telecommunications systems. Our staff is dedicated to research and development
of standard and custom design quality Ferrite Circulators and Isolators from
380 MHz to 26.5 GHz. Please visit Nova Microwave today...
Thursday 1
 Hello. My name is Kirt, and I'm a
vintage magazine and newspaper addict. This affliction has had a hold on me for two
decades now. Call it my middle age crisis. At sixty years old, there is no sign of abatement
in enthusiasm. Nearly every day I still find myself reading and commenting on articles
and advertisements from mid-last-century magazines, newspapers, and catalogs. Maybe I'm
hopeless and will never be able to kick the habit. I'm not alone, though, based on some
of the feedback received from RF Cafe visitors. For that reason and others, maybe, in
truth, I've grown comfortable with my addiction. While perusing a few vintage newspaper
editions from the World War II era looking for relevant stories, I ran across this
November 1, 1940 (exactly 78 years ago) special section in the Harrisburg Telegraph
titled, "Radio Industry Marks 20th Anniversary...
 Download this free "219 Modern Job Search
Tips for 2019" e-book! This 50-page resource covers over 20 topics,
including: • Potential job search roadblocks • Characteristics of people who
exude professionalism • Ways to purse a professional education beyond the
classroom • Essential components of the modern job search • Interview prep tips
from a world-class career coach • Powerful networking tools and strategies to
adopt now • Ways to foster effective job interview conversations And much more!
If you're searching for a new job to get a fresh start or advance your career,
this eBook is for you...
 Are you old enough to remember when in order to
make a measurement on a circuit board it was necessary to physically connect an oscilloscope
probe to a trace or component lead? "Wait," you say, "What are you talking about? You
still do have to physically connect a probe." Right you are, but 50 years from now your
progeny will be asking that question, just as today I ask you do you remember when in
order to get a "screen shot" of an o-scope or spectrum analyzer display it was
necessary to
connect a camera to the front of the CRT? Some instruments had an(a) output
port(s) for driving a pen plotter, but getting a plotter set up and calibrated
was often more work and frustration than hanging a camera on the front. Most of
the cameras used Polaroid film packs to enable "instant" pictures...
Nova
Microwave is a leader in technically differentiated electronic and radio frequency Ferrite
Circulators and Isolators
that connect, protect and control critical commercial and military wireless
telecommunications systems. Our staff is dedicated to research and development
of standard and custom design quality Ferrite Circulators and Isolators from
380 MHz to 26.5 GHz. Please visit Nova Microwave today...
 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 combination 12-20 MHz
bandstop / notch filter with SMA connectors, a 8.5-18 GHz highpass filter with
N-type connectors, and a surface mount 4,450 MHz ceramic bandpass filter. Custom
RF filters designs are used when a standard cannot be found, or the requirements
are such that a custom approach is necessary...
 everything RF is now offering
website development services! Get a new website or upgrade your existing
website - All for only $99/month (can go up to $299/month based on the
number of products). There is no design or development charge, nor is there a
lock-in or contract. There is a simple monthly cost which includes everything -
design, development, hosting, backups, data porting and anything else. You do
not need to hire an agency and spend thousands of dollars to create a website...
 "New product is believed to be the first commercially
available
5G modeling tool since the finalization of the new 5G radio standard
in June. A new simulation tool from MathWorks promises to speed development, prototyping,
and testing of 5G cellular networking systems. The new 5G Toolbox, an add-on to the company's
well-known MATLAB simulation environment, is aimed at 5G system architects, as well as
engineers who are developing the digital, RF, and antenna systems for 5G. "It gives engineers
a way to understand the underlying technology in the 5G standard very quickly," Ken Karnofsky,
senior strategist for signal processing applications at MathWorks..."
Wednesday 31
 "Xeledop" is the Word of the Day for October
31; use it often. Xeledop is an acronym for "transmitting elementary dipole with optional
polarity." Nope, I've never heard of it, either. The
Xeledop (probably pronounced "zeh'-le-dop") is an air-towed transmitter that
flies a pre-planned path around the ground-based antenna under test (AUT) whose
radiation pattern is being measured. The circular power level plot at the bottom
of the page shows the results of an actual test flight. In this application, a
high frequency (HF, 3-30 MHz) transmitter is towed behind an airplane like
target drone while it broadcasts signals at eight distinct frequencies toward
the AUT, while the downstream receiver records power levels. The pilot flies on
the surface of an imaginary hemisphere to maintain a constant radius from the
antenna. Ground equipment tracks the aircraft azimuth and slant range is
calculated using aircraft altimeter data and measured elevation angles...
 Microwaves & RF is publishing its
2018 Salary & Career Survey
results in installments, with the first part dealing with job satisfaction in
August. Part two - this one - focuses on education. "The main question for this
section of the survey asked: "How are engineers maintaining their education?”
According to the results, white papers are the leading source - 73.8% of
respondents take advantage of them. This should come as no surprise given the
amount of white papers circulating out there, and the fact that, for the most
part, they're easily accessible. Magazines are the second-leading source, with
72.2% saying that they read magazines to sustain their education. Websites,
webinars..."
 In Part 2 of "A Selected History of Receiver Innovations over the Last 100 Years,"
author Brad Brannon discusses superheterodyne circuits and multiple conversion
stages. "One key point early radio pioneers like de Forest and Armstrong
understood was that their successes were determined by a solid, reliable
detector. In the early days, this was largely the wireless operator, whose
technical and auditory skills made it possible. However, as the industry grew,
other aspects became important, such as including linearity and bandwidth. In
1912, to address these issues, de Forest figured out regeneration and how a
receiver could benefit from this technique. At nearly the same time, Armstrong
made similar discoveries, and he noted that if energy was coupled from the plate
circuit back into the screen tuner, significant amplification occurred as the
amplifier response peaked prior to free oscillation..."
 Reactel has
become one of the industry leaders in the design and manufacture of
RF and microwave filters, diplexers,
and sub-assemblies. Through a continuous process of research and development, they have
established a full line of filters of all types - lowpass, highpass, bandpass, bandstop,
diplexer, and more. They offer the generally known tubular, LC, cavity, and waveguide
designs, as well as state of the art high performance suspended substrate models. Established
in 1979. Please contact Reactel today to see how they might help your project...
 "Japanese
electronics firms' real strength is their engineers, characterized by creativity,
ingenuity and an awesome willingness to work long and hard." That statement by editor
Lewis Young is the key point in this article that appeared in a 1965 issue of Electronics
magazine. That Japanese technology companies were deemed to be only about five
years behind the U.S. was a real wake-up call to America and the European
countries. Both Europe and Japan had been very diligent about rebuilding and
modernizing techniques and infrastructure since the destruction caused by World
War II. A few stories about Japan's post-war efforts report on how the
government left most of the responsibility (aka financing) up to universities
and private companies. Industry in some of the more...
 Empower RF Systems is a global leader in power
amplifier solutions. Empower RF Systems is an established and technologically superior
supplier of high power solid state RF & microwave amplifiers. Our offerings include
modules, intelligent rack-mount amplifiers, and multi-function RF Power Amplifier solutions
to 6 GHz in broadband and band specific designs. Output power combinations range
from tens of watts to multi-kilowatts. Unprecedented size, weight and power reduction
of our amplifiers is superior to anything in the market at similar frequencies and power
levels...
 Just in time for Halloween... "Resurrecting the
dead, mind control, radiation gone wrong, and man-eating robots, we've rounded up 10
of history's creepiest true tales of
science and engineering gone wrong.
Some of your favorite horror movies have nothing on the real thing. History is
full of plenty of true-to-life tales of mad science. Whether it was malicious or
unintentional, the effect is the same and the stories here are certified
nightmare fuel. From experiments gone wrong to misguided inventions and occult
rituals, you won't believe some of the things that have happened in the name of
science..."
Tuesday 30
 Phase noise measurements quantify the short term
stability of a frequency source. That is because phase and frequency are mathematically
related by a differential function [ω(t) = dΦ(t)/dt] so they are directly
connected. Phase noise also includes amplitude instability due to atomic scale
effects like FM flicker noise (1/f3), white noise (1/f2), PM flicker
noise (1/f), and possibly even voltage supply noise (typically discrete spurs).
When the frequency source is used as a local oscillator in a frequency converter
(up- or down-), the amount of instability (jitter) is modulated onto the
transmitter or received signal. While not usually a major concern in analog
systems, in high speed digital communication systems phase noise can degrade the
ability of the receiver to correctly determine the difference between a "1" and
a"0." That is because...
 How do you analyze antenna polarization? Rick
Gentile provides an answer in his Microwaves & RF magazine article titled,
"Algorithms to Antenna: Modeling Polarization in Radar and Wireless Systems."
Says Rick, "In this blog, I describe polarization and explore ways you can
analyze the polarized field as well as model the signal transmission between
polarized antennas and targets. From Maxwell's equations, the electromagnetic
(EM) field generated by an antenna is orthogonal to the propagation direction in
the far field. The field can be decomposed into two orthogonal components. The
most common representations of these components are either horizontal and
vertical (H, V) sets or left and right circular (L, R) sets..."
 Res-Net
Microwave has a complete line of precision
RF &
microwave components including attenuators, terminations, resistors, and
diode detectors for commercial, military, and space applications. Products range
from the small flange type to large 2,000 watt connectorized power attenuators
and/or terminations at frequencies up to 26.5 GHz. In-house photo etch and laser
trim capability. Please check out Res-Net Microwave's website to see how they
can help with your current project...
 If you have read as many vintage electronics magazines
as I have, one thing that is obvious is how many of the same issues that plagued the
field since the middle of the last century are still with us today - only in a much worse
way by now.
Government meddling, regulation and taxation are amongst the top offenders.
Both the electric power industry and the communications industry have been hit
hard, and huge costs to consumers is the result. Itemized bills from the utility
companies do not give the full picture of what a large percentage of your
monthly premiums go to feed the government beast. You might see some line items
for taxes, surcharges, contributions and user fees, but those being paid for you
by the providers (i.e., absorbed in the base charge) are hidden. One of the more
recent, highly publicized example...
 The Custom MMIC company has an article in
Microwave Product Digest magazine titled "Addressing Phase Noise in Direct Downconverters and Radar Systems with
New LPNA MMICs." It provides a quick review of the nature of phase noise.
"Phase noise is becoming an increasingly critical factor needing to be addressed
in sophisticated radar and communication systems. This is because it is the key
parameter defining both target acquisition in radars and spectral integrity in
communication systems. There are many papers detailing the mathematical
derivation of phase noise, but few mention the reason for its importance or what
can be done to lessen its effects..."
 Anatech Electronics (AEI) manufactures and supplies
RF and microwave
filters for military and commercial communication systems, providing
standard LP, HP, BP, BS, notch, diplexer, and custom RF filters, and RF
products. Standard RF filter and cable assembly products are published in our
website database for ease of procurement. Custom RF filters designs are used
when a standard cannot be found, or the requirements dictate a custom approach.
Please visit Anatech today to see how they can help your project succeed...
 "European scientists have discovered that thousands
of materials - including
bismuth
- have the potential to replace silicon in advanced electronic and computing
applications. Scientists are constantly searching for new materials called
topological insulators, due to their unique ability to insulate on the inside
but conduct electrical current on their surface. This property allows an
electrical current to theoretically flow without resistance and respond in
unconventional ways to electric and magnetic fields. Recently, a team of
researchers made an unexpected discovery in this field that proves that the
widely used material..."
Monday 29
 San Francisco Circuits, a leading provider of printed
circuit board fabrication and assembly, has published an application note titled, "How
to Improve PCB Design for Bluetooth Circuit Boards." Their experience in
assisting customers in successful layouts for substrates operating in the RF
frequency realm. How to Improve PCB Design for Bluetooth Circuit Boards
Bluetooth Circuit Board Design Guidelines Printed circuit boards with Bluetooth
technology can be problematic with interference, lost data and poor signal
integrity if certain precautions aren't taken. We'll outline many rules and
guidelines to consider when choosing Bluetooth technology for a given
application and, more specifically, designing it into a circuit board. A variety
of applications utilize Bluetooth, including: Beacons used in shopping malls...
 An RF Cafe visitor - I'll call him Mr. X -
is privy to and has a vested interest in GPS-related issues. He sent me a link to this
"The GPS Week Number Rollover Problem" article last Friday which is
posted on the Spirent Blog website. Did you know that the original GPS had a 10-bit date
code that lasts for just 1,024 weeks (19.7 years)? Those of us who were around for the
big Y2K
scare remember this scenario (we're "survivors" in modern psychopathic lingo). Per author
Guy Buesnel, "Some GPS receivers may malfunction on or after 6 April, 2019, due
to the GPS Week Rollover. Here's what that means and how to check if a receiver
is vulnerable. If your vehicles or equipment rely on GPS receivers, now is the
time to check if they're affected by the GPS Week Number Rollover issue..."
 Skyworks Solutions, an innovator of high performance
analog semiconductors connecting people, places and things, is excited to share that
several of Skyworks' innovative solutions have received top honors from
Mobile Breakthrough. Mobile Breakthrough recognizes the world's best mobile
and wireless companies, products and people based on selections from an
independent panel of experts within the wireless industry. It is an honor to
have been selected from amongst over 2,200 nominations for developing
leading-edge technology. Skyworks' family of advanced GNSS low-noise amplifier
front-end modules, which were named "GPS-based Solutions of the Year," provide
global manufacturers with a compact, turnkey connectivity...
 1965 was the beginning of America's involvement
in Vietnam. A mere decade had passed since the end of the Korean War (or "conflict" if
you prefer), and the Department of Defense had not done much to modernize the military
since then. Unlike with World War II when U.S. factories were turning out military
aircraft, ships, and ground vehicles ahead of formal involvement, Congress was not interested
in making headlines with news of war machines. The "Washington
Newsletter" feature of this October 1965 issue of Electronics magazine reported
on, among other military-related items, the U.S. Air Force's plans to phase out the venerated
B-52 Stratofortress bomber by sometime in the 1970s. Here it is half a century
later and the B-52...
Res-Net
Microwave has a complete line of precision
RF &
microwave components including attenuators, terminations, resistors, and
diode detectors for commercial, military, and space applications. Products range
from the small flange type to large 2,000 watt connectorized power attenuators
and/or terminations at frequencies up to 26.5 GHz. In-house photo etch and laser
trim capability. Please check out Res-Net Microwave's website to see how they
can help with your current project...
 "U.S. Army researchers are surveying industry for
companies able to design a secure small, lightweight wireless communications module to
tie together
wearable electronics
on the individual infantry warfighter without eavesdropping or interference from
the enemy. Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Fort Belvoir, Va.,
issued a source-sought notice on Tuesday (W909MY-19-R-0002) for the Secure
Intra-Soldier Wireless Module with Reduced Size and Power (ICW Chipset) project.
Intra-soldier wireless (ICW) technology seeks to link pieces of the infantry
warfighter's kit, such as wearable computers, radios, and electro-optical rifle
sights..."
Sunday 28
 SF Circuits' specialty is in the complex, advanced
technology of
PCB fabrication and assembly,
producing high quality multi-layered PCBs from elaborate layouts. With them, you
receive unparalleled technical expertise at competitive prices as well as the
most progressive solutions available. Their customers request PCB production
that is outside the capabilities of normal circuit board providers. Please take
a moment to visit San Francisco Circuits today...
Friday 26
 Robert Radford's (not to be confused with Robert
Redford) "Electromaze
Puzzle" is a unique - and weird - sort of word puzzle that first appeared in this
February 1966 issue of Popular Electronics magazine. Some people have been confused
about the strategy, believing that all the white spaces needed to be filled in. They
do not. Just because a letter might have an empty square adjacent to it does not imply
that another letter must fill it. Also, read the instruction carefully, especially the
part about the last letter of one word being the first letter of another word. You will
probably want to print out the maze grid and find an old guy who should still have a
pencil stowed away somewhere you can borrow to use for filling in the boxes...
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