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4 of the April 2019 homepage
archives. Friday 12
 Most of these matches of the devices and its
inventor are pretty easy for people who have been around electronics for any length
of time (well, not if the length of time is a day or two), but a couple just might
stump you. This Electronics Inventors Quiz appeared in a 1963 edition of Popular
Electronics, so you won't be challenged with knowing the inventors of the LCD or
MEMS devices, but neither will you have to know who came up with the abacus or the
Archimedes screw :-)...
 "Small-Sat technology leader, Space Flight
Laboratory (SFL), has received the prime contract to develop the next generation
cluster of formation-flying
microsatellites for HawkEye 360. The HawkEye Constellation, consists
of multiple clusters of three satellites each. It is the first system of its kind
to detect and geo-locate RF signals for maritime, emergency response, and spectrum
analysis applications directly from space. SFL built the platforms and integrated
the HawkEye 360 Pathfinder cluster which was launched into a low-Earth orbit in
December 2018 and commissioned early this year. The three formation-flying Pathfinder
microsatellites have successfully demonstrated geolocation of VHF ..."
 This April 1967 edition of Electronics
World featured a handful of articles covering different types of
relays and circuits for controlling them: reed relays, time-delay
relays, stepping relays, mercury-wetted relays, resonant reed relays, operate and
release times, relay coil considerations, and more. Even with the advent of transistor
switching, there are still many uses in modern circuits for electromechanical relays,
so this material should prove useful. Links are provided to the other relay articles...
 We're honored to be the only semiconductor
supplier to receive BAE Systems' distinguished GOLD Supplier award for 2018. As
part of their
"Partner 2 Win" Supplier Program BAE Systems conducts a comprehensive
annual review of all their key suppliers and brings the top performing suppliers
together for an evening of appreciation and to acknowledge their outstanding support
over the previous year. Dave Folding, VP of Operations, and Erik Sauve, Director
of Quality, attended the Partner 2 Win Supplier Symposium ceremony held on April
2, 2019 and accepted the award on behalf of the Custom MMIC team. "We are both honored
and proud to have been selected to receive this prestigious award from BAE Systems.
This customer acknowledgement reaffirms Custom MMICs commitment to providing...
Phased-Array Ka-Band Antenna Demos
2-Way Wideband Data Links
 "ThinKom Solutions, Inc., has announced the
successful completion of in-flight connectivity trials of its ThinAir Ka2517
phased-array antenna mounted on the Proteus high-altitude long-endurance
aircraft. The Proteus satellite data communication package was developed as a joint
effort involving ThinKom, Inmarsat Government and Scaled Composites. The trials
included initial tests in Chantilly, Virginia and the Mojave Air and Space Port,
California, culminating in a series of demo flights at White Sands Missile Range,
New Mexico. The ThinAir antenna delivered a 25 Mbps return link and a 5 Mbps forward
link operating at over 50,000 feet altitude through an Inmarsat Global Xpress Ka-band
satellite in geostationary orbit ..."
 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...
Thursday 11
 Before the Emergency Alert System (EAS) was
activated on January 1, 1997, which followed the August 5, 1963 activation of the
Emergency Broadcast System (EBS), there was the 1951 implementation of the CONtrol
of ELectromagnetic RADiation (CONELRAD). Born out of the Cold War era, CONELRAD was devised
in order to not just provide timely forewarning of enemy nuclear and/or bomber and/or
submarine-based attacks, but also to silence all commercial broadcasters whose transmitting
installation could potentially be exploited as homing signals for the aforementioned
bad guys. The Germans had used just such a scheme during the recently concluded
World War II to knock out Allied radio stations. CONELRAD used designated "clear
channel" installations (no, not the moniker appropriated by iHeartMedia) whose super
high power outputs would reach across the land to give warning to even remote areas...
 "Engineering researchers have demonstrated
that a longstanding theoretical method called
Direct Antenna Modulation (DAM) has real-world utility for boosting
the quality of radio signals when transmitting at high data rates. The finding has
applications in fields such as military communications. Signal quality can always
be improved by using a larger antenna, but that's simply not practical for many
wavelengths. For example, antennas operating in the high frequency range i.e from
3 to 30 MHz - would be 5 meters long or longer. DAM (Direct Antenna Modulation)
can improve signal quality dramatically when using much smaller antennas. The researchers
have demonstrated the concept using antennas one-third the size ..."
 With more than 780 custom-built
symbols, this has got to be the most comprehensive set of
Visio Stencils available for RF, analog, and digital system and
schematic drawings! Every object has been built from scratch to fit proportionally
on the provided A- and B-size drawing page templates (you
can use your own page if preferred). Components are provided for equipment
racks (EIA and ETSI) and test equipment, system block
diagrams and conceptual drawings, and for schematics...
 "Short waves," with their ability to support
long distance communications under certain conditions, became a phenomenon in the
late 1920s, and a market developed for converting commercial broadcast receivers
to
short wave receivers. Magazines at the time were full of advertisements
for the devices. The particulars of short waves and the way they propagated in the
upper atmosphere were not yet well understood early on. In fact, the government
considered transmission frequencies above 1.5 MHz (≤200 meters) so useless
that they assigned those bands to amateur radio operators. The presence of an electrically
conductive layer, known as the ionosphere, was not verified until 1927 by Edward
Appleton...
 Did you know that planning is in the works
to install a massive collection of
radar surveillance cells across the country to monitor the airspace
for aircraft - manned and unmanned - that have a low probability of detection by
existing radars? Per this article by Rick Gentile, Jacob Halbrooks, and Honglei
Chen, "In a previous blog, we wrote about ways to visualize antenna patterns on
a map. We want to revisit this topic by sharing another example related to planning
a small network of radar systems. First, a bit of background. The Engineering Research
Center for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA) at the University
of Massachusetts Amherst has described a concept in which new gap-filling radars
could be used to augment existing radar networks ..."
 "The U.S. Army's 8th Army Unit soldiers,
positioned in South Korea, have now been granted access to an inflatable satellite
antenna. The soldiers are training on how to set up and use the Combat Service Support
Very Small Aperture Terminal (CSS VSAT)
Inflatable Satellite Antenna (ISA). For Army logisticians who
sustain their units with critical supplies, repair resources and parts, one of their
most important tools is the Combat Service Support Very Small Aperture Terminal
(CSS VSAT), a mobile satellite terminal found everywhere they operate. Originally
fielded in 2004, this workhorse was game changing for logisticians, allowing them
to complete supply transactions and receive real-time status updates ..."
 Please
take a few moments to visit the
everythingRF website to see how they can assist you with your
project. everythingRF is a product discovery platform for RF and microwave products
and services. They currently have 227,460 products from more than 1210 companies
across 285 categories in their database and enable engineers to search for them
using their customized parametric search tool. Amplifiers, test equipment, power
couplers and dividers, coaxial connectors, waveguide, antennas, filters, mixers,
power supplies, and everything else. Please visit everythingRF today to see how
they can help you...
Wednesday 10
 Stanford R. Ovshinsky is a name with which
most people are probably not familiar, even though some of his 400+ patented inventions
can be found in many products. The most notable is the nickel-metal hydride (NiMH)
battery. He also delved deep into phase change memory and amorphous semiconductors.
What caught my attention in this 1969 Radio-Electronics magazine article
was the claim that use of an ovonic switch matrix in conjunction with red, green
and blue (RGB) phosphor light sources could produce the world's first large screen,
flat panel video display that would not require scanning electron beams or rear
projection. History shows that the idea never came to market, probably due to a
combination of technical, financial, and manufacturability issues. Ovonics (a portmanteau
of "Ovshinsky" and "electronics") is still used in aspects of the alternative energy
industry ...
 RF Cafe's raison d'être is and always has
been to provide useful, quality content for engineers, technicians, engineering
managers, students, and hobbyists. Part of that mission is offering to post applicable
job openings. HR department employees and/or managers of hiring companies are welcome
to submit opportunities for posting at no charge (of course a gratuity will be graciously
accepted). 3rd party recruiters and temp agencies are not included so as to assure
a high quality of listings. Please read through the easy procedure to benefit from
RF Cafe's high quality visitors ...
 Part 2 of Kenneth Wyatt's "Design PCBs for EMI" series focuses on Basic Stack-Up strategy.
"Part 1 of this series described how digital signals propagate through PC boards.
In part 2, we look at specific board designs to achieve low EMI. The biggest issue
I see in my clients' board designs is poor layer stack-up. Reiterating the two fundamental
rules from part 1 and realizing digital signals and power (transients) are electromagnetic
waves moving in the dielectric layer, we see there are two very important principles
when it comes to PC board design: Every signal and power trace (or plane) on a PC
board should be considered a transmission line. Digital signal propagation in transmission
lines is really the movement of electromagnetic fields ..."
 "Transistors, currently are used almost everywhere,
ranging from mobiles and home appliances to aircrafts. But they often operate only
within a restricted current range. Working towards solving this problem, physicists
at LMU (Ludwig-Maximilians University) have now developed an
organic transistor that functions perfectly under both low and
high currents. Transistors are semiconductor devices that control voltage and currents
in electrical circuits. To reduce economic and environmental costs, electronic devices
must become smaller and more effective. This applies above all to transistors. In
the field of inorganic semiconductors, dimensions below 100 nanometers are already
standard ..."
 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, Oscillators, Switches, Attenuators,
Circulators, Isolators, Filters, Waveguide, Antennas, Phase Shifters, Transceivers,
Mixers, Detectors. QuinStar specializes in cryogenic amplifiers,
circulators, and isolators. Please visit QuinStar today to see how they can help
your project...
Tuesday 9
 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...
 TotalTemp Technologies has more than 40 years
of combined experience providing thermal platforms.
Thermal Platforms are
available to provide temperatures between -100°C and +200°C for cryogenic cooling,
recirculating circulating coolers, temperature chambers and temperature controllers,
thermal range safety controllers, space simulation chambers, hybrid benchtop chambers,
custom systems and platforms. Manual and automated configurations for laboratory
and production environments...
 In his usual manner, John T. Frye uses
tech-savvy teenage experimenters Carl Anderson and Jerry Bishop to teach a lesson
while writing a compelling saga. In this case Jerry gets "bitten" by house current while fiddling with a receiver chassis.
Before certain safety measures were required by law, many electrical devices - radios,
televisions, vacuum cleaners, shop tools, kitchen appliances, etc. - were sold with
with either existing shock hazards or the potential for (no pun intended) a shock
hazard in certain usage or failure modes. Before the advent of polarized two-pronged
plugs and grounded 3-prong plugs, some devices presented hazardous voltage levels
to the user by virtue of a direct connection to exposed conductive (metal) surfaces.
In this instance, under normal operational conditions with the chassis installed
in its wooden case and plastic or phenolic control...
 ConductRF offers a diverse range of solutions
for common applications including
Low PIM cables. Flexible and hand-formable, corrugated, multiple
connector and cable combinations. ConductRF has a wide range of "Performance" related
solutions built and 100% tested up to 70 GHz at our own facility. If your solution
requires Low Loss or VSWR or if you have ruggedization or waterproofing needs, we
see this as a performance solution which requires our expertise to turn in to finished
product solution for you. Built in the USA...
C-Band Debate Poised to Pivot
 "While the C-Band Alliance (CBA) proposal
for the 3.7-4.2 GHz band remains in the lead, other proposals for this important
midband spectrum could catch up, according to analysts at New Street Research. The
3.7-4.2 GHz band, also referred to as the C-band, is seen as one of the best chances
for the U.S.terrestrial wireless industry to get midband spectrum for 5G.
However, while the wireless industry deems 100 MHz per carrier as the ideal for
5G, the current satellite companies occupying the C-band say they realistically
are only able to relinquish 200 MHz out of the total 500 MHz for the sake of 5G.
In a note to investors ..."
Monday 8
 This story in the April 1955 issue of
Radio & Television News might be the first public disclosure of Bell
Telephone Laboratories'
flexible waveguide design. Operating at 50 GHz, the new waveguide
will replace hundreds of existing coaxial cables that can each carry only 600 telephone
channels and two television channels. It can also increase the distance between
amplifiers from 12 miles to 50 miles. Construction consists of a hollow flexible
tube lined with a spiral winding of copper wire. Incidentally, the lower cutoff
frequency for circular waveguide with a 2-inch diameter, as reported here, works
out to around 1.8 GHz. I was skeptical about the claim of operation at 50 GHz
since that kind of spectrum was the domain of laboratories back in the day, not
commercially deployed systems. 2 GHz was doable, so the new waveguide accommodated...
 Keysight (formerly Agilent, formerly HP) has
just published the 4th Edition of their very popular "The Parametric Measurement Handbook." It is 277 pages chock full
of information of terminology and definitions, source / monitor unit (SMU) fundamentals,
on-wafer measurements, time-dependent and high-speed measurements, making accurate
resistance & capacitance measurements, and power device characterization. Hundreds
of drawings and photographs help illustrate concepts. The price is right: Free for
downloading!...
 Since 1961, MECA
Electronics has designed and manufactured an extensive line of
RF & microwave
components for in-building, satellite, radar, radio, telemetry, mobile radio,
aviation & ATC. Attenuators, directional & hybrid couplers, isolators &
circulators, power dividers & combiners, loads, DC blocks, bias-Ts and adapters &
cables. MECA has long been the 'backbone' of high performance wired and air-interfaced
networks such as in-building applications, satellite communications, radar, radio
communications, telemetry applications, mobile radio, aviation & air traffic
communications...
 Military & Aerospace Electronics is offering
a free webcast titled, "COTS Electronics Replace Legacy Systems That Are No Longer Maintainable,"
which originally aired on January 29, 2019. Description: "The life cycle of many
electronics systems is a long one often spanning decades and even generations. The
F-16 is 42 years old and the B-52 is old enough to collect social security. However,
both systems are still active and still need to be maintained even though they may
be on third or fourth generation electronics. Industry is full of electronic systems
that were developed over twenty years ago. Many of these are based on technologies,
or at least products that can no longer be replaced or repaired. As firms and particularly
the military try to keep their systems operational ..."
 "The market for
lidar sensors for use in autonomous vehicles is now hotly contested;
almost every month a new supplier appears on the scene. The US startup Lumotive
now wants to grab one of the top places - with an innovative technology and a financial
injection from Bill Gates himself. Gleb Akselrod, CTO and co-founder of Lumotive,
explains that the difference to available lidar sensors lies in their beam steering
technology. The engineers from Seattle in the U.S. state of Washington use a Liquid
Crystal Metasurface (LCM) to control the infrared laser. This means that the entire
Lidar sensor requires no mechanically moving parts and thus has the prospect of
significantly increased reliability and a longer service life compared to its competitors ..."
 KR Electronics designs and manufactures high
quality filters for both the commercial and military markets. KR Electronics' line
of filters includes lowpass,
highpass, bandpass, bandstop and individually synthesized 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. All common connector
types and package form factors are available. Please visit their website today to
see how they might be of assistance...
Sunday 7
 Since 2000, I have been creating custom
engineering-themed crossword puzzles for the brain-exercising
benefit and pleasure of RF Cafe visitors who are fellow cruciverbalists. The jury
is out on whether or not this type of mental challenge helps keep your gray matter
from atrophying in old age, but it certainly helps maintain your vocabulary and
cognitive skills at all ages. A database of thousands of words has been built up
over the years and contains only clues and terms associated with engineering, science,
physical, astronomy, mathematics, chemistry, etc. You will never find a word taxing
your knowledge of a numbnut soap opera star or the name of some obscure village
in the Andes mountains. You might, however, encounter the name of a movie star like
Hedy Lamarr or a geographical location like Tunguska, Russia, for reasons which,
if you don't already know, might surprise you...
These archive pages are provided in order to make it easier for you to find items
that you remember seeing on the RF Cafe homepage. Of course probably the easiest
way to find anything on the website is to use the "Search
RF Cafe" box at the top of every page.
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