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5 of the January 2019 homepage
archives. Friday 11
 According to this 1964 article in Electronics
magazine, the U.S. Air Force's decision to build radar systems that would enable
low altitude,
terrain-following flight paths for strategic and tactical aircraft
was in response to the shooting down of Gary Powers' U-2 spy craft in 1960. The
event made clear that simply flying high over enemy territory and dropping bombs
would not be a reliable strategy since surface-to-air missiles could reach and destroy
aircraft before they got to their targets. Terrain-following capability on the part
of bombers and fighters would add a major element of surprise since approach paths
could be masked until it was too late to take offensive action. That approach was
not without its risks and faults, as made apparent by the Dr. Strangelove movie
satire that poked fun at the very concept...
 Every month Rohde & Schwarz USA puts
together a few resources intended to help you tackle your latest EMC test challenge.
This month, we focus on two very different topics. "The value of pre-selection in
EMC Measurements" which is an often misunderstood or underestimated concept, and
"Going Beyond the Basics to Ensure Successful Immunity Tests" which covers the ins
and outs of what to look for when working with and selecting an EMC amplifier. The
"EMC Amplifiers – Going Beyond the Basics to Ensure Successful Immunity Tests" webinar
focuses on the basics and intricacies of immunity testing, a technical overview
of EMC amplifiers...
 Saelig Company announces the availability of Triarchy Technologies'
VSG6G1C RF Vector Signal Generator - a cost-effective pocketable
USB-connected RF signal source with capabilities that provide standalone and PC-controlled
functions comparable to full-size analog RF signal generators. Offering frequencies
from 1 MHz to 6.1 GHz with frequency sweep, frequency hopping using I&Q
modulation, and arbitrary signal generation, this compact signal source can generate
most of the modulated signals that RF engineers might need. The VSG6G1C's many test
functions can be customized to meet the needs of proprietary and other nonstandard
wireless protocols. This compact design is ideal for field test situations since
it can be conveniently added to a field service kit, and configured to operate standalone...
 Amateur radio station operators seemed to
always be amongst the first to lose their rights in time of war. Governmental power
brokers - from unelected local bureaucrats on up to presidents - love to demonstrate
their influence over citizens when the opportunity arises. The
Radio Act of 1912 revoked the rights of amateur radio stations
to operate, and in some cases authorized the confiscation of radio equipment for
use by the government. Permission was not restored until 1919, after World War I.
Amateurs took it on the chin again in World War II with revocation of licenses.
In this 1917 article in The Electrical Experimenter publisher Hugo Gernsback
makes the case for permitting "our red-blooded boys be trusted to assist our officials
in running down spies." "...we realize how absurd it is to close all privately owned
radio stations during the war..."
 "There are real signs of a renaissance in
electronic warfare. Now comes the hard part: translating new strategies
and concepts into doctrine, requirements, and systems in the field. After a quarter-century
of post-Cold War neglect, the Department of Defense has once again become serious
about electronic warfare: the art of detecting, disrupting, and deceiving enemy
radio and radar. But battles between electrons are invisible, literally and often
politically as well, and EW must fight for attention and resources with higher-profile
efforts from hypersonic missiles and missile defense to combat readiness for everything
from fighter jets to nuclear submarines..."
 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 10
 Although published in a 1972 issue of
Popular Electronics magazine, the topic of dealing with
radio interference is timeless. Some of the sources of radio interference
change over the years, but there is always a need to discover and resolve such problems,
and more importantly, use the lessons learned to attempt to prevent it in the first
place. The January setting in the Great Lake Midwest region of the U.S. is right
on time for when this is being posted. It's snowing here in Erie, Pennsylvania,
as I write this, the temperature is about 24°F, and the wind is howling at 15-20
miles per hour as is has been all night. "Someone must have sprayed circuit-cooler
around out there," Barney (Mac's able young assistant) complained. "Man, it's cold!"
That about sums up today's weather. Unfortunately for Barney, he would be called
upon to leave the warmth of the shop to make a service call to figure out why CB
radio transmissions...
 Nokomis, the preeminent company in the world in
the detection, identification, and geolocation of electronics, currently has an
opening for an Electrical Engineer / RF and Digital Hardware Designer. Nokomis is
actively seeking candidates for a number of positions including PhD and MS level
electrical engineers, physicists, computer scientists as well as administrative,
management and sales positions. Responsibilities include: Design hardware to suit
given requirements and document the design, Electromagnetic or SPICE circuit simulation
a plus, Circuit design of RF, Digital, mixed-signal and analog circuits, Test, debug
and evaluation of PCB assemblies, Embedded software or FPGA experience a plus...
 Triad RF Systems, a top-tier designer and
manufacturer of RF and microwave amplifiers, has received confirmation of the successful
field operation of the
TA1109, which is currently aboard a
CubeSat chassis flying in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The TA1109 operates
from 2000 to 2500 MHz and provides 4 watts of output power, ensuring proper
and consistent communication at distances in excess of 2000 km or 1200 miles.
Weighing less than an ounce and smaller than a credit card, the TA1109 is ideal
for even the smallest CubeSat systems. This amplifier uses a circuit card form factor,
making it integrate easily into a wide array of custom CubeSat communication systems...
 Axiom Test Equipment, a premier provider
of electronic test and measurement equipment rentals and sales, has a new blog post
you might find useful titled, "Put a Charge into Your Battery Testing." Batteries provide power
for portable electronic devices. They come in many shapes and sizes, from tiny cells
that power pocket-sized personal electronic devices to large, fixed systems. They
are also available in different chemistries, such as alkaline, lead-acid, and lithium-ion
cells. Each battery chemistry results in battery cells with different voltages,
such as 1.5 V for alkaline cells, 2.0 V for lead-acid cells, and 3.0 V for lithium
cells. Commercial batteries are typically comprised of multiple connected cells
to achieve higher voltages, such as 12 or 24 V. Batteries are obviously essential
components in any portable electronic product...
 It seemed like a reasonable idea, but the
absence of "One Hander" soldering tools on the market today - or any time
in the last half century for that matter - is empirical proof that the concept is
not feasible. In principle, being able to feed the solder into the joint area with
a squeezable pistol grip setup is not so different than modern wire welding machines
that basically do the same thing (I have one). It was probably the lack of stiffness
of the solder wire that caused the problem since keeping it on the joint would be
difficult. Preventing the flux from jamming the solder feed tube was no doubt an
issue as well. Oh well, it was worth a try. Today's surface mounted components could
never be soldered with such a device, even if modernized to accommodate the smaller
sizes...
 "NEC Corporation has successfully demonstrated
real-time digital wireless
Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) mode multiplexing transmission
over 40 meters in the 80 GHz-band. This technology can help solve the ever-increasing
demand for high-capacity wireless connections for 5G networks. NEC aims to use this
technology for its iPASOLINK series of ultra-compact microwave and mmWave communication
products, which are capable of extremely reliable, high-capacity mobile backhaul
solutions for 5G networks. In recent years, more and more base stations are required
for proper transmission coverage, especially in hot spots and ultra-dense urban
areas, where the cell grid becomes very dense. Additionally, datacenters will be
moving to the edge..."
 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 9
 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
three new filter designs: connectorized 763-768 MHz / 793-798 MHz
single in/out duplexer, a connectorized 1090 MHz cavity bandpass filter, and
a surface mount 836.5 MHz / 881.5 MHz SAW duplexer. Custom RF filters
designs are used when a standard cannot be found, or the requirements are such that
a custom approach is necessary...
 Those of us who have been working for a long
time around electricity with exposed circuit components are well aware that as little
as one-tenth of an ampere (1/10 A) can produce a lethal reaction, particularly
if the current path runs through the heart (i.e., hand-to-hand). Some of us (moi)
have even experienced a pretty significant jolt from a high voltage vacuum tube
power supply and/or from a 480 volt, three-phase supply to an industrial motor.
Fortunately, the worst damage done was to my ego and a feeling of utter stupidity
for allowing the occurrence to happen. If you are new to the concept of
electrocution, you might be inclined to wonder why, when the chart
below shows certain current levels with corresponding effects, would I mention exposure
to high voltages? The answer is that various current paths through your body...
 Keysight Technologies, a leading technology
company that helps enterprises, service providers, and governments accelerate innovation
to connect and secure the world, today announced the 200 MHz, 4-channel models
of the
InfiniiVision 1000 X-Series oscilloscopes, providing professional-level
measurements and capabilities at an affordable price, including 4-wire Serial Peripheral
Interface (SPI) decode and remote connection via local area networks (LANs). The
new InfiniiVision 1000 X-Series oscilloscopes use the same user interface and measurement
technology found in the higher performance Keysight InfiniiVision oscilloscopes.
The intuitive front panel...
 "AVX Corporation has introduced a new line
of ultraminiature,
thin-film transmission line capacitors for high-frequency links,
DC blocking in the UHF range (300 MHz – 3 GHz), and other high-performance
microwave and RF applications. The new capacitors have a novel metal-insulator-metal
(MIM) structure, copper traces for optimal circuit conductivity, a transmission
line wire-bond pad, and a gold-metallized backside ground, and can be supplied on
a variety of low-loss substrates, including quartz, alumina, glass, and silicon.
The new transmission line capacitors are also available in a wide range of capacitance
values: 0.3-50 pF with a ±20% tolerance, and each is made using a high-frequency
structure simulator (HFSS) to proactively address any electromagnetic..."
 An RF Cafe visitor and who wishes to remain
anonymous (Engineer-X) sent me this "Energy Frequency Chart" that purports to have identified "average
frequencies of some of the therapeutic grade essential oils that have been measured."
That's right, you probably didn't know that your body parts have specific frequencies
at which when resonance is achieved, healing powers are realized. This claim must
be true because it is on the Internet. The purveyor of these magical, essential
oils has had results verified by Eastern Washington University by using a Calibrated
Frequency Monitor (CFM). Surely you have a CFM in your test lab. Engineer-X dutifully
notes that many of the essential oils resonates in the FM radio and aviation communications
bands as well as at Part 15 key fob frequencies, which must explain why you
feel good in their presence. Count me amongst the skeptics and "Essential Oils Deniers."
The sad fact is many people buy into (literally) this malarkey.
 "A day after being whacked with a US $900,000
FCC fine for launching four tiny
CubeSats without permission, Silicon Valley startup Swarm Technologies
sought permission for dozens more of its controversial small satellites, according
to documents obtained by IEEE Spectrum. Swarm wants to create an orbital
network of miniature satellites that will offer a global Internet of Things communication
service at a fraction of the price of existing systems. 'Swarm will offer two-way
communications services to allow end users to send and receive data anywhere in
the world,' reads its latest FCC application. 'The Swarm constellation will be deployed
rapidly, and begin to offer commercial services even prior to full deployment of
the constellation..."
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 8
 Antenova Ltd, manufacturer of antennas and
RF antenna modules for M2M and the Internet of Things, has developed a new
SMD positioning antenna that achieves an extraordinary level of
accuracy in the GNSS bands – it can pinpoint a location to within centimetres. The
Raptor antenna utilises the L2, 1200 MHz satellite bands which recently became
available for civilian use. It is the latest addition to Antenova's lamiiANT range
of rigid FR4 antennas which are designed for easy insertion onto a PCB. The antenna
itself is very small - it is a GPS single feed antenna in SMD form, measuring just
16.0 x 8.0 x 1.6 mm, which makes it suitable for small PCBs within all kinds
of small electronic devices. "This is an outstanding antenna, because it achieves
the same precision..."
 At QuinStar, we're about more than millimeter-wave
technology. The people comprising QuinStar Technology pursue diverse and exciting
outside interests. Our Chief Engineer, Jim Schellenberg, is a highly skilled amateur
astronomical photographer. He captured this beautiful image of the
Orion nebula using a specially modified Canon 6D. The camera responds
to the H-alpha spectral line at 656 nm (from hydrogen gas), which is seen as red
in the photo. The camera is mounted on an 11-inch telescope that tracks the object
as the earth rotates. This image consists of nine one-minute exposures that are
"stacked" to form the image you see. This is an excellent time of the year to view
the Orion nebula. It can be seen with the naked eye...
 Walt Miller drew a lot of
comics for electronics magazines like Popular Electronics,
and he did the cover art for Astounding Science Fiction magazine. No doubt
there were others. I could not find any detailed information about Mr. Miller's
personal background, such as whether he was a Ham radio operator, but clearly he
enjoyed electronics and science topics. This group of comics, which appeared in
the May 1967 issue of Popular Electronics, touches on many scenarios that
would have been familiar to hobbyists of the day. I like the one where the guy sneezes
and scatters carefully counted and sorted resistors all over the floor. Another
refers to installment plans for purchasing equipment. That was from a time when
credit cards were not handed out like candy and only people with provable credit-worthiness
could get them...
 Engineers at TotalTemp Technologies have
published a white paper titled, "Thermal Testing with Convection and Conduction… Together at Last!"
It begins: "A heartfelt Congratulation is in order for the happy and successful
union of two distinct thermal testing methods that are finally sharing the same
dance floor together – as the first true Hybrid. To better understand the specific
benefits from both sides of this collaboration of two testing methods, please review
of the following white paper. Thermal testing by conduction is most commonly done
on a Thermal Platform. Platforms control temperature by conductive heat..."
 San Francisco Components (SFC) has introduced
a new educational component of its website to address Printed Circuit Board (PCB)
component sourcing and overages. The information is geared to help customers source
the right amount of critical components without creating costly shortages during
PCB assembly. The
component overages worksheet gives target quantities for projects
based on the number of finished pieces required. The sheet is broken down by component
size for common resistors and capacitors. SFC also offers a formula for more expensive
parts for more accurate budgeting. "One of the most frequent questions we get from
customers is how to know what is the right quantity of components that are needed
for any given project...
 "A team of experimentalists at the U.S. Department
of Energy's Ames Laboratory and theoreticians at University of Alabama Birmingham
discovered a remarkably long-lived new state of matter in an
iron pnictide superconductor, which reveals a laser-induced formation
of collective behaviors that compete with superconductivity. 'Superconductivity
is a strange state of matter, in which the pairing of electrons makes them move
faster,' said Jigang Wang, Ames Laboratory physicist and Iowa State University professor.
'One of the big problems we are trying to solve is how different states in a material
compete..."
Monday 7
 Whether you are new to working in the cellular
communications realm or are just interested in learning more about the system about
which the world turns today, this free "Radio Fundamentals for Cellular Networks" white paper by Rohde &
Schwarz will be useful to you. "Cellular technologies have advanced from first generation
(1G) analog technologies to advanced high- performance fourth generation (4G) and
fifth generation (5G) systems in just four decades. Despite the increase in complexity
of wireless standards and devices, cellular technologies maintain a set of common
principles that form the basis behind the design of cellular systems. In this white
paper, we explore these basic principles and examine the underlying technologies
that lay the foundation for today and future cellular systems..."
 Chapter 5 of the U.S. Navy's basic electronics
course of study, titled "EMF: What It Is," introduces the concept of electromotive force.
It follows lessons on electric current and static electricity where students learned
that potential difference causes electrons to flow through a conductor. But - you'll
have to know about another "electron-mover." Because it is an "electron-moving-force,"
scientists have named it Electromotive Force (emf). Mechanical force is usually
measured in pounds, but emf is measured in volts. Just as pounds of force make water
flow through a pipe, so emf makes current flow through a conductor. The three terms
- potential difference, electromotive force, and voltage - are often used interchangeably.
You will hear electricians say, "Voltage of the generator"; or "EMF of the generator"
and "Voltage of the circuit" or "Potential of the circuit...
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 228,567 products from more than 1222 companies
across 291 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...
 Free for your downloading pleasure is Rohde &
Schwarz's white paper titled, "An Introduction to EMC Amplifiers." "In order to perform immunity
testing on an electronic device, we must subject that device to defined levels of
radio frequency energy over a wide range of frequencies and verify that the device
continues to function properly. This radio frequency energy may be conducted into
a device via its attached cables or be directly picked up 'over - the - air,' i.e.
from radiated signals. As we will see, radiated emissions represent the greater
challenge in immunity testing. The first reason for this is that radiated immunity
(or susceptibility) testing often requires the creation of very high electric field
strengths , with typical values ranging from 3-200 V/m. Depending on frequency,
distance..."
 "U-blox and University of Bristol have developed
a tunable frequency-division duplexing RF front-end that combines passive and active
self-interference cancellation. With the proof-of-concept demonstrator,
an electrical-balance duplexer is used to passively cancel transmitter noise in
the receive band, and an active canceller is employed to suppress self-interference
in the transmit band. It has been characterized in duplex configurations working
between 700 MHz and 950 MHz, as well as LTE bands 3 (1.9 GHz) and 7 (2.6 GHz). Noise
figure is 6.0-7.4 dB in the presence of a +27 dBm LTE uplink Tx blocker for duplex
separations of 47.5 MHz and above..."
 Lotus
Communication Systems is a supplier of high performance connectorized
RF modular system components,
shielded project cases, and special purpose solutions up through 40 GHz. Lotus
is a privately owned company with mechanical and electronic design, manufacture,
test controlled from its Middlesex, MA, facility. They have multiple 4 axis CNC
machines and LPKF circuit plotters. Lotus can provide custom extension of our standard
products, custom designs for specific applications and prototyping for your new
products...
Sunday 6
 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 Lamarr or the Bikini Atoll, respectively. Enjoy...
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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