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5 of the July 2019 homepage archives. Friday 5
 This story from a 1964 issue of Electronics
magazine is close to home - literally. Well, it was close to home at the time, anyway.
It reports on the work done by the
Electromagnetic Compatibility Analysis Center "...jutting out on a pier across
the broad Severn River from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis." I grew
up in the 1960s and 70s just a few miles from there and distinctly recall seeing
all the antennas in the area, including the now decommissioned and removed acres-big
ELF submarine communications antenna farm. The Annapolis location, with its proximity
to Washington, D.C., was the home to many government and military installations
and defense contractors. It was an electromagnetic signal-rich environment ...
 Empower RF Systems will be exhibiting in
Booth #201 at the 2019 IEEE EMC Symposium, in New Orleans' Ernest N. Morial Convention
Center from July 22 through 26, 2019. Please be sure to stop by and let us help
you with your project needs. Three of our featured
RF power amplifiers, perfectly suited for product developmental and assembly
line testing, are presented here. Equally suited for the production floor, engineering
lab, or anechoic chamber, the SKU 2223 comes complete with internal DDC, external
forward and reverse sample ports, and an easy to use web served GUI. In depth health
monitoring with alarms visible on the front panel are also pushed out the LAN port ...
 While this article is directed at amateur
radio operators who want to explore working in the microwave bands, it is good fodder
for anyone who wants a fundamental introduction to
waveguides, resonant cavities, distributed elements, and atmospheric propagation.
If that describes you, and particularly if you have formulaphobia, then start reading.
Even though the article appeared in a 1952 issue of Radio & Television News,
the list of frequency band allocations are not much different than today so the
information is useful. Unknown to many is that in the early part of the last century
Amateurs pioneered the use of microwave bands when the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) allocated the spectrum to them since many "experts" considered it unusable ...
 Upcoming Webinar: Lizard Lessons
with
Copper Mountain Technologies' Senior RF Design
Engineer Brian Walker, on July 18 at 11:00 am EST. Mr. Walker will discuss
several features of CMT's software, demonstrate various useful VNA measurements
and answer viewer questions. CMT develops innovative and robust RF test and measurement
solutions for engineers all over the world. Our extensive line of unique form factor
VNAs 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.
 "As more and more intelligent cars and autonomous
vehicles hit the road, some engineers are thinking about what can be done to smarten
up the streets on which they travel. Doing so could allow
smart cars and trucks to exchange information with other vehicles,
traffic-management centers, and private companies about traffic congestion, accidents,
and weather conditions. The key to making it happen is an Internet of Things system
that includes sensors embedded in the roadway and on traffic lights. Existing intelligent
transportation systems provide some of those features. Information gathered by traffic-monitoring
cameras ..."
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.
Thursday 4
 Axiom Test Equipment, an electronic test equipment
rental and sales company headquartered in Northern San Diego has published a blog
highlighting
American ingenuity in developing test equipment. The post takes you from the
pioneering telegraph/radio work in the late 19th century, through World Wars I and
II, all the way into modern day technologies and equipment for cutting edge markets.
Many of those devices would not be designed, developed, or maintained if not for
the creative efforts of innovative engineers at leading U.S. test equipment manufacturers,
such as Amplifier Research, Chroma Systems Solutions, Fluke Corp., Keysight Technologies,
and Tektronix ..."
 Before there were
clocks that synchronized themselves to a wireless low frequency (LF) time standard
emanating from one of NIST's broadcast towers, a different method was used to keep
all the clocks in a building (like a school) reading the same time. Many of the
AC-powered mechanical master-slave clock systems are still in use today. This episode
of Carl and Jerry has them teaming with a contract repairman to figure out why seemingly
random clocks in their high school failed to synch with the master overnight. Author
John T. Frye provides a pretty thorough overview of how the system operates
using a power line carrier scheme. Of course the boys' keen troubleshooting skills ...
 Skyworks Solutions is pleased to introduce
the
SKY5™-9269-702LF, a high performance antenna aperture tuning switch. The wideband
16-state device is extremely compact and designed to deliver best-in-class efficiency
and enhanced bandwidth coverage - from 600 MHz to 6 GHz for LTE Advanced Pro to
emerging 5G standards - across a wide range of mobile platforms. This new solution
is part of our Sky5™ portfolio enabling 5G applications and is fully-integrated
in our Sky5™ Ultra and Sky5™ LiTE platforms. Skyworks' innovative antenna tuning
solutions leverage proprietary design and process techniques to help drive antenna
performance while meeting stringent linearity demands ...
 For the cost of an
OMEGA Speedmaster Moonwatch, you, too, can own
one of these Analog Devices
highly configurable RF platforms that supports increased
capacity and functional modes. "The apparently insatiable appetite for additional
wireless capacity within the available spectrum is driving the demand for more and
smaller cells. To address this need, Analog Devices is introducing what
it calls a mixed-signal front-end (MxFE) RF data-converter platform. It combines
high-performance analog processing with digital signal for 4G LTE and E-band 5G
mmWave radios, broadband systems, and even phased-array radar, electronic warfare,
and test-and-measurement systems." Both the AD9081 and AD9082 will be priced in
the $1,500 range ...
 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.
Wednesday 3
 Those of us whose were around in the RF industry
in the 1990s and remember a very fine magazine entitled "Applied
Microwave & Wireless." It was published by Noble Publishing Group. The Archive.org
(aka the Wayback Machine, a la from Sherman and Mr. Peabody cartoon) website
has an archive of 410 published articles (as of this writing) on a variety of topics
including antennas, oscillators, filter design and tuning, direct conversion receivers,
microstrip and stripline, RF link calculations, shielding, co-channel interference,
power amplifiers, lightning protection, SAW devices, GPS, dielectric measurement,
circuit and system computer simulation, transistor biasing, RF transformers ...
 Reactance charts were a dime a dozen (free,
actually) and appeared as regular features in electronics magazines in the days
before smartphone apps provided ready access to reactance versus frequency calculations.
This one was in the May 1959 issue of Electronics World. Calculators are
nice and indispensible in design work, but sometimes having "the big picture" of
how various values of inductance and capacitance "react" with changes in applied
frequency is often useful - especially if you are a newcomer to electronics. To
paraphrase a popular saying, "A
reactance chart is worth a thousand calculators."
Transient Specialists specializes in
EMC test
equipment rentals and carries a complete line of ESD guns, surge immunity test
equipment, and EFT generators. Rentals available for military (Mil-Std 461), automotive
(ISO 7637), and commercial (IEC 61000-4) EMC testing. Flexible terms, accredited
calibrations and technical support on EMC testing equipment offered. Equipment consists
of top EMC Test System manufacturers, including Teseq, Thermo Keytek, EM Test and
EMC Partner.
 If you
are an Apollo and/or Buzz Aldrin fan (as am I), you can buy a 50th Anniversary gold
Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional watch for
a mere $9,650. "The OMEGA Speedmaster Professional Chronograph has a unique place
in the history of space exploration as the only piece of equipment used in all of
NASA's piloted space missions from Gemini to the current International Space Station
program. When Buzz Aldrin stepped on the lunar surface in 1969, he was wearing a
Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch." Less expensive options are available
for about half the cost. Beware of knock-offs being sold. I advise buying directly
from Speedmaster. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), I won't be owning one.
 "Lauren Race has refined
circuit symbols for use in tactile diagrams.
When I was growing up, I remember reading in an electronics-for-young-folk book
that good vision was a must-have if you wanted to build or design electronics: Even
color blindness was a serious limitation. This was a myth. In fact, there's an active
community of people with low or no vision who are using today's maker ecosystem
to solve problems in their daily lives ..."
 Innovative Power Products (IPP) has over
30 years of experience designing & manufacturing RF & microwave passive
components. Their high power, broadband couplers, combiners, resistors, baluns, terminations
and attenuators are fabricated using the latest materials and design tools available,
resulting in unrivaled product performance. Applications in military, medical, industrial
and commercial markets. Take a couple minutes to visit their website and see how
IPP can help you today.
Tuesday 2
 Even after computers became commonplace in
cubicles and laboratories, engineers and technicians kept design nomographs around
for cobbling together attenuators, filters, voltage dividers, etc. Trade and hobbyist
magazines like Electronics World used to print them as full-page features
on a regular basis, and I have posted many of them on RF Cafe over the years. This
particular "Symmetrical
T & H Attenuator Nomograph" appeared in a 1959 issue. Maybe the editor thought
that "Symmetrical T, H, O, and Pi Attenuator Nomograph" would be too long of a title
and that's why the "O" and "Pi" was omitted even though they are clearly included
in the chart. As can be seen by inspection of the circuit constructions, the
T and Pi configurations are "unbalanced" while ...
 NuWaves Engineering, an international Radio
Frequency (RF) and Microwave solutions provider, announces the development of a
high-efficiency, high-linearity power amplifier and low-spurious downconverter as
the result of a Phase II Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) award. The Advanced
Radio Frequency (RF) Environment Simulator for Mode 5 and Identification Friend
or Foe (IFF) (ADROIT) program has resulted in IFF simulator/stimulator hardware
to enhance the Army's capabilities with regards to combined live, virtual and constructive
(LVC) simulations. The hardware includes an enhanced VRG-1000SD from strategic partner
ViaSat, which include software upgrades to increase the number of simultaneous IFF
interrogators and transponders in a given simulation ...
 Mr. Brian Walker, Senior RF Design Engineer
at Copper Mountain Technologies, has a great article on the Microwaves & RF
website entitled, "Make Accurate Impedance Measurements Using a VNA." It presents
three methods - shunt, through, and series - for making accurate and repeatable
measurements of discrete passive components. "A vector network analyzer (VNA) is
a very useful test instrument for characterizing RF circuits and amplifiers. But
what about measurements of simple passive components? What's the best way to characterize
a chip capacitor or an inductor—or even a resistor? In the past, without giving
it much thought, this author has measured chip capacitors by grounding one end ..."
 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.
 "A new multicomponent, partially-superconducting electromagnet - currently the
world's strongest DC magnet of any kind - is poised to reveal a path to substantially
stronger magnets still. The new magnet technology could help scientists study many
other phenomena including nuclear fusion, exotic states of matter, 'shape-shifting'
molecules, and interplanetary rockets, to name a few. The National High Magnetic
Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida is home to four types of advanced, ultra-strong
magnets. One supports magnetic resonance studies. Another is configured for mass
spectrometry. And a different type produces the strongest magnetic fields in the
world. (Sister MagLab campuses at the University of Florida and Los Alamos National
Laboratory ..."
Since 2003, Bittele Electronics has consistently
provided low-volume, electronic contract manufacturing (ECM) and turnkey PCB assembly
services. It specializes in board level turnkey
PCB assembly
for design engineers needing low volume or prototype multi-layer printed circuit
boards. Free Passive Components: Bittele
Electronics is taking one further step in its commitment of offering the best service
to clients of its PCB assembly business. Bittele is now offering common passive
components to its clients FREE of Charge.
Monday 1
 Having worked around resistors and capacitors
for more than four decades comes in handy when presented with 'simple' quizzes like
this one that appeared in a 1963 Popular Electronics dealing with
RC circuits. Still, there is always some trepidation involved when being subject,
even voluntarily, to a test of any sort, regardless of whether you are fairly confident
that it will be a lead pipe cinch, a cake walk, child's play, so to speak. Even
if nobody else will bear witness to your effort, you would feel like a real moron
if you missed even one of those simple questions that anyone with your level of
experience should get right without even having to think about it. Such is the irrational
fear I have when taking these quizzes ...
 ConductRF's
SiteFlex Range of ruggedized Field RF Test Cables are designed specially for
Field Test Engineers working in applications that require on site RF Testing. These
cables are directly compatible with Hand-Held Network and Spectrum analyzers. Common
options include: DC to 7 GHz, through DC to 50 GHz. ConductRF's principle
U.S. manufacturing location is in Methuen, MA, where we maintain a highly skilled
team of technicians and skilled production staff. Our factory is ISO9001 certified
and also ITAR registered.
 Pulse modulation comes in many forms, including
pulse position modulation (PPM), pulse width modulation (PWM), pulse frequency modulation
(PFM), pulse amplitude modulation (PAM), and pulse code modulation (PCM). In addition
to providing a nice introduction to the concept of pulse modulation, author Herbert
Kondo covers the basics of each type and then discusses their application in various
communications systems. The first time I recall encountering pulse modulation was
in the mid-1970s with radio control systems for model airplanes. Pulse position
modulation was the scheme used in both AM and FM sets. Modern R/C systems use frequency
hopping spread spectrum (FHSS), direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS), or a combination
thereof ...
 "Gone
is the haze of cigarette, cigar and pipe smoke. Gone are the coffee, soda and pizza
stains. With only a few exceptions, NASA's Apollo-era
Mission Control has been restored to the way it looked 50 years
ago when two men landed on the moon. It gets the stamp of approval from retired
flight director Gene Kranz, a man for whom failure - or even a minor oversight -
is never an option. Seated at the console where he ruled over Apollo 11, Apollo
13 and so many other astronaut missions, Kranz pointed out that a phone was missing
behind him. And he said the air vents used to be black from all the smoke, not sparkly
clean like they are now. Those couple of details aside, Kranz could close, then
open his eyes, and transport himself back to July 20, 1969, and Neil Armstrong and
Buzz Aldrin's momentous moon landing ..."
 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.
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.
About RF Cafe. I also
have an extensive list of
Recently Added topics.
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