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5 of the July 2019 homepage archives. Friday 2
 What's the big deal about
multicolor radar, you might ask? Not much today, but in 1955 color displays
were in their infancy. The earliest color cathode ray tubes (CRTs), developed by
John Logie Baird in the early 1940s, used just two phosphor colors (magenta and
cyan), illuminated by two separate electron guns, to produce a limited color display.
Ernest Lawrence came along later in the decade with his tri-color Chromatron CRT,
which had separate red, blue and green phosphor dots deposited in a triangular pattern
across the inner face of the tube. That is the scheme employed in this first multicolor
radar system. It was a major improvement for air traffic controllers since it facilitated ...
 Here is a nifty little exercise that appeared
in the April 1960 edition of Popular Electronics. It has 10 different
light bulb circuits and challenges you to figure out which bulb would burn the
brightest. All are intuitively obvious to most of us who have been in the field
for decades, but do you remember how to do a circuit mesh analysis to prove your
"gut?" One way to help figure out what is going on is to re-draw the circuit to
eliminate crossing lines, if possible, as in circuit numbers 2, 4, 6, and 10. Also
try drawing electrically common nodes as a single connection point, as in circuit
#2 where the two nodes in the upper left and right corners are actually the same
point. Finally, try to re-arrange the circuit branches into obvious parallel and
series paths to make clear any interdependencies ...
 Every once in a while an RF Cafe visitor
writes to let me know that he or she found one of the vintage electronics magazine
articles I post regularly useful. It helps to validate my efforts, which is critical
for motivation to continue. A couple days ago Mr. Dave Jones (N1UAV), sent
me a note about the stacked television antenna project he undertook after finding
the "How
to Stack TV Antennas to Increase Signal Strength and to Reduce Ghosts" article
from the November 1965 issue of Popular Electronics magazine. His location
about 90 miles outside of Nashville, TN, is a challenge for trying to receive a
good signal from a television station from both an attenuation and multipath signal
degradation perspective. Dave began with a single antenna, but was not happy with
the performance. The results of adding the second antenna is amazing ...
 "There are a number of electronics-based
products available on the market. From the tools found in smart homes to devices
designed for the Internet of Things (IoT) to technologies designed to digitalize,
there's an enormous density of products that require
electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing, as well as comprehensive
and accurate testing services. In fact, according to a recent research report by
Frost & Sullivan, it's being recognized as a prominent market in its own right.
Companies need to test their products for unintentional electromagnetic interference
(EMI) - and this need has transformed into big business. The market ..."
Electro-Photonics is a global supplier of
RF &
Microwave components. Their products include SMT hybrid and directional couplers,
wire bondable passive components, mounting tabs, filters, transmission lines, and
very useful test boards for evaluating components (spiral inductors, single-layer
capacitors). The Electro-Photonics team can support your small R&D design requirements
with RF & Microwave test fixtures and save you valuable design and characterization
time. Please take a moment to visit Electro-Photonics' website and see how your
project might benefit. Thursday 1
 The
International Geophysical Year (IGY) began on July 1 of 1957 and ran through
December 31 of 1958. It was the dawn of space / high altitude flight and there was
a great need to learn as much as possible about the physics of the upper atmosphere
and the void of space. The USSR successfully flew their first three Sputnik satellites
and the U.S. was scrambling to get Echo into orbit (finally on August 12, 1960,
after the end of IGY). The Cold War was at its peak (Bay of Pigs incident was just
a few years away), and the science world was looking for a way to provide a unifying
tie between the planet's countries. "During this time, more than 5,000 scientists
and engineers of more than 60 nations ...
 While company branding and the user interface
have changed over the years since
AppCAD first appeared on the
Hewlett Packard (HP) website, it is still as handy a desktop tool as ever. The most
recent incarnation was provided by Avago Technologies, which bought Broadcom in
2015 and then adopted its name. You can now download a free copy of AppCAD from
the Broadcom website. Rather than do an extensive write-up about all the calculation
screens in AppCAD, I've posted a sampling of screen shots. Amongst them are a Smith
chart s-parameter plotter, a lumped element balun designer, a microstrip calculator,
a mixer spurious product calculator, and thermal dissipation calculator. Since according
to a popular saying a picture reportedly paints a thousand words ...
 ConductRF is the brand name for Electronic
Assemblies Manufacturing, Inc.'s, complete range of RF interconnect products. ConductRF
products include solutions for both commercial and precision RF applications for
both
RF cable assemblies and connectors. Our manufacturing
capabilities include solutions built at our ITAR registered facility in Methuen
as well as partner facilities in the U.S. and around the world. ConductRF offers
cost effective equivalent and improved RF solutions to all major interconnect manufacturers,
specializing in phase stability over temperature ...
 By 1944, the U.S. and its Allied partners
were occupied full-time beating back the forces of Communism, Fascism, Socialism,
and many other 'isms.' A vast majority of active service members were men who were
either training on domestic soil or fighting on foreign soil. That left sisters,
mothers, and grandmothers to conduct a lot of the business and work production jobs
that historically had been the near sole purview of men.
Rosie the Riveter was a very familiar symbol of that new paradigm, while less
known and celebrated were the women who handled building and servicing electronics
products. I have posted many articles that appeared in magazines ...
 Withwave manufactures an extensive line of
metrology quality coaxial test cable assemblies, connectors (wave-, end-, vertical-launch,
board edge, panel mount), calibration kits (SOLT), a fully automated vector network
analyzer (VNA) calibrator, between- and in-series connector adaptors, attenuators,
terminations, torque wrenches, test probes & probe positioner. Frequency ranges
from DC through 20 GHz. Please contact Withwave today to see how they can help
your project succeed.
Wednesday 31
 Most people probably associate "elevator
music" with the
Muzak format. It became a registered trademark in 1954, although Muzak broadcasting
was around a couple decades before that. Muzak music has also played in doctors'
offices, restaurants, government public service facilities, buses, retail stores,
and even workplaces (to provide calm and cadence for workers). According to the
Wikipedia entry, the term "Muzak " was coined by its inventor, George Owen Squier
(Major General, ret.) as a play on the made-up term "Kodak;" i.e., "Muz" (music)
+ "ak." Over the years, a lot of scientific research went into Muzak's format including
genre of music, tempo, silence ("dead") time, volume, etc. Muzak has changed hands
many times, including to Westinghouse, until it finally declared bankruptcy in 2010.
If you type "muzak.com" into your browser now, you get redirected to moodmedia.com ...
 Skyworks Solutions, an innovator of high performance
analog semiconductors connecting people, places and things, today unveiled its latest
high reliability solutions for demanding
military and space applications with stringent operating requirements. Skyworks'
hermetically sealed, broadband low-noise and impedance-matched amplifiers function
in harsh environments and can be leveraged in a multitude of communication platforms.
With all peripheral components integrated into an optimized ceramic QFN package,
these devices simplify the design process and reduce board space while delivering
robust performance for next ...
 "Sprint plans to test a
High Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS) communications system
for six months starting in November. Documents filed with the FCC show the carrier
has asked for a “special temporary authority” to conduct demonstrations of experimental
transmitters using spectrum frequencies ranging from the 1.9 GHz personal communications
service (PCS) band and the 2.5 GHz broadband radio service (BRS) and educational
broadband service (EBS) bands. The tests will be conducted with HAPSmobile, a joint
venture between Sprint's parent Softbank and AeroVironment that was formed in 2017 ..."
 Even though most electrical meters have gone
to a digital format, there are still many millions of
analog meter movements doing service in equipment around the world. Analog meters
are especially good for when the value being reported is changing rapidly and trying
to read a numerical value would be tiring or impossible. A perfect example of comparing
analog to digital is the Internet speed test display used by most companies. Run
this speed test from Spectrum and watch the two indicator types simultaneously.
Of course many pre-electronic meters are driven by sources other than electricity;
e.g., fluid flow rate pressure meters, your bathroom scale, automobile speedometers,
etc. A lot of modern "analog" meter indicator needles ...
 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.
Tuesday 30
 The TRAnsistor DIgital Computer (TRADIC)
- or TRansistorized Airborne DIgital Computer for the airborne version - built in
1954, was the first transistorized computer. It might more aptly be called the first
diode-ized digital computer since although it contained about 800 germanium transistors,
there were more than 11,000 diodes used in the diode-transistor logic (DTL), diode
logic (DL), and diode-resistor-logic (DRL) circuits. The TRADIC's construction benefitted
in numerous ways over the vacuum tube computers it replaced, most notably in increased
speed, smaller size, faster operations, higher reliability, greater safety (no high
voltages), and lower power consumption ...
 Leeds, which dubbed itself "The Home of Radio,"
has been in New York since at least 1923, but this advertisement appeared in the
December 1931 edition of QST. Leeds is still in operation today in Brooklyn under
the name of Leeds Radio. Looking at the ad is a step back ninety years into the
past, but the nostalgic waxing does not have to end there. If you want a trip back
to the beginning days of the World Wide Web, go to the current
Leeds Radio
website. It's format-less text presentation with basic hyperlinks is circa 1992
when bulletin boards ruled the day and the Mosaic browser was just giving web surfers
their first taste of a GUI ...
 Why Re-invent the Wheel? These
Multiport RF solutions have been tried and tested and you'd be surprised at
the performance we can support today with this technology. Ideal for commercial
and military applications. Combo D-Sub RF assembly solutions from DC to 18 GHz
with RF contacts for #8, #12 and #16. D38999 RF assembly solutions from DC to 65 GHz,
BMA, SMPM with #16, #12 and #8 contacts. Also support mixed signal requirements
and common coax layouts.
 Here for your enjoyment during another workweek
are three more vintage
electronics-themed comics - this time from a 1966 issue of Popular Electronics
magazine. The "quarter-inch Mylar" referenced in the title is recorder tape used
in the very popular machines of the day. Not only were serious" music aficionados
huge proponents of the medium, but so were the many recreational users. There was
a sort of mystique involved with being able to record and instantly play back even
normal conversations - sort of like with videos these days, except there is no mystique
anymore because most users couldn't care less about the technology which enables
their proclivities. The magazines of the era were full of stories on tape recorders
and advertisements for buying them ...
 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.
 "Whoooo-hooo! Silicon Valley companies pay
their tech workers more than anywhere else in the world, with the average engineer
in San Francisco pulling down $145,000 last year, according to Hired's annual report
on the state of engineering salaries. And, according to Hired, Bay Area salaries
are up over last year, by two percent. That's something for
tech professionals in the area to cheer about,
yes? Not exactly. That 2% just keeps tech workers even with the U.S. rate of inflation
but puts them behind local increases in the cost of living, which is 4% as calculated
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for April 2018 through April 2019. And salaries
in other tech heavy areas ..."
 Custom MMIC is a
fabless RF and
microwave MMIC designer entrusted by government and defense industry OEMs. Custom
and off-the-shelf products include switches, phase shifters, attenuators, mixers
and multipliers, and low noise, low phase noise, and distributed amplifiers. From
next-generation long range military radar systems, to advanced aerospace and space-qualified
satellite communications, microwave signal chains are being pushed to new limits
- and no one understands this more than Custom MMIC. Please contact Custom MMIC
today to see how they can help your project.
Monday 29
 In today's environment where law breakers
seem to have more rights than law abiders, the electromechanical pyrotechnic tactic
used in this story to snare a thief would have been used by a lawyer to charge Carl &
Jerry (and Parvoo U. dorm mate Benny) with assault. A moronic judge would likely
convict and fine (or jail) the boys trying to protect their own property and let
the actual perpetrator - caught red-handed - walk. In fact, if we apply contemporary
dictates on the treatment of property trespassers (i.e., the U.S. southern border),
after getting into the car's trunk the law breaker would be given food stamps (EBT
card), a nice hotel with large screen TV, clothing, and bestowment of sainthood.
After all, he was just stealing property that other Americans wouldn't steal ...
 October 1954 arrived with the first-ever
issue of Popular Electronics. Editor Oliver Read wrote this introductory note describing
the magazine's grand plans for providing its audience with a sampling of as many
facets of electronics as possible, with projects for the do-it-yourself type (many
needed to be at the time), related hobbies like amateur radio and radio controlled
airplanes, military and commercial applications, short stories, tutorials, and an
endless supply of advertisements offering just about anything your budget could
afford. It turned out to be a pretty nice magazine, and many of the well-written
articles are still useful in today's world of nano-everything circuits - the fundamentals
haven't changed much: voltage still equals resistance times current ...
 "A new report by CTIA delves into the ways
in which U.S. carriers have tried to
squeeze the most efficiency out of their wireless
spectrum, while continuing the industry's perennial call for the government to make
still more available. U.S. wireless providers increased their spectrum efficiency
by 42 times over what it was in 2010, according to the new white paper from CTIA.
In 2010, the industry association said, U.S. wireless networks handled 948 million
bytes per one megahertz of spectrum; now they handle 39.9 billion MBs/MHz,
or more than 589,000 subscribers for each megahertz of spectrum ..."
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.
Sunday 28
 This
RF Cafe Engineering & Science Crossword Puzzle contains at least 10 words
from headlines posted on the homepage during the week of July 22-26, 2019 (marked
with an asterisk*). These custom-made engineering and science-themed crossword puzzles
are done weekly for the brain-exercising benefit and pleasure of RF Cafe visitors
who are fellow cruciverbalists. Every word and clue - without exception - in these
RF Cafe puzzles has been personally entered into a very large database that encompasses
engineering, science, physical, astronomy, mathematics, chemistry, etc. Let me know
if you would like a custom crossword puzzle built for your company, school, club,
etc. (no charge).
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.
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