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5 of the January 2020 homepage
archives. Friday 10
 Illustrating (literally) once again the
fascination the public had with television during its heyday from the late 1940s
to the 1960s, this set of
electronics-themed comics from a 1948 issue of Radio-Craft
magazine depict the humorous situations both real and imagined for the technology.
Artist Frank Beaven, a frequent contributor to the publication, took suggestions
by readers and turned them into comics. The concept of multi-sensory TV experiences
were common, including not just sight and sound, but also smell and tactile sensations.
3-D projection and large screens were also envisioned in the comics. The page 124
comic is my favorite as it exhibits a tried and true sales technique for securing
business from guys. Interestingly, note that the comic on page 86 is credited to
someone from Tel-Aviv, Palestine...
Empower RF Systems, a leading provider of high-power ultra-broadband radio frequency
(RF) amplifier solutions is seeking a qualified, dynamic, successful Associate RF
Engineer. Headquartered in Inglewood, California, the company was founded in 1999
and designs and manufactures solid-state, high-power RF amplifier systems and modules
for commercial, scientific, and military customers worldwide. This position is located
in our Inglewood headquarters and reports to the Chief Technology Officer. An Associate
RF Engineer at Empower will participate in the process from proposal to end of life
in the design, development, and maintenance of high power Solid-State Amplifiers
and Systems targeted to the industrial, commercial and military markets. The incumbent
will work with other engineers, managers, Product Management, QA, and Operations
teams to develop innovative solutions that meet market needs with respect to functionality,
performance, scalability, reliability, realistic implementation schedules, and adherence
to goals and principles...
 Copper Mountain Technologies develops innovative
and robust RF test and measurement solutions for engineers all over the world. Copper
Mountain's extensive line of unique form factor
Vector
Network Analyzers 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.
 While listening to the radio the other day,
I heard a guy who is very technically astute and is a Ham radio operator pronounce
the word "schematic" as skem-E-at-ik. He wasn't just joking because he kept saying
it that way throughout the show. It came to mind while posting this chapter entitled,
"The Electrical Circuit Diagram," and I thought you might appreciate
it (especially if you also routinely mispronounce the word). But I digress... The
U.S. Navy over the years has produced a number of series of training courses for
electricity, communications, mechanics, navigation, etc., that are held in high
regard by the military and private industry. Graduates of the courses who served
a term of enlistment performing equipment maintenance have always been preferred
by employers looking for high quality technicians...
 ConductRF LSA series of
Low Loss, Performance flexible RF Cable Assemblies, provide microwave
system designers with a versatile solution for most applications. Here we offer
customers a solution for 0.086" diameter cable that facilitates greater flexibility
and handling or, 0.141" diameter that exploits the same great performance but with
almost half the loss. Connector options include SMA, Type-N, TNC & SMP that
provide excellent VSWR between DC and 18GHz, also solutions for MCX & SMB are
available in a wide array of configurations. These assemblies are built using our
own double shielded, FEP jacketed cable, that was developed specifically for performance
solutions. With shielding effectiveness exceeding 90 dB through 18 GHz...
 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 use their modern engineering, testing and packaging facility
to help your project.
Thursday 9
 Bell Labs' first positive gain semiconductor
amplifier was of the point contact type where the n-type germanium base contact
was conductively bonded to a metallic plate and the emitter and collector connections
were made by point contact "cat whiskers." Such a contact is not mechanically robust
and would not be a long term solution to semiconductor manufacturing. This full-page
advertisement appearing in a 1958 issue of Radio & TV News magazine touts Bell
Labs' development of a
thermocompression wire bonding process whereby the combination
of heat and concentrated pressure causes an atomic-level reaction between the semiconductor
material and a gold interconnect wire. It proved to be very effective and reliable
and paved the way for greater circuit density and packaging diversity (plastic and
ceramic encapsulation vs. metal cans). Thermosonic wire bonding...
 Electro-Photonics, a market leader in RF
and microwave components, has released a new thin film, surface-mount technology
(SMT) power divider/combiner. The
EP2D-1200R-M-001 delivers exceptional performance in a compact
size due to the use of a high dielectric material, total thin film process, and
integrated resistors. Its 6-18 GHz bandwidth, low insertion loss, high isolation,
and low phase unbalance is perfect for use in intermodulation measurements, signal
distribution for antenna arrays, and beam forming. Package size measures 0.185 x
0.160 x 0.020 inch (4.7 mm by 4.06 mm by 0.51 mm).
 RF Cafe typically receives 8,000-15,000
website visits each weekday and about half that on weekends.
RF Cafe is a favorite of engineers, technicians, hobbyists, and students all
over the world. With more than 7,000 pages in the Google search index,
RF Cafe returns
in favorable positions on many types of key searches, both for text and images.
New content is added on a daily basis, which keeps the major search engines interested
enough to spider it multiple times each day. Items added on the homepage often can
be found in a Google search within a few hours of being posted. I also re-broadcast
homepage items on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. If you need your company news
to be seen, RF Cafe is the place to be. Banner advertising begins at $175/month...
 Res-Net microwave has posted a short white paper
entitled, "RF & Microwave Terminations." As a manufacturer of many forms
of terminations including chip, flange, stripline, coaxial rod, and connectorized,
both convection and conduction cooled, Res-Net Microwave has a great deal of knowledge
on the subject. The article touches on test setups, use with power dividers, combiners,
circulators, and isolators with regard to VSWR, capacitance, power dissipation,
temperature range, physical size, weight, and package type.
 On January 23, 2020 at 11 am ET, Günter
Pfeifer, Product Manager OTA, Rohde & Schwarz, will be presenting a webinar
entitled, "5 Things you Need to Know About OTA Chambers for 5G NR mmW Testing."
There is no cost, but registration is required for viewing. "Over the air (OTA)
testing is gaining a lot of momentum in 5G NR, especially when it comes to mmW FR2.
For OTA testing, a mobile device or base station under test must be placed in a
chamber environment that provides shielding from surrounding signals. This webinar
explains the main criteria for making decisions with regard to selecting a shielding
chamber and provides guidance on selecting the right OTA test solution for your
testing needs, from design and conformance to production testing..."
 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. Available
in single or multi-junction topographies, the Nova Microwave product line of is
specifically designed for use in varied environmental and temperature extremes.
Wednesday 8
 Contrary to the fantastic claim made by the
author of this article from a 1964 issue of Popular Electronics magazine,
the "bug battery," also known as a biobattery, did not revolutionize
rechargeable battery technology. In the ensuing 55+ years we have seen nickel cadmium
(NiCad), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), and now lithium polymer (LiPo) batteries,
respectively, do the revolutionizing. It's not that bacteria-based energy production
was a bad or impractical endeavor; it's just that advances did not proceed quickly
enough to keep up with the other technologies. Research and development efforts
inevitably moved away from bug and onto chemicals. D.S. Halacy, Jr., of course had
no way of knowing that at the time, so his enthusiasm might have been justified.
I say might have been because then, as now, every new idea and technology has its
die-hard evangelists...
 Advancements in phased-array antenna systems
have brought about major developments in radar, mobile communications and satellite
broadcasting. The Berkeley Nucleonics Model 855B,
300 kHz to 40 GHz Multi-Channel RF / Microwave Signal Generator,
is used as an internal LO source in many of the new state of the art phased array
antennas. Communication with conventional satellites requires one to focus a narrow
electromagnetic frequency beam at the satellite (parabolic surface). Due to the
antenna's size and weight, it can be quite difficult and costly to track a satellites'
movement. Phased arrays, however, are composed of several smaller, fixed antennas.
By changing the relative phase for the signal that each unit transmits...
 Atenlab has been operating in Taiwan for more
than a decade, and has sold and installed hundreds chambers around the world. Holistic
Over-the-Air (OTA) measurement
systems perform comprehensive measurement and test in a controlled environment.
Compact Antenna Test Range (CATR) with one-touch operation supports multiple systems
- 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G - and major instrument brands. [M]ulti-probe OTA measurement systems
offer reduced time measurements over single-probe systems.
 Mac McGregor, owner of
Mac's Radio Service Shop, can always be counted on to provide
his apprentice technician, Barney, with a lesson from his own life-long attendance
at the School of Hard Knocks. Barney is your stereotypical young buck whose level
of seriousness needs occasional alignment, just as do the radio and television sets
he services. In this episode, I can't find where Mac actually solved the intermittent
electrical condition believed to be causing the problem - weird. The "Mac's Radio
Service Shop" series ran in Radio & Television News magazine for many
years prior to a similar electronics story series called "Carl & Jerry" that
appeared in Popular Electronics. Both were created by consummate storyteller
John T. Frye.
 Mr. Kenneth Wyatt posted on the EDN website
part 4 of his series entitled, "Design PCBs for EMI," this time covering partitioning on the PCB.
It addresses a long-standing debate about how to best isolate analog and digital
grounds on mixed signal boards. He begins, "Part 3 of this series on PC board design
for low EMI discussed partitioning and why that's important to keep 'noisy' signal
fields from cross-coupling to 'quiet' signal fields within the board's dielectric
space. In this article, I'll provide more detail on partitioning. While the concept
of partitioning is simple enough, real boards usually require a little more thought.
Partitioning is especially important when it comes to mixed-signal designs, such
as a combination of analog and digital or wireless and digital..."
 PCB Directory is the largest directory of
Printed Circuit Board (PCB)
Manufacturers, Assembly houses, and Design Services on the Internet. We have listed
the leading printed circuit board manufacturers around the world and made them searchable
by their capabilities - Number of laminates used, Board thicknesses supported, Number
of layers supported, Types of substrates (FR-4, Rogers, flexible, rigid), Geographical
location (U.S., China), kinds of services (manufacturing, fabrication, assembly,
prototype), and more. Fast turn-around on quotations for PCB fabrication and assembly.
Tuesday 7
 You've to to take a look at this article
if only to see the comic. Mentioned but not expounded upon is the man who was the
progenitor of the
U.S. Army's Signal Corps (beginning in 1860), Major Albert J.
Myer, a medical doctor who took up long distance communications as a hobby. As an
extension of his interest in Morse code, he developed a system of using a lantern
(nighttime) or a signal flag (daytime) to effect a visual form of code. It was dubbed
"wig-wag signaling," or "aerial telegraphy." Unless some sort of cryptographic encoding
was used, the messages could be easily intercepted by enemy forces, but it served
both sides well until wireless sets were available. Coming in the middle of World
War II, this Radio News magazine article summarizes the electronic
communications capabilities...
RF Cafe typically receives 8,000-15,000
website visits each weekday and about half that on weekends.
RF Cafe is a favorite of engineers, technicians, hobbyists, and students all
over the world. With more than 7,000 pages in the Google search index,
RF Cafe returns
in favorable positions on many types of key searches, both for text and images.
New content is added on a daily basis, which keeps the major search engines interested
enough to spider it multiple times each day. Items added on the homepage often can
be found in a Google search within a few hours of being posted. I also re-broadcast
homepage items on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. If you need your company news
to be seen, RF Cafe is the place to be. Banner advertising begins at $175/month...
  On December 10, 2019, the FCC released a very
interesting report entitled, "Results of Tests on Cell Phone RF Exposure Compliance." It included
certain models by Apple, BLU Products, Motorola, and Samsung that were accused by
the Chicago Times newspaper on August 21, 2019, of exceeding radiation
levels deemed to be safe. The article, "We tested popular cellphones for radio frequency
radiation. Now the FCC is investigating." Guess what? It was more grandstanding
Fake News by the media seeing to whip the public into a frenzy with much ado about
nothing. The Federal Communications Commission declares, "...all tested sample devices
comply with the FCC RF radiation exposure." If a retraction is printed, it'll likely
be buried deep inside next to the obituaries.
 Artech House today announced the publication
Cyberwarfare: An Introduction to Information Age Conflict,
by Isaac R. Porche, III. Conflict in cyberspace is becoming more prevalent in all
public and private sectors and is of concern on many levels. As a result, knowledge
of the topic is becoming essential across most disciplines. This book reviews and
explains the technologies that underlie offensive and defensive cyber operations,
which are practiced by a range of cyber actors including state actors, criminal
enterprises, activists, and individuals. It explains the processes and technologies
that enable the full spectrum of cyber operations. Readers will learn how to use
basic tools for cyber security and pen-testing, and also be able to quantitatively
assess cyber risk...
 With 2019 now officially in the history books,
Custom MMIC is proud to have set a new company milestone with the release of
39 new high performance GaAs and GaN MMICs in 2019. This impressive
accomplishment highlights our ability to quickly introduce high quality production
ready MMIC products. This includes low noise amplifiers, low phase noise amplifiers,
driver amplifiers, distributed amplifiers, mixers, phase shifters, switches, and
variable attenuators. View our newly redesigned 2020 Product Selection Guide to
see our latest GaAs and GaN MMIC products.
 A.H. Systems has a nice free webinar entitled,
"Choosing the Right Antenna for Today's Testing Requirements."
Per the webpage, "How to choose the correct EMC test antenna based upon the requirements
of the standard. A simple guide to determining the correct choice of antenna to
match the test required. RF veteran Tom Mullineaux in collaboration with the experts
at A.H. Systems presents the basics and a framework for beginners, as well as more
advanced topics for intermediate and advanced test engineers - such as antenna beamwidth
and how to address it. All levels of EMI test engineers, technicians and managers
will benefit from this presentation."
 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.
Monday 6
 The
Allen B. Du Mont Laboratories was one of the earliest manufacturers
of television sets for consumer purchase. They were in operation long before committees
like the NTSC were formed to standardize television broadcast signal formats. There
were various methods competing for reproducing the image at the receiver end - including
electromechanical and purely electronic schemes. Regular readers of electronics
magazines like this edition of Radio-Craft followed the evolution of TV
with great, though somewhat guarded, enthusiasm. As with many technologies
that seemed at the time to have mostly commercial and consumer applications, development
during the war years yielded to the needs of victory for the Allied forces. Television
prices were relatively high even in the late 1940s, so most households still did
not have a TV set; radios still ruled in the domestic entertainment realm...
 VidaRF, a manufacturer of high performance
RF and microwave high performance circulators, isolators, couplers, power dividers,
and other passive components, has expanded it line of broadband
RF power dividers / combiners with low VSWR and insertion loss
and high port-to-port isolation to cover 2 to 18 GHz for all wireless applications
from cellular through 5G mm-wave with SMA connectors. The Model VPD-20180AX series
offers 2-, 3-, 4-, 6-, 8-, 32-, and 64-way splits. Operating temperature is &
-55°C to -85°C. Sealed and Painted to meet IP65 standards.
 Exodus Advanced Communications is a multinational
RF communication equipment and engineering service company serving both commercial
and government entities and their affiliates worldwide. Power amplifiers ranging
from 10 kHz to 51 GHz with various output power levels and noise figure
ranges, we fully support custom designs and manufacturing requirements for both
small and large volume levels. decades of combined experience in the RF field for
numerous applications including military jamming, communications, radar, EMI/EMC
and various commercial projects with all designing and manufacturing of our HPA,
MPA, and LNA products in-house.
 "The radio frequency environment in which wireless
networks and devices operate is incredibly complex - and completely invisible. But
what if instead of sending out teams for drive-testing to get a snapshot of that
RF environment on a given day in a given place, you could pull up a dynamic map
that showed links, congested areas, coverage holes and other features as layers
of information, down to moment-by-moment changes? Aurora Insights is a start-up
that began with the idea of better information for RF planning through 'dynamic mapping' for RF and RF links, according to CEO and co-founder
Brian Mengwasser. He compares traditional drive-testing..."
 IEEE and Dassault Systems is presenting a free
online seminar entitled "3D Electromagnetic Simulation of Antennas Installed on an Aircraft."
Per their website, "Learn about the importance of using a range of methods in the
3D electromagnetic (EM) simulation of installed antenna performance. 3D EM full-wave
simulation is a common practice for antenna designers and Analyst. The variety in
antenna topologies and design specifications necessitate a range of simulation algorithms
to ensure an efficient or even feasible solution is available. This range of technology
becomes even more important as antennas' operation in the installed environment
is considered. The application of different EM methods as well as hybridization..."
 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 for
your military and commercial communications needs. Sam Benzacar's monthly newsletters
address contemporary wireless subjects. Please visit Anatech today to see how they
can help your project succeed.
Sunday 5
 As with my hundreds of previous
engineering and science-themed crossword puzzles, this first one
of the new decade, January 5, 2020, contains only clues and terms associated with
engineering, science, physical, astronomy, mathematics, chemistry, etc., which I
have built up over nearly two decades. Many new words and company names have been
added that had not even been created when I started in the year 2002. 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...
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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