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5 of the October 2020 homepage archives. Wednesday 7
 Here are a few examples of what was considered
cutting-edge technology humor back in 1949. These three
tech-themed comics appeared in Radio-Electronics magazine. The first
one won't mean much to anyone who has never watched a television with a cathode
ray tube (CRT), but only on an LED or LCD screen. The next comic is a bit corny
and plays off the confusion some people had with the name assigned (actually the
spelling thereof) to the lower audio frequencies. The last is a pun on the extreme
measures sometimes needed to pull in a TV broadcast station before the days of cable
and satellite service.
 Listen to this
on the RF Cafe Podcast. Substitute "cellphone" for "radio" in this title
("Money
in Radio Gadgets") and editorial by Hugo Gernsback and it would fit right in
with today's market of wondrous gadgetry. Prescient as always, Mr. Gernsback describes
in this 1933 issue of Radio-Craft magazine, among other things, what we
now refer to as energy harnessing to power ancillary devices and props. He also
recommends a scheme for causing 'dancing dolls' on the surface of a table vibrated
and mobilized by the sonic waves of a large speaker - a lot like the way years later
vibrating football games were made (remember them?) where the men danced randomly
across the painted metal playing field. It sounded like a pair of electric hair
clippers running...
 MPDevice (MPD) has become a trustworthy
and reliable company in the global RF market as a manufacturer of
passive RF devices. Included
are attenuators and terminations, coaxial connectors, adapters, and cable assemblies,
DC blocks, surge arrestors, power combiner / dividers, and directional couplers.
The Korean Telecommunication market is now entering into the era of hyperconnected
society. With continuous enhancement in R&D capabilities and quality control,
MPD will continue in an effort to become the No. 1 technologically innovative
company with a focus on the emerging 5G marketplace.
 Skyworks is pleased to introduce the
SKY59272-707LF a single-pole, single-throw (4xSPST) switch designed for antenna
tuning applications that require ultra-low OFF capacitance and low ON resistance.
This device offers excellent performance and ultra-high linearity for smartphone
applications operating in the 5G, LTE or GSM band space, where high performance
aperture tuning is required. In addition, an integrated MIPI logic controller and
4xSPST topology provides the flexibility to tune multiple bands on a single antenna,
which is optimal for carrier aggregation and dual connectivity. The SKY59272-707LF
builds on Skyworks' portfolio of innovative products for 5G applications...
 In response to a news item I posted about
laser printing of circuits on complex plastic surfaces, RF Cafe visitor Mike M.
sent me a link to an article on the IEEE Spectrum site entitled "Goodbye,
Motherboard. Hello, Silicon-Interconnect Fabric." Many techniques are being
developed to integrate circuits into all sorts of materials, including wearable
fabric, which is a different definition of fabric addressed in this article. It
begins: "Bare chiplets on a silicon-interconnect fabric will make computers smaller
and more powerful. The need to make some hardware systems tinier and tinier and
others bigger and bigger has been driving innovations in electronics for a long
time. The former can be seen in the progression from laptops to smartphones to smart
watches to hearables and other 'invisible' electronics. The latter defines today's
commercial data centers - megawatt-devouring monsters that fill purpose-built warehouses
around the world. Interestingly, the same technology is limiting progress in both
arenas, though for different reasons. The culprit, we contend, is the printed circuit
board. And the solution is to get rid of it..."
 Triad RF Systems designs and manufactures
RF power amplifiers and systems.
Triad RF Systems comprises three partners (hence 'Triad')
with over 40 years of accumulated knowledge of what is required to design, manufacture,
market, sell and service RF/Microwave amplifiers and amplifier systems. PA, LNA,
bi-directional, and frequency translating amplifiers are available, in formats including
tower mount, benchtop, rack mount, and chassis mount. "We view Triad more as a technology
partner than a vendor for our line-of-sight communications product line." Please
check to see how they can help your project.
Tuesday 6
 Perhaps with all the scares of successful
hacking into presumably uncrackable, coded wireless and wired network services,
a page should be taken from the World War II handbook. As any WWII history buff
knows, major battles turned on the ability of the Axis and Allies cryptographic
teams' ability to decipher each other's super-secret codes. Entire operations that
took months of planning were suddenly thwarted by a last-minute breakthrough. Ingenious
and sophisticated schemes were derived, most notable the German "Enigma Machine,"
which defied cracking and allowed the Germans to dominate and decimate the North
Atlantic shipping lanes. Japanese spies captured many critical keys in the South
Pacific theater. All coding schemes were eventually cracked with one exception -
the natural tribal language of the Navajo Indian. So unlike any other of the world's
known languages was theirs that the War Department enlisted the aid of those Americans
to become what would be referred to as the "Code Talkers." Patriotic members
volunteered for service...
 Have you ever heard of a "swinging choke?"
I surely hadn't, so my probability of getting
Inductance Quiz,, which appeared in a 1961 issue of Popular Electronics magazine,
question number 5 correct was 50% at best. I guessed wrong - just my luck. As a
result my score was 8/9 = 89%. Oh, the shame. Maybe you will have a better time
of it. Be careful with Q6 as well. Otherwise, if you understand the fundamentals
of inductor circuit analysis, you will have no problem. Bonne chance...
 RF Cascade Workbook 2018 is the next phase in the evolution
of RF Cafe's long-running series, RF Cascade Workbook. Chances are you
have never used a spreadsheet quite like this. 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...
 Artech House today announced the release
of
Deep Learning Applications of Short-Range Radars by Avik Santra and Souvik Hazra.
This exciting new resource presents emerging applications of artificial intelligence
and deep learning in short-range radar. The book covers applications ranging from
industrial, consumer space to emerging automotive applications. The book presents
several human-machine interface (HMI) applications, such as gesture recognition
and sensing, human activity classification, air-writing, material classification,
vital sensing, people sensing, people counting, people localization and in-cabin
automotive occupancy and smart trunk opening. The underpinnings of deep learning
are explored, outlining the history of neural networks and the optimization algorithms
to train them...
 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 267,269 products from more than 1397 companies
across 314 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.
Monday 5
 Listen to this
story on the RF Cafe Podcast! Electronics
troubleshooting and repair services experienced the same sort of customer skepticism
over honesty of diagnosis costs and replacement part prices as most other similar
services, including auto mechanics, home appliances, even medical treatment. The
mindset was and still is you pay a high enough price for the initial product and/or
service and that should be the end of the cost of ownership. If you have read through
some of the many articles published in these vintage electronics magazines, you
know a lot of ink was spilled lamenting the existence of the problem, along with
advice on how to deal with customers. People didn't mind so much paying for replacement
parts as long as they believed the serviceman as not trying to sell components that
were not really bad. What was really balked at was the labor charge for diagnosing
and repairing the product. In the 1950s and 1960s, a house call to work on a TV
or radio was typically only a couple dollars...
 "Two DARPA-developed technologies - a novel
decision aid for mission commanders and a rapid software integration tool - played
a critical role in the recent Air Force demonstration of the Advanced Battle Management
System (ABMS). The Adapting
Cross-domain Kill-webs (ACK) program and the System-of-systems Technology Integration
Tool Chain for Heterogeneous Electronic Systems (STITCHES) were among a number of
technologies employed in the Aug. 31 - Sep. 4 ABMS on-ramp demonstration, which
involved attacks using live aircraft, ships, air defense batteries, and other assets.
ACK is developing a decision aid for mission commanders to assist them with rapidly
identifying and selecting options for tasking - and re-tasking - assets within and
across organizational boundaries. Specifically, ACK assists users with selecting
sensors, effectors..."
 Listen to this
story on the RF Cafe Podcast! All three of my hobbies are contained in this
episode of
Carl & Jerry - electronics, astronomy, and airplanes! For as clever as the
two teenagers are, they sure do manage to get themselves into some sticky situations
due to what can only be termed as stupidity. This is not the first time their future
relied on a fairly large number of people being 'out there' who were familiar with
Morse code. Supporting the claim that trends run in cycles, the ignition-type model
engine common in the mid 1950s eventually gave way to glow fuel (a nitro methane
and castor or synthetic oil mix) engines, but nowadays miniature electronic ignition
systems have made model-size gasoline...
 There is a very interesting article on the
Microwave Product Digest (MPD) website provided by the Harting Technology
Group, in Espelkamp, Germany, presenting a new method for chemically depositing
circuits directly onto complexly shaped plastic surfaces without the need for a
traditional mask. "The structure of the conductor path is applied using the
Laser Direct Structuring (LDS) process. LDS enables electronic assemblies to
be made in flexible geometric shapes. Smart phones, hearing aids and smart watches
are becoming smaller and more powerful thanks to this process. LDS enables the production
of electronic assemblies with flexible geometric shapes. This process enables electronic
products (such as smart phones, sensors or medical devices) to become even smaller
and more powerful. Automated manufacturing processes also make this process more
economically attractive..."
 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. Products are designed and manufactured in the
USA.
Sunday 4
 October 4th's custom
Radio themed crossword puzzle contains only only words from my custom-created
lexicon related to engineering, science, mathematics, chemistry, physics, astronomy,
etc. (1,000s of them). 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, find someone or something in the otherwise excluded list directly
related to this puzzle's technology theme, such as Hedy Lamarr or the Bikini Atoll,
respectively. The technically inclined cruciverbalists amongst us will appreciate
the effort.
Friday 2
 Listen to this
story on the RF Cafe Podcast! Before there was the World Wide Web (aka the
Internet) and unlimited cellphone calling plans, personal communications over any
distance for most people was limited to local telephone calling areas. Long distance
calling rates were high enough to prevent casual calling of family, friends, and
businesses in the U.S. Overseas call rates were extremely prohibitive. The price
to "Reach out and touch someone" could set you back 10¢/minute or more. Even today,
an old-fashioned landline plan from AT&T can cost you $3.50/minute to the UK,
$4.50/minute to Japan, and $5.00/minute to China. Depending on where you lived,
calling someone in the next neighborhood over could be a long distance call, while
calling 50 miles in the other direction would be considered local. Toll-free "800"
long distance numbers were implemented to encourage people to make contact with
businesses without incurring additional charges. Late night TV shows were famous
for using 800 numbers to entice customers into buying Ronco gadgets and term life
insurance policies...
 1976 is the year I was emancipated (aka graduated)
from high school, and this issue of The Old Farmer's Almanac (OFA) happens to be
from that year. For as long as I can remember, the OFA has included a set of
Mathematical Puzzles in its annual publication. They range in difficulty from
1 (very easy) to 5 (sometimes quite difficult). Having been a faithful buyer and
reader of the OFA for as long as I can remember, I have spent many hours toiling
with some of the more challenging examples. In fact, there were a lot which I never
did figure out and needed to look up the answers in the back (come to think of it,
I experienced the same dilemma with my college engineering textbooks). Because quite
a few of the Mathematical Puzzles are worthy of an engineer's cerebration, contemplation,
and deliberation, all I have will be eventually posted here on RF Cafe. Enjoy!
 "EPFL physicists propose a new path to
detect infrared radiation
with outstanding sensitivity, allowing detection of signals as low as that of a
single quantum of light. When using our webcam or cell phone camera, we experience
the tremendous capabilities of cheap and compact sensors developed in the past decades
for the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum. On the contrary, detection
of lower frequency radiation not visible to the human eye (such as mid- and far-infrared
radiation) requires complex and costly equipment. Lack of a compact technology impedes
widespread access to sensors for the recognition of molecules and the imaging of
thermal radiation naturally emitted by our bodies. A new conceptual breakthrough
in this field may therefore..."
 This assortment of custom-designed themes
by RF Cafe includes T-Shirts, Mouse Pads, Clocks, Tote Bags, Coffee Mugs and Steins,
Purses, Sweatshirts, and Baseball Caps. Choose from amazingly clever "We Are the World's Matchmakers"
Smith chart design or the "Engineer's Troubleshooting Flow Chart." My "Matchmaker's"
design has been ripped off by other people and used on their products, so please
be sure to purchase only official RF Cafe gear. My markup is only a paltry 50¢ per
item - Cafe Press gets the rest of your purchase price. These would make excellent
gifts for husbands, wives, kids, significant others, and for handing out at company
events or as rewards for excellent service. It's a great way to help support RF
Cafe. Thanks...
 In the 1960s, most people believed that poetry
ought to rhyme. It was not uncommon to see poems appear in magazines of all sorts
including even technical publications like Popular Electronics. "More
'Tower' to You" is a good example. Nobody ever claimed that these reader-submitted
on-subject poems were of Nobel Prize quality, but many were extremely clever and
were almost sure to elicit the chuckle their authors intended; that is to say, they
were humorous. What made them humorous is what is true of nearly all good humor
- it contains an element of truth...
 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 are serviced around the world. Please take a couple minutes
to visit their website and see how IPP can help you today.
Thursday 1
 Rauland (aka Rauland-Borg) has today on its
History webpage that it was founded in 1922 as the Rauland Company, by inventor
and
radio enthusiast E. Norman Rauland. Soon thereafter he became a pioneer
in the radio broadcast industry by launching the Chicago-based radio station, WENR
(which eventually became the well-known WLS). In 1941 Norm Rauland and George Borg
entered a partnership, and a year later acquired Baird Television of America. Rauland
developed cathode ray tubes (CRT) and became an important supplier of communications
and radar equipment during WWII. After the war, Rauland began manufacturing CRTs
for 10" and 12" televisions. They were so successful that in 1948, Zenith Radio
Corporation purchased them to get the CRT technology. This circa 1953 Rauland advertisement
ran in Radio-Electronics magazine to pitch their breakthrough aluminizing process
that produced CRTs with brighter pictures and greater contrast with relatively low
anode voltages, which was a big deal at the time due to concern over high levels
of x-rays...
 Joel R. Hallas (W1ZR), ARRL QST magazine's
monthly "The
Doctor Is In" column writer, has written many notable quotes over the years
while responding to readers' questions. Most of the Q's and A's are about antennas,
transmission lines, and impedance matching. The October 2020 issue contains the
following statement which is profoundly important to remember, particularly where
antennas are concerned, "...but
ground is always somewhere." It might seem like a Captain Obvious statement,
but people not overly familiar with the effects of a ground plane - be it solid,
mesh, or an array of radials - can and does have a huge effect on the radiation
pattern and effective impedance of every kind of antenna. Mr. Hallas' middle
initial is given as "R," but is might as well be "E" - for
EZNEC - because of his masterful and frequent
use of it in analyzing antenna setups and which often includes pattern plots in
his answers. It just figures that since I mention it, EZNEC is not mentioned this
month.
 "You can feel it on your laptop and mobile
phone. It's behind your refrigerator and office copy machine. While heat is desirable
for appliances like a coffee maker, it can jeopardize the reliability and safety
of electronic systems in other devices, causing premature failure at best and explosions
at worst. Active control of heat transport, as with thermal switches and thermal
diodes, is important for a range of applications in heating and cooling, energy
conversion, materials processing, and data storage. In practice,
thermal diodes are highly desirable thermal components for many engineering
applications because they allow energy systems to transfer heat to designated areas..."
 Artech House today announced the release
of
Designing Wireless Sensor Network Solutions for Tactical ISR, by Timothy D.
Cole. This comprehensive resource demonstrates how wireless sensor network (WSN)
systems, a key element of the Internet of Things (IoT), are designed and evaluated
to solve problems associated with autonomous sensing systems. Functional blocks
that form WSN-based systems are described, chapter by chapter, providing the reader
with a progressive learning path through all aspects of designing remote sensing
capabilities using a WSN-based system. The development and a full description of
fundamental performance equations and technological solutions required by these
real-time systems are included. New Release discount price available now...
 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.
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