 Friday 13 Thursday 12  Teledyne e2v HiRel, producer of the longtime industry-leading PeeWee high voltage cable assembly, this week unveiled a major new addition to the high voltage product line called Ruggedized PeeWee, or "PWR." Built on decades of experience developing subminiature, high voltage connectors, the PWR's new robust design also benefits from Teledyne's extensive experience designing Space-level products. The new Ruggedized PeeWee line is fully compatible and inter-matable with all push-pull PeeWee assemblies. Download the Ruggedized PeeWee datasheet. With this new product, Teledyne has surpassed all previous industry standards for testing ...
 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.
 This article by science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, of 2001: A Space Odyssey fame, suggested the use of surplus German V−2 (Vergeltungswaffe 2; i.e., Retribution Weapon 2) rockets for launching scientific payloads into space rather than for launching terrorizing attacks on European cities. The October 1945 publishing date was after Germany had surrendered in the spring of that year and Allied forces were rounding up war criminals and confiscating documents and equipment. Clarke describes how an "artificial satellite" could be caused to circle the earth "perpetually" and was published in the October 1945 edition of Wireless World magazine. The pilot-less V−2, along with the V−1 "Buzz Bomb," were launched from within Germany and caused massive structural damage and human death and suffering. For war progenitor and aggressor, Germany, to call it a retribution weapon was a gross misnomer ...
 Modelithics is pleased to announce the release of version 19.4.2 of the Modelithics Qorvo GaN library for use with Keysight Technologies’ Advanced Design System and National Instruments AWR Design Environment. The Modelithics Qorvo GaN Library is a set of non-linear models for Qorvo package and die GaN devices, designed for excellent accuracy, and validated with broadband S-parameters and load pull data at multiple frequencies. Each model has a detailed datasheet summarizing model features, development details, and model performance plots. Some devices are also represented with small-signal and noise models in addition to non-linear models. Version 19.4.2 of the Modelithics Qorvo GaN Library includes a total of 80 models containing 57 packaged power models, 17 GaN die power transistor products and 6 small-signal models ...
 SF Circuits' specialty is in the complex, advanced technology of PCB fabrication and assembly, producing high quality multi-layered PCBs from elaborate layouts. With them, you receive unparalleled technical expertise at competitive prices as well as the most progressive solutions available. Their customers request PCB production that is outside the capabilities of normal circuit board providers. Please take a moment to visit San Francisco Circuits today. "Printed Circuit Fabrication & Assembly with No Limit on Technology or Quantity."
Wednesday 11  In the middle of the last century, progress in television and radio technology was the focus of public attention, similar to news of the latest advances in smartphones and Wi-Fi-connected gadgets are today. Then, it was the installation of microwave relay networks for long distance telephone and television interconnections as reported in this 1948 issue of Radio-Craft magazine. Now, media headlines tell of new 5G cellular network equipment and small cell stations being installed around the world. New portable pocket radios using a single low voltage "peanut" vacuum tube or a germanium transistor are today's iPhones, smartwatches, and IoT-connected appliances. The item that caught my attention was mention of General electric (GE) issuing warnings that radar-equipped cargo airplanes should not be used to transport photo-flash camera bulbs because experiments showed exposure to certain frequencies and power ...
 Andre Muller and colleagues just published a major paper in Nature magazine demonstrating the unique aptness of his 3D Smith Chart in the design of applications where complex frequency dependencies must be assessed, as with Metal-Insulator-Transition (MIT) materials. You'll need to have your thinking cap on for this one ;-) "In this work, we develop and use 3D Smith charts for devices and circuits having complex frequency dependences, like the ones resulting using MIT materials. The novel foundation of a 3D Smith chart involves here the geometrical fundamental notions of oriented curvature and variable homothety in order to clarify first theoretical inconsistencies in Foster and Non Foster circuits, where the driving point impedances exhibit mixed clockwise and counter-clockwise frequency dependent (oriented) paths on the Smith chart as frequency increases. We show here the unique visualization capability of a 3D Smith chart, which allows to quantify orientation over variable frequency ..."
 "The first satellite built by students in Mexico for launch from the International Space Station is smaller than a shoebox but represents a big step for its builders. The project is part of NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative, which offers universities, high schools and non-profit organizations the opportunity to fly small satellites. Innovative technology partnerships keep down the cost, providing students a way to obtain hands-on experience developing flight hardware. A multidisciplinary team of students at Universidad Popular Autonoma del Estado de Puebla (UPAEP), in Puebla, Mexico, built the CubeSat for AzTechSat-1. The investigation demonstrates communication within a satellite network in low-Earth orbit ..."
 Before the Internet, cellphone apps, and personal computers, many calculations began with a lookup table, chart, or nomograph. In the case of long distance radio operators [Ham, Short Wave Listener (SWL), and professional types] seeking distance and direction information for pointing antennas, it took a map like this one published by Radio News & Short-Wave magazine in 1934 to estimate an optimal configuration. Such tools were essential in order to determine the best direction to point the antenna, which over a long distance is usually much different than what might be assumed by looking at a flattened projection map of the earth (see "Distance Lends Enchantment" below). Distances in Chart No. 1 are all relative to New York, so operators in other locales need to compensate. Here is one example of many online great circle calculators ...
 Alliance Test sells used / refurbished test equipment and offers short- and long-term rentals. They also offer repair, maintenance and calibration. Prices discounted up to 80% off list price. Agilent/HP, Tektronix, Anritsu, Fluke, R&S and other major brands. A global organization with ability to source hard to find equipment through our network of suppliers. Please visit Allied Test Equipment today to see how they can help your project.
 December 11 marks the 98th anniversary of the success of ARRL's Transatlantic Tests in 1921, organized to see if low-power amateur radio stations could be heard across the Atlantic using shortwave frequencies (i.e., above 200 meters). On that day, a message transmitted by a group of Radio Club of America members at 1BCG in Greenwich, Connecticut, was copied by Paul Godley, 2ZE, in Scotland. While the first two-way contact would not take place until 1923, the 1921 transatlantic success marked the beginning of what would become routine communication between US radio amateurs and those in other parts of the world - literally the birth of DX ...
 At VidaRF, the phrase 'Providing Simple Solutions for Complex Connections' is more than just a slogan – it's a mindset, a mission, and a driving force behind everything we do. Their pledge is to design and distribute high performance, cost effective RF Microwave products to fit each customer's unique applications. Please visit VidaRF today to see how their lines of attenuators & terminations, directional couplers, power dividers, coaxial connectors, and circulator & isolators can be of use to your project. "When the standard just will not do, VidaRF has the solution for you!"
Tuesday 10 
Were strings of miniature Christmas tree lights not available for purchase in 1955? This adventure of "Carl & Jerry" seems to imply that was the case since it concerns the design and constructions of such a circuit using low voltage panel lamps (light bulbs). Although usually the two techno-teenager are co-conspiring on various tasks of high tech sleuthing or radio-related pursuits, but in this case if it Jerry who has been doing the hard work. Author John Frye might not know how prescient he was when describing the two inventions he conjured up for Carl and Jerry. The first is the aforementioned miniature Christmas light string and the second is a voice recording device that can capture a short message and then quickly play it back. The playback scheme involves kids reciting their Christmas wish list to a fake Santa Claus and then having him read it back to them in a different voice ...  I didn't see this one coming, but it seems like a great move - Cadence Design Systems and National Instruments Corporation today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which Cadence expects to acquire AWR Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of National Instruments (NI). AWR is an industry leader in high-frequency RF EDA software technology and will bring a highly talented RF team to Cadence. Concurrently, Cadence and NI also entered into a strategic alliance agreement to expand their relationship to enhance electronic system innovation with a focus on communications. AWR software is used by microwave and RF engineers to design wireless products for complex, high-frequency RF applications. The technology helps customers accelerate the design and product development cycle of systems used in communications, aerospace and defense, semiconductor, computer, and consumer electronics ...
 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. Contact Transient Specialists today for your ESD / EMC / RFI testing needs.
 Electronics technicians trained by the U.S. Navy (and, ahem, the U.S. Air Force) have always been highly regarded in private industry because of the excellent classroom instruction, rigorous on-the-job training (OJT), and hands-on experience maintaining both legacy and state-of-the-art equipment. Electronics tech schools begin with teaching the fundamentals of electricity and electronics, and then branches off into areas of specialty, depending on the type of equipment the enlistee will be assigned to maintain. The military works under the assumption that you have no significant former knowledge of the topic - although being admitted into certain programs requires passing an aptitude exam prior to enlistment. In my case, it was six weeks of BET (Basic Electronics Training). followed by 26 weeks of Specialty Electronics Training School (SETS). Yes, the government has an acronym for everything. Six more months of self-study course material (with testing) was required during the initial OJT period ...
 When designing a rigid flex PCB, it is important to consider all of the relevant factors that will go into producing the right board for your application. Rigid flex printed circuit boards (PCBs) are hybrid circuit boards that combine the characteristics of hardboards and flexible circuitry, with areas that are rigid for component assembly providing the same density as hard boards, and flexible areas connecting the rigid boards to one another. The design and construction of these circuits include multiple layers of rigid boards and flexible circuits. In our "Rigid Flex PCB Application & Design Guide," we outline what you need to know about: The applications and environments in which rigid flex PCBs excel, How to successfully assemble and install your rigid flex PCB.
 RF Superstore launched in 2017, marking the return of Murray Pasternack, founder of Pasternack Enterprises, to the RF and microwave Industry. Pasternack fundamentally changed the way RF components were sold. Partner Jason Wright manages day-to-day operations, while working closely with Mr. Pasternack to develop RF Superstore into a world class RF and microwave component supplier. RF coaxial connectors & adapters, coaxial cable & cable assemblies, surge protectors, attenuators. Items added daily. Free shipping on orders over $99. We're leading the way again!
Monday 9  RF technology has been a large part of new and upgraded aircraft development not just for studies of radio and radar performance, but also for remote control (R/C) of small- and full-scale prototype models. R/C began life as bulky vacuum tube systems with transmitters that needed to sit on the ground with a hand-held command box. Airborne systems carried lead-acid batteries for power*. Frequencies in the U.S. were in the 27 MHz Citizens Band, and then moved into 53 MHz (Ham band), 72 MHz (airborne only), and 75 MHz (ground only) bands. All modern R/C systems operate in the 2.4 GHz ISM band using spread spectrum modulation (FHSS and DSSS). Having been a builder and flyer of R/C models since the 1970s, I have read many articles about the role played by modelers over the years in modeling magazines and more general purpose magazines like this one in a 1974 issue of Popular Mechanics. Prior to the availability of super-powerful computers and sophisticated fluid dynamics simulation programs ...
 "Egypt's Ministry of Interior (MOI) plans to identify millions of vehicles as they travel on the country's roads, using an RFID solution from Go+, with hardware and software provided in cooperation with Wireless Dynamics. The system, which will be implemented across approximately 10 million of the country's vehicles throughout the next five years, consists of passive UHF RFID stickers attached to each car's windshield, as well as tags on headlamps that respond to interrogation from readers installed above roadways, even at high speeds. The nation of Egypt faces a growing challenge related to traffic and the management of all cars operating on its roadways ..."
 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.
 Leo Esaki invented the tunnel diode (aka the Esaki diode) in 1957 while working at Sony (Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo at the time). Tunnel diodes have a very narrow, heavily doped p−n junction only around 10 nm (100 Å) wide that exhibits a broken bandgap, where conduction band electrons on the n-side are approximately aligned with valence band holes on the p-side and thereby facilitate the quantum mechanical tunneling process after which the diode is named. A negative differential resistance in part of their operating range makes them useful for high frequency oscillators. This article in a 1960 edition of Popular Electronics introduces the device's characteristics and potential uses. Interestingly, if you want to buy a tunnel diode today, you will likely have to find old stock on on eBay or Amazon since I could not find anyone who sells new stock (Digi-Key, Newark, Mouser ...
 Teledyne e2v HiRel today announced the availability of a new RF power limiter, the 2.5 GHz, 100 W TDLM025100. The limiter is a monolithic integrated circuit based on a Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) technology that is ideal for use in high reliability aerospace and defense applications. This new integrated device provides customers with a more reliable and robust power protection solution compared to the traditional industry alternative, discrete GaAs PIN diode circuits with multiple external components. The power limiter delivers low insertion loss and high linearity under non-limiting power levels and extremely fast response time in a limiting event, ensuring protection of sensitive circuitry ...
Reactel has become one of the industry leaders in the design and manufacture of RF and microwave filters, diplexers, and sub-assemblies. They offer the generally known tubular, LC, cavity, and waveguide designs, as well as state of the art high performance suspended substrate models. Through a continuous process of research and development, they have established a full line of filters of filters of all types - lowpass, highpass, bandpass, bandstop, diplexer, and more. Established in 1979. Please contact Reactel today to see how they might help your project. Sunday 8  As with my hundreds of previous engineering and science-themed crossword puzzles, this one for December 8, 2019, 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, for reasons which, if you don't already know, might surprise you ...
|  At the end of World War II, the U.S. government demonstrated an appreciation for the extreme sacrifices made by its citizens by making surplus materiel available for purchase at very low cost. Companies sprang up as distributors after bidding on and buying large lots of items at auctions. Herschel Radio Company was one of many. This 2-page advertisement on a 1948 issue of Radio-Craft is typical of what was seen in all sorts of technology publications in the late 1940s. A complete Fairchild model SCR 269/F airborne radio compass was offered at a mere $75 ($814 in today's money). A Hallicrafters model SX-28 communications receiver could be picked up for $129. Miscellaneous components sold for pennies - resistors, capacitors, inductors, transformers, vacuum tubes, indicator lamps, wire, switches, hardware, tools, enclosures, motors ...
 The November 2019 issue of Astronomy magazine included an interview with Apollo 12 moon-walking astronauts Alan Bean and Pete Conrad. It is the 50th anniversary of the world's second manned excursion to the moon's surface on November 19, 1969. Amongst the science experiments and tasks to be performed was the deployment of a plutonium fuel cell that would power the equipment remaining on the surface after the Lunar Module blasted off. Most of the gear had been set up without incident, but the fuel rod got stuck inside its transport cylinder. None of that science gear would be of any use with out a power supply. After unsuccessfully trying to free the rod without risking damage, it finally came down to whacking it with one of those infamous $436 NASA hammers to get it out. Bean's comment to Houston upon completion was, "Don't come to the Moon without a hammer."
 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 ...
 RF Cascade Workbook 2018 is the next phase in the evolution of RF Cafe's long-running series, RF Cascade Workbook. 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 ...
 With more than 780 custom-built symbols, this has got to be the most comprehensive set of Visio Stencils available for RF, analog, and digital system and schematic drawings! Every object has been built from scratch to fit proportionally on the provided A- and B-size drawing page templates (you can use your own page if preferred). Components are provided for equipment racks (EIA and ETSI) and test equipment, system block diagrams and conceptual drawings, and for schematics ...
 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.
 RF Cafe's raison d'être is and always has been to provide useful, quality content for engineers, technicians, engineering managers, students, and hobbyists. Part of that mission is offering to post applicable job openings. HR department employees and/or managers of hiring companies are welcome to submit opportunities for posting at no charge (of course a gratuity will be graciously accepted). 3rd party recruiters and temp agencies are not included so as to assure a high quality of listings. Please read through the easy procedure to benefit from RF Cafe's high quality visitors ...
|  "Slightly bending semiconductors made of organic materials can roughly double the speed of electricity flowing through them and could benefit next-generation electronics such as sensors and solar cells, according to Rutgers-led research. 'If implemented in electrical circuits, such an enhancement - achieved by very slight bending - would mean a major leap toward realizing next-generation, high-performance organic electronics,' said senior author Vitaly Podzorov, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University - New Brunswick. Semiconductors include materials that conduct electricity and their conductivity can be tuned by different external stimuli, making them essential for all electronics. Organic semiconductors are made of organic molecules (mainly consisting of carbon and hydrogen atoms) ..."
 "If you're not certain as to the differences between nanosats and cubesats, or how these tiny satellites are launched and what they do, then read on. Tiny satellites have made space accessible to a new generation of university students, private companies and even helped cash-strapped government agencies like NASA. Generally known as nano-satellites (nanosats) or cube-satellites (cubesats), this technology has been made possible by the semiconductor driven miniaturization of electronic and electro-mechanical systems. In recognition of the trend, the IEEE has even launched a new journal on, 'Miniaturization for Air and Space Systems (J-MASS).' Mass is a premium consideration when placing anything into space. That's why the names of tiny satellites ..."
 BAW is "new technology?" "IoT building blocks include sensors that use quartz crystals. Discrete clocking and quartz crystal devices used to achieve wireless connections can be costly, time-consuming, and complicated to develop, however, and are often susceptible to environmental stress in factory automation or automotive applications. A new technology called bulk acoustic wave (BAW) makes it possible to create simpler, smaller MCU designs while increasing overall performance and lowering costs. BAW can enable the next generation of industrial and telecommunication applications by changing how we approach system designs today. BAW consists of a piezoelectric material sandwiched between two electrodes that converts electrical energy to mechanical-acoustical energy, and vice versa ..."
 "Here are a few tips for developing documentation that decrease the pain for developers and improve the quality of the documentation. Writing documentation is not the most exciting endeavor an engineer can embark on. It's often boring, time consuming, and there are so many more interesting things that could be done. It sometimes amaze me that development projects are documented so poorly - if they are even documented at all. Documentation is meant to help preserve important concepts and information about the development cycle. This information could be used to get up to speed on the product, make decisions about updates and changes, or even to prove that proper procedures ..."
 "The Netherlands-China Low Frequency Explorer (NCLE) is a prototype radio telescope built to record weak radio signals from a period just following the Big Bang, called the Dark Ages. These signals are blocked by the Earth's atmosphere, which is why the telescope was placed on a satellite and brought to a location behind the moon. With this satellite, called QueQiao, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) has been navigating a lunar lander that has been driving around the back of the moon since early 2019. The Netherlands-China Low Frequency Explorer was developed in the Netherlands by Radboud University (Nijmegen), ASTRON (Dwingeloo) and the ISISpace company (Delft) ..."
 "Researchers at the University of Delaware have created a high-electron mobility transistor with record-setting properties, including record low gate leakage current (a measure of current loss), a record high on/off current ratio (the magnitude of the difference of current transmitted between the on state and off state) and a record high current gain cutoff frequency (an indication of how much data can be transmitted with a wide range of frequencies). This transistor could be useful for higher bandwidth wireless communication systems. For a given current, it can handle more voltage and would require less battery life than other devices of its type. Yuping Zeng, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Delaware and her team of researchers has created a high-electron mobility transistor, a device that amplifies and controls electrical current, using gallium nitride (GaN) with indium aluminum-nitride as the barrier on a silicon substrate. The results were published in the journal Applied Physics Express. "
 "Murata has developed the first multi-layer ceramic capacitor with a maximum capacitance of 0.1 μF. The GRM011R60J104M, measures 0.25 x 0.125 mm and is available in a 0804 footprint. Mass production of this new product is scheduled to begin in 2020. As smartphones supporting 5G become more widespread and devices such as wearable devices become increasingly multi-functional and more compact, the demand for smaller and higher density electronic circuitry is growing. Among the components employed in this circuitry, multi-layer ceramic capacitors are essential for electronic devices and are used for a wide range of applications ..."
 "Using a clever technique that causes unruly crystals of iron selenide to snap into alignment, Rice University physicists have drawn a detailed map that reveals the "rules of the road" for electrons both in normal conditions and in the critical moments just before the material transforms into a superconductor. In a study online this week in the American Physical Society journal Physical Review X (PRX), physicist Ming Yi and colleagues offer up a band structure map for iron selenide, a material that has long puzzled physicists because of its structural simplicity and behavioral complexity. The map, which details the electronic states of the material, is a visual summary of data gathered from measurements of a single crystal of iron selenide as it was cooled to the point of superconductivity ..."
 Not sure how I missed this, but on July 21th,
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Cadence to Acquire AWR Corporation from National Instruments
