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Copyright: 1996 - 2024
Webmaster:
Kirt
Blattenberger,
BSEE - KB3UON
RF Cafe began life in 1996 as "RF Tools" in an AOL screen name web space totaling
2 MB. Its primary purpose was to provide me with ready access to commonly needed
formulas and reference material while performing my work as an RF system and circuit
design engineer. The World Wide Web (Internet) was largely an unknown entity at
the time and bandwidth was a scarce commodity. Dial-up modems blazed along at 14.4 kbps
while typing up your telephone line, and a nice lady's voice announced "You've Got
Mail" when a new message arrived...
All trademarks, copyrights, patents, and other rights of ownership to images
and text used on the RF Cafe website are hereby acknowledged.
My Hobby Website:
AirplanesAndRockets.com
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Tech Smorgasbord Archives - 1
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Cingular Wireless and Virgin
Mobile offer a "rescue call" service:
Escape-A-Date. It sounds like an old SNL routine, but according
to Cingular:
"This new service allows you to schedule a 'rescue' phone call
at a pre-set time. That way, you'll be called at the time you specify. The service
tells you exactly what to say to set the tone for a speedy escape. There are eight
randomly generated humorous scripts.
With 'Escape-A-Date,' you'll never
be at a loss if you need a timely rescue."
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IC Manufacturer
Top
Sales Per Employee
EE Times Research 2005
|
| TSMC |
$411,249 |
| Qualcomm |
$403,125 |
| UMC |
$371,428 |
| Hynix Semi |
$357,538 |
| Renesas Tech |
$346,154 |
| Intel |
$339,560 |
| Matsushita |
$321,111 |
| AMD |
$314,647 |
| Texas Instruments |
$305,710 |
| NEC |
$269,542 |
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Where U.S. Students
Who
Study Abroad Go (%)
W-S Journal Research 2005
|
| |
1993-94 |
2003-04 |
| Africa |
1.9 |
3.0 |
| Asia |
6.5 |
6.9 |
| Europe |
67.4 |
60.9 |
| Latin Amer. |
13.4 |
15.2 |
| Middle East |
2.8 |
6.9 |
| Oceania |
3.4 |
7.4 |
| Other |
4.5 |
6.1 |
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Religion Profile
of U.S. EEs
EETimes Research 2005
|
| Christian/Protestant |
52% |
| Catholic |
26% |
| Jewish |
3% |
| Buddhism |
3% |
| Orthodox Christian |
1% |
| Muslim |
1% |
| Hinduism |
<1% |
| Interdenominational |
<1% |
| None |
14% |
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Composite Cross-Section
of Average U.S. Engineer
Electronic Design
Research
|
| Male |
| White |
| 46 Years Old |
| College Graduate |
| Works 53 Hours Per Week |
| 10 Years with Current Company |
| 21 Years Engineering Experience |
Earns $93,055 Total
Compensation |
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Cost of Increasingly
Heavier
Americans Flying on Airlines
Popular Science Research
|
Adult male weight increase from
1991-2000 |
8.5 lb |
Weight FAA assumed for average male from
1938-2003 |
170 lb |
| Gallons of fuel consumed by domestic air travel in 2000 |
14.8B gal |
| Additional fuel need to carry heavier males |
350M gal |
| Additional CO2 generated from additional fuel |
3.8M lbs |
| Cost of additional fuel in 2000 |
$275M |
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High-Tech Jobs in the
U.S.
3.4% ↑ in Last 18 Months
EE Times Research
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# of Tech Jobs (x106)
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| |
2001 |
2004 |
2005 |
High-Tech
Manufacturing |
1.870 |
1.334 |
1.356 |
Communications
Services |
1.850 |
1.442 |
1.432 |
Software
Services |
1.630 |
1.358 |
1.434 |
Engineering &
Tech Services |
1.460 |
1.398 |
1.499 |
Here is Why
There is no Urgency
to Control the Cost of Oil |
| 10 Wealthiest
U.S. Senators ($M) |
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| John Kerry, D-MA |
1,000 |
| Sen. Jon Corzine, D-NJ |
300 |
| Herb Kohl, D-WI |
270 |
| Jay Rockefeller, D-WV |
200 |
| Lincoln Chafee, R-RI |
51.6 |
| Dianne Feinstein, D-CA |
31.9 |
| Bill Frist, R-TN |
15.1 |
| Hillary Clinton, D-NY |
12.8 |
| John McCain, R-AZ |
11.4 |
| Elizabeth Dole, R-NC |
10.4 |
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| President George Bush |
13.5 |
| V.P. Richard Cheney |
67.6 |
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Software Piracy Rates
2004 EDN Research
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| Vietnam |
92% |
| Ukraine |
91% |
| China |
90% |
| Zimbabwe |
90% |
| Indonesia |
87% |
| Russia |
87% |
| : |
: |
| Japan |
28% |
| Denmark |
27% |
| United Kingdom |
27% |
| Sweden |
26% |
| New Zealand |
23% |
| United States |
21% |
 Moon.Google.Com
Zoom all the way in for maximum detail!
The
McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope, one of 23 separate telescopes sitting 6,875 above
sea level feet atop Arizona's Kitt Peak, is lined with 4.7 miles of water-cooling
pipes to keep the optics from vaporizing due to the focused light from the sun. |
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Mystery Connector
If you can identify this connector, please click
here to send me an e-mail. Hover your mouse over the image for
a description and click on it for a larger view.
 It appears that the original
vendor was Micro-Mode, who
made the connectors as a special order item for a test cable vendor. Thanks for
your participation!
Guesses So Far:Although not intended to be
for fun, you folks have sent in humorous suggestions along with the serious. Some
are listed below - thank you.
* SMA to 1.85mm push fit adaptor. Not sure I'd
want a push
fit connection at 65 GHz - A.I.
* TNC to SMA reverse polarity - Tom C.
* Part
of Janet Jackson's wardrobe - Don H.
* Pneumatic to JIC - Eduardo R.
* F-15
high pressure valve for pilot relief
mechanism Sandra W.
* SMP-SMA
type- Steve D.
* N type to zero-force SMA - Gergory D.
* A fluid adapter -
Ivo V.
* SMP - Per A.
* OSP/BMA - Nick P.
* Pneumatic to TNC pressure xducer
- John S.
* Automobile PCV valve - Tom M.
* SMA -to- RF connector -
Justin R.
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Printed RFID Antenna
Units
EE Times Research 2005
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Year
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x106
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2006
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62
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2007
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295
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2008
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1,119
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2009
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1,914
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2010
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3,232
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2011
|
4,121
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2012
|
4,670
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| The earth's magnetic field slightly alters the trajectory of the electron beam
in a CRT. The field is strongest at the poles, weakest at the equator, and varies
in the direction of polarity everywhere. A CRT adjusted to display properly in Oregon
will not look the same in Peru or Italy. |
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% of U.S. EE Degrees
Awarded to Foreign Students
2003 Electronic
Design Research
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| Bachelor's Degree |
| 90% |
U.S. Citizens |
| 10% |
Foreign Citizens |
| Master's Degree |
| 46% |
U.S. Citizens |
| 54% |
Foreign Citizens |
| PhD Degree |
| 35% |
U.S. Citizens |
| 65% |
Foreign Citizens |
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Top 10 Issues
that
Keep Engineers up at Night
2005 Electronic
Design Research
|
| 10 |
Component availability |
| 9 |
Staffing reductions |
| 8 |
Financial health of company |
| 7 |
Price/performance |
| 6 |
Outsourcing |
| 5 |
Health of economy |
| 4 |
Job security |
| 3 |
Product reliability |
| 2 |
Keeping current with new technologies |
| 1 |
Looming project deadlines |
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Job Hunting Stats
- Mid 2005
Electronic Design Research
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| Actively seeking new position |
11% |
| Not actively seeking, but would follow up if opportunity arose |
32% |
| Not actively seeking, but would follow up only if personally
approached |
31% |
| No plans to change jobs for any reason |
26% |
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2004 Patent Applications
Electronic Business Research
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| United States |
35% |
| All Others |
21% |
| Japan |
17% |
| Germany |
12% |
| France |
4% |
| U.K |
4% |
| Netherlands |
4% |
| Republic of Korea |
4% |
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2005 Electrical
Engineer's Salary
Electronic Design Research
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| Base Salary |
$85,014 |
| Bonuses |
$3,320 |
| Stock / Stock Options |
$2,236 |
| Other Resources |
$2,485 |
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Predicted Household
Broadband Penetration by End of 2005
M&RF Research - Europe
|
| Netherlands |
56% |
| Switzerland |
51% |
| Denmark |
49% |
| Norway |
48% |
| Sweden |
44% |
| Belgium |
43% |
| Finland |
40% |
| France |
39% |
| United Kingdom |
36% |
| Spain |
35% |
| Austria |
33% |
| Portugal |
30% |
| Italy |
29% |
| Germany |
24% |
|
Engineers' Vacation
Time in 2004
EETimes Research
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|
United States
|
Earned
|
Taken
|
| 4 weeks or more |
39% |
20% |
| 3 weeks |
40% |
33% |
| 2 weeks |
18% |
28% |
| 1 week |
1% |
14% |
| 0 weeks |
2% |
5% |
| Europe |
Earned |
Taken |
| 4 weeks or more |
94% |
79% |
| 3 weeks |
3% |
16% |
| 2 weeks |
2% |
2% |
| 1 week |
1% |
1% |
| 0 weeks |
2% |
1% |
| Gas Prices
US$/US Gal as of March 2005 |
|
Top 5
|
| Netherlands |
$6.48 |
| Norway |
$6.27 |
| Italy |
$5.96 |
| Denmark |
$5.93 |
| Belgium |
$5.91 |
|
Bottom 5
|
| Saudi Arabia |
$0.91 |
| Kuwait |
$0.78 |
| Egypt |
$0.65 |
| Nigeria |
$0.38 |
| Venezuela |
$0.12 |
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Entire List
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Digging a hole to China is evidently an American kids' thing. From most of the
U.S., a hole through the center of the earth leads to the Indian Ocean. An unscientific
study by Scientific American magazine shows kids from most other countries
never think about what's directly below then. British adults definitely were thinking
about it, though, when they named the Antipodes Islands, near New Zealand,
because that point is directly across from Greenwich, England. (antipode = a direct
or diametrical opposite). What did middle school boys say they would see if they
looked straight down through the earth? "Up girls' skirts."
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The curvature employed by Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel of the 986-foot high Eiffel
Tower has long intrigued engineers. On a mission to derive an equation for the profile,
Patrick Weidman of the University of Colorado discovered an equation in one of Eiffel's
notebooks that is an exponential of the natural logarithm - one found frequently
in nature. Eiffel figured out that the shape would experience zero wind load on
the diagonal elements. Doing so permitted the "lightweight" iron structure to be
built with relatively little metal. Its longevity is testimony to its superior design.
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| Say you are being held captive in a room that is secured by
a cipher lock that requires the successful calculation the Xth root of some number
Y (X is not an integer). A timer limits your opportunity. A wrong answer gets you
a torture session where you are forced to listen to loud
Christina Aguilera music. Fortunately,
you are an engineer and as such always carry a table of logarithms in your pocket.
Your captors, being political science majors, must carry calculators, and think
your log table is a track betting sheet, so you can keep it. Could you escape? Click
here to find out how.
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| A young woman, living alone in New York City, was continually
having her apartment broken into. Each time there was a break-in she would add one
more door lock, but to no avail. At seven locks, she got the bright idea of only
locking some of the locks and leaving the others unlocked. It worked! No more break-ins:
The burglar would unlock the locked locks, but would lock the unlocked locks. |
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