At 04:23 UTC, a consortium of
astronomers using the Even Horizon Telescope (EHT) reported confirmation of the
presence of a massive cluster of
highly energetic deep space particles heading toward Earth orbit. It is
believed based on a time sequence of measurements over the past 12 hours that
the mass originated in the area of a supermassive black hole in the M87 galaxy
(Messier object), approximately 54 light years distant. Currently crossing
inside the extreme outer boundary of the Kuiper Belt region, measurements have
determined there is a very strong concentration of energy in the 1.225 GHz
(1225 MHz) and 2.428 GHz (2428 MHz) electromagnetic spectrum. While the nature
of such particle clusters generally consists of a wideband dispersion of
frequencies, these two wavelengths are of great concern because 1.225 GHz is
very close to the 1.2276 GHz (1227.6 MHz) "L2" signal which is a critical
component of the Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation signal, and
2.428 GHz falls within the 2.4 through 2.5 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and
Medical (ISM) band used worldwide for unlicensed wireless communications. Highly
accurate measurements have not been made yet of the exact trajectory or energy
levels worst case scenario since the antenna array's pointing capability has
been exceeded as the result of the Earth turning away from the source.
Approximately eight more hours will be needed to re-acquire the signal...
Contra-Polar Energy
Contra-polar (negative) energy is a concept
that has been investigated by many researchers beginning in the mid 19th century,
when the nature of energy was beginning to be understood from a truly scientific
perspective. Entire theories of universe and matter-antimatter creation have been
published, reviewed and refined. This article from the April 1955 edition of
Popular Electronics magazine reports on then-current applications of contra-polar
energy. At the time, most such work was performed in secret government laboratories
and at test ranges that were closed to the public and results banned from publication,
but since that time freedom-of-information-act requests have opened much contra-energy
research information for public access...
Post Your Engineer & Technician
Job Openings on RF Cafe for Free
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. 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...
Many Thanks to Reactel for Their
Long-Time Support!
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.
New Radiation Standards Set
Governments are historically fond of creating
laws, standards, regulations, codes, ordinances, directives, notices, prohibitions,
restrictions, bylaws, ordinances, and all other manner of ways to control our lives
- all for our own good, don't you know. Sometimes those impositions are useful,
and other times - maybe most times - they are just forms of control to keep the
figurative boot on the equally figurative throats of the proletariat. According
to this 1969 issue of Radio-Electronics magazine, the U.S. Department of
Health, Education, and Welfare has recently been ordered to create
standards for maximum radio frequency radiation exposure levels for various
commercial electronic products. The move was largely driven by concerns over radiation
from color televisions x-ray emission from super high voltage cathode ray tube (CRT)
biases, and from microwave ovens, both of which were relatively new household appliances...
Time Reflection Measured in Microwaves
"Physicists in the U.S. have observed an
effect known as
time reflection in an electromagnetic wave for the first time. They detected
the phenomenon - the temporal counterpart of familiar spatial reflection - by rapidly
switching a series of capacitors in a novel type of metamaterial. They say the result
could improve wireless communication and ultimately help bring about long-sought-after
optical computing. Everyday reflection involves the transformation of a wave packet
when it meets an interface in a distinct region of space. The process preserves
temporal ordering, so that the leading part of the incident wave remains ahead after
reflection. This means that objects further from a mirror look more distant in the
reflection, while sounds in an echo arrive back in the same order they were emitted.
Time reflection instead involves a wave packet being transformed as a result of
an abrupt change in time that applies equally throughout the medium it is traversing.
In other words, the material in question experiences a sudden shift in its properties..."
Mac's Radio Service Shop: Advertising for Dessert
Return on investment for advertising is
always a prime consideration for companies, regardless of how wide the perspective
audience or the size of the competition. Luck plays some part in whether a certain
advertising campaign is successful, but as Mac points out in the July 1949 edition
of Radio & Television News magazine, there is great advantage to
measuring the effectiveness of each advertising strategy. Advertising has never
been cheap, especially in venues with a large contingent of followers. In the Internet
age, one of the more popular schemes is 3rd-party pay-per-click ads that are served
by a central distributor (like Google and Bing) based on intelligent algorithms
designed by teams of business and marketing experts. Based on my conversations with
some RF Cafe advertisers who have tried Google's AdWords program, most are not happy
with the results because they experience a low ratio of clicks-to-sales. Those who
report success are people who have expended a lot of effort learning how the system
works and how to exploit it - often after learning the hard way what the wrong way
is. Unlike his fellow radio service and sales shops operators in the story, it is
doubtful many businesses would be willing to share their hard-earned secrets with
competitors...
You Don't See This Every Day!
Whilst on the way to a doctor appointment this morning (3/30/2023), we saw this
guy driving his car with the
hood smashed into
the windshield. It appears the wind stream must have blown it back while driving
down the road since the windshield was smashed as well. We followed him for about
5 miles on West Wendover Road, in Greensboro, NC, before he turned off onto a side
road. How he managed to see well enough to guide the car is a mystery. There must
have been a slim line of sight between the dashboard and under the edge of the hood
based on how he was leaning over in the seat. Other drivers kept well away from
him, but I had to take a risk and get up next to him to get this video. It was extremely
dangerous of him to do so, but awfully funny as well.
Teledyne Relays 50+ GHz
Mini Matrix Boxes
Teledyne Relays, a leading provider of high-performance
coaxial switches, is pleased to announce the addition of 50+ GHz
coaxial switches to its
Mini Matrix Box product line. The new switches are available in SPDT, Transfer,
and Multi-throw configurations each with their own GUI. They can be ordered with
or without terminations, offering flexibility for various applications in RF and
automated test equipment. Teledyne Relays Mini Matrix Boxes are a compact, plug-and-play
solution, offering USB or Ethernet control for efficient and reliable switching
in laboratory and production environments. With the addition of the 50+ GHz
switches, Teledyne Relays can meet the growing demand for testing higher frequency
applications in the industry. "The introduction of the 50+ GHz coaxial
switches is an exciting milestone for Teledyne Relays. We are committed to delivering
high-quality, reliable, and innovative solutions that help our customers stay ahead
of the curve," said Michael Palakian, Teledyne Relays Vice President of Global Sales &
Marketing...
Color Television?
The 1954 Tournament of Roses (aka Rose Bowl
Parade) was famously the
world's first national commercial color television broadcast, provided by the
National Broadcasting Company (NBC). Prior to the NTSC (National Television Systems
Committee) finally settling on an all-electronic scheme for TV sets, many electro-mechanical
and electro-optical types were developed. The integrated RGB (red, green, blue)
color gun within a cathode ray tube (CRT) was a relatively new concept in 1949.
This Radio & Television News magazine article presents some of the
propositions by the two major research and development players at the time: RCA
and CBS. They might seem ridiculous in the light of knowledge available now, but
a round wheel wasn't immediately obvious to Oog sitting in his cave, trying to figure
out an easier way to transport that mastodon carcass...
RF Cascade Workbook
RF Cascade Workbook 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 (click here for screen capture). 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...
Many Thanks to Aegis Power Systems for
Their Continued Support!
Aegis Power Systems is a leading supplier
of AC-DC and
DC-DC power supplies for custom and special applications. Aegis has been designing
and building highly reliable custom power supplies since 1995. They offer a complete
line of switch mode power supplies and power converters for a variety of markets
including defense, industrial, aircraft, VME, and telecom. Supports military, aircraft,
EV, telecom, and embedded computing applications. Design and manufacture of custom
power supply solutions to meet each customer's exacting specifications. Please visit
Aegis Power Systems today. Manufactured in the USA.
News Briefs: e-Vehicles & More
Hugo Gernsback was the Ulrich L. Rhode
of the early 20th century; he was very accomplished in many areas of electronics,
was a prolific publisher of technical content, knew everyone of any import in the
technology realm, had successful business ventures, and seemed to always be getting
presented with awards from one group or another. With guys like Gernsback and Rhode,
organizations considered themselves honored to have their offers accepted in order
to be worthy of the recipient's attention. This collection of industry New Briefs
in the January 1967 issue of Radio−Electronics magazine included the Antique Wireless
Association (still in existence) giving an award to Gernsback. It also reported
on General Motors using silver-zinc battery packs, SCR's and specially designed
ac motors in its experimental Electrovair II - a conversion of its gas-powered Corvair.
The government-controlled BBC's domination over "free" radio broadcasting was getting
a challenge from the Popular Music Authority...
Microsatellites Reduce Space Junk
"Satellite powered by 48 AA batteries and
a $20 microprocessor shows a low-cost way to
reduce space junk. Common sense suggests that space missions can only happen
with multimillion-dollar budgets, materials built to withstand the unforgiving conditions
beyond Earth's atmosphere, and as a result of work done by highly trained specialists.
But a team of engineering students from Brown University has turned that assumption
on its head. They built a satellite on a shoestring budget and using off-the-shelf
supplies available at most hardware stores. They even sent the satellite - which
is powered by 48 Energizer AA batteries and a $20 microprocessor popular with robot
hobbyists - into space about 10 months ago, hitching a ride on Elon Musk's SpaceX
rocket..."
Bell Telephone Labs Coaxial Cable
When you read today where someone writes
about, "back in the eighties...," you naturally think of 1980-something. This 1949
Radio & Television News magazine advertisement from by Bell Telephone
Laboratories mention of "back in the eighties" was referencing the 1880s, not the
1980s. What was six decades ago at the time is now thirteen decades ago - yikes!
The picture juxtaposes a telephone pole massively populated with horizontal cross
timbers, insulators, and wires, with an engineer holding up a section of coaxial
cable that was in the process of replacing the poles and wires. Thanks to Bell Labs'
relentless R&D efforts, those early single-channel,
short distance twisted pairs were obsoleted by 1,800-channel coax. Fiber optic
cables today typically support more than 30,000 voice channels...
Measuring with Humor
A relatively new feature has been appearing
on the Microwaves & RF website entitled "Measuring
with Humor," compliments of Fluke Calibration. I just saw it and don't know
how long it has been running, but there are four of them thus far. The comic depicts
situations commonly experienced by people in the test equipment realm. Fluke, of
course, is one of America's most well-known and oldest test equipment manufacturers.
I have used
Fluke (founded in 1948) gear since first entering the electronic and electrical
field in the 1970s. It always seemed strange to me that a high end electronic test
equipment company would assume the name "Fluke," even though it is the name of company
founder John Fluke. Even though a fluke can be defined as an unexpected stroke of
good luck, it often has a negative connotation describing an outlier event not typical
of the norm. The Fluke company's good reputation is due to smart employees who design
and manufacture good products - definitely not a fluke.
Understanding the JFET
Adolph Mangieri, who authored articles in
other electronic magazines in the 1970s and 1980s, provides a good introduction
to
junction field effect transistors (JFETs) in this 1973 piece in Popular
Electronics magazine. As mentioned, JFETs were a relative newcomer at the time
to the commercial electronics world because of high fabrication costs. Obtaining
consistent pinch−off voltages and gains was largely responsible for the relatively
high production costs due to substrate purity and doping issues. Semiconductor processing
and some circuit application examples are included. One of the first big commercial
applications of the JFET was probably transistorized multimeters, which enabled
a very high input impedance. Doing so helped minimize the loading effect on the
meter on the circuit under test...
Post Your Engineer & Technician
Job Openings on RF Cafe for Free
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. 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...
Many Thanks to ConductRF for Continued
Support!
ConductRF is continually innovating and
developing new and improved solutions for RF Interconnect needs. See the latest
TESTeCON RF Test
Cables for labs. ConductRF makes production and test coax cable assemblies for
amplitude and phased matched VNA applications as well as standard & precision
RF connectors. Over 1,000 solutions for low PIM in-building to choose from in the
iBwave component library. They also provide custom coax solutions for applications
where some standard just won't do. A partnership with Newark assures fast, reliable
access. Please visit ConductRF today to see how they can help your project!
Electronics-Themed Comics
It's Monday again. Here is another batch
of
electronics-themed
comics to help cheer you up. They appeared in the April 1963 issue of Radio−Electronics
magazine. Usually the meaning of the comics is immediately apparent, or maybe after
a little critical investigation, but I'm going to need some help with the page 20
comic. I must be missing something obvious. There is nothing else on the page it
came from that it is supposed to go with. Maybe it is simply implying the lonely
life of a TV repairman on a service call. The page 49 comic plays on the era's popular
notion of a husband-wife battle involving his quest for bigger and better (and more
expensive) electronics gear. If you don't "get" the humor, note the stacking of
the equipment - which is stereo. Page 88's topic is as apt today as it was 60 years
ago. Page 105 is yet another instance of man's obsession with stereos back in the
day...
Barry Goldwater, K7UGA, Ham Radio Operator
A lot of famous people have been or are
currently amateur
radio operators, including many present-day astronauts who broadcast from the
International Space Station (ISS). Some media people, like Tim Allen, star of the
Home Improvement and Last Man Standing fame, became a Ham after
playing a character who is one on his show. A 1958 edition of Popular Electronics
magazine published a story titled "VIP's Are Hams Too!," which included Arthur Godfrey
(9K4LIB), Herbert Hoover, Jr. (W6ZH), and Arthur Collins (W0CXX). I wrote an article
on radio host Jean Shepherd (K2ORS), of "A Christmas Story" fame. Senator Barry
Goldwater (K7UGA), of Arizona, was also an active Ham, as evidenced here in this
May 1967 edition of the ARRL's QST magazine. Senator Goldwater also appeared
in the June 1967 issue of QST...
Hetro Air-Ace Series M, 4−Band Superhet
This is another Radio Service Data Sheet
which appeared in the May 1936 edition of Radio-Craft magazine. I post
this schematic and functional description of the
Hetro Air-Ace Series M, 9-Tube 4-Band Superhet manufacturers' publications for
the benefit of hobbyists and archivists who might be searching for such information
either in a effort to restore a radio to working condition, or to collect archival
information. A thorough search on the Internet turned up no examples of a surviving
instance of the Hetro Air-Ace Series M radio. BTW, the "Air Ace" part of the
name refers to the radio air, as in "on the air" or "over the air," not a fighter
pilot ace with a certain number of kills painted on the side of his airplane...
Electronics Mathematics Quiz
Don't let the title scare you away from
this "Electronic
Mathematic Quiz." It appeared in the June 1969 issue of Popular Electronics
magazine, and was created by quizmaster Robert Balin. There are no scary equations
to complete and no mental calculations to bend your brain. Instead, the "mathematics"
required is to recognize physical and electrical signal shapes which are described
by common mathematics terms. For instance, a cardioid approximates the electromagnetic
radiation pattern of many directional antennas, which may include a parabolic dish.
Differentiator and integrator circuits generate distinct waveforms. Phase angles
and critical angles are familiar to circuit designers and radio operators. Shape
letter "E" will likely be familiar according to its name, although you might not
know what it is in the world of electronics...
Micro-Waves Span the English Channel
We "Baby Boomers" remember a time when cell
towers did not present a ubiquitous (and, frankly, ugly) presence across the landscape.
Microwave relay towers for television and telephone links could be spotted sitting
atop hilltops and mountain ridges in some areas, and giant television and radio
station towers sat behind broadcast stations, and multi-element antennas dotted
house rooftops everywhere. Our grandparents (Millennials' great grandparents) remember
when even microwave relay towers were missing. This 1936 article reports on the
first microwave links spanning the English Channel to replace expensive and trouble-prone
submerged cable. Part of the impetus, not mentioned within, was the building inevitability
of war with Germany and the vulnerability of those communications links to being
compromised by Nazi submarines and divers...
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 tying 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.
-
Contra-polar (negative) energy
Hugo Gernsback
