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Today in Science History -
 How's this for a great anagram? International
Microwave Symposium = Comparatively Winsome Ruminations, or maybe Unwise Improvisational
Commentary. I came up with that today when noting that
IMS 2020 Virtual Event
begins today. An anagram, BTW, is a word or words created from the letters of another
word or words. Some results are very descriptive of the original subject (Western
Union = No Wire Unsent and The Morse Code = Here Come Dots), but the best are results
that mock (New York Times = Monkeys Write) or suggest the opposite of the original.
Here's another: Electrical Engineer = Career Intelligence. There are many anagram finders
out there, including AnagramMaker.com, which is the one I used to find my International
Microwave Symposium anagram...
 "According to a report by Recon Analytics
and CTIA,
4G wireless networks powered remarkable economic growth and transformed the
way Americans live and work. The study shows the powerful impact of wireless on
the economy as American providers begin to rollout next-generation 5G networks,
which will create a new 5G economy over the next decade. The report's key findings
include that nearly 10% of the GDP increase of the entire U.S. economy from 2011
to 2019 was due to the growth of the U.S. wireless industry, and that U.S. 4G networks
support 20 million jobs, drove nearly $700 billion in economic contribution last
year alone, and save consumers $130 billion each year..."
 Join Altum RF, a supplier of high performance
RF to millimeter-wave semiconductor solutions for next generation markets and applications,
at the
IMS2020 Virtual Conference. Altum RF will showcase its featured products and
technical expertise in its virtual booth. Company leaders will be online to answer
questions about specific products, future plans and their decades of expertise designing
and delivering RF, microwave and millimeter-wave semiconductors. New products featured
in the booth include the ARF1307C7, a 1-20 GHz GaN distributed amplifier that
delivers 10 W of saturated output power, and the ARF1010Q4, a 20-30 GHz
1 Watt amplifier for 5G millimeter-wave infrastructure and 24 GHz ISM
applications...
 If you think electric cars are a new idea,
read on. I saw this article, "The
Amazing Collection in Thomas Edison's Garage," on another website (the equivalent
of Jay Leno's Garage from a century ago) and thought it was a special
report, but then I noticed it was actually a paid promotion. So, I contacted the
company, B.R. Howard & Associates, Inc., asking for permission to re-post it
in its entirety on RF Cafe. They kindly agreed to it. Per their mission statement:
"Our company focuses on the conservation of historic artifacts in accordance with
the principles defined in the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and
Artistic Works Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice." Their portfolio of projects
include...
 Artech House today announced the release
of Artech House today announced the release
Deep Learning for Radar and Communications Automatic Target Recognition
by U. Majumder, E. Blasch and D. This exciting resource identifies technical
challenges, benefits, and directions of Deep Learning based object classification
using radar data (i.e., SAR and High range resolution Radar / HRR data). An overview
of machine learning (ML) theory to include a history, background primer, and example
and performance of ML algorithm (i.e., DL method) on video imagery is provided.
Radar data with issues of collection, application, and examples for SAR/HRR data
and communication signals analysis is also discussed. Practical considerations of
deploying such techniques, including performance evaluation, hardware issues, and
the future unresolved issues are presented. Special intro price available for
a short time.
 An engineer friend wrote saying he is in immediate need of 50
pieces of the Cree
CMPA0060025F, 25 W, 20-6000 MHz, GaN MMIC power amplifier. If you
can supply any quantity, please contact me at kirtrfc@aol.com
to let me know. Time is of the essence. Thank you very much!
 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.
 After reading so many articles about vintage
vacuum tube radios and TVs in the older electronics magazines, it makes me appreciate
the relatively trouble-free products we enjoy today thanks to semiconductor technology.
Monthly columns were filled with troubleshooting advice and tips for making modifications
to factory designs that will enhance performance and/or reduce the likelihood of
premature failure. Although many tubes did outlast the lifetime of the chassis in
which they were installed, it was pretty much a given expectation that sooner or
later some
tubes would need to be replaced - that is why they were the only components
that came installed in sockets for easy removal and installation. Fortunately, because
of the huge volumes produced, prices were relatively low, and many stores - not
just electronics shops - had self-serve...
 "With some technical panache, one of The
Aerospace Corporation's CubeSats maneuvered itself within 22 meters of its sibling
CubeSat and snapped a series of photos while orbiting at 17,000 miles per hour.
This incredibly difficult technology demonstration, performed by a satellite the
size of a tissue box, paves the way for future inspection or servicing missions.
'AeroCube-10
is by far the smallest spacecraft to have accomplished a rendezvous and proximity
operation so close,' said Catherine Venturini, an Aerospace Senior Project Leader
and team lead..."
 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 13,000 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. If you need your company news to be seen, RF Cafe is the place
to be. Advertising begins at $40/month.
 TotalTemp Technologies has more than 40
years of combined experience providing thermal platforms.
Thermal Platforms are
available to provide temperatures between −100°C and +200°C for cryogenic cooling,
recirculating circulating coolers, temperature chambers and temperature controllers,
thermal range safety controllers, space simulation chambers, hybrid benchtop chambers,
custom systems and platforms. Manual and automated configurations for laboratory
and production environments. Please contact TotalTemp Technologies today to learn
how they can help your project.
 Most Ham radio operators know that Franklin
D. Roosevelt issued an order during World War II that effectively suspended
the hobby of amateur radio for the duration of the war. Many guys sold or donated
equipment to the military and/or civil defense organizations out of a sense of patriotism.
The
Radio Corporation of America (RCA) gave a symbolic tip of the hat to them in
this advertisement that I scanned from the back cover of my copy of the April 1945
QST magazine. Of course RCA pitched the ruggedness of its vacuum tubes
in the process. By this edition's printing, there was a general sense that the war
was nearing an end and eager Hams would not have to wait much longer to re-engage
in their beloved hobby. Indeed, the next month Germany surrendered and four months
after that Japan surrendered. WWII was over at long last...
 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.
 August 2nd's custom
Communications Engineering crossword puzzle contains some words particular to
radio, radar, analog and digital circuits, components, and other tech-themed words
and clues. Each week for two decades I have created a new technology-themed crossword
puzzle using only words (1,000s of them) from my custom-created lexicon related
to engineering, science, mathematics, chemistry, physics, astronomy, etc. 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...
 It has been a long time since I heard
this saying: "Well, they always say that if you want to find out the best and easiest
way of doing something, just put a lazy man at the job." Mac McGregor offered that
line to his service shop technician Barney - in jest of course - when Barney explains
his million dollar invention idea for a
fool-proof vacuum tube tester that can be used by just about anyone. Mac's Radio
Service Shop creator John Frye often used the monthly techno-drama to introduce
some good ideas for new inventions and/or new methods for troubleshooting problems.
Somewhere along the line I think I have seen an advertisement for a tube tester
that used the automation concept dreamed up by Barney...
 "How
radios can use neural networks to adapt to alien environments. Space seems empty
and therefore the perfect environment for radio communications. Don't let that fool
you: There's still plenty that can disrupt radio communications. Earth's fluctuating
ionosphere can impair a link between a satellite and a ground station. The materials
of the antenna can be distorted as it heats and cools. And the near-vacuum of space
is filled with low-level ambient radio emanations, known as cosmic noise, which
come from distant quasars, the sun, and the center of our Milky Way galaxy. This
noise also includes the cosmic microwave background radiation, a ghost..."
 This is a different type of
electronics-related quiz from Quizmaster Robert P. Balin. Mr. Balin
created many monthly quizzes for Popular Electronics magazine. Here you
are provided a series of images and a list of men's first names, and you need to
match the image to the name. There are nine in all. Sure, it's kind of hokey (especially
B and I), but it is a good Friday afternoon challenge to help pass the time until
the weekend begins. Enjoy.
 Anatech Electronics offers the industry's
largest portfolio of high-performance standard and customized
RF and microwave filters and filter-related products for military, commercial,
aerospace and defense, and industrial applications up to 40 GHz. Our 902 MHz
ISM cavity notch filter part number AE902N2246 is a high performance ISM band notch
filter exhibiting a very sharp roll off and low insertion loss in the passbands
below and above the notch portion. Notch frequency range is 892-912 MHz, notch
rejection is ≥40 dB, passband low side of notch is DC-882 MHz, passband
high side of notch: 922-2700 MHz. Part number AE18000SSH6615 has a cutoff frequency
of 18 GHz and a passband frequency of 18~40 GHz. The passband insertion
loss: ≤2.0 dB @18~19.5 GHz and ≤1.0 dB @19.5~40 GHz. Custom
RF power directional coupler designs...
Tutorial: Half Band Filters
 I have to admit to not being familiar with
half-band filters, so this article entitled "Tutorial:
Half Band Filters" posted by Ain Rehman on the High Frequency Electronics website
was a good introduction.
Wikipedia defines the
half-band filter thusly: "In digital signal processing, half-band filters are widely
used for their efficiency in multi-rate applications. A half-band filter is a low-pass
filter that reduces the maximum bandwidth of sampled data by a factor of 2 (one
octave). When multiple octaves of reduction are needed, a cascade of half-band filters
is common. And when the goal is downsampling, each half-band filter needs to compute
only half as many output samples as input samples. It follows from the filter's
definition that its transition region..."
 Withwave manufactures an extensive line
of metrology quality coaxial test cable assemblies, connectors (wave-, end-, vertical-launch,
board edge, panel mount), calibration kits (SOLT), a
fully automated 4-port vector network analyzer
(VNA) calibrator, between- and in-series connector adaptors, attenuators, terminations,
DC blocks, torque wrenches, test probes & probe positioner. Special test fixtures
for calibration and multicoax cable assemblies. Frequency ranges from DC through
110 GHz. Please contact Withwave today to see how they can help your project
succeed.
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