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Today in Science History -
 Guerrilla RF, a
leading provider of high performance MMICs, today introduces GRF2073-W, a new addition
to the company's growing list of
AEC-Q100 automotive-qualified amplifiers. This
ultra-low noise amplifier is targeted at high-volume applications, with first-stage
satellite radio LNAs and GPS modules being prime examples. It is offered in an industry-standard,
ultra-small 2.0 x 2.0 mm DFN-8 package thus sharing a common pin out with other
infrastructure-class devices from Guerrilla RF. "Guerrilla RF is proud to offer
this new amplifier for automotive applications which addresses an industry need
for a cost-effective, first-stage LNA delivering outstanding RF performance with
low power ...
 You've probably heard the old saying
regarding
"getting it into gear," when attempting to motivate a company, person, or
group of people who are stuck in an intractable rut to start moving in a new
direction. A couple years ago I ran across a drawing similar to the one shown
here. It was on a technical venue where whoever used it should have
recognized that as shown, the meshed gears would never move due to a rotation
direction conflict (see my arrows). I posted a screen shot of it here on RF
Cafe. The scheme as depicted is antithetical to the concept of motion. In fact,
it is the very epitome of being locked in place with no hope of moving (other
than slop between the cogs). Sadly - and I hate to even draw attention to it -
the image shown appeared in the March 2019 issue of the ARRL's
QST magazine. I know for a fact those guys are way, way
smarter than I am, so how it slipped past the editors is a mystery. BTW, the
other entity eventually corrected its mistake by "unmeshing" the three gears. ...
 San Francisco
Components (SFC) has updated its
printed circuit board (PCB) turnkey assembly capabilities. Full
turnkey PCB assembly through SFC reduces the customer's responsibility to source
components (and the surrounding issues), manage the bill of materials (BOM), inventory,
and logistics associated that can be encountered when working with a PCB assembly
partner. SFC's turnkey and partial turnkey or consigned assembly options are designed
to meet the individual needs of their customers, depending on how much of the assembly
process they want to manage versus outsource. SFC's turnkey PCB specialists can
help guide customers through the benefits of each approach and ultimately
deliver the optimal product and service ...
 "Designed for use in closed HF RFID systems,
PragmatIC's PR1101 and PR1102 flexible integrated circuits (FlexICs) are the first products in the company’s ConnectIC family.
Developed using PragmatIC's unique platform of patented technologies, ConnectICs
deliver connectivity solutions at the lowest cost point in the market, claims the
manufacturer, delivering an ultra-thin and flexible solution that can be embedded
into a wide range of substrates, including paper and plastic. The devices reduce
the complexity of inlays by using single layer antennas, delivering a further step
down in cost to brand owners and retailers. These ConnectICs are extremely 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 ...
 Just about everyone who has worked in the
radar field for a long time is familiar with the name of
Dr. Robert M. Page. He was the first to come up with the concept of
monopulse radar, and he invented the familiar Plan Position Indicator (PPI) radar
display and the RF duplexer which allows one antenna to be connected to both the
transmitter and the receiver. Amazingly, I recently received an e-mail from Dr. Page's
son, John Page. An interest in his father's career combined with insight that only
growing up under the loving care of Dr. Page can provide has afforded him some
unique tidbits of information that many (most, per John) historical accountings
omit. Rather than me summarizing his letter, you will want to read it yourself as
presented below. World War II aficionados will particularly appreciate the
information. John pays homage to his father's co-workers ...
 VidaRF, a manufacturer of high performance
RF and microwave high performance isolators, circulators, power dividers, couplers,
and other passive components, is proud to introduce the
VDC-05180-XX line of Directional Couplers with SMA connector, operating from
0.5 to 18 GHz. It is available with coupling value of 10 dB, 20 dB
and 30 dB and can handle up to 50 watts of RF power. VidaRF's product
line includes drop-in, coaxial, and waveguide configurations for many items. Custom
designs available ...
 I don't know about the rest of the country,
but this Monday morning in Erie, Pennsylvania, is cold and snowy. That means people
going to work had to shovel their driveways, maybe brush snow and ice off their
windows, and brave hazardous conditions on the streets on the way to the office.
Moods are understandably less than jovial and nerves might be shot. For those of
you who identify with this scenario, these
electronics-themed comics from a couple vintage Radio & Television News
magazines might help assuage your anxieties. The same goes for those who are in
Southern California and managed to arrive safely from a commute on the notoriously
unfriendly highways there. As with many of these old comics, you have to be privy
to the mindset of the day to fully appreciate the topic. TV repair was big business
and people were fascinated with the boob tube innovation rapidly consuming the attention
of domestic dwellers ...
 "A team of researchers at the University
of Chicago has developed a circuit platform for the exploration of quantum matter
made of strongly interacting
microwave photons. In their paper published in the journal Nature,
the group outlines their platform and how it might be used. As part of the effort
to create a useful quantum computer, scientists have been investigating superconducting
circuits, which are controllable, have long coherence times and have strong interactions
- characteristics required when studying quantum materials with microwave photons.
The researchers note also that photon losses ..."
 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. Take a couple minutes to visit their website and see how
IPP can help you today ...
 Beginning in 2000, I have created hundreds
of custom technology-themed crossword puzzles for the brain-exercising benefit and
pleasure of RF Cafe visitors who are fellow cruciverbalists. The jury is out on
whether or not this type of mental challenge helps keep your gray matter from atrophying
in old age, but it certainly helps maintain your vocabulary and cognitive skills
at all ages. A database of thousands of words has been built up over the years and
contains only clues and terms associated with engineering, science, physical, astronomy,
mathematics, chemistry, etc. 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 start like Hedy Lamarr or a geographical
location like Tunguska, Russia, for reasons which, if you don't already know, might
surprise you ...
 John T. Frye's monthly "Mac's
Radio Service Shop" techno-drama, written in story form - was usually an incognito
lesson on circuit functionality or troubleshooting, how to deal with customers,
industry regulations and news, or an introduction to new components and equipment.
As the "Unusual New Equipment" title suggests, this time Mac described a few new
items added to the service shop to aid in their work. Often when reading one of
the episodes, I do a Google search on specific components or equipment mentioned
in the article. He describes a special-purpose CRT (Sylvania's new 5AXP4 Television
Receiver Check Tube) that could be used universally for troubleshooting in place
of a wide variety of installed picture tubes. I found one for sale on eBay for $39.95.
There is not much you cannot find on eBay if you watch long enough ...
 ConductRF offers an extensive line of
RF and mixed signal cable harnesses and assemblies with custom configurations,
lengths and markings. Thousands of combinations of coaxial, power, and digital and
analog signal connectors available. Flexible phase-stable, low-loss, phase-matching,
high power, and other options per your requirements. Broad insert connector solution
choices including BMA, SMPM, for cable sizes #8, #12 & #16 Custom marking and
ruggedization enhancements capability. Contact ConductRF today and let us help your
project ...
 Not very long ago I mentioned
Jean
Shepherd (original assignee of W9QWN and later K2ORS call signs) as being one
of my favorite old-time radio broadcasters (1960s-1970s). Jean was famous for recounting
stories of his own life and for reporting news of the time in a way that could hold
you in rapt attention from beginning to end. His humor, wit, and command of the
English language was acknowledged by his contemporaries. If you listen to enough
of his broadcasts you will notice the frequent mention of electronics and his experiences
as a licensed amateur radio operator beginning at a tender young age. Just recently
I listened to him recount his first day in high school when a SNAFU in the computer-generated
(must have been a UNIVAC) class schedule mistakenly had him reporting to the girls'
swimming pool ...
 Rohde & Schwarz USA (R&S USA) has
published an application note titled, "Group
Delay Measurements with Signal and Spectrum Analyzers." The available bandwidth
of RF channels are often limited by the bandpass characteristic of filters, amplifiers
and mixers. Detecting amplitude flatness and phase distortion is crucial in characterizing
the quality of a transmission channel. The amplitude flatness within the used bandwidth
may have an influence on the signal quality. Knowledge about phase distortion is
essential to maintain low bit error rates in data transmissions and VNAs (Vector
Network Analyzer) commonly perform amplitude flatness and phase distortion measurements.
Phase distortions in a transmission channel are determined using group delay measurements,
they must be as low as possible to maintain good signal quality ...
 "A team of scientists has discovered the
first robust example of a
new
type of magnet - one that holds promise for enhancing the performance of data
storage technologies. This 'singlet-based' magnet differs from conventional magnets,
in which small magnetic constituents align with one another to create a strong magnetic
field. By contrast, the newly uncovered singlet-based magnet has fields that pop
in and out of existence, resulting in an unstable force - but also one that potentially
has more flexibility than conventional counterparts. 'There's a great deal of research
these days into the use of magnets and magnetism to improve data storage technologies,'
explains Andrew ..."
 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 ...
 Having recently struggled a little with re-stringing
the dial cord on a vintage Realistic (Radio Shack) Patrolman−50 Radio, it really
became apparent why the
Sams Photofact Folders were of such value to electronics servicemen. Unlike
the tangled mess of dial cord shown in the ad, I had the advantage of being able
to carefully open the chassis and photograph the routing and wrapping of the broken
dial cord around pulleys and shafts. Even so, a lack of experience required some
trial and error to get the tensioning correct. No doubt many unqualified radio owners
attempted to fix their own broken dial cords prior to breaking down and committing
to spending a few bucks to have a pro do it correctly. The tight quarters in my
portable radio had me using tweezers to do some of the routing ...
 My mother loved
Norman Rockwell
paintings for their ability to get to the heart of Americana. She was an avid
collector of books on Rockwell and decorated plates for display - as avid as one
can be on my newspaper classified ad manager father's feeble salary, anyway. I,
too, have a great appreciation for Rockwell's great talent to choose his subject
matter and models and to, when fitting, include a nearly photographic level of detail
within. The Saturday Evening Post magazine featured many of his works spanning from
1916 until 1971 - from the middle of World War I and on through World War II,
Korea, and Vietnam. Summer, spring, fall, and winter; Christmas, Easter, Veteran's
Day, President's Day, Mother's Day, New Year's, and other annual events; experiences
of love, happiness, joy, surprise, sadness, and a host of other emotions ...
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