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Sunday 20
 For the sake of avid
cruciverbalists amongst us, each week I create a new crossword puzzle that has a theme
related to engineering, mathematics, chemistry, physics, and other technical words. At least
12 clues in this puzzle with an asterisk (*) are pulled from this past week's
(8/14 - 8/18) "Tech Industry Headlines" column on the RF Cafe homepage. Enjoy! ...
Friday 18
 The January 1969 issue of Electronics World
magazine published an extensive list of
Japanese company trade names and their addresses. Many of them went out of business or
were bought by other corporations long ago, as occurs in all countries. I OCRed the company
names, but didn't bother with the addresses. You will see that "Craig" is listed twice, which
appears to be a typo where the first one should have been "Cardinal." "Aiwa" is also listed
twice, but that might have been a legitimate duplication due to separate locations. Aiwa stereo
equipment is now being serviced by Sony according to the Aiwa.com website. My first "real"
cassette ...
 "A new study led
by Michael P. Burke, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia Engineering,
has identified the significance of a new class of
chemical
reactions involving three molecules that each participate in the breaking and forming
of chemical bonds. The reaction of three different molecules is enabled by an 'ephemeral collision
complex,' formed from the collision of two molecules, which lives long enough ..."
 Hmmm.... let us see what made the front page of the
July 1, 1948 edition of Murray Hill, New Jersey's, The Madison Eagle newspaper: "Man Found
Dead, Wedged in Drain on Park Edge," "Lawyer Fined $50 on Zone Charge," and Sandra Dean Stevenson
had been born two weeks earlier. Oh, also included was "Invention
Replaces Vacuum Tube" and "Local Man Invents New Device in Electronics for Bell Lab; Could
Revolutionize Radio." Page 10 ran, "Bell Laboratory Releases Data on Newly Invented Transistor."
It is widely known that Drs. Brattain, Shockley, and Bardeen formerly announced on December
23, 1947, within the walls of Bell Labs ...
 Modelithics and Vanguard Electronics recently collaborated
to develop
s-parameter models for multiple inductor and transformer components from Vanguard. Associated
s-parameter files are also available* to designers as free downloads, from Modelithics' website,
for use in RF design simulations. The s-parameter models are conveniently included in the
SPAR Library contained within the Modelithics® COMPLETE Library. The new s-parameter models
and S-parameter data files are now ...
 "Light
particles (photons) occur as tiny, indivisible portions. Many thousands of these light portions
can be merged to form a single super-photon if they are sufficiently concentrated and cooled.
The individual particles merge with each other, making them indistinguishable. Researchers
call this a photonic Bose-Einstein condensate. It has long been known that normal atoms form
such condensates. Prof. Martin Weitz from the Institute of Applied Physics at the University
of Bonn attracted attention among experts ..."
Thursday 17
 If you do a search on solid state inductors, you will
not find much with a date later than the time when this article appeared in Electronics
World in 1969. It appears a patent was issued in 1965, but the concept seems to never
have caught on. The theory and construction is simple enough according to the information
here. Fundamentally, it involves exploiting the properties of a Hall device when loaded with
capacitive or inductive loads to effect inductive or capacitive properties, respectively.
The ability to integrate capacitive elements into
solid state substrates means the current and voltage phase relationship of an inductor
can be obtained in an IC without a physical inductive ...
 Based on its recent analysis of the universal serial
bus (USB) vector network analyzer (VNA) industry, Frost & Sullivan recognizes
Copper Mountain Technologies (CMT) with the 2017 Global Frost & Sullivan Award for
Product Leadership. The imminent move of many Internet of Things (IoT) technologies from research
to commercialization is expected to drive the demand for lower cost instrumentation over the
next 5 to 10 years. CMT is well positioned to make the most of this opportunity with a strong
and established USB VNA offering that is coupled with superior customer support ...
 1937 was one of the years where radio receivers boasted
major technology advances. American and European households had by then finely crafted wooden-cased
radios as the centerpiece of their living rooms, and decent reception was the norm if reasonable
care was exercised when installing the antenna and avoiding static-generating appliances.
The market was ready for and receptive to whiz-bang new features like automatic stations tuning,
"Magic Eye" indicators, and high fidelity sound. This
Philco
model sported all those features and more. Of course electronics service shops loved the sophisticated
electromechanical ...
•
Philco
Model '37-116 (Shadometer) and 122 (Dial Tuning) •
RCA
Victor Models 9T and K2, 5- to 566-Meter (Beam Power Output) Set
 "A major goal in the field of
molecular electronics, which aims to use single molecules as electronic
components, is to make a device where a quantized, controllable flow of charge can be achieved
at room temperature. A first step in this field is for researchers to demonstrate that single
molecules can function as reproducible circuit elements such as transistors or diodes that
can easily operate at room temperature ..."
 "Researchers have demonstrated the transmission of
two separate video signals through a
terahertz
multiplexer at a data rate more than 100 times faster than today's fastest cellular data
networks. Multiplexing, the ability to send multiple signals through a single channel, is
a fundamental feature of any voice or data communication system ..."
Wednesday 16
 Close out this Wednesday with a
tech-themed comic from a 1972 issue of Popular Electronics magazine. Those of
you who entered the engineering realm sometime after the 1990s might not recognize the strange
looking surface the guy is sitting behind. It was an early tabletop touch-type display where
the stylus with which the user created an image (drawing) was a wooden stick with a round
shaft of graphite located coaxially in the center. The pointed, relatively soft tip wore down
rather quickly and required frequent reshaping to maintain a constant pixel width in the lines.
Portions of drawings made on those devices could only be erased and redrawn a few times ...
 "IBM T. J. Watson Research Center in the USA has been
exploring controlled
spalling as a method for transferring thin layers of gallium nitride (GaN)
from bulk and free-standing substrates. The researchers see the process as potentially contributing
to the application in power electronics, where at present there are difficulties in thinning
GaN to increase thermal conductivity ..."
 Author Thomas Haskett uses this space in a 1969 issue
of Electronics World to clear up misconceptions about how stereo
FM radio broadcasts are accomplished. It is not only about the mechanics of frequency
modulation itself - terms like frequency deviation and modulation index (often erroneously
confused or equated) - but also pre-emphasis, SCA (Subsidiary Communications Authorization),
simplex and multiplex operation, sum and difference channels, etc. This is a good review of
FM broadcasting without all the messy mathematics on which engineers thrive ...
 Today's communication systems often use complex modulation
techniques with peak-to-average ratio (PAR) signals of 9 dB and higher, requiring power
amplifiers (PAs) in these systems to operate below the power levels that would yield optimum
power-added efficiency (PAE). This application note presents a modified three-level
Doherty amplifier as an alternative to the conventional three-way Doherty amplifier. The
operating principle of the modified amplifier, which produces good efficiency over the top
10 dB of operation, is explained and the design ...
 "U.S. military researchers are moving forward with a
project to revolutionize high-end integrated circuit
(IC) custom design for military and aerospace applications. Officials
of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., announced
AN $8.2 million contract modification Tuesday to the USC Information Sciences Institute (ISI)
in Los Angeles for phase-two options in the Circuit Realization at Faster Timescales ..."
 "The idea of substituting electrons with photons in
computing has led to a variety of approaches for achieving the promise of
speed-of-light computing. Not many of these schemes, however, have involved
devices in which electronic currents are optically switched and amplified only by light and
without the need for an electronic gate. Now a team of researchers at Korea University has
jumped into this largely untouched field with a nanowire-based ..."
Tuesday 15
 Poll:
Which RF Cafe Features Do You Find Useful? While there really is no easy way to determine
what the most popular features might be, your participation in the
poll
will provide at least some idea. You can post comments without needing to sign in. Thanks ...
 Talk about prescience on the part of a writer!
Electronics World magazine editor Walter Buchsbaum published this article in 1969 predicting
the wide-scale adoption of
electronic mail (e-mail) over a nationwide and even worldwide network. Interestingly,
he questioned whether e-mail could help lighten the U.S. Post Office's load. Part of the scheme
would include a joint effort by the USPS and Western Union whereby "Telegramletters" would
be sent long distance via telegram and then printed and delivered by the Post Office to the
final destination. It turns out to have practically crippled the USPS by usurping the vast
majority of personal and business first-class service. A wideband microwave network ...
 August issues of the most popular electronics and RF
magazines do not have a whole lot of really interesting (to me, anyway)
articles. One titled
Dead Meters Expose Battery Terminal Design Issues does strike a familiar
chord that is worth reading if for no other reason than to see the comments by readers. Just
about everyone has experienced the horror and inconvenience of opening a battery-powered device
and discovering ...
•
Microwave Material Measurements Without Cables •
Understanding Limitations of Modern Military Radio Testbeds •
mmWaves Hit
the Highway <more>
 You might think the world doesn't need another RF basics
book, but the fact is there are so many new people coming into the field that there is always
room for one more - particular a well-done edition like "RF Basics Handbook"
from Rigol Technologies. The PDF download is free, but you do need to fill out a submission
form. A replication of the table of contents give you an idea of all the topics covered. The
photos and drawings are very good quality. Of course the equipment used in the publication
are representative of Rigol's product line, but that's to be expected ...
 "Researchers have built a true
random number generator that they say could improve the security of printed
and flexible electronics. They made it from a static random-access memory cell printed with
a special ink containing carbon nanotubes. The memory cell uses fluctuations in thermal noise
to generate random bits. Generating random numbers within an electronic device is critically
important because random numbers are the basis ..."
Monday 14
 Here
is a really great idea that is long overdue. A lot of electronics devices that use standard
cylindrical cells like AA, C, and D, do not last long because the nominal voltage of rechargeable
NiCd and NiMH cells is 1.20-1.25 V, and most devices really are designed for 1.50 V
alkalines.
Batteroo ReBoost is a current Indiegogo (similar to Kickstarter)
project that is the brainchild of Frankie Roohparvar. He combines one or more rechargeable
cells into a standard case size along with an output regulator (and booster if needed) to
turn a 1.2 V cell into a 1.5 V cell. It appears units are shipping now. Batteroo
has received the Arrow Electronics Certification. If I had money to spare, I'd invest in them ...
 Few homeowners in the era of television antennas on
the roof had any knowledge at all about how the antenna and twin lead
transmission line system worked. Even those who were familiar with it only knew the basics
like keeping the transmission line away from metallic objects and properly terminating the
ends. This article in a 1970 issue of Popular Electronics described a method for
optimizing the antenna and transmission line in terms of impedance matching and using very
low loss open ladder line to optimize signal strength to the receiver. It is exactly the subject
(received signal strength) I recently lamented about being often ignored when discussing aspects
of ...
 "The Nanophotonics Lab at Arizona State University (Tempe),
working with Tsinghua University (Beijing), has demonstrated an on-chip CMOS communications
laser that the researchers say is the first to lase at room temperature. The team built the
proof-of-concept device without III-V compounds by placing a monolayer of molybdenum ditelluride
over a nanobeam
silicon cavity. Others have achieved monolayer ..."
 Saelig sells and supports a wide range
of electronic control and instrumentation equipment and components to customers ranging from
Fortune 500 industrial users, military, educational institutions and hospitals to individual
end-users. They've found remarkable test equipment and components from around the world with
specs or prices you won't find anywhere else. Please visit Saelig today for your test equipment
needs ...
 "The Pentagon has released its long-anticipated report
detailing plans to restructure the organizations that manage
acquisition and technology research for the Department of Defense. The
so-called Section 901 report, officially titled "Restructuring the Department of Defense Acquisition,
Technology and Logistics Organization and Chief Management Officer Organization," was delivered
to Congress on Aug. 1. The basic structures of the reorg were set by the 2017 National Defense ..."
Sunday 13
 For the sake of avid cruciverbalists amongst us, each
week I create a new
crossword puzzle that has a theme related to engineering, mathematics, chemistry, physics,
and other technical words. At least 12 lues in this puzzle with an asterisk (*)
are pulled from this past week's (8/7 - 8/11) "Tech Industry Headlines" column on the RF Cafe
homepage (see the
Headline Archives
page for help). Enjoy!
Friday 11
 "Employment of mechanical engineers is projected to
grow 5% through 2024, while some other engineering focuses will see higher employment growth
and some will see lower or no growth. Recent projections from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
indicate engineering jobs will grow 3% over the coming 7 years. While some disciplines such
as aerospace engineering will experience a small decline [including most electrical], jobs
for most engineering disciplines are on the rise. This is ..."
 I don't
normally abet promotions involving group identity angles, but since this article appeared
(perhaps not coincidently) around the date that Hedy Lamarr was awarded her patent for frequency
hopping spread spectrum (see the RF Cafe commemorative logo for
August 11), I decided to go ahead and link
to it. "Women in engineering have produced some of the greatest achievements in engineering,
yet most endured harsh inequalities - some of which continue today in various forms. Female
engineers will never have equal footing with their male counterparts. This is not to imply
anything in terms of ..."
 APC-7 (Amphenol Precision Connector - 7 mm) coaxial
connectors were standard on network analyzers by the time I entered the microwave design and
manufacturing field in the late 1980s. The test equipment we used for maintaining the S-band
airport surveillance radar in the USAF (early 1980s) used N coax connectors, and I cannot
recall what was used for the X-band precision approach radar. SMA coax connectors were developed
in the 1960s, same as the APC-7 connectors, but I don't remember seeing an SMA until I started
working for General Electric Aerospace Electronics Systems ...
 Aviat Networks, a trusted expert in microwave networking,
has an immediate opening for a
Transmission
Engineer to support the North American Sales and Delivery teams. Responsibilities include
desktop microwave designs for clients' proposed, and existing network optimization projects,
design of microwave radio paths in terms of antenna selection, center-line optimization, recommendation
of space diversity, site selection and, in some cases, recommendation of specific radio modulation
types and capacities. Additionally, you will perform site and path surveys to validate modeled
conditions for proposed microwave links by ...
 "I pass with relief from the tossing sea of Cause and
Theory to the firm ground of Result and Fact." - Winston L. Spencer Churchill,
The Story of the Malakand Field Force - An Episode of Frontier War, p60.
Other Notable Tech Quotes ...
 "Advances in modern electronics has demanded the requisite
hardware, transistors, to be smaller in each new iteration. Recent progress in nanotechnology
has reduced the size of silicon transistors down to the order of 10 nanometers. However, for
such small transistors, other physical effects set in, which limit their functionality. The
recent discoveries of topological materials - a new class of relativistic quantum materials
- hold great promise for use in energy saving electronics ..."
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