 Friday 23
 Always a good way to end a busy week, here
is a collection of
electronics-themed comics that appeared in a 1967 issue of Popular Electronics
magazine. A few of the artists you will recognize if you are a regular reader. Some
drawing styles are immediately identifiable, such as those by Dave Harbaugh (of
"Hobnobbing with Harbaugh" fame). Others, at least to me, are not quite so familiar.
Frank Tabor, George White, Stan Fine, and JAS (I'm sure I know those initials, but
can't place them) are amongst the others. I have to admit to not really knowing
what the gag is in the comic with the guy in his pajamas. The party guy is cutting
a wire to his ear buds ...
 Axiom Test Equipment, an electronic test equipment
rental and sales company, has published a blog that explains semiconductor measurements,
specifically, current-versus-voltage (I-V) characteristics and how semiconductors
will respond under different I-V conditions.
Semiconductor I-V testing is typically performed as a series of swept measurements,
with values of I and V changing for each measurement as a means of detecting any
trends in device performance under changing operating conditions. Read about which
specifications are key to consider when choosing an I-V tester for your project's
needs. Go over a few examples of I-V testers, a mainframe, and curve tracers which
provide the test energy levels ...
 Here is a different type of
quiz from Popular Electronics' master quiz-maker, Robert P. Balin.
Rather than the typical format where you need to match a word or another picture
with a picture, this one requires you to consider each description and decide whether
it best describes an inductive, capacitive, or reactive circuit. I confess to messing
up on question 20, because I couldn't remember whether a lagging power factor referred
to voltage lagging current or current lagging voltage. Hint: It refers to current
lagging voltage. Another hint: Remember the ELI the ICE man mnemonic ...
 This assortment of custom-designed themes
by RF Cafe includes T-Shirts, Mouse Pads, Clocks, Tote Bags, Coffee Mugs and Steins,
Purses, Sweatshirts, and Baseball Caps. Choose from amazingly clever "We Are the World's Matchmakers"
Smith chart design or the "Engineer's Troubleshooting Flow Chart." My "Matchmaker's"
design has been ripped off by other people and used on their products, so please
be sure to purchase only official RF Cafe gear. My markup is only a paltry 50¢
per item - Cafe Press gets the rest of your purchase price. These would make excellent
gifts for husbands, wives, kids, significant others, and for handing out at company
events or as rewards for excellent service. It's a great way to help support RF
Cafe. Thanks.
 RF Superstore is proud to announce its
new line of coaxial
RF Connector Short Circuits which has been added to our stock, with immediate
availability. Connector types include BNC, N, SMA / 2.5 mm, and TNC, both male
and female. When used in conjunction with our line of RF terminations, and through-type
RF connector adapters, they are useful for equipment calibration. RF Superstore
launched in 2017, marking the return of Murray Pasternack, founder of Pasternack
Enterprises, to the RF and microwave Industry. Pasternack fundamentally changed
the way RF components were sold. Partner Jason Wright manages day-to-day operations,
while working closely with Mr. Pasternack to develop ...
 "Once firmly rooted in its analog origins,
critical communications is now steadily evolving
to provide enhanced situational awareness. The latest public safety and military
communications (MilCom) radios are more versatile and reliable, supporting ad-hoc
networks to improve or enable connectivity. With higher-data-rate capabilities,
critical communications solutions can send and receive high-resolution images, videos,
and other types of data-intensive content. At the same time, they provide higher-quality
voice communications while maintaining security. To ensure communications and interoperability,
they still can support analog communications as a failsafe ..."
 Copper Mountain Technologies
develops innovative and robust RF test and measurement solutions for engineers all
over the world. Copper Mountain's extensive line of unique form factor
Vector Network Analyzers
include an RF measurement module and a software application which runs on any Windows
PC, laptop or tablet, connecting to the measurement hardware via USB interface.
The result is a lower cost, faster, more effective test process that fits into the
modern workspace in lab, production, field and secure testing environments.
Thursday 22
 Benjamin Franklin is credited with many inventions;
scientific experiments and discoveries; writings on science, government, and fiction;
skills as an orator and diplomat; printer of books and newspapers; business endeavors;
and for being the nation's first Postmaster General. Although we all are familiar
with his forays into things electrical in nature like flying kites in lightning
storms, this article from a 1968 issue of Popular Electronics introduces
us to what might have been the earliest "wireless" communications demonstration.
The scheme involved the equivalent of the old lab gag of charging up a large-valued
electrolytic capacitor and then tossing it to someone, resulting in a surprising
shock. As with many of you, I have been both the victim and purveyor of said mischief ...
 Anatech Electronics, an RF and microwave
filter company, has introduced a new line of suspended stripline and waveguide type
RF filters. Sam Benzacar wrote as part of Anatech's August newsletter about the
continued debate over whether exposure to cellphones causes cancer, diminished vision,
etc. His short op−ed entitled "Radiation Hazard Battles Continue Unabated" is likely
a response to the FCC's recent declaration that RF energy at 5G mm-wave frequencies
does not pose an increased health hazard over existing technologies. Millimeter-wave
energy is non-ionizing and does not penetrate the skin deeply enough to be an issue
at operational power levels. Also included are ...
 With the new R&S NGM200, Rohde &
Schwarz extends their range of
specialized power supplies. The models of the R&S NGM200 series offer new
features, which make them ideal for developing battery-powered equipment operating
at up to 20 V and drawing currents up to 6 A. Available as single-channel and two-channel
models: the R&S NGM200 power supplies. Being part of the same power supply family,
both the R&S NGL200 and the new R&S NGM200 series offer the same superb
performance and specifications to supply extremely stable outputs with a minimum
of residual ripple and noise. Devices that switch from a few µA in sleep mode to
several A in active mode benefit from the exceptionally fast load recovery time ...
 This is part of a series published by
Radio News and the Short-Wave magazine in the early 1930s. As with most topics
pertaining to electronics, the theory is still relevant and applicable to many modern
circuits and systems.
Piezoelectric principles are introduced for determining the frequency of oscillators.
I have to admit to not having heard of the 'pyroelectric' effect. A pyroelectric
crystal when heated or cooled develops charges on the extremities of its hemihedral
(another new word for me, meaning "exhibiting only half the faces required for complete
symmetry") axes. Types other than the familiar quartz include tourmaline, boracite,
topaz, Rochelle salts, and even sugar. Read on to learn more ...
 "Richard Clarke knows a few things about
clear and present dangers. He had already served under six presidents and been appointed
the U.S.'s first
counterterrorism czar when he joined the George
W. Bush White House, but when he tried to alert important decision-makers before
September 11 about the threat of a terrorist attack on U.S. soil, those warnings
were largely ignored. These days, Clarke is still trying to get Americans to think
hard about the next big attacks - and the ones that are quietly happening as you
read this sentence. Clarke's new book,
The Fifth Domain, written with cyber expert and
fellow White House veteran Robert Knake ..."
 ERZIA serves critical aerospace and defense
missions by designing and manufacturing RF, microwave,
and mm-wave amplifiers, integrated assemblies operating from low frequencies
up to 100 GHz, and by providing high reliable satellite communications. The
company was founded in 2002 to become a worldwide reference of advanced engineering,
performance, reliability and ruggedness. Their catalogue of standard amplifier modules
comprises more than 100 different models, having also a high capacity of customization
for amplifiers and integrated assemblies. Some of products have space heritage and
are used in aerospace, commercial, military and scientific systems, having a wide
range of final applications.
Wednesday 21
 By the time most of us who even remember
cathode ray tubes (CRTs) were first introduced to them, the technology and manufacturing
processes had been pretty much perfected - especially for the standard 525-line
resolution type. The NTSC published a standard for B&W television in 1941 and
then for color in 1953. This "Picture Tubes" article in a 1955 issue of Popular
Electronics provides a look inside a CRT manufacturing plant at General Electric.
If you want one of the best explanations I have ever seen on how a TV picture scan
is implemented, check out this video. If you don't understand raster scanning after
watching it, you never will. You might be surprised to learn that there were not
actually 525 lines of picture information, but that only about 480 to 487 lines
of picture were included - the rest were ...
 It's kind of hard to believe that by 1955,
the military was still very dependent on
wired radio communications for field use. This system, heralded as a technological
breakthrough for its ability to operate over a distance of 200 miles between units
(with the aid of repeater cells), weighed in at 178 pounds and "occupies only five
and a half cubic feet of space." A big part of the weight was probably due to the
lead-acid batteries that powered it, although there was likely an ability to hook
it up to a generator. A modulated carrier is credited with being able to stuff 12
channels into a single twisted pair of wires. No mention is made of whether any
sort of encryption (scrambling) of the signals was used. No mention was made of
the model number. If anyone out there can identify it, please let me know ...
 Ms. Cassie Stevens sent me an e-mail
alerting me to the Engineering Degree Guidance website. Per Cassie, "It is an online
resource for anyone who is looking for unbiased and professionally reviewed content
and recommendations for Engineering degree programs. Our team was created so we
can provide answers and all types of assistance needed to help improve the quality
of information to those looking for guidance on these degree options. Our content
is reviewed by top tier professors in the education and journalism spaces. Please
check out our highly regarded editorial team; they are listed on the homepage of
our website." Engineering Degree Guidance has been added to my list or related resources
on the Job Information Resources
page.
 This quiz is based on the information presented
in
Handbook of Dielectric and Thermal Properties of Materials at Microwave Frequencies,
by Theodore Anderson. This book is a wealth of information of dielectric characteristics
of biological tissues in plants, animals, as well as for ceramics, soils and minerals.
Particular attention is paid to properties in the ISM frequency bands. Extensive
sources for similar studies are provided. All RF Cafe quizzes would make perfect
fodder in employment interviews for technicians or engineers - particularly those
who are fresh out of school or are relatively new to the work world. Come to think
of it, they would make equally excellent study material for the same persons who
are going to be interviewed for a job.
 "Amid the fanfare around the announced Mott
insulating and superconducting states observed in
magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) in
the spring of 2018, the real excitement was around the questions the results left
unanswered - what were these states and what might they explain about other systems?
By measuring the capacitance of magic-angle TBG Pablo Jarillo-Herrero (who led the
research behind the observations announced in 2018) and Ray Ashoori, alongside colleagues
at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the U.S. and the National Institute
of Materials Science (NIMS) in Japan ..."
 Providing full solution service is our motto,
not just selling goods. RF & Connector Technology has persistently
pursued a management policy stressing quality assurance system and technological
advancement. From your very first contact, you will be supported by competent RF
specialists; all of them have several years of field experience in this industry
allowing them to suggest a fundamental solution and troubleshooting approach. Coaxial
RF connectors, cable assemblies, antennas, terminations, attenuators, couplers,
dividers, and more. Practically, we put priority on process inspection at each step
of workflow as well as during final inspection in order to actualize "Zero Defects."
Tuesday 20
 I find it interesting that "Project
Tinkertoy," so dubbed by the National Bureau of Standards (NBS - now the National
Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST), does not contain a trademark to acknowledge
the ownership of the Tinkertoy™ name. This 1955 Popular Electronics story doesn't
mention it, either. Tinkertoy has been around since 1914 and every boy I knew in
my neighborhood had at least one set - usually received as a Christmas gift. I had
a couple of them, as well as an Erector Set or two. That said, I believe that a
more appropriate name for the endeavor would have been "Project Lego™" because of
the way component blocks snap and stack together (with the help of a little solder) ...
 Rohde & Schwarz is offering a free wall
poster entitled, "Be Ahead in Connecting Everything LTE-M." This
is offered as part of their August "Wireless Testing Update" newsletter that covers
the R&S®CMW270 Wireless Connectivity Tester and a new whitepaper entitled, "White
Paper Power Saving Methods for LTE-M and NB-IoT Devices." "LTE-M and NB-IoT are
LTE based internet of things (IoT) technologies. Both require long battery lifetime
to ensure IoT services and minimize maintenance costs in the future. This white
paper describes the possible power-saving methods for LTE-M and NB-IoT devices and
gives a guideline of their applicability ..."
 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 (of course
a gratuity will be graciously accepted). 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 ...
 Shortly before Christmas, 1947, the experimental
work of Bell Laboratories scientists John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William
Shockley resulted in the world's first
semiconductor transistor. With proper biasing, the germanium transistor demonstrated
an ability to produce signal gain. The signal fed to the base resulted in a higher
amplitude signal at the collector. Voila, the device which would ultimately replace
the vacuum electron tube had been invented. The rest, as they say, is history. Aside
from a few high power applications, the only new equipment produced that uses vacuum
tubes are retro things like audio amplifiers and simple receivers. Of course, there
is still a large cadre of vacuum tube users in the Amateur Radio real and vintage
equipment restorers. If you have never watched a chassis full of tubes turn on and
begin glowing ...
India's Chandrayaan 2 Spacecraft
Entered Lunar Orbit
 "India's
Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft entered lunar orbit on Tuesday, executing
one of the trickiest maneuvers on its historic mission to the Moon. After four weeks
in space, the craft completed its Lunar Orbit Insertion as planned, the Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement. The insertion 'was completed successfully
today at 0902 hrs IST (0332 GMT) as planned, using the onboard propulsion system.
The duration of manoeuver was 1738 seconds,' the national space agency said. India
is seeking to become just the fourth nation after Russia, the United States and
China to land a spacecraft on the Moon ..."
 Rohde & Schwarz develops, produces and
markets
test & measurement, information and communications technology.
Focus is on test and measurement, broadcast and media, cybersecurity, secure communications,
monitoring and network testing. Markets serviced are wireless, the automotive industry,
aerospace and defense, industrial electronics, research and education, broadcast
and media network operations, consumer electronics, cybersecurity for business and
governments, communications and security solutions for critical infrastructures
and the armed forces, reconnaissance equipment for homeland and external security,
and much more.
Monday 19
 Along with an update to the
Analog-to-Digital Converter
(aka ADC or A2D) formulas page, a new worksheet has been added to the
RF Cafe Calculator Workbook (v7.8) that will do all the calculations for you.
lots of information is
 available out the on the Web for ADCs, but
two of the parameters you need to include them in receiver component cascade calculations,
noise figure (NF) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), can be difficult to find. Using
well-honed search skills, (chough, cough), I located and posted them so as to make
your life easier. Now, when you are using the amazingly fantastic
RF Cascade Workbook by RF Cafe, you can plug those quantities in along with
the filters, mixers, amplifiers, etc. You're welcome.
 Genius
takes on many forms, not the least of which is the ability to concoct and compose
an [almost] believable a story describing in the utmost detail the technical workings
of a complex mechanical gadget. Items such as a mizule wrench, meta-phasic shielding,
blinker fluid, a left-handed screwdriver, and - one of my favorites - the muffler
bearing, have been heard in comic routines... er... routinely. No matter how many
times you hear them you always laugh again. Some are actually a portmanteau and
just sound funny while others are completely made up. This
Digital Decabulator article that appeared in
a 1966 issue of R/C Modeler magazine is amazing; it pegs the B.S. detector
from beginning to end ...
 Keysight has just published a new whitepaper
entitled "3 Key Challenges Implementing and Testing MIMO and
Beamforming in 5G Base Stations and Components" that is available as a free
download. "As 5G New Radio (NR) moves from the definition and specification phase
into development, enabling technologies such as MIMO, and beamforming are critical.
Engineers will use active phased array antennas to implement MIMO and beamforming
in base stations and devices. In fact, these active antennas are critical to overcome
signal propagation issues, such as higher path loss at millimeter wave frequencies.
They also provide the ability to dynamically shape and steer beams to specific users.
Active antennas ..."
 Radio-Craft magazine ran a monthly series
of short articles paying tribute to some of the shakers and movers in the field
of science - this time it was
Sir Oliver Lodge. "While Hertz was discovering radio waves in air, Lodge was
determining the laws of the corresponding activity which takes place in electrical
conductors. It was Lodge who demonstrated the possibility of radio communication,
experimentally, as Marconi did its commercial value - just as Henry created the
telegraph and Morse made it of practical utility." See other "Men Who Made Radio"
features on ...
 Please take a few moments to
visit the
everythingRF website to see how they can assist
you with your project. everythingRF is a product discovery platform for RF and microwave
products and services. They currently have 227,460 products from more than 1210
companies across 285 categories in their database and enable engineers to search
for them using their customized parametric search tool. Amplifiers, test equipment,
power couplers and dividers, coaxial connectors, waveguide, antennas, filters, mixers,
power supplies, and everything else. Please visit everythingRF today to see how
they can help you.
Sunday 18
 This RF Cafe
Engineering & Technical Headlines Crossword Puzzle contains at least 10
words from headlines posted on the homepage during the week of August 12 through
August 16, 2019 (marked with an asterisk*). These custom-made engineering and science-themed
crossword puzzles are done weekly for the brain-exercising benefit and pleasure
of RF Cafe visitors who are fellow cruciverbalists. Every word and clue - without
exception - in these RF Cafe puzzles has been personally entered into a very large
database that encompasses engineering, science, physical, astronomy, mathematics,
chemistry, etc. Let me know if you would like a custom crossword puzzle built for
your company, school, club, etc. (no charge).
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