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Tuesday the 21st
 Using
charts and nomographs to solve calculations is not as common in today's world
of portable high-powered computers as it was when computers used vacuum tubes or
even mechanical gears. One exception might be the Smith chart, especially in the
lab or field. You can plug numbers into a programmable calculator or tablet app,
but having the solution presented in the form of a number gives you only that -
a number. That's usually good enough, but if you are doing troubleshooting or tweaking
a design, being able to see how the value got to be what it is by seeing what's
around it can be very helpful. The Smith chart is a particularly good example when
watching the complex impedance point move around...
 "Fake
chips present a huge issue for manufacturing companies trying to source ICs from
non-traditional channels. One tool helps simplify the detection process. With the
current worldwide chip shortage, manufacturers are desperately scrambling to keep
their production lines going for electronics goods and automobiles. One solution
many companies are turning to is the so-called 'gray market' - non-authorized suppliers
of obsolete and excess component stocks. While this can be a quick fix, it presents
a problem that's challenging to detect and eliminate:
counterfeit ICs. For instance, a Massachusetts man was sentenced a few years
ago to 37 months in prison for importing thousands of counterfeit integrated circuits
from China and Hong Kong, which were resold to U.S. Navy contractors..."
 Withwave, a leading designer, developer,
and manufacturer of a broad range of RF & Microwave test solutions and subsystems
with a focus on electromagnetic field analysis and RF & microwave signal processing,
is proud to announce personnel and equipment has moved operations into a new facility.
Withwave's extensive product portfolio serves four primary target markets: Wireless
communications, Test & Instrumentation, Automated Test Equipments, Network Systems.
Applications for our products in these target markets include cellular phones and
base stations, data networking, Semiconductor and telecommunications equipment and
factory automation...
 Mr. Einstein believed everything is relative,
and this 1963 Popular Electronics magazine article on the revolution of
"microminiature
electronics" certainly attests to the truth of it. Unlike with his Theory of
Special Relativity though, travel near the speed of light is not needed to witness
length contraction in the electronics realm; the passage of time and its attendant
evolution of technology does that for us. Today's definition of "microelectronics"
will to our progeny seem laughingly absurd when they read about (or more likely
have wirelessly implanted in their brain's memory cells) our current transistor
gate widths of tens of atoms. BTW, Lilliput, in case you don't know, is the island
nation of Gulliver's Travels...
 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...
 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!
Monday the 20th
 Take a look at the list of National Company's
employee list wishing their customers a
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Every one of them is a licensed Ham radio
operator. It appeared in the January 1942 issue of ARRL's QST magazine,
but was for the 1941 Christmas. National Company was a major producer of amateur
radio gear in the day. Little did they suspect when the magazine went to print that
by the time readers received it, America would be newly engaged in World War II
after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Many of the names
would be different in1943 due to employees going off to fight the war in the European,
Pacific, and North African Theaters of Operation...
 "Today, IBM and Samsung Electronics jointly
announced a breakthrough in semiconductor design utilizing a new
vertical transistor architecture that demonstrates a path to scaling beyond
nanosheet, and has the potential to reduce energy usage by 85% compared to a scaled
fin field-effect transistor (finFET)1. The global semiconductor shortage has highlighted
the critical role of investment in chip research and development and the importance
of chips in everything from computing, to appliances, to communication devices,
transportation systems, and critical infrastructure. This collaborative approach
to innovation makes the Albany Nanotech Complex a world-leading ecosystem for semiconductor
research and creates a strong innovation pipeline, helping to address manufacturing
demands and accelerate the growth of the global chip industry..."
 TVDXing was a very popular sport in the 1950s
through about the 1970s. As the name suggests, it involved attempting to receive
television broadcast stations from as far away as possible from your location -
akin to Short Wave Listeners (SWLers) who used radios with the same objective. If
you were around back when over-the-air TV was the primary form of broadcast (before
or during the early years of cable TV), late at light you were likely able to pull
in stations - especially UHF - that were sometimes hundreds of miles away. An antenna
rotator increased the chances of doing so. Living near Annapolis, I definitely remember
getting among others TV stations from Philadelphia, PA, and Richmond, VA. At the
time I did not know there was such a thing as TVDXing - it was just a curiosity.
Serious DXers went to great lengths to claim success, as related in this 1957 issue
of Radio−Electronics magazine. Studying atmospheric propagation tables, monitoring
live reports...
 "Berkeley
Nucleonics is happy to donate a full bench of test equipment, from multi-channel
oscilloscopes to arbitrary waveform generators, to Montana State University for
a new experiments lab encouraging young electrical engineers. The benchtop gear
will allow students to test a variety of circuits and conduct experiments IRL.
Contact Berkeley Nucleonics now for free academic courses online or to outfit your
own test bench..."
 "Wakanda, the mythical setting for Marvel's
superhero film 'Black Panther,' is home to some not-so-mythical technology. An indestructible
cape might not yet be possible, but Wakanda's levitating high-speed trains could
zoom into reality with the help of
superconductors. Now, a new discovery about electron behavior may represent
a step toward that superpowered world. Superconductors give electrons - and, therefore,
electricity - resistance-free highways. They have the potential to create power
lines that permit super-fast transmission without shedding energy, enhance imaging
technologies like MRIs, and levitate more than trains. But most of today's fledgling
superconductors require extremely cold temperatures to work. And while some scientists
hope to find an answer in the right combination of materials, the solution might
be hidden in how electrons move, not only what they move through. In a study published
in PNAS, a team of scientists..."
 With more than 1000
custom-built stencils, this has got to be the most comprehensive set of
Visio Stencils available for RF, analog, and digital system and schematic
drawings! Every object has been built to fit proportionally on the provided
A-, B- and C-size drawing page templates (or can use your own). Stencils are provided
for equipment racks and test equipment, system block diagrams, conceptual drawings,
and schematics. Unlike previous versions, these are NOT Stencils, but instead are
all contained on tabbed pages within a single Visio document. That puts everything
in front of you in its full glory. Just copy and paste what you need on your drawing.
The file format is XML so everything plays nicely with Visio 2013 and later...
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.
Sunday the 19th
 This
Radio Theme Christmas Crossword Puzzle for December 19th has many words and
clues related to RF, microwave, and mm-wave engineering, optics, mathematics, chemistry,
physics, and other technical subjects. There is also a holiday greeting contained
within. As always, this crossword contains no names of politicians, mountain ranges,
exotic foods or plants, movie stars, or anything of the sort unless it/he/she is
related to this puzzle's technology theme (e.g., Reginald Denny or the Tunguska
event in Siberia). The technically inclined cruciverbalists amongst us will appreciate
the effort. Enjoy...
Axiom Test Equipment allows you to
rent or
buy test equipment,
repair
test equipment, or sell or trade test equipment. They are committed to providing
superior customer service and high quality electronic test equipment. Axiom offers
customers several practical, efficient, and cost effective solutions for their projects'
TE needs and is committed to providing superior customer service and high quality
electronic test equipment. For anyone seeking a way to offload surplus or obsolete
equipment, they offer a trade-in program or they will buy the equipment from you.
Some vintage items are available fully calibrated. Please check out Axiom Test Equipment
today!
Friday the 17th
 If you are familiar with Saunder Harris'
"After Class" stories for Popular Electronics magazine, you know they were
written in the form of a story that describes a mentor mentoring a mentee (yes,
mentee is a real word). "The
Load Line Story" presents a quick lesson on how to determine the operational
points of in this case a vacuum tube, but it applies equally well to a transistor.
If you have had a difficult time conceptualizing the usefulness of I-V curves a
load line, then this might be just what you need to get you going. Sure, all the
designers out there do this in their sleep, but remember that every day there are
new people getting into electronics and this is what they are looking for to help
get them on the path to where you are...
 "The
biggest antenna on the planet is up and running in central China, opening up
long-distance communications with submarines as well as civilian applications, according
to engineers and scientists involved in the project. The exact location of the facility
has not been revealed, but is believed to be somewhere in the Dabie Mountains, a
protected natural reserve straddling Hubei, Anhui and Henan provinces. From space,
the antenna, which is formed by a network of cables and pylons much like those in
ordinary power lines, would look like a giant cross more than 100 km (62 miles)
long and wide. But at the ends of those lines, copper nodes are fixed deeply into
thick granite. Two powerful underground transmitters - capable of working independently
in case one is damaged - charge one megawatt of electrical current and turn the
Earth into a giant radio station..."
 Eric Higham has an interesting article in
the December issue of Microwave Journal entitled "Defense Market
Trends and Impact on Semiconductor Technology." He discusses driving forces
of the current semiconductor trends, defense capability evolution and philosophies.
Chief among the motivations is China's increasingly aggressive move toward Taiwan.
He begins: "With chip shortages in the consumer market, 5G and the latest handset
offerings from Apple and Samsung dominating electronics and semiconductor news,
it is easy to forget the key role the defense industry has played and will continue
to play in the evolution of compound semiconductor supply chain. From MIMIC and
MAFET programs with GaAs and, more recently, the development of GaN, defense agencies
have supplied the funding and applications...."
 Teledyne e2v HiRel announces the availability
of a rad-tolerant 20 GHz,
Single Pole Double Throw (SPDT) absorptive RF switch, model TDSW020A2T, that
is ideal for use in demanding high reliability, space and defense applications and
is now available with qualified material off-the-shelf. This new RF switch, developed
on 0.15 μm InGaAs pHEMT technology, will be available as die and is qualified
per MIL-PRF-38534 Class K-equivalent for space applications. The TDSW020A2T leverages
monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) design techniques that deliver superior
performance in the Ku and K microwave and millimeter-wave bands. The switch delivers
low insertion loss, high isolation, fast switching times, and high linearity across
a wide frequency band from dc to 20 GHz and attains an input power 1 dB compression
of 28 dBm (typical). Class K equivalent element evaluation is performed per
wafer...
 Here is a humorous "Kool-Keeping
Kwiz" that appeared in the June 1970 issue of Popular Electronics magazine.
Your answers to questions will determine whether you are a truly cool technophile,
or you are just a maniacal misanthrope who happens to know something about radios
and regulations. This would probably have been more aptly printed two issues earlier
as an April Fools' joke...
Berkeley Nucleonics Corporation (BNC)
is a leading manufacturer of precision electronic instrumentation for test, measurement,
and nuclear research. Founded in 1963, BNC initially developed custom pulse generators.
We became known for meeting the most stringent requirements for high precision and
stability, and for producing instruments of unsurpassed reliability and performance.
We continue to maintain a leadership position as a developer of custom pulse, signal,
light, and function generators. Our designs incorporate the latest innovations in
software and hardware engineering, surface mount production, and automated testing
procedures.
Thursday the 16th
 As one who many moons ago (1970s) used to
make
service calls to people's homes (as an electrician), I can relate to some of
the stories like the ones which appeared in various issues of Radio News
magazine in the 1930s and 1940s. For that matter, most of the trade magazines ran
similar pieces. This saga of course is most likely not a for-real experience, just
a humorous tale of the kinds of scenarios sometimes met by on-site servicemen. The
laissez-faire attitude of the star of this story made him deserving of the treatment
he received from the customer. In fact, my attitude was always one of extreme courtesy,
respect, going beyond the call of duty to do a good job, and performing my work
as efficiently as possible. It put me in good stead with my employers because of
favorable comments from home and business owners. One notable exception was one
lady who sent me away when I met her at the door with my pre-USAF long hair...
 What's
a "time
crystal," and how do Google researchers use quantum computers to make them?
"First conceived of a decade or so ago, a time crystal is a new kind of matter that
bears an uncanny resemblance to a perpetual motion machine. Its parts can theoretically
move in a repeating cycle without consuming energy for eternity, like a watch that
runs forever without any batteries. Scientists have raced to create this novel phase
of matter for years. Now researchers at Google Quantum AI and their colleagues reveal
they have created time crystals using Google's Sycamore quantum computing hardware,
findings they detailed online November 30 in the journal Nature. Whereas
classical computers switch transistors either on or off to symbolize data as ones
and zeroes, quantum computers use quantum bits, or qubits..."
 This is a really nice
electronic schematic symbols chart that will come in handy for hobbyists who
work with vintage electronic equipment. Not only does it have component symbols
that a modern chart (this appeared in a 1942 issue of Radio−Craft magazine)
would not likely contain, but it has three-dimensional sketches of each device.
For example, vacuum tube symbols show the tube outline, its socket configuration,
and the pinout. If you get nostalgic for some of these old parts, some of them like
the knife blade switch and ceramic light socket can be bought a many hardware stores
or online. It's too bad the chart is not in color because it would make a nice picture
to frame for a decoration. If anyone with an artistic bent feels compelled to colorize
it and send it to me, I'll be glad to make it available to visitors...
 "Electric
Airplanes Won't Make Much of a Dent in Air Travel for Decades to Come. Reason:
Batteries are nowhere near able to sustain wide-body airliners over flights measuring
in the thousands of kilometers. Exaggeration has become the default method for news
reporting, and the possibility of commercial electric flight has been no exception,
with repeated claims that these new planes will utterly change how we live. In 2017,
Boeing and JetBlue funded Zunum Aero, a U.S. company that promised nothing less
than transforming air travel with short-haul electric planes capable of carrying
12 people - and doing it by 2022. Two years later Boeing declined to continue funding
the project. At the Paris Air Show..."
 We know, many times you want to just buy
your RF assemblies to plug in to your
Circular D38999 Connector or your VITA67 module. Well know ConductRF offers
multiple solutions for both styles of Multi-Port connector all available on short
lead times based on our on hand materials stock.D38999 integrates BMA, SMPM &
SMPS Connectors, also other #8, #12 & #16 coax contact solutions. VITA67.1/2
uses SMPM solutions, but the new VITA67.3 also offers SMPS and NanoRF to support
your coax. These are 100% factory tested to exacting VSWR and Loss standards because,
We know, Results Count!
 This "Radio Service Data Sheet" for the
Knight (Allied Radio Corporation) model E10716 Battery Portable radio appeared
in a 1939 issue of Radio−Craft magazine. A Web search for Knight radios
does not turn up very many results, so maybe they were not all that popular. Knight
competed with Heathkit for many years in the 1950s through 1970s with their line
of build-it-yourself kits. There are still many people who restore and service these
vintage radios, and often it can be difficult or impossible to find schematics and/or
tuning information, so for that reason I will continue to post these Radio Service
Data Sheets and keep a running list (below) of all of them to facilitate a search
on RF Cafe...
With more than 1000
custom-built stencils, this has got to be the most comprehensive set of
Visio Stencils available for RF, analog, and digital system and schematic
drawings! Every object has been built to fit proportionally on the provided
A-, B- and C-size drawing page templates (or can use your own). Stencils are provided
for equipment racks and test equipment, system block diagrams, conceptual drawings,
and schematics. Unlike previous versions, these are NOT Stencils, but instead are
all contained on tabbed pages within a single Visio document. That puts everything
in front of you in its full glory. Just copy and paste what you need on your drawing.
The file format is XML so everything plays nicely with Visio 2013 and later...
 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.
Wednesday the 15th
 If somebody today told you there are "Two
New Approaches to Amplification," one being a
Spacistor and the other a
Solion, you would be justified in thinking he was putting you on - especially
the Spacistor. In 1957 when this article appeared in Radio-Electronics magazine,
you would more likely gasp in awe at the mere mention of such a Space-Age sounding
devices. In fact, both devices were real, and were stepping stones in the evolution
from point-contact transistors to molecular diffusion semiconductor junctions. They
were more mechanically rugged than the point-contact transistors, worked at higher
frequencies, and had higher current and voltage (and therefore power) handling capabilities.
This is an interesting and important part of semiconductor development history...
 Images, harmonics of the intermediate frequency
(IF), harmonics of the local oscillator (LO), multiple station IF mixing, inductive
and capacitive coupling, other types of noise can find a way into circuits if sufficient
shielding and judicious component placement is not implemented. It is as true today
as it was in 1941 when this article appeared in Radio-Craft magazine. An
interesting interference generator discussed is that of heterodyned signals generated
external to the receiver by means of random nonlinear junctions reacting to multiple
high power broadcasting stations in a local area, as was fairly common when AM stations
were the norm. Rusty bolted joints in buildings, towers, even automobiles can be
the source of such phenomena. Even today it is not uncommon for bolted and riveted
junctions on antennas and RF connectors to generate what are now termed
passive intermodulation (PIM) spectral products...
 Rohde & Schwarz has revealed details
of its role in a project to totally upgrade the London vessel traffic services (VTS)
communication equipment for the Port of London Authority (PLA). Working with PLA
engineers at the authority's control centres in Gravesend, Kent and the Thames Barrier
Navigation Centre (TBNC) in Woolwich, Rohde & Schwarz has installed an advanced,
VoIP-based maritime communications system to handle all VTS communications.
The new, customised system enhances the PLA's ability to control movement of vessels
within the Port of London, which spans the entire coastal Thames from Teddington
Lock to the North Sea, and provides future-proof scalability as the VTS requirements
continue to evolve...
 "Joe Sawicki , executive vice president, IC
EDA at Siemens, challenged the mutterings that
Moore's law has run its course, and said the semiconductor industry was blighted
with pessimism. At this year's DAC (Design Automation Conference) he set about looking
at the figures in a new light. 'There have been morose expectations and miserable
prognostics, for like 20 years,' he reasoned, because semiconductor growth has been
compared with worldwide gross domestic product (GDP) for 40-50 years. Comparing
the industry to GDP produced figures that were always significantly higher producing
a feel-good atmosphere across the semiconductor industry. And then there was the
dotcom crash in 2000 and growth in the semiconductor industry was fundamentally
flat..."
 Berkeley Nucleonics' technical staff has
published a whitepaper entitled, "Ultrasonic
MEMS Testing with the Model 675 High Performance AWG." This application note
describes how to use the Model 675 High Performance Arbitrary Waveform Generator
to generate the signals for the test and design of Ultrasonic MEMS sensors. The
Model 675 High Performance AWG simplifies the generation of pulse and chirp signals
typically used to perform design tests and characterize MEMS sensors. Considering
the amplitude of 24 Vpp into High-Impedance (12 Vpp into 50 Ohm)
joined to an analog shift of ±12 V into High-Impedance, the Model 675 represents
the ideal solution for these kinds of tests where high voltage amplitude, programmable
pulse's width, and rise/fall time are mandatory...
 "For the Record" was a regular feature in
Radio News magazine in the 1940s. Written by the editor (Oliver Read, W9ETI,
at the time), it was sometimes a collection of industry news items and other times
a treatise on a particular relevant topic. This October 1945 issue dealt with the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announcing the reinstatement of transmitting
privileges to Amateur Radio operators who were restricted to receive-only during
the war years - ostensibly for national security reasons. While welcome news, it
applied only to Hams already licensed prior to the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl
Harbor. New Hams would be dealt with later. Mr. Read also highlight the emergence
of radar technology being adapted from wartime use to civil aircraft traffic control...
 New Scheme rotates
all Banners in all locations on the page! RF Cafe typically receives 8,000-15,000
website visits each weekday.
RF Cafe is a favorite
of engineers, technicians, hobbyists, and students all over the world. With more
than 16,000 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.
 ASC designs and manufactures hybrid, surface
mount flange, open carrier and connectorized amplifiers for low, medium and high
power applications using gallium nitride (GaN), gallium arsenide (GaAs) and silicon
(Si) transistor technologies. ASC's thick film designs operate in the frequency
range of 300 kHz to 6 GHz. ASC offers thin film designs that operate up
to 20 GHz.
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