Homepage Archive - September 2021 (page 4)

See Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 of the October 2021 homepage archives.

Thursday the 30th

Multi-Layer Coil Calculator Nomograph

Multi-Layer Coil Calculator Nomograph, July 1952 Radio & Television News - RF CafePlenty of single-layer coil (inductor) winding calculators, charts, and nomographs can be found on the World Wide Web, but finding one for multi-layer coils is a bit harder- until now. Actually, this Multi-Layer Coil Calculator Nomograph appeared in a 1955 issue of Radio & Television News magazine. It was an era long before personal calculators, computers, and smartphones, when long-hand written-out problem solving was the norm, and slide rules made such tasks easier for those fortunate enough to know how to work one. I did a little head scratching upon encountering the term "no. 27 d.c.c. wire," not being familiar with the "d.c.c." part. A little research turned up that it means "double cotton covered" for insulation, and there was also "s.c.c." for single cotton covered. Belden and Alpha used to make it. Enamel-covered wire is now used for winding coils and transformers. As you might expect...

Rogers PCB vs. FR4 PCB - TechnoTronix

Rogers PCB vs. FR4 PCB by TechnoTronix - RF CafePCB manufacturer TechnoTronix has a blog post you might find useful entitled "Rogers PCB Vs FR4 PCB – What is the Difference?" It begins: "In the world of hi-tech gadgets, medical equipment, and Industrial Machines, the performance of any product depends mainly on the quality of its PCB design. Though there are multiple aspects to be considered while designing a PCB, our focus here is to identify the right PCB material which is also known as Substrate. Substrates are the dielectric sheets that hold the components and traces of a design. Selecting the right substrate material for a specific application is the key aspect of PCB design. To decide which substrate works best for any given application, we need to know the salient features of all the materials available on the market. The materials offered include FR1 to FR6, CEM1 to CEM5, insulated metal substrates..."

KR Electronics Filter Design & Testing Services

KR Electronics Filter Design & Testing Services - RF CafeKR Electronics designs and manufactures high quality filters for both the commercial and military markets. KR Electronics is ISO 9001:2008 certified. KR Electronics manufactures all filter types and individually synthesizes filters for special applications. State of the art computer synthesis, analysis and test methods are used to meet the most challenging specifications. On the following pages you will find more information on some of our products. The products shown are a small representation of the thousands of filters designed and manufactured. Choose from one of our standard filters or let us modify or design a filter to meet your exact requirements. Data sheets for off-the-shelf filters are available online...

Hobnobbing with Harbaugh

Hobnobbing with Harbaugh: The 5 Most Wanted Household Inventions, March 1963 Popular Electronics - RF CafeHere is a little levity from the "Hobnobbing with Harbaugh" series of comics that appeared in Popular Electronics magazine. Unfortunately, none of the "The 5 Most Wanted Household Inventions" have come to full fruition in the marketplace yet, although the Conversation Jammer can be found on the Internet in various unofficial forms. Personal computers were a pipe dream in 1963, but nowadays we do have software like TurboTax to take care of filing taxes, although you still can't simply dump all your receipts into a bin and have it work. Flat-fixing robots might not be needed in a few years as tubeless, airless tires hit the road. Alarm clock vaporizers are not Star Trek phaser-like devices yet, but the same effect can be affected with a low-tech hammer, or a shoe...

Post Your Engineer & Technician Job Openings on RF Cafe for Free

Engineering Job Board - RF CafeRF 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. 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...

Please Visit Empower RF's Website in Appreciation of Their Support

Empower RF Systems - RF CafeEmpower RF Systems is a global leader in power amplifier solutions. Empower RF Systems is an established and technologically superior supplier of high power solid state RF & microwave amplifiers. Our offerings include modules, intelligent rack-mount amplifiers, and multi-function RF Power Amplifier solutions to 6 GHz in broadband and band specific designs. Output power combinations range from tens of watts to multi-kilowatts. Unprecedented size, weight and power reduction of our amplifiers is superior to anything in the market at similar frequencies and power levels.

Wednesday the 29th

Mac's Service Shop: Time and Temper Savers

Mac's Service Shop: Time and Temper Savers, September 1960 Electronics World - RF CafeI have quoted previously a saying which my earliest mentor, Westinghouse Oceanic Division über engineer Jim Wilson, liked to utter: "If the tool ain't right, the guy ain't bright." The meaning, of course, is that using the wrong tool for the job can have results ranging from exasperating and time-consuming to downright dangerous. Owner and proprietor Mac McGregor touches on the theme when addressing service shop technician Barney Jameson regarding bad practices that have built up over time and needed to be corrected. He admonished himself as well as Barney for allowing the situation to get so far out of hand. As always, author John Frye's goal in writing these technodramas was to both entertain and to teach. Anyone who has put in much time in a workshop can relate to how taking time from the business at hand to keep a neat and orderly environment is a difficult discipline to maintain. Some people joking...

Carbon Fibers Pave Way for Lightning Strike Protection

Carbon Fibers Pave Way for Lightning Strike Protection Technologies - RF Cafe"Carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite structures are serving an increasingly important role in aerospace, infrastructure, energy generation, and transportation. Yet, the electrical behavior of a composite is challenging to measure or predict because of the electrical conductivity of constituent carbon fibers and the composite's complex hierarchical microstructure. In Journal of Applied Physics, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign report the first direct measurement of the transverse electrical resistivity of a single carbon fiber. The researchers combined a precise sample preparation with a technique called the van der Pauw method to accomplish this challenging measurement. "Our experiments confirm that the electrical properties measured..."

5G: Will Millimeter Waves Be High Enough?

Anatech Electronics September 2021 Newsletter - RF CafeSam Benzacar of Anatech Electronics, an RF and microwave filter company, has published his September 2021 newsletter that features his short op−ed entitled "5G: Will Millimeter Waves Be High Enough?," where he notes the technical difficulties being experienced with components and operational environments in the mm−wave realm, and that life in the THz spectrum will be even more challenging - perhaps even impossible for general use. As we know from Friis equation, electromagnetic power levels drop proportional to the square of distance (6 dB per doubled distance), but in the THz region atmospheric absorption comes into play as physical molecules resonate at specific wavelengths, further decreasing received power...

Automatic Impedance Matching in RF Design

Automatic Impedance Matching in RF Design - RF CafePart 4 of Lou Frenzel's series on impedance matching, entitled "Automatic Impedance Matching in RF Design," is now available. He discusses schemes for self-tuning antenna interfaces. As most Amateur radio enthusiasts know, there are plenty of self-tuning units available - at least for Ham bands (see DX Engineering for manufacturers). Some transmitters and transceivers have auto-tuning built in so separate units are not needed except for extreme mismatches - which can occur when a multiband antenna is either poorly designed or pushed beyond its intended frequency range. Lou begins: "Impedance (Z) matching is an essential part of most RF circuit design. Regardless of what you’re designing, getting as much power to a load is a top target. Impedances must be matched to transfer the maximum amount of signal power between stages. And in power amplifiers (PAs), impedance matching is critical to getting the maximum power to the final load and maintaining PA linearity..."

A VHF Lazy-H Antenna

A VHF Lazy-H Antenna, December 1966 QST - RFCafeAs with most hobby and how-to magazines, QST has had a long-running monthly column featuring handy tips from readers and sometimes from the column editor's (currently Steve Sant Andrea) own experiences. It has taken various names over the years such as "Gimmicks and Gadgets," "Hints & Kinks, "and now "Hints & Hacks." Steve retired from the column after 2017, and now there is no byline accompanying it. This installment from the December 1966 QST presents a short introduction to a VHF "Lazy−H" antenna for mounting in the attic (outdoor restrictions were common even half a century ago). It is of simple construction using lamp cord in the configuration and element lengths given - still useful in 2021...

RF Cascade Workbook 2018

RF Cascade Workbook 2018 Is Available Now! - RF CafeRF Cascade Workbook 2018 is the next phase in the evolution of RF Cafe's long-running series, RF Cascade Workbook. Chances are you have never used a spreadsheet quite like this (click here for screen capture). It is a full-featured RF system cascade parameter and frequency planner that includes filters and mixers for a mere $45. Built in MS Excel, using RF Cascade Workbook 2018 is a cinch and the format is entirely customizable. It is significantly easier and faster than using a multi-thousand dollar simulator when a high level system analysis is all that is needed. An intro video takes you through the main features...

Many Thanks to Centric RF for Their Continued Support!

Centric RF microwave components - RF CafeCentric RF is a company offering from stock various RF and Microwave coaxial components, including attenuators, adapters, cable assemblies, terminations, power dividers, and more. We believe in offering high performance parts from stock at a reasonable cost. Frequency ranges of 0-110 GHz at power levels from 0.5-500 watts are available off the shelf. Order today, ship today! Centric RF is currently looking for vendors to partner with them. Please visit Centric RF today.

Tuesday the 28th

European Report

European Report, August 1949 Radio-Electronics - RF CafeIt is interesting how over time the common spelling of names of countries change. Sometimes is is merely a difference in the way we in America spell a word versus in Europe; e.g., "color" vs. "colour" and "aluminum" vs. aluminium." In the "European Report" column of this 1949 issue of Radio−Electronics magazine, what we spell as "Romania" today is spelled "Roumania." Aside from that, a fairly uncommon unit of loudness (sound pressure) is mentioned - the "phon" - which is a logarithmic scale of the more familiar linear scale "sone." Note also at the time a person who watches television is a "televiewer" and the thing he/she watches is a "televiser." Finally, a bit about the ever-present battle against electromagnetic interference (aka "noise") both of the natural (QRN) and manmade (QRM) nature. No matter how high in frequency we manage to go, the spectrum will always eventually get crowded...

Special Report: Power Semiconductor Testing

Special Report: Power Semiconductor Test - RF Cafe TotalTemp Technologies' John Booher is featured in Evaluation Engineering's Special Report: "Power Semiconductor Testing." Also quoted are Tektronix / Keithley Instruments' Mark Cejer, Teradyne's Seth Prentice, and Rohde & Schwarz's  John Lewis, all of whose companies make special test equipment and environmental control fixtures for testing power semiconductors. It begins: "Manufacturers in the power semiconductor industry have been tackling challenges of performance, reliability, and lowering the cost of high-power devices for decades. More recently, boosting energy efficiency has taken on a higher priority. As semiconductor technology has advanced, such devices can now function with higher power, voltage, and frequency, and electronic testing vendors now must face the challenge of adapting testing needs for multiple versions of such technologies..."

MOD Invests £72.5M in Directed Energy Weapons

MOD Invests £72.5M in Directed Energy Weapons - RF Cafe"Part of the Novel Weapons Programme (NWP), the announcement will see significant investment in the development of directed energy engineers including around 30 new jobs to be created at Thales' site in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Three DEW capability demonstrators will be developed as part of the investment. The first laser demonstrator (LDEW), led by Thales, will undergo user testing onboard a Royal Navy Type 23 frigate by detecting, tracking, engaging and countering Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Partners will include BAE Systems, Chess Dynamics, Vision4CE and IPG. The British Army's Wolfhound armoured vehicle will host another laser demonstrator..."

Why Loudness Control

Why Loudness Control, April 1957 Radio & TV News - RF CafeIf you are an audiophile, you probably have spent a lot of effort setting up your home entertainment system, car system, and maybe even your portable music player. You know all about how to select speakers, where to place them, the kind of wire and connectors to use, treble, midtone, and bass equalization. You know what you like, but the way you perceive sounds is not the way many other people do. Even if your hearing follows a "normal" response curve per standardized audio tests, personal preferences vary widely in part because the way brains are wired (speed of sound processing, preferred musical style, state of mind - maybe you're insane) and in part because of the impact of sound waves upon your body (soft tissue and bone pressure wave conduction, clothing worn). Pitch, timbre, tone, and loudness has been extensively studied and quantified...

The Ins and Outs of Radio Frequency

Windfreak Technologies Infographic "The Ins and Outs of Radio Frequency" - RF CafeInfographic, courtesy of Windfreak Technologies' David Goins, "The Ins and Outs of Radio Frequency." "Radio frequencies are used in a wide range of items, but most people do not understand how they work or are used in our daily lives. A radio frequency is a type of electromagnetic energy and is measured in hertz, and it is used by radars, radios, televisions, microwaves, GPS, cells phones, and satellites. When you are buying these types of products, you should look for items that come with warranties, are high in quality, and have the required functionality. Take the time to do your research to learn more about how radio frequencies work and how much of an impact it has in daily life activities..."

New for 2021! RF & Electronics Stencils for Visio

RF & Electronics stencils for Visio r4 - RF CafeWith 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...

Many Thanks to Axiom Test Equipment for Continued Support!

Axiom Test Equipment - RF CafeAxiom 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!

Monday the 27th

U.S. Air Force - Precision Approach Radar

U.S. Air Force Recruitment - Precision Approach Radar, March 1961 American Modeler Magazine - Airplanes and RocketsThis is pretty cool. A recruitment ad for the U.S. Air Force appeared in the March 1961 issue of American Modeler magazine showing the type of precision approach radar (PAR) that I worked on while in the service. It was part of the AN/MPN−14 Landing Control Central system which was a mobile combat unit consisting of airport surveillance radar (ASR) and PAR primary radar, a TPX−42 Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) synthetic radar, an AN/GPA−131 data mapper, and AN/ARC−? VHF/UHF radios. Alignment of the display for glide slope (top) and course line (bottom), and mile markers, was a complicated procedure involving twisting multiple interdependent control knobs until the sweeps met with a template. It was not a raster type sweep like a vintage CRT television, but like an old fashioned oscilloscope sweep instead where x-y data was fed to the deflection coils...

Thanks Again for RIGOL Technologies' Continued Support!

RIGOL Technologies (electronics test equipment)RIGOL Technologies is transforming the Test and Measurement Industry. Our premium line of products includes digital and mixed signal oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, function / arbitrary waveform generators, programmable power supplies and loads, digital multimeters, data acquisition systems, and application software. Our test solutions combine uncompromised product performance, quality, and advanced product features; all delivered at extremely attractive price points. This combination provides our customers with unprecedented value for their investment, reduces their overall cost of test, and helps speed time to completion of their designs or projects.

everything PE: New Website for the Power Electronics Industry

everything PE: A New Website for the Power Electronics Industry - RF Cafeeverything PE - www.everythingPE.com is a new website that has been developed for the Power Electronics industry. The power electronics industry plays an important role in various applications that provide compact and high-efficient solutions to power conversion. Demand for power electronics is further driven by an increase in their usage in several applications such as smart vehicles, wireless products, industrial motor drivers, electric grid stabilization, and consumer electronics. everything PE has been developed to meet the growing demands of the power electronics industry and to help solve the problems that engineers face while searching for application-specific products. everything PE - www.everythingPE.com keeps engineers up to date with the latest news, products...

Popular Electronics Builds the VoltOhmyst VTVM

Popular Electronics Builds the VoltOhmyst, May 1959 Popular Electronics - RF CafeRF Cafe visitor Terry W. wrote to me about a topic that ended up mentioning RCA's vacuum tube voltmeter (VTVM) known as the VoltOhmyst. VTVMs were the era's high-input-impedance multimeter, before FETs came on the scene. The higher a meter's input impedance, the less it loads the circuit under test. Any meter connected across a circuit appears as a parallel load to the source, so the closer it is to an open circuit, the better. Terry mentioned how the VoltOhmyst was a key component on test benches of many professionals. You can still buy various models of the VoltOhmyst on eBay. This 1959 Popular Electronics magazine article reports on the kit version which at the time used vacuum tubes. Later models sold into the 1970s were solid state. The printed circuit board in the 1959 model was very avant-garde in a time when point-to-point was still the norm...

Promote Your Company on RF Cafe

Sponsor RF Cafe for as Little as $40 per Month - RF CafeNew 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.

Many Thanks to ConductRF for Continued Support!

ConductRF coaxial cables & connectors - RF CafeConductRF 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! 

Sunday the 26th

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Radio Technology Theme Crossword Puzzle for September 26th

Radio Technology Theme Crossword Puzzle for September 26, 2021 - RF CafeThis Radio Technology Theme crossword puzzle for September 26th contains only words and clues related to engineering, mathematics, chemistry, physics, and other technical words. 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., Hedy Lamarr or the Bikini Atoll). The technically inclined cruciverbalists amongst us will appreciate the effort. Enjoy!

Thanks to Copper Mountain Technologies for Continued Support

Copper Mountain TechnologiesCopper 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.

Friday the 24th

LORAN by Sperry Gyroscope Company

LORAN  by Sperry Gyroscope Company, Inc., June 1946, Radio-Craft - RF CafeIn the 1940s, the LORAN (LOng RAnge Navigation) system, originally designed at the Massachusetts of Technology (MIT), was considered as significant of a breakthrough technology as GPS (Global Positioning System) was when it became operational in the 1990s. Unlike with GPS and its P (precision) and C/A (coarse/acquisition) codes for military and civilian use, respectively, the full accuracy capability of LORAN was available from the start to both military and civilian users. There were no encoded signals to discriminate between users. Not until the year 2000 did civilian use gain access to full GPS accuracy. As would be expected, LORAN underwent a number of improvements over the years, and evolved into LORAN−C, which offered greater range and accuracy...

PMI September 2021 Product Announcement

Planar Monolithic Industries (PMI) September 2021 Product Announcement - RF CafePlanar Monolithic Industries (PMI) recently introduced four new products in their extensive line of RF and microwave components. Included are a 0.15 to 5.0 GHz Limiter, a 2.0 to 18.0 GHz SP2T Absorptive Switch , a 500 MHz to 40 GHz Low Noise Amplifier, and a 12 GHz Temperature Compensated Dielectric Resonator Oscillator. Planar Monolithics provides its unique products for applications in space, military, communications, telecommunications, commercial, and consumer electronics systems. Contact PMI today for more information...

Carbon Fibers Pave Way for Lightning Strike Protection

Carbon Fibers Pave Way for Lightning Strike Protection Technologies - RF Cafe"Carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite structures are serving an increasingly important role in aerospace, infrastructure, energy generation, and transportation. Yet, the electrical behavior of a composite is challenging to measure or predict because of the electrical conductivity of constituent carbon fibers and the composite's complex hierarchical microstructure. In Journal of Applied Physics, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign report the first direct measurement of the transverse electrical resistivity of a single carbon fiber. The researchers combined a precise sample preparation with a technique called the van der Pauw method to accomplish this challenging measurement. "Our experiments confirm that the electrical properties measured..."

Design News 2021 Salary & Career Survey Underway

Design News 2021 Salary & Career Survey Underway - RF Cafe"The 2021 Salary & Career Survey, presented by Electronic Design, will take the pulse of manufacturing leaders like you at the end of another challenging year. The 2021 Salary & Career Survey will go beyond the numbers to ask about how manufacturing is building a recovery in light of COVID-19 restrictions and worker shortages. 'This survey of industry professionals is part of a continuing effort by Electronic Design to survey the industry and gather the thoughts and views of the people who work every day to improve operational productivity, safety and effectiveness,' said Bill Wong, senior content director for Machine Design. “We'll be using the data throughout the year to look at specific segments of the market and try to understand and then inform our global audience about trends in manufacturing..."

Analysis of Radio Interference Phenomena

Analysis of Radio Interference Phenomena, June 1946 Radio News - RF CafeImage response, harmonic of the IF, direct IF response, harmonics of the oscillator, combination of the IF, heterodyne oscillator radiation, cross modulation within the receiver, cross modulation external to the receiver, same channel beat, adjacent channel beat and "monkey chatter" are all sources of radio interference addressed in this article that appeared in a 1946 edition of Radio News. I don't know about you, but I've never heard of the term 'monkey chatter.' According to the troubleshooting table it is, "Unintelligible modulation superimposed upon desired station, having the character of 'inverted speech'." Recommendations on how to mitigate "monkey speech" are provided...

Post Your Engineer & Technician Job Openings on RF Cafe for Free

Engineering Job Board - RF CafeRF 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. 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...

Many Thanks to Atenlab for Their Continued Support!

Atenlab microwave components - RF CafeAtenlab has been operating in Taiwan for more than a decade, and has sold and installed hundreds chambers around the world. Holistic, affordable Over-the-Air (OTA) measurement systems perform comprehensive measurement and test in a controlled environment. Compact Antenna Test Range (CATR) with one-touch operation supports multiple systems - 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G - and major instrument brands. [M]ulti-probe OTA measurement systems offer reduced time measurements over single-probe systems.

Thursday the 23rd

Radio Data Sheet for Belmont Radio Model 6D111

Radio Data Sheet 336 Belmont Radio Model 6D111, Series A, June 1946, Radio-Craft - RF CafeThe Belmont Model 6D111 tabletop radio must have been very popular because there are many of them still available - in both white and brown - for purchase on eBay. Since radios, televisions, phonographs, tape players, etc. were considered serviceable items back in the vacuum tube days, magazine such as Radio-Craft often published Radio Service Data Sheets with basic specifications, alignment information, and a schematic. Companies like Sams Photofact sold more comprehensive data packets, but these abbreviated datasheets were convenient for do-it-yourselfers and smaller service shops that could not afford a subscription to Sams. Since there are still many people who restore these vintage radios, I post these Radio Data Sheets to help preserve the history...

Skyworks Automotive Switches and Low-Noise Amplifier FEMs

Skyworks Automotive Switches and Low-Noise Amplifier Front-End Modules - RF CafeSkyworks is pleased to introduce its SKYA21038, SKYA21039, SKYA21040 and SKYA21041 switches and front-end modules (FEMs) for automotive, cellular compensator and cellular telematics. The SKYA21038 is a single-pole, double-throw (SPDT) switch intended for mode switching in WLAN applications. Using advanced switching technologies, the SKYA21038 maintains low insertion loss and high isolation for all switching paths The high-linearity performance and low insertion loss achieved by the switch make it an ideal choice for low-power transmit/receive applications...

Frequency Agnostic RF Chip for Smartphones

Frequency Agnostic RF Chip for Smartphones - RF Cafe"Forefront RF, a Cambridge-based fabless semiconductor company, is set to change the way global smartphones, wearables, and IoT devices are designed. They have developed a chip that enables connected devices to operate across the increasingly wide range of 3G to 6G mobile telephony frequency bands. Forefront RF's cancellation technology redesigns the radio frequency (RF) system in a wireless device, enabling manufacturers to simplify the design and delivery of frequency agnostic products, whilst reducing cost and supply chain waste. Forefront RF was founded in 2020 by Dr Leo Laughlin whose academic work in this field is widely cited, together with Julian Hildersley who brings 30 years of experience in the development and marketing of ground-breaking RF mobile phone technologies..."

Triad Partners with Mobilicom to Produce High Power Radio Solutions

Triad RF Systems Partners with Mobilicom to Produce High Power Radio Solutions - RF CafeTriad RF Systems has entered into a partnership with Mobilicom, an end-to-end provider of cybersecurity and smart solutions for drones, robotics & autonomous platforms. The partnership will initially provide an integrated product line featuring Mobilicom's multi-function radios (MCU product family) coupled with Triad's high-power radio solutions and create a new product line for sale and distribution by both companies. The product line will include Mobilicom's secure Mobile MESH technology and its ICE Cybersecurity Suite with Triad's smart RF amplifiers to provide the most cost effective and efficient fully integrated amplified MIMO (multi-input and multi-output) radios, on the market, for MESH network communications. Targeted at suppliers and manufacturers in the rapidly expanding unmanned / autonomous systems...

Electronic Quizoo

Electronic Quizoo, October 1962 Popular Electronics - RF CafeHere is a unique quiz by überquizmaker Robert Balin, from Popular Electronics. Names of components we use in electronics - particularly ones that have been around for a long time - were given nomenclature that come from the animal kingdom because they happen to resemble one in some way. Probably the most familiar are examples like the alligator clip, pigtails, and rabbit ears - although the younger you are the less likely you might be to have heard the names. Recent election results in Colorado and Oregon may give a resurgence in popularity of and familiarity with alligator clips by potheads...

New for 2021! RF & Electronics Stencils for Visio

RF & Electronics stencils for Visio r4 - RF CafeWith 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...

Please Visit Triad RF Systems to Thank Them for Their Support

Triad RF SystemsTriad RF Systems designs and manufactures RF power amplifiers and systems. Triad RF Systems comprises three partners (hence 'Triad') with over 40 years of accumulated knowledge of what is required to design, manufacture, market, sell and service RF/Microwave amplifiers and amplifier systems. PA, LNA, bi-directional, and frequency translating amplifiers are available, in formats including tower mount, benchtop, rack mount, and chassis mount. "We view Triad more as a technology partner than a vendor for our line-of-sight communications product line." Please check to see how they can help your project.

Wednesday the 22nd

Radio-Electronics Monthly Review

Radio-Electronics Monthly Review, June 1946, Radio-Craft - RF CafeA month prior to this Metal Lens news item appearing in Radio-Craft magazine (May 1946), the inventor, Bell Telephone Laboratories, ran a full-page advertisement boasting of their accomplishment. As mentioned in my write-up, it is sort of akin to the Osgood optical lens used in lighthouses. Imagine performing the mathematical calculations required to design that thing using a slide rule! Also reported here was the resumption of regular television broadcasting in England by the BBC after war-caused alterations in programming. Compared to the capability, compactness, and weight of modern night vision equipment available today (see examples on Amazon for <$200), the "Snooperscope" presented here is a very crude device. It relies on a powerful infrared light source...

Heathkit IM-2420 Benchtop 512 MHz Frequency Counter Kit

Vintage Heathkit IM-2420 Benchtop 512 MHz Frequency Counter Kit - RF Cafe Cool ProductThis vintage Heathkit IM−2420, 512 MHz Benchtop Portable Frequency Counter kit is one of the latest unbuilt Heathkit kits which appeared on eBay. I have been saving the images in order to preserve the history (see image below). The constantly growing list is at the lower right. One of the first instances I could find for IM−2420 being offered for sale was in the Winter 1981 Heathkit catalog, at a cost of $239.95 ($754.51 in 2021 money per the BLS) as a kit or $299.95 ($943.18 in 2021) assembled and tested. A comparable benchtop frequency counter today is the RISEPRO Benchtop Frequency Counter for 10 Hz-2.4 GHz, at a cost just south of $90...

IPP Intros 90° Couplers for 6 to 12 GHz

Innovative Power Products Intros 90° Couplers for 6 to 12 GHzInnovative Power Products (IPP), with more than 30 years of experience designing & manufacturing RF & microwave passive components, is pleased to introduce two new 90° power couplers, models IPP-7112 and IPP-7114. These surface mount couplers are conservatively rated at 50 watts CW, and operate from 8.0−12.0 GHz and 6.0−12.0 GHz, respectively. The IPP-7112 and IPP-7114 product pages list the complete product specs, and provide links to pdf files of the detailed Outline Drawings and the Typical Test Data results for several parameters. In addition, these product pages also offer links to the Simulated S-Parameters in s4p format, and the PCB Mounting Footprint in dxf format. To view Technical Data Sheets in PDF format for these products...

A Stationary Reversible Beam Antenna

A Stationary Reversible Beam, March 1940 QST - RF CafeA vertical antenna can have a significant advantage over a horizontal antenna from a maintenance perspective, since, depending on how high the antenna is mounted off the ground, the "business end" where electrical connections are made are more accessible. The configuration shown here would be difficult to implement if a mast rotator is to be used because of the stabilizing guy wires on the lower frame. Although it should be possible to achieve the necessary rigidity without guys by using an aluminum or fiberglass tubing frame rather than wood, preventing weathervaning in strong winds could prove difficult. A nifty feature of this "reversible beam" antenna that appeared in a 1940 issue of QST magazine is that reciprocal directivity is implemented simply by swapping out a short length of wire between the director and reflector elements...

New for 2021! RF & Electronics Symbols for Office™

RF & Electronics Schematic & Block Diagram Symbols for Office™ r2 - RF CafeIt was a lot of work, but I finally finished a version of the "RF & Electronics Schematic & Block Diagram Symbols" that works well with Microsoft Office™ programs Word™, Excel™, and Power Point™. This is an equivalent of the extensive set of amplifier, mixer, filter, switch, connector, waveguide, digital, analog, antenna, and other commonly used symbols for system block diagrams and schematics created for Visio™. Each of the 1,000 or so symbols was exported individually from Visio in the EMF file format, then imported into Word on a Drawing Canvas. The EMF format allows an image to be scaled up or down without becoming pixelated, so all the shapes can be resized in a document and still look good. The imported symbols can also be UnGrouped into their original constituent parts for editing. Check them out!

Thanks Once Again to everythingRF for Long-Time Support!

everything RF Searchable Database - RF CafePlease 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 267,269 products from more than 1397 companies across 314 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.

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AMP2085E-LC, 2.0–8.0 GHz TWT Replacement!

AMP2085E-LC, 2.0–8.0 GHz, 400 W, an Outstanding TWT Replacement!  - RF CafeExodus Advanced Communications introduces the AMP2085E−LC, a rugged quiet broadband class A/AB design for all industry applications. Frequency 2.0-8.0 GHz, 400W minimum, 500 W typical, 57 dB gain, unprecedented performance. The AMP2085E−LC makes an outstanding TWT replacement high power amplifier. Excellent power/gain flatness as compared to other amplifiers. Forward/Reflected power monitoring, VSWR, voltage / current / temperature sensing for superb reliability and ruggedness. The nominal weight is 55 kg in a compact 7U chassis 12.25" H x 19" W x 27" D...

A PCB Manufacturing Checklist

A PCB Manufacturing Checklist by San Francisco Circuits - RF CafeSan Francisco Circuits' (SFC) specialty is in the complex, advanced technology of PCB fabrication and assembly, producing high quality multi-layered PCBs from elaborate layouts. Our "Seamless PCB Manufacturing Checklist" will help minimize mistakes as much as possible in all stages of bareboard PCB manufacturing and provide a good starting point for some of the essentials needed in the majority of PCB manufacturing quotes. San Francisco Circuits has put together a new PCB manufacturing checklist resource on their website. When planning the fabrication of a printed circuit board (PCB), a lot of things have to be planned carefully to minimize mistakes. If one step or consideration is overlooked in the manufacturing process, it may have disastrous consequences resulting in a malfunctioning board. The overall goal of the seamless PCB manufacturing checklist is to help ensure every part of the circuit board is considered and potential mistakes...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Engineering Job Opening

RF Cascade Workbook 2018

RF Cascade Workbook 2018 Is Available Now! - RF CafeRF Cascade Workbook 2018 is the next phase in the evolution of RF Cafe's long-running series, RF Cascade Workbook. Chances are you have never used a spreadsheet quite like this (click here for screen capture). It is a full-featured RF system cascade parameter and frequency planner that includes filters and mixers for a mere $45. Built in MS Excel, using RF Cascade Workbook 2018 is a cinch and the format is entirely customizable. It is significantly easier and faster than using a multi-thousand dollar simulator when a high level system analysis is all that is needed. An intro video takes you through the main features...

New for 2021! RF & Electronics Symbols for Office™

RF & Electronics Schematic & Block Diagram Symbols for Office™ r2 - RF CafeIt was a lot of work, but I finally finished a version of the "RF & Electronics Schematic & Block Diagram Symbols" that works well with Microsoft Office™ programs Word™, Excel™, and Power Point™. This is an equivalent of the extensive set of amplifier, mixer, filter, switch, connector, waveguide, digital, analog, antenna, and other commonly used symbols for system block diagrams and schematics created for Visio™. Each of the 1,000 or so symbols was exported individually from Visio in the EMF file format, then imported into Word on a Drawing Canvas. The EMF format allows an image to be scaled up or down without becoming pixelated, so all the shapes can be resized in a document and still look good. The imported symbols can also be UnGrouped into their original constituent parts for editing. Check them out!

RF & Electronics Symbols for Visio

RF Electronics Wireless Analog Block Diagrams Symbols Shapes for Visio - RF CafeWith more than 1000 custom-built symbols, this has got to be the most comprehensive set of Visio Symbols 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). Symbols 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...

New for 2021! RF & Electronics Stencils for Visio

RF & Electronics stencils for Visio r4 - RF CafeWith 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...

Get Your Custom-Designed RF Cafe Gear!

Custom-Designed RF-Themed Cups, T-Shirts, Mouse Pads, Clocks (Cafe Press) - RF CafeThis 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...

Post Your Engineer & Technician Job Openings on RF Cafe for Free

Engineering Job Board - RF CafeRF 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. 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...

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Advanced Signal Processing Technology to SFF Platforms

Advanced Signal Processing Technology to Rugged SFF Platforms - RF Cafe"The latest data acquisition and signal processing devices are critical for capturing and manipulating wideband sensor signals for real-time radar, electronic countermeasures, EW, and SIGINT systems. These include new data converter technology and advanced FPGA designs, including the RFSoC (radio frequency system-on-chip). To maintain strategic superiority for military and aerospace platforms, embedded systems must constantly evolve to embrace the latest technologies, counter new threats, and deal with new constraints. To meet these objectives, systems engineers must exploit new architectures that deliver effective solutions..."

Solid-State Battery Created

Solid-State Battery Created - RF Cafe"Engineers created a new type of battery that weaves two promising battery sub-fields into a single battery. The battery uses both a solid state electrolyte and an all-silicon anode, making it a silicon all-solid-state battery. The initial rounds of tests show that the new battery is safe, long lasting, and energy dense. It holds promise for a wide range of applications from grid storage to electric vehicles. The battery technology is described in the 24 September, 2021 issue of the journal Science. University of California San Diego nanoengineers led the research, in collaboration with researchers at LG Energy Solution...."

Moiré Superlattice Makes Magic-Angle Laser

Moiré Superlattice Makes Magic-Angle Laser - RF Cafe"A team of researchers from Peking University in China has fabricated an optical analogue of 'magic-angle' graphene bilayers in a photonic nanocrystal. They have used the structure to create a completely new type of highly-efficient nanolaser. Graphene is a flat crystal of carbon just one atom thick. When two such sheets are placed on top of each other with a small angle misalignment, they form a Moiré superlattice. At a twist angle of 1.08°, the material becomes highly correlated and begins to show properties such as superconductivity at low temperatures. At this so-called magic angle, the way in which electrons move in the two coupled sheets changes because they are now forced to organize themselves at the same energy..."

Will Reversible Logic Save Moore's Law?

Will Reversible Logic Save Moore's Law? - RF Cafe"In this era of semiconductor technology, reversible computing plays a vital role in diminishing power dissipation and the increment of energy efficiency in building up processors or any kind of simple or complex digital logic circuits. Several research areas have been going on in the modern world which could improve in an existing or impressive manner energy efficiency. Moore's law states that as transistors were made smaller, they would become faster, cheaper, and more efficient. Because of this fact, the semiconductor industry is busy building smaller, more densely packed transistors for fabrication. But nowadays, some experts in industry and academia say that making the transistor size smaller will no longer yield the improvements it used to. The reason behind building chips with multiple cores is that smaller transistors..."

Spin-Orbit-Torque Tackles MRAM Constraints

Spin-Orbit-Torque Tackles MRAM Constraints - RF Cafe"The next generation of embedded MRAM (magneto-resistive RAM) may boil down to changing the order of ingredients in the recipe. Spin-orbit-torque (SOT) MRAM addresses the 'trilemma' that Spin-transfer torque (STT) MRAM currently faces, said Antaios CEO Jean-Pierre Nozières in an interview with EE Times. The significant voltage across the device tunnel oxide that's required for writing means there is a continual tradeoff between data retention, write endurance, and write speed. That means even though it's reached near maturity, STT MRAM is still constrained when it comes to meeting the demands of high-speed RAM applications that require a combination of high speed and infinite endurance, along with acceptable data retention..."

Boosting Efficiency of On-Chip Frequency Combs

Boosting Efficiency of On-Chip Frequency Combs - HP"On the cover of the Pink Floyd album Dark Side of the Moon, a prism splits a ray of light into all the colors of the rainbow. This multicolored medley, which owes its emergence to the fact that light travels as a wave, is almost always hiding in plain sight; a prism simply reveals that it was there. For instance, sunlight is a mixture of many different colors of light, each bobbing up and down with their own characteristic frequency. But taken together the colors merge into a uniform yellowish glow. A prism, or something like it, can also undo this splitting, mixing a rainbow back into a single beam. Back in the late 1970s, scientists figured out how to generate many colors of light, evenly spaced in frequency, and mix them together - a creation that became known as a frequency comb because of the spiky way the frequencies..."

These archive pages are provided in order to make it easier for you to find items that you remember seeing on the RF Cafe homepage. Of course probably the easiest way to find anything on the website is to use the "Search RF Cafe" box at the top of every page. About RF Cafe.

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