Homepage Archive - August 2022 (page 5)

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Wednesday the 31st

Electronic Crosswords, September 1965 Electronics World

Electronic Crosswords, September 1965 Electronics World - RF CafeOn nearly every Sunday for the past two decades, out of a personal penchant for working crossword puzzles, I have created and posted a custom crossword puzzle with a technical theme. Various kinds of magazines, including Radio News, Popular Electronics, etc., occasionally published crosswords, so when I run across them, I post them here on RF Cafe. This one appeared in a 1965 issue of Electronics World. Usually, the magazine crossword puzzles have mostly words and clues relevant to the magazine's theme, but then backfill with any word that will work. William Shippee did a pretty good job with this one with only a couple off-topic words...

Semi-Cylindrical Coil Shortens Charge Time for H Fuel Cell

Semi-Cylindrical Coil Shortens Charge Time for H Fuel Cell - RF Cafe"A new method to improve solid-state hydrogen fuel cell charging times has been developed by researchers at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and Queensland University of Technology (QUT). UTS' Dr. Saidul Islam said solid hydrogen storage - particularly metal hydride - is attracting interest because it is safer, more compact, and lower cost than compressed gas or liquid, and it can reversibly absorb and release hydrogen. 'Metal hydride hydrogen storage technology is ideal for onsite hydrogen production from renewable electrolysis. It can store the hydrogen for extended periods and once needed, it can be converted as gas or a form of thermal or electric energy when converted through a fuel cell,' Dr. Islam said in a statement. 'Applications include hydrogen compressors, rechargeable batteries, heat pumps and heat storage, isotope separation and hydrogen purification...."

Instrumenting an Earth Satellite

Instrumenting an Earth Satellite, October 1958 Popular Electronics - RF CafeIn October of 1958 when this Popular Electronics magazine article was written, a mere year had passed since the successful launch of Sputnik and a few months later the launch of the Explorer satellite - the first ever for Russia and the USA, respectively. Prior to that time all satellites were cosmic conglomerations of rock, metal, and/or gas. There were no manmade satellites except for a couple remnants of test rockets that happened to reach orbital heights. That Ronald Michael Benrey, a highschooler of the day, would design and enter an "Earth Satellite" to demonstrate some of the technology needed to an actual orbiting satellite was a phenom. Most people hadn't even learned to spell "satellite" yet, and did not commonly refer to planets, moons, and asteroids as satellites. His creation took second place in the National Science Fair and first prize in the USAF's Awards Program...

Eveready Battery Ads from the 1950's

Eveready Battery Ads from the 1950's - RF CafeHere are a few magazine advertisements for Eveready Batteries (manufactured by Union Carbide, now part of Energizer - the indefatigable Bunny people) from sometime in the 1950's. In the manner of popular pulp fiction publications of the day, Eveready ran an extensive series of these "true story" adventures that promoted the dependability of Eveready batteries in hair-raising situations. I don't remember which magazines I scanned them from since it was done back before I was including dates on webpages. It might have been from The Saturday Evening Post, but I'm pretty sure they did not come from electronics magazines...

Many Thanks to Anatech Electronics for Long-Time Support!

Anatech Electronics logo - RF CafeAnatech Electronics (AEI) manufactures and supplies RF and microwave filters for military and commercial communication systems, providing standard LP, HP, BP, BS, notch, diplexer, and custom RF filters, and RF products. Standard RF filter and cable assembly products are published in our website database for ease of procurement. Custom RF filters designs are used when a standard cannot be found, or the requirements dictate a custom approach for your military and commercial communications needs. Sam Benzacar's monthly newsletters address contemporary wireless subjects. Please visit Anatech today to see how they can help your project succeed. 

Tuesday the 30th

Satellite Experiments in Space

Satellite Experiments in Space, July 1965 Electronics World - RF CafeSpace exploration and exploitation has always advanced quickly. Sputnik and Explorer were launched in 1957 and 1958, respectively. They were the world's first artificial satellites, and had only one-way communications from onboard scientific payloads to earth stations which picked up the signals (many amateur radio operators received the data as well). In a little over half a decade, multiple two-way communications satellites were in orbit, and instrumented probes had already reached the moon, Venus, and Mars. Results of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) effort are rightfully credited with setting everything in motion. This article from a 1965 issue of Popular Electronics magazine reports on the state of the art in satellite technology. Not mentioned is the concurrent rapid advances being made in rockets, tracking stations, and orbital and space navigation capabilities which were an integral part of the program...

Electronic Clocks of Patek Philippe Ran the World

Electronic Clocks of Patek Philippe Ran the World - RF CafeThis "The Electronic Clocks of Patek Philippe Once Ran the World" story appears on the Electronic Design website, and includes a narrated video. "We visit the largest collection of Patek Philippe electronic clocks ever assembled for public viewing, in New York City. Watchmaker Patek Philippe, popularly known for its fine mechanical timepieces, is considered part of the 'great triumvirate' of Swiss watch manufacturers. What many don't know is that the company also was known as pioneering maker of electronic master clocks and a leader in the core technologies behind atomic and quartz timekeeping. Patek Philippe created its Electronic Timekeeping Division in 1948, and created some of the most accurate timekeeping clocks available. Collectability and Analog:Shift presented the largest collection of Patek Philippe electronic clocks for public viewing in New York City. Valued at over $2M, the 'Meeting Point' exhibition presents over 40 electronic clocks from the company, accumulated over four decades from 1973 through today..."

Building a 1930 Electric Receiver

Building a 1930 Electric Receiver, November 1929, Radio-Craft - RF CafeVreeland Corporation was an early radio manufacturer located in Hoboken, New Jersey, with multiple patents on file for innovative circuits. The Vreeland band selector system mentioned here was originally filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in August of 1927 and had not been awarded by the time of this November 1929 article in Radio−Craft magazine. In fact, it wasn't until five years later, in 1932, that the patent was finally assigned. The official description reads in part, "The general purpose of the invention is to receive the component frequencies of such a band with such uniformity as to avoid material distortion of the modulated wave, and to exclude frequencies outside of the band which the system is designed to receive. Another purpose of the invention is to provide means for shifting the position of the band in the frequency scale at will, by a simple adjustment, so that the system may be readily adapted to receive modulated waves of any desired carrier frequency, including the side bands of such modulated waves." That sounds to me like a standard heterodyne system with selective filters. It seems the filter characteristic with a wider inband region and sharp cutoff is what make it unique. One line in the patent states...

Poll: Have You Taken the Covid "Jab?"

Poll: Have You Taken the Covid "Jab?" - RF CafeBecause of all the possible combinations of options, this "Have You Taken the Covid 'Jab?'" poll uses a multi-choice format. Registration is required to post on the RF Cafe Blog (aka Forum) only as a means of preventing the legions of marauding spambots from flooding the venue with garbage. The new Blog is off to a slow start, with the majority of posts having been added by me. Your participation will be greatly appreciated. BTW, I was able to reconstitute the old pre−2010 RF Cafe Forums content, but cannot re-activate it for use because I cannot get the database to upgrade properly to conform with the new structure.

Electronics Themed Comics from a 1932 QST

Electronics Themed Comics, December 1932 QST - RF CafeAs you can see by these vintage electronics-themed comics from a 1930's edition of QST magazine, both the technology and the style of humor has changed over the past century (nearly). One of the more obvious differences is the comic where the woman is traipsing home with a high voltage insulator for her husband's antenna. Today there is almost no place a person can walk into a local Ham equipment supply shop to pick up anything. Both were drawn by the fabled Phil Glidersleeve (aka "Gil"), W1CJD. For some unknown (to me) reason, you almost never find a comic published in QST. Maybe the ARRL's lawyers have advised the publisher not to publish any kind of humor lest one person somewhere be offended and try to make trouble. If so, it is yet another case of the miniscule minority dictating the way everyone else lives...

RF Cascade Workbook

RF Cascade Workbook - RF Cafe RF Cascade Workbook 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 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 29th

deForest's Early Audions

deForest's Early Audions, September 1965 Electronics World - RF CafeIf you didn't know any better, when you see a photo of Lee de Forest's first attempts at vacuum tubes, you might mistake them for candelabra-base light bulbs. They were screw-in jobs with an extra wire line or two protruding from the glass envelope. The similarity was no coincident since the company employed to construct the tubes was a light bulb manufacturer, called electric lamps at the time, manufacturer - Henry Wallace McCandless (what's in a name, eh?). Many articles are available on RF Cafe documenting deForest's path to success with his amplifying vacuum tubes (aka Audions). His initial experiments involved using incandescent gases as the medium for signal detection devices - diodes. He was not the first to develop a vacuum tube diode, but it was his efforts to improve on the diode that led him to realize that by inserting a modulating grid between the cathode and anode, the transconductance could be controlled in a manner in which a relatively small control grid signal could affect a large change in cathode-to-plate current flow...

Garod Model 6AU-1 Tabletop Radio

Garod Model 6AU-1 Tabletop Radio, November 1946 Radio News - RF CafeFor many years, I have been scanning and posting schematics & parts lists for vintage radios like this Garod 6AU−1 tabletop model. When possible I run OCR (optical character recognition) on them to separate the textual content. The Garod 6AU−1 is very popular amongst collectors because of its colorful Bakelite case, and well-preserved or reconditioned instances often sell for many hundreds of dollars. The similar model 6BU-1A was a more traditional brown color and had the dial mechanics at the bottom of the cover. 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. I keep a running list of all data sheets to facilitate a search...

Withwave High Speed & High-Density Multicoax Cable Assemblies

Withwave High Speed & High-Density Multicoax Cable Assemblies - RF CafeWithwave's High Speed & High-Density Multicoax Cable Assemblies (WMX Series) provides a wide range of multiple coax connectors and flexible cable assemblies. Specially, Board Edge Socket type (BES) is excellent signal integrity solutions at edge of PCB for bench-top testing and automated test equipment to meet increasing demands of semiconductor test equipment and optical testing industries. Frequency range: DC to 20, 40 & 50 GHz, excellent insertion and return loss, board edge socket contact type (solderless), 1x8 channels. Applications include semiconductor & optical test equipment high speed testing module, supercomputing...

FADA Radio and Electric Company

FADA Radio and Electric Company Ad, January 1945 Radio News - RF CafeFADA Radio and Electric Company, of Long Island, New York, had a unique message for veterans returning from the throes of World War II. Rather than focus on the potential loss of "innocence" caused by exposure both to the horrors of war and the excitement and splendor of foreign cities, it appealed to a desire to forget about the glitz and glitter and come back home to help America convert its amazing technical and manufacturing base, borne out of desperate wartime need, into a thriving postwar, commercial economy. Many highly skilled tradesmen, architects, engineers, technicians, mechanics, communicators, instructors, doctors, nurses, accountants, seamstresses, welders, riveters, painters, packagers, cooks, cargo movers, planners, strategists, et al, were created in the four years previous to this 1945 Radio News magazine advertisement. As with many others in 1945, it reflected a feeling throughout the world...

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 stencil symbol has been built to fit proportionally on the included A-, B-, and C-size drawing page templates (or use your own page if preferred). Components are provided for system block diagrams, conceptual drawings, schematics, test equipment, racks (EIA 19", ETSI 21"), and more. Test equipment and racks are built at a 1:1 scale so that measurements can be made directly using Visio built-in dimensioning objects. Page templates are provided with a preset scale (changeable) for a good presentation that can incorporate all provided symbols...

Many Thanks to KR Electronics for Long-Time Support!

KR ElectronicsKR Electronics designs and manufactures high quality filters for both the commercial and military markets. KR Electronics' line of filters includes lowpass, highpass, bandpass, bandstop and individually synthesized filters for special applications - both commercial and military. State of the art computer synthesis, analysis and test methods are used to meet the most challenging specifications. All common connector types and package form factors are available. Please visit their website today to see how they might be of assistance. Products are designed and manufactured in the USA.

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