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Great Deal on Coaxial
and Twisted Pair Cable

Coaxial and Twisted Pair Cable for Sale - RF Cafe

Spools of various types of communications cables - RG-59 coax and a few kinds of twisted pair cables. Some reels / boxes are full or nearly full, and I guestimate at least 100 feet on others. Photos are shown below. Since I do not have the time or the will to unspool, measure the length of, and re-spool any of it...

Practical Applications of Simple Math

Practical Applications of Simple Math - Part II, June 1944 QST - RF CafeRecognizing that many people were reluctant to approach the theoretical aspect of electronics as it applied to circuit design and analysis, QST (the American Radio Relay League's monthly publication) included equations and explanations in many of their project building articles. Occasionally, an article would be published that dealt specifically with how to use simple mathematics. In this case, the June 1944 edition, we have the second installation of at least a four-part tutorial that covers resistance and reactance, amplifier biasing (tubes since the Shockley-Bardeen-Brattain trio hadn't invented the transistor yet) oscillators, feedback circuits, etc. I do not have Part I from the May 1944 edition or Part IV from the August 1944 edition, but if you want to send me those editions, I'll be glad to scan and post them...

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 Amplifier Solutions Corporation (ASC) for Continuing Support!

Amplifier Solutions Corporation (ASC) - RF CafeAmplifier Solutions Corporation (ASC) is a manufacturer of amplifiers for commercial & military markets. 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. ASC is located in an 8,000 sq.ft. facility in the town of Telford, PA. We offer excellent customer support and take pride in the ability to quickly react to evolving system design requirements.

Electronics Theme Crossword Puzzle for June 4

Electronics Theme Crossword Puzzle for June 4, 2023 - RF CafeThis week's crossword puzzle for June 4th sports an electronics theme. This being the fourth day of the month, many of the words begin and/or end with the letter "D." Besides that, we're only two days away from "D-Day." All RF Cafe crossword puzzles are custom made by me, Kirt Blattenberger, and have only words and clues related to RF, microwave, and mm-wave engineering, optics, mathematics, chemistry, physics, and other technical subjects. 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, Hedy Lamarr, or the Tunguska event in Siberia). The technically inclined cruciverbalists amongst us will appreciate the effort. Enjoy!

Please Support RF Cafe

Amazon Prime - RF CafeThe RFCafe.com website exists partly on the support of its visitors by way of a small percentage earned with your Amazon.com purchases, which typically works out to less than $20 per month. That does not even cover the domain registration and secure server fees for RFCafe.com. If you plan to buy items via Amazon.com, please click on this link to begin your shopping session from here so that I get credit for it. Doing so does not cost you anything extra. Thank you for your support.

Thanks to Exodus Advanced Communications for Continued Support

Exodus Advanced Communications - RF CafeExodus Advanced Communications is a multinational RF communication equipment and engineering service company serving both commercial and government entities and their affiliates worldwide. Power amplifiers ranging from 10 kHz to 51 GHz with various output power levels and noise figure ranges, we fully support custom designs and manufacturing requirements for both small and large volume levels. decades of combined experience in the RF field for numerous applications including military jamming, communications, radar, EMI/EMC and various commercial projects with all designing and manufacturing of our HPA, MPA, and LNA products in-house.

Fuses Are Not for Confusion

Fuses Are Not for Confusion, October 1960 Electronics World - RF CafeBack in the early 1990s I had my first need as a product design engineer to select a fuse type; it was for protecting a downconverter chassis. Having already worked in the electronics and electrical equipment installation and maintenance field for twenty years, I have had to replace many fuses of many different types in many types of assemblies ranging from AC motor controls to microprocessor boards. Slo−Blo, Fast−Blo, Standard−Blo, high voltage and low voltage, high current and low current, glass bodied, plastic bodied, and even metal explosion-proof bodied fuses were in the realm my experience. However, some other engineer had already decided what the appropriate fuse was for the application. I assume each instance had been determined from a selection process based on knowledge of both the device to be protected and the characteristics of the fuses. Not just any fuse will do the job. Sometimes you get lucky and the one used will work so long as the current and voltage ratings are within the normal operational range of the product being protected, but if that was generally the case, there wouldn't be such a large variety of fuse types, n'est−ce pas? This "Fuses Are Not for Confusion" article from a 1960 issue of Popular Electronics magazine is a great primer on the art of fuse selection...

Following the Science ... Dr. David Martin

Dr. David Martin, at the International COVID Summit | 2003 European Parliament - RF CafeRegardless of your position on the appropriateness of actions taken by world governments and private entities regarding the COVID 19 debacle, if you truly do "believe the science" as we were all admonished to do, then you are obligated to avail yourself of validated, relevant data. Those of us who had researched the issue and arrived at our own conclusions early on were routinely condemned and demonized for daring to buck the official narrative. By all accounts we should have expired long ago from the virus while the believers enjoy practically eternal life from being vaxxed ... and revaxxed ... and revaxxed... Seems the opposite has happened. Sadly, many people still have not exposed themselves to information from other than the perpetrators of the deed. This presentation by Dr. David Martin, at the International COVID Summit | 2023 European Parliament will shock you (~15 minutes) regardless of your beliefs. The level of deception and lying has been epic - with catastrophic results. If you still enthusiastically support the official narrative, fear not, your heroes will not face any penalty. How many weeks will be needed next time to "flatten the curve?"

Simpson Electric Company 260 VOM

Simpson Electric Company Advertisement Model 260 VOM, July 1944 QST - RF CafeI was first introduced to the Simpson 260 volt-ohmmeter (VOM) in the radar shop where I was assigned in the USAF. Here is the modern version of that classic, the Simpson 260-8 VOM; it looks a lot like the original. Here is an advertisement that I scanned out of my copy of the July 1944 QST magazine. It highlights the precision to which its meter movement pivots are manufactured. "While Simpson Electric Company, chartered in 1934, is a firm with a distinguished past, it is just as importantly an organization with a dynamic present and a definite future." There is an entire website dedicated to the history of the Simpson 260. The famous 260 Volt-Ohm-Milliammeter put Simpson on the map and cemented a reputation for quality that still defines Simpson in the marketplace today." You can still buy a brand new Simpson 260 (-8) from Amazon - and it isn't cheap - or grab a vintage Simpson Model 260 on eBay for under $100...

Werbel 2-Way Power Divider 0.5-6 GHz

Werbel Microwave 2-Way Power Divider 500 MHz to 6 GHz - RF CafeWerbel Microwave, a designer and manufacturer of RF and microwave power couplers, dividers, terminations, and DAS equipment, introduces the Model D−2065−N from Werbel Microwave is a 2−way power splitter covering the continuous bandwidth of 500 MHz to 6 GHz. The product features low insertion loss of 0.9 dB, high isolation of 22 dB and excellent return loss performance of 19 dB. Tight phase and amplitude matching between outputs. Aluminum body with stainless steel N(F) connectors. Small size, only 0.75 in thick, allows for dense stacking in tight spaces. Werbel Microwave's catalog of directional couplers and power splitters / combiners are high performance at an affordable price point. Our original design. Click here for the C-9001-8.5 spec sheet. About Werbel Microwave In-House Manufacturing Capability Werbel Microwave started in 2014 humbly working out of a one-car garage. Since then we have grown to occupy a 1300 square foot office and shipped over 10,000 products to date...

Electronics Inventors Quiz

Electronics Inventors Quiz, November 1963 Popular Electronics - RF CafeMost of these matches of the devices and its inventor are pretty easy for people who have been around electronics for any length of time (well, not if the length of time is only a day or two), but there are a couple that just might stump you. This "Electronics Inventors Quiz" appeared in the November 1963 issue of Popular Electronics magazine, so you won't be challenged with knowing the inventors of the LCD or MEMS devices, but neither will you have to know who came up with the abacus or the Archimedes screw :-). I managed to score 100%, but that was admittedly partly luck in deciding between two men for items "B" and "C." The other eight should be a piece of cake for most RF Cafe visitors...

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...

Many Thanks for Alliance Test Equipment's Support!

Allied Test Equipment Products - RF CafeAlliance Test Equipment sells used / refurbished test equipment and offers short- and long-term rentals. They also offer repair, maintenance and calibration. Prices discounted up to 80% off list price. Agilent/HP, Tektronix, Anritsu, Fluke, R&S and other major brands. A global organization with ability to source hard to find equipment through our network of suppliers. Alliance Test will purchase your excess test equipment in large or small lots. Blog posts offer advice on application and use of a wide range of test equipment. Please visit Allied Test Equipment today to see how they can help your project.

Channel Master Antennas

Channel Master Antennas, October 1960 Electronics World - RF CafeThe decade of the 1960s was probably the heyday of television. Household incomes had been steadily rising since the end of World War II while inflation was relatively low. The Korean War was over and until around 1965 the country was not on a serious war footing. Game shows, soap operas, shows depicting non-dysfunctional families, variety show formats, non-woke cartoons, movies, and newscasts that didn't insult half the country with biased coverage fed the country's appetite for wholesome, useful entertainment. Once violent race riots and hippie anti-establishment protests became a major threat to safety and civic deportment, people monitored radio and television to keep abreast of events. In accord with rapidly improving television sets were advances in antenna technology. Viewers wanted the best possible picture and audio, and were willing to pay dearly for it. Through around the end of the 20th century, after which cable dominated as a transmission medium, over-the-air broadcasts in increasingly crowded RF environments made higher performance antennas even more necessary...

Compliant 3D-Printed Tunable GHz-Range Antenna

Compliant 3D-Printed Tunable GHz-Range Antenna - RF Cafe"Many situations arise in which an antenna needs to dynamically reconfigure its center frequency or beam pattern. In some cases, this can be done with a steerable, multi-element antenna array, but it's often not a viable solution for various reasons. As an alternative, a team of electrical engineers in the Penn State College of Engineering devised an innovative design for a reconfigurable patch antenna dubbed a reconfigurable compliant mechanism antenna (rCMA). The antenna, which leverages the inherent elastic properties of selected material to create a desired motion through controlled deformation, is designed to operate up to 10 GHz. These compliant mechanisms can be made as a planar structure from a single material yet still achieve multi-axis motion. Further, they can be designed as a full structure with minimal or even no assembly, require no lubrication, and their reliability is high, as it's based on the elastic properties of the material..."

War and the Radio Amateur

War and the Radio Amateur, May 1917 The Electrical Experimenter - RF CafeAmateur radio station operators seemed to always be amongst the first to lose their rights in time of war. Governmental power brokers - from unelected local bureaucrats on up to presidents - love to demonstrate their influence over citizens when the opportunity arises. The Radio Act of 1912 revoked the rights of amateur radio stations to operate, and in some cases authorized the confiscation of radio equipment for use by the government. Permission was not restored until 1919, after World War I. Amateurs took it on the chin again in World War II with revocation of licenses. In this 1917 article in The Electrical Experimenter magazine publisher Hugo Gernsback makes the case for permitting "our red-blooded boys be trusted to assist our officials in running down spies." "...we realize how absurd it is to close all privately owned radio stations during the war," says he. It fell on deaf ears, as usual. As the now mayor of Chicago once famously said, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste..."

Anatech Intros 3 Filter Models

Anatech Electronics Intros 3 Filter Models for May 31st, 2023 - RF CafeAnatech Electronics offers the industry's largest portfolio of high-performance standard and customized RF and microwave filters and filter-related products for military, commercial, aerospace and defense, and industrial applications up to 40 GHz. Three new filter models have been introduced - a 1176 MHz / 1575 MHz ceramic duplexer with an 18 MHz minimum bandwidth, a 1616 - 1626.5 MHz cavity bandpass filter with TNC female connectors, and a 4900 MHz bandpass filter with N-type male / N-type female connectors. Custom RF power filter and directional couplers designs can be designed and produced with required connector types when a standard cannot be found, or the requirements are such that a custom approach is necessary...

Electronics and IGY

Electronics and IGY, March 1958 Popular Electronics - RF CafeThe International Geophysical Year (IGY) was an international scientific project that took place from July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958. It was a collaborative effort involving scientists from around the world to conduct research in various fields of geophysics. The IGY was organized in response to a proposal by the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) to promote international cooperation in the study of the Earth and its environment. The project aimed to advance our understanding of Earth's physical properties, including its atmosphere, oceans, and solid Earth. During the IGY, scientists conducted research in a wide range of disciplines, such as meteorology, seismology, glaciology, oceanography, and solar physics. They used cutting-edge technologies and established numerous research stations across the globe to gather data. One of the most significant achievements of the IGY was the International Geophysical Year Antarctic Program. Several countries established research bases in Antarctica, leading to significant discoveries about the continent's geology, weather patterns, and wildlife...

Mac's Service Shop: Technician or Consulting Engineer?

Mac's Service Shop: Technician or Consulting Engineer?, October 1960 Electronics World - RF CafeAfter reading the first paragraph of this "Mac's Service Shop" technodrama entitled, "Technician of Consulting Engineer?," I expected to be told a story about the seemingly excited customer exiting the shop as he returned from lunch. Had the man made an unreasonable demand on Mac McGregor, the proprietor, and was rebuffed appropriately? It never materialized. In the second paragraph underling technician Barney mentions having seen two men exiting the shop on his way in, not just one. At that point I'm wondering what sort of melee had just occurred. As it turned out, my interpretation of the event was totally incorrect. While explaining the happenings to Barney, he imparts, as he is want to do, a couple clever bits of technical information in the process. This appeared in the October 1960 issue of Electronics World magazine...

G & G Radio Supply Company

G & G Radio Supply Company Advertisement, October 1953 Radio & Television News - RF CafeIf only eBay had been around at the end of World War II, this surplus equipment would have dominated the electronics and electromechanical gizmo categories. Electronics magazines of the post-WWII era were filled for years with advertisements like this one from G & G Radio Supply Company in a 1953 issue of Radio & Television News magazine. That B-29 bomb sight, like the one used on the Enola Gay, could be purchased brand new for a scant $295, which even in equivalent 2018 dollars of $3,3142,758 (per the BLS), is a steal. This is not the famous Norden bombsight, but it's still a sweet collector's item, which is available on eBay today if you would like to own one. Already have a B-29 bombsight? How about a complete IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) secondary radar system? For a mere $350 you could have owned a complete rack of RC−188−A equipment, including the rack and chassis, a 450 W power supply, a 157-185 MHz transceiver (not in the Ham bands), a 5" CRT display, and a slew of vacuum tubes...

Remember seeing something here and it's gone now? Check the Archives pages.

everythingRF RF & Microwave Parts Database (h1) - RF Cafe
Exodus Advanced Communications Best in Class RF Amplifier SSPAs
withwave microwave devices - RF Cafe
Berkeley Nucleonics Vector Signal Generators Radar Simulations - RF Cafe

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About RF Cafe

Kirt Blattenberger - RF Cafe Webmaster

Copyright: 1996 - 2024

Webmaster:

    Kirt Blattenberger,

    BSEE - KB3UON

RF Cafe began life in 1996 as "RF Tools" in an AOL screen name web space totaling 2 MB. Its primary purpose was to provide me with ready access to commonly needed formulas and reference material while performing my work as an RF system and circuit design engineer. The World Wide Web (Internet) was largely an unknown entity at the time and bandwidth was a scarce commodity. Dial-up modems blazed along at 14.4 kbps while tying up your telephone line, and a nice lady's voice announced "You've Got Mail" when a new message arrived...

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