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3 of the July 2016 homepage
archives.
EDI CON USA 2016,
a conference that brings together engineers working on high-frequency analog and
high-speed digital designs, taking place September 20-22 in Boston, Mass. at the
Hynes Convention Center, announces it sold-out its show floor, with a total of 138
exhibiting companies from the RF, microwave, and high-speed digital industries.
As a result, the show management has issued a second floor expansion. There is also
limited availability for a demo pod in the Signal Integrity Zone. The EDI CON USA
2016 show floor and exhibitor list can be found online
 "Two U.S. research companies are helping the
U.S. Navy develop breakthrough
cryogenic super-cooled superconducting RF
and microwave technologies for future tactical signals intelligence (SIGINT) systems.
Officials of the Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) Systems Center Pacific in San
Diego announced contracts this week to Out of the Fog Research LLC in Mountain View,
Calif., and to Hypres Inc. in Elmsford, N.Y., for the Emerging Cryogenic devices
..."
 Long after shirt pocket sized electronic calculators
and glass cockpits became the norm for both professional and recreational aviators,
Colonel J. Michael Gibson, a career pilot and navigator with the Canadian Civil
Aeronautics Search and Rescue (now retired) carried
a Pickett N600-ES slide rule in his flight jacket. Its diminutive
size (only 5" long), sharply marked scales, and sturdy
construction made it a favorite for on-the-go users. A special purpose Pickett N700-T
USAF Aerial Photo slide rule lived in his flight suit sleeve pocket. Colonel Gibson
is passing along his appreciation for the art of slide rule usage to his granddaughter.
She routinely uses her Pickett 1010 model
...
 With the 47th anniversary of the Apollo 11
moon landing coming up on July 20, a number of sources have written about NASA having
released the
Apollo Guidance Computer
(AGC) source code into the public domain. Chris Wiltz,
at Design News, included this photo of
Margaret Hamilton of MIT's Draper Labs standing with her team's
code printout. Women engineers take note - that was in 1969!
 I highly recommend the
NASA Apollo 11: Owners' Workshop Manual,
published by Haynes. It has an incredible amount of 'insider' info about the development
of both hardware and software.
 I have never been a fan of "free verse" poetry,
be it in the form of a sonnet or otherwise. In my humble opinion, poems that do
not both rhyme and have some degree of meter represent laziness on the part of the
'poet.' Without requiring poetry to rhyme, all that is required to declare anything
a poem is to break the writing into poem-like lines, et voilà - you have a poem.
It is like slinging a brush-load of paint onto a canvas and calling it art. I proclaim
the above to be a poem
...
 "Pentagon researchers are sponsoring a competition
of sorts that could open an area off the electronic spectrum to high-capacity radio
communications. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is already making
some progress with its
Terahertz Electronics Program, which currently
has two contenders, both made by Northrop Grumman: the Solid State Power Amplifier
and the Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier. This isn't a case of just speed for speed's
sake. The military has been looking to make
..."
 Please welcome
Federal
Custom Cable as the newest advertiser on RF Cafe. Federal Custom Cable is your
direct  source for RF & Microwave and Contract Manufacturing
(CM), cable prepping, kitting, labeling, rack & panel, modular assemblies, delay
lines,  inductors and toroids, semi rigid, stripping and
bending, custom molding, Ø-matched, power and multi-conductor and shielded
cables. Please visit them today to see if they can help you with your project
...
 3 more Radio Service Data Sheets for vintage
vacuum tube radios have been added to the growing collection
(135 so far). Radio-Craft and Radio-News,
both publications of Hugo Gernsback, published these monthly for the benefit of
both professional service shops and private tinkerers. • Stromberg-Carlson Nos. 62 and 63, 8-Tube High-Fidelity Chassis • RCA Model 103, 4-Tube A.C. Compact Dual-Wave • General Electric Models A82 and A87, 8-Metal-Tube All-Wave A.C. Superheterodyne
Empower RF Systems is conducting
remote live
demos of our broadband, high power amplifier at the IEEE EMC Symposium at the
Shaw Centre in Ottawa July 26 – 28th , 2016, Booth 322. The amplifier will be housed
in Los Angeles while viewed in the Ottawa exhibit venue with live streaming video
while controlling the amplifier from the exhibit floor through a standard web browser.
What you will see is a demonstration of remote operation of the Empower 2170 1KW
RF amplifier in a test setup
 A day or so ago I posted about Electronic
Design magazine's latest Salary Survey (which is also part
of this report). Now, here is their annual
Leaders in Electronics issue. It
appears to be largely an infomercial for their advertisers, not a personal interview
with company 'leaders' offering industry insights like the title might suggest.
Nevertheless, there is a lot of good information as well, including the report on
the Internet of Things (IoT). You need to sign in for this one, too
...
 "Researchers recently made the surprising
discovery that a special class of materials called 'hyperuniform materials' can be both dense and transparent. This
work demonstrates a new way to control light and could lead to novel materials for
many light-based applications including solar photovoltaics. These so-called 'hyperuniform
materials' can be made of plastic or glass that contains light-scattering particles
spaced in a disordered, but not completely
..."
has announced two new ranges of military specification crystal oscillators,
designed for use in applications that demand high reliability. Available in industry
standard dual-in-line packages, the new
EQXO-1000BMK and EQXO-3000BMK clock oscillators feature a custom-designed
quartz crystal and a CMOS/TTL compatible hybrid circuit mounted on a ceramic substrate.
Manufactured using the latest advances in production technology, these oscillators
 "The Laser Air Speed Sensing Instrument (LASSI) which is being exhibited at this
year's Farnborough International Airshow sets itself apart from conventional methods
as it accurately measures velocity even at low speeds. Air speed is normally determined
using pitot tubes – which protrude from aircraft and sense variations in air pressure
with speed. Although usually heated, these tubes are vulnerable to blockage in icy
conditions. They could also be damaged by collisions with birds and when the aircraft
is on the ground. Operating on the same principle
..."
 LNAFIN Oy, located
in Helsinki, Finland requested to be added to the
PCB &
Substrate Vendors & Services and
Product
Design & Development pages on RF Cafe. PCB layout design, printed circuit
boards (PCB), PCB assembly (PCBA), ASIC design, electronics R&D and wire bonding
services (IC assembly). They also do demanding RF and MMIC designs.
 How many times have you dug through a drawer
of coaxial connector adapters
and found what seemed like every possible combination of TNCs, Ns, SMAs, TNCs, UHFs,
SMBs, and <fill in the blank>s except the one
you really need? Sometimes the reason is simply because all on hand are being used
for something else and cannot be 'borrowed' for your use. Other times it is because
the need never existed before. Usually, a quick search on the Internet will turn
up exactly want you want, but for a decent quality adapter you will pay a stiff
price - especially if it is a rare combination of connector types
...
 I noticed in this Sunday's
Garfield
comic strip that he utters "73" after Jon runs by with a swarm of fireflies after
him. My first thought was amateur radio's Morse code "73," meaning "best regards."
However, I also counted exactly 73 fireflies chasing Jon. Not surprisingly, there
is a discussion on the website about the meaning of "73." A search did not turn
up anything regarding whether artist Jim Davis is a Ham
...
 Take a break and work this week's
electronics technology themed crossword puzzle. All the words
are pulled from a hand-built list of terms, names, and abbreviations that have only
to do with science, mathematics, and engineering. If you want a crossword with names
of movie stars and obscure countries, try the local newspaper. If you want to exercise
your nerd knowledge, this is the one for you
...
 Wikipedia lists 348 species of electric fish.
Jerry tells fellow electrical and electronics experimenter Carl that the
electric eel is not an eel at all, but a fish. Actually, the eel
is a fish (a knifefish); however - and I needed to
look this up - a true eel is a member of the fish order Anguilliformes, which the
electric eel is not. Having no expertise in the field of eels, I'll leave it at
that. Jerry's uncle, who is an active duty Navy guy, somehow managed to ship an
electric eel to him for experimentation purposes. Doing so might have been possible
...
The D200 is the latest in Highland Technology's line of high-performance compact
precision
laser drivers. A DC-coupled trigger signal produces fast, 2 nanosecond transitions.
Up to 4 amps of regulated drive current supports lasers with forward voltages up
to 9 volts. The built-in edge-triggered pulse generator provides up to 1us pulse
widths. A pulse-follower mode is also provided, accommodating externally-defined
trigger widths up to 100% duty continuous-wave
 "Marine animals use electroreception to detect
humans by their muscle movement, warning them to stay away. HECS Aquatics has built
a
Faraday cage into a wetsuit, blocking
electrical signals from being sent out. The technology blocks 95 per cent of the
electrical signals given off by muscle movement, the company says. The wetsuit was
tested by marine biologist Ricky Elliott during a research trip in Hawaii, who was
featuring in a series of stunning photographs showing him up close with a variety
of animals
..."
 Although July seems to be a little slow, some
great new RF-related magazine articles have appeared in the trade magazines
since last posting a list like this a month ago (tempus fugit!).
Since the majority of people no longer receive paper copies of the magazines - or
if they do, never read them - I try to drive a little traffic to the websites by
...
-
Electronic Design 2016 Leaders
Issue
-
New Radio Ecosystem for a
Changing Wireless World
-
Design Guidelines for Metallic
Enclosures for RF Circuits
-
Near-Field Scanners Let You
See EMI
Engineered 'Sand' May Help Cool
Electronic Devices
 "Baratunde Cola would like to put sand into
your computer. Not beach sand, but silicon dioxide nanoparticles coated with a high
dielectric constant polymer to inexpensively provide improved cooling for increasingly
power-hungry electronic devices. The
silicon dioxide doesn't do the cooling
itself. Instead, the unique surface properties of the coated nanoscale material
conduct the heat at potentially higher efficiency than existing heat sink materials.
The theoretical physics behind the phenomenon is complicated
..."
 "We have to be comfortable with the uncertainty
of not knowing, resist easy answers, and keep exploring the universe with open minds
and all the tools and techniques we can muster." - David Grinspoon, astrobiologist,
"No Need to Feel Lonely," January 2016 Sky & Telescope
magazine. That cited quote won a coin toss with another line in the same article
for being the Notable Tech Quote: "...people tend to get attached to certainty and
start to believe they know the answer." Hmmm, can you think of any contemporary
examples of political, sociological, or scientific topics where hard facts seem
to be getting in the way of rigidly held opinions? The ignorant
...
 Anatech
Electronics (AEI) manufactures and supplies
RF and microwave filters
for military and commercial communication systems, providing standard 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.
Please visit Anatech today to see whether they can assist you with your project
...
 "A team of researchers at Brown School of
Engineering has developed a new power-splitting device for terahertz (THz) waves.
Capable of operating over almost the entire THz range, this basic component shows
promise for wireless and broadband THz applications. As the demand for wireless
communications increases and bandwidth decreases, access of the THz frequencies
will unlock new faster methods of data transfer. One of the big thrusts in terahertz
technology is wireless communications
..."
 Not so long ago, it was impossible - literally
- to find a company offering these SMA finger wrenches that used to be handed out
like candy at RF & microwave industry shows. I always found them to be extremely
handy for getting SMAs on and off in situations where precision torqueing is not
mandated. I wrote about it back in February of 2014, then
Bracke
Manufacturing responded in April saying they had just begun making them, and
offered samples (up to 5) for free. Their latest catalog
just arrived with mention of the giveaway offer on the back cover, so I figured
I'd let you know again
...
 "Aalto
University scientists have broken the world record by fourteen fold in the energy
resolution of thermal photodetection. The record was made using a partially superconducting
microwave detector. The discovery may
lead to ultrasensitive cameras and accessories for the emerging quantum computer.
The first of the two key enabling developments is the new detector design consisting
of tiny pieces of superconducting aluminum and a golden nanowire
..."
 The Klondike / Yukon Gold Rush is generally
credited with opening up the Alaskan territory to exploration and habitation. Gold
was first reported in August of 1896, just three decades prior to this advertisement
by the
De Forest Radio Company extolling its domination of the region
with radio communications stations. Company founder Lee De Forest was very
successful in exploiting the virtues of his famous Audion amplifier tube. A back-handed
swipe is taken at Government installations that used "whatever tubes the Government
has"
...
 This report details results of the
Electronic Design's 2015 Salary Survey.
Nearly 3,000 engineers responded. Without giving away the numbers, I'll let you
know most have a Master's degree, and have been with their present employer less
than a decade. The average engineer's age is getting older with most having lived
more than century/2. Average pay is north of $100k (multiply
by 0.74 to adjust for average hours worked/week relative to 40), with IC
designers topping the chart. The 4th largest gripe is underfunded projects. Most
engineers rely on whitepapers, magazines, and webinars to keep current. There's
lots more. The report is FREE, but you need to sign up or sign in for access
...
 "The military services have been exploring
a number of ways to ensure navigation when
GPS signals are jammed or otherwise disruption.
Army researchers have come up with another way—using their eyes, albeit with an
advanced, very sensitive camera that allows a user to determine much the camera
has moved in relation to an object. The Communications-Electronics Research, Development
and Engineering Center (CERDEC) is using miniature
cameras that can capture the tiniest movement, allowing
..."
 At first I was going to comment that using
a wizard in an astrologer's robe to promote chemistry as an example of a career
option does not seem like a good choice for appealing to serious prospects. However,
given the weirdness of a good portion of the population, it might be as effective
today as it evidently was nearly a century ago when the
Chemical Institute of New York ran this ad in Radio-Craft
magazine. Dr. T. O'Conor Sloane, reputed head of the Institute, published such tomes
as The Standard Electrical Dictionary, How to become a Successful Electrician,
Arithmetic of Electricity
...
 "The days of peak BlackBerry in the U.S. capital
are hard to forget. The swift clackety-click of the keyboard and the soft trrrrrrr
of the trackpad scroll invaded every corner of Washington: You'd hear it on the
Metro and in building hallways, at dinner tables and in bars, in elevators and,
yes, even bathroom stalls. OK, it wasn't just D.C. actually. For a while, everyone
seemed to have a BlackBerry. The true 'crackberry' craze phase has subsided over
the past few years as BlackBerry's smartphones lost out to iPhones and Android devices.
And now, BlackBerry is bidding
..."
Anatech 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.
Anatech has introduced 2 new designs: a 900 MHz cellular bandpass filter with
"N" connectors, a surface mount 900 MHz ceramic bandpass filter, and a 885-909 MHz/930-954 MHz
cavity bandpass filter with SMA connectors. Custom design are available
 We live in days of
plenty of everything. People throw away and stash away items that
our parents - and particularly grandparents - could only dream of having available.
Even households that have never seen a penny of earned income in decades are overflowing
with stuff. Shopping carts in Walmart, K-Mart, and Target are filled to overflowing
when I am there with toys, shoes and clothes, electronic gadgets, sporting goods,
automotive accessories, pet food (Target has reefers with
fresh meat for dogs) and accessories, lawn and garden implements, hand tools,
DVDs and Blu-rays, televisions, disposable diapers, snack cakes and
...
Keysight Technologies today introduced its
Signal Optimizer
software—the industry's first and only all-in-one software for calibration,
signal creation and signal analysis of 5G candidate waveforms. By simplifying calibration
and the critical design tasks related to 5G signal creation and analysis, the software
enables R&D engineers to focus more time on being first-to-market with their
own designs. Calibration is essential to making accurate measurements of 5G signals;
however, calibrating wideband channels at RF
 "You are contemplating beginning the journey
of becoming an engineer, or perhaps you are already on route. No doubt, it will
be a daunting task, and it will not be easy. Along the way, you will discover that
the road to success is not straight, and you likely will not end up where you planned.
However, many engineers did it before, and many will do it after. You can do it
too. The journey begins at school, and choosing the right one can seem a little
difficult at first. However, choosing to
study abroad could be the best choice you can make; Here are 10
reasons why 1. Break the 'Antisocial'
..."
 Up until around the 1960s, company advertisements
in printed media were equally likely to be drawings (like
this
Radiotron UV-861) or photographs. Maybe a skilled artist
could produce a finely detailed rendition of the subject more efficiently than with
staging for a good photo and then performing the chemical developing procedure.
Of course part of the motivation might have been an ability to easily 'enhance'
features not necessarily present on the original subject. In fact, a physical
model is not required at all for a drawing. I know from looking at many vintage
ads using drawings that the food paintings usually looked
...
 "Some of the world's largest telecoms companies
have signed a 5G manifesto, aimed at driving forward the deployment of next-generation
mobile networks. The
manifesto pledges to launch fast 5G mobile
networks in every country within the European Union by 2020. However, it also says
current net neutrality regulations could hamper innovation and cause "significant
uncertainties". The signatories include BT, Nokia, Orange, Vodafone and Deutsche
..."
 "The
Samsung Galaxy
S7 Active stopped working after being put in a tank that simulated the effect
of being about 5ft (1.5m) underwater.
Consumer Reports repeated its test on
a second model, which was also damaged. Samsung said it was possible defective devices
were 'not as watertight' as they should have been. When removed after half an hour,
the first phone's display was non-responsive and marred by green lines. Bubbles
had also formed in its two camera lenses. The second handset subjected to the same
..."
Southwest Antennas is pleased to announce the release of a new
small form factor panel antenna designed
specifically for IEEE 802.11g/n Wi-Fi or other ISM applications in the 2.4 - 2.5
frequency band. The antenna is designed to handle up to 10 Watts of RF input power,
has a maximum gain of 7.8 dBi, and is vertically polarized. Measuring only half
an inch thick, this antenna is ideal for use as a stand-alone solution for providing
Wi-Fi / ISM band coverage within a building or other structure while remaining unobtrusive.
The thin form factor also allows this product to be integrated into other products
and enclosures
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