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Amplifiers for Set-Top Boxes
Skyworks is pleased to introduce two new broadband, 75 Ohm MMIC front-end, LNAs
designed specifically for set-top box applications: the
SKY65450-92LF
(with bypass mode) and the
SKY65452-92LF.
These devices provide high linearity and excellent gain over a wide frequency range
(40 MHz to 1 GHz) with minimal external components, enabling OEMs to leverage cost
efficiencies through lower bill of materials. In addition, Skyworks' new LNAs offer
low current consumption and low noise figure (2.9 dB typ.), delivering energy-saving
features, and are packaged
CAGR, Rising by 2.5x by End-2022
 "Led by adoption across various market segments,
the
GaN RF device market will double over the next five years, reckons
Yole Développement in its new report 'GaN RF Devices Market: Applications, Players,
Technology, and Substrates 2016 – 2022', which spans wireless infrastructure, defense &
aerospace, satellite communication, wired broadband (CATV and FTTH), and other industrial,
scientific & medical (ISM)-band applications. Indeed, 2015 was a significant
year for the GaN RF industry: In particular, a dramatic increase in wireless infrastructure
market sales is
..."
with the S-Meter
 Antenna radiation (beam) patterns published
by manufacturers are obtained under ideal - or close to ideal - conditions with
a carefully prepared and calibrated open air test site (OATS) or an enclosed anechoic
chamber. Multipath, imperfect earth ground, obstacles both manmade and natural,
misshapen elements, poor VSWR, antenna orientation (in both azimuth and elevation)
are among the many factors which produce real-world operational results that do
not jive with a manufacturer's datasheet. Without employing some far field 3-dimensional
field strength scheme see
Drone-Based Field Measurement System™), there is no way to obtain
a complete picture of how your antenna performs in all directions
...
5G - New-Waveform-Analysis
 5G - New-Waveform-Analysis. Free download
from Anritsu. UF-OFDM, FBMC and GFDM are under investigation worldwide as promising
candidates of the New Waveform for 5G mobile communication systems. This paper describes
features of their signal processing technologies and issues. New Waveform analysis
environment is also introduced. Impact of each waveform to existing system can be
estimated quickly by the environment. Preparations for the migration from LTE/LTE-Advanced
to next-generation mobile communications systems (5G)
...
to Neon Gas Supply Shortage
 "When many people think of neon, they think
of brightly lighted signs used in restaurants and other retail environments. The
element neon (Ne) gives a distinct reddish-orange glow when used in either low-voltage
neon glow lamps or in high-voltage discharge tubes or neon advertising signs. The
red emission line from neon is also responsible for the well known red light of
helium–neon lasers. Neon is commercially
extracted by the fractional distillation of liquid air. It is considerably more
expensive than helium, since air is its only source. What those outside the chip
industry likely don't know is that neon has been employed for semiconductor manufacturing
..."
for Their Continued Support!
 everything RF is a product discovery
platform for
RF & Microwave Products/Services.
We currently have 176,244 RF & Microwave Products from over 756 Companies listed
in 215 categories in our database and enable engineers to search for them using
our customized parametric search tool. The parametric product search tool on everything
RF has been designed to replace paper and PDF catalogs. It is fast, easy to use
and very powerful – You can enter your specs and find products from multiple manufacturers
that meet your requirement. You can then compare products, download datasheets,
request quotations, get pricing or contact the manufacturer for more information
...
on Propagation in Transmission Lines
Free webinar by Microwave Journal and Rogers Corp. to be broadcast on April 7
at 11:00 am ET. "Designers of high frequency electrical devices have long known
that
conductor surface roughness affects loss. Earlier
correlations such as those of Morgan and Groisse underestimate insertion loss by
a large margin at higher frequencies and on narrower transmission lines, where conductor
effects dominate. The present work experimentally demonstrates that the recent
Hall-Huray 'snowball' model and the Sonnet conductor loss correlation correctly
predict the shape of the insertion loss versus frequency curve up to 110 GHz, over
a wide range of copper profiles. Quantitative agreement, however, requires empirical
adjustment of
..."
for a TV Receiver
 Velocity modulation, aka deflection modulation,
of electronic images was evidently considered by some engineers to be potentially
disruptive technology when this article was published in a 1951 issue of Radio &
Television News. You can see from the pictures that the result is an image
that today's digital software would render with an 'emboss' technique. More vertical
relief seems to be generated with the analog velocity modulation technique compared
to what my graphics program does when embossing the original photo. At the bottom
of the page is a velocity modulation video demonstration found on YouTube
...
Takes the Next Step
 "Military researchers want to join with industry
to build a
robotic space vehicle capable of inspecting,
repairing and upgrading high-flying satellites that are out of the reach of conventional
spacecraft. The project could not only make satellites in geosynchronous, or GEO,
orbit more effective, but could also reduce costs. The plans calls for developing
a public-private partnership that would eventually develop a commercial space robotics
enterprise in which robotic space vehicles would provide services to military, government
and commercial satellites in GEO orbit
..."
 "'Where's Wally'-style puzzles that involve
finding hidden creatures from pandas to owls have left people scratching their heads
in recent weeks. But the latest challenge baffling the internet is a logic puzzle
for children that involves studying a picture of tourists at a holiday campsite
and answering a list of nine questions. The image, thought to be from an old children's
magazine, according to The Independent, has recently resurfaced online, but despite
being aimed at youngsters the tough questions are likely to leave adults scratching
their heads
..." OK, so I missed one - big hairy deal
:-(
 Using a list on Wikipedia as my source, the
following table presents cellphone manufacturer host countries in descending order
(see Wiki list for more details). Even though the
majority of mobile phones are manufactured in countries like China and Taiwan, most
are not designed there - although China has the single largest number of companies:
24 (17%). The United States comes in second with 15
(10%) cellphone companies. India is home to 13
(9%), Japan hosts 8 (6%),
and Russia has 7 (5%). There are a total of about
144 that are not marked as discontinued. Stand-out names, at least as translated
into English, include 'Technology Happy Life' from China, 'Ringing Bells' from India,
'John's Phone' from
...
Elmer “Bud” Frohardt Jr. Has Passed
"The ham radio mentor who inspired the term 'Elmer' - Elmer P. 'Bud' Frohardt, Jr., W9DY, of Madison,
Wisconsin - died on March 22. He was 93. A friend and co-worker of the late Rod
Newkirk, W9BRD-, who edited QST's -How's DX?- column, Frohardt was the 'Elmer' that
Newkirk had in mind when he used the name in his March 1971 column, referring to
someone who helped to mentor new Amateur Radio licensees and calling them 'the unsung
fathers of Amateur Radio.' 'Too frequently one hears a sad story in this little
nutshell
..." BTW, I submitted W9DY's info to the
National
Silent Key Archive while researching this info.
Has -161 dBm/Hz Noise Floor
 "Tektronix has expanded its line of disruptive
USB-based real-time spectrum analyzers with 4 new higher-performance models targeting
design, spectrum management and wireless transmitter installation and maintenance
applications. The new RSA500 and RSA600 series of analyzers offer frequency coverage
from 9 kHz up to 7.5 GHz with 40 MHz acquisition bandwidth, a measurement dynamic
range from -161 dBm/Hz Displayed Average Noise Level, and up to +30 dBm maximum
input. The new USB-based spectrum analyzers embrace the design
..."
 A few days ago, Mrs. Amy Burghardt, of Herndon,
VA, contacted me asking for assistance in selling her grandmother's
Crosley model 03CA console style radio. She found my Crosley 03CB
radio restoration project page while searching for information on hers. According
to the schematics, the 03CA electronics are exactly the same and the 03CB electronics;
only the wooden cabinet is different. As evidenced by the photos, Mrs. Burghardt's
03CA radio appears to be in excellent physical condition. Note how well preserved
the burl trim pattern is on the edges and on the speaker grille rods. That was the
one aspect of my 03CB was could not be retained because Crosley used some sort of
decal. According to her
...
 "Researchers working at NIST have developed
a 'piezo-optomechanical circuit' that converts
signals among optical, acoustic and radio waves. A system based on this design could
move and store information in next-generation computers. The team's work, published
in Nature Photonics, also was presented at the March 2016 meeting of the American
Physical Society in Baltimore, Md. As transistors shrink, heat and other factors
will begin to have magnified effects in circuits. As a result, researchers are increasingly
..."
TETRA vs. Project 25 in The Big Apple
Anatech Electronics,
a manufacturer of RF and microwave filters, has published its . As always, it includes
both company news and some tidbits about relevant industry happenings. This month,
Sam Benzacar's main thesis addresses the ineptitude of big city planners when it
comes to wireless communications. He notes how NY City, in updating its archaic
analog emergency and public service radio system, has chosen the TETRA system which
is not compatible with FCC recommended Project 25 standards (includes new 700 MHz
public safety band). Sam won't say it but I will - follow the money from city coffers
to the chosen system contractor and you will probably learn why a TETRA system is
being installed. Fortunately for Big Apple occupants, Ham radio operators are standing
Nears Despite Infighting
 "The US Federal Communications Commission,
an organization apparently as fractured by political warring as other government
bodies, has made public a database of the 104 applicants primed to bid in its upcoming
auction of 600 MHz wireless spectrum. Frequency allocations in the United States.
Source: NYU Wireless Frequency allocations in the United States. Source: NYU Wireless
Of the 104, 35 applications are still incomplete and must be resubmitted by April
6. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and, U.S. Cellular are among
...
Notable Tech Quote:
Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
 "Research is four things: brains with which
to think, eyes with which to see, machines with which to measure and, fourth, money."
- Albert
Szent-Gyorgyi,
Nobel Prize winning physiologist who is
credited with discovering vitamin C.
 "University of California at San Diego (UCSD)
in the USA and the University of Manchester in the UK have been developing methods
to control
excitons in molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). The researchers hope
that states such as Bose-Einstein condensates found in low-temperature GaAs exciton
structures could be realized at room temperature, giving access to resistance-free
superfluid flow. Also, better control of excitons is considered to be a path to
more efficient light emission. The use
..."
Spring Fancies
 Mac's young technician sidekick Barney decides
to one-up the
do-it-yourself television repair books that were flooding magazine
pages those days by writing a series of do-it-yourself surgery books. He figures
if the other guys can get rich by convincing Joe Sixpack that he can easily fix
problems in his TV set - where potentially lethal voltages lurk in every corner
- in as little as five minutes while saving hundreds of dollars from those rascally
shop owners, then surely those same people might buy his books for removing your
own appendix or tonsils. Deny the greedy doctors
...
 This is a very extensive app note on making
making
noise figure measurements and interpreting the results. "A list
of essential measurements in electronic circuits and systems would probably include
voltage, current, power, and distortion. An even more complete list should also
include the measurement of noise. When assessing the dynamic range of a single electronic
component or an entire electronic system, distortion and maximum power bound the
high side of the dynamic range performance and noise bounds the low side. The measurement
of noise is a fundamental requirement for electronic design. Noise in
..."
 It really was not all that long ago when
wiring images for news stories literally meant
transmitting photographs over a twisted pair of telephone lines
either to a fax machine or to a computer on standby waiting for incoming files.
Videocasts were being regularly performed via satellite of ground relay microwave
stations since the 1960s, but most still shots were sent via phone lines. For the
last decade and a half, both still shots and videos have been transmitted as a routine
matter via camera-equipped cellphones, and as with most technologies we have quickly
become so accustomed to the convenience that memories of the old ways are quickly
(even thankfully) forgotten. This article from a 1936 edition of Radio-Craft
describes one of the really early systems. Notice that coupling to the telephone
line is
...
ESD in Space
 The real story here is an ability to 3D-print
specialty tools and components on demand while in space, in this case aboard the
International Space Station (ISS). What caught my attention, though,
is the ESD wrist strap on astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore while showing off his
newly fabricated ratchet wrench. Electrostatic discharge is no respecter of venue.
NASA likes the saving of cargo volume afforded by being able to 3D-print many items
- particularly spares - as-required rather than packing things that might never
be needed. Containers of raw materials and a couple 3D printers take up less space
and weight - a major concern when planning interplanetary missions
...
1515 W Wireless Power Tx & Rx Solution
Integrated Device Technology (IDT) today introduced two new devices that deliver
a complete high-efficiency
wireless charging solution for electronics
demanding up to 15 W of output power. Supporting wireless charging for new categories
of consumer products and infrastructure, the highly integrated chips deliver industry-leading
power conversion efficiency of over 86% from transmitter input to receiver output,
reducing system losses and improving thermal performance while rivaling traditional
wired power conversion architectures. Compatible with the Wireless Power Consortium
(WPC) Qi standard, the new
Puzzle for March 27, 2016
 This week's
crossword puzzle has a special message included that has to do
with why you might be off work on Monday for a holiday. Oh, and it also happens
to be the world's most revered religious time of commemoration, which to the delight
of some and to the sorrow of others, is rapidly fading into the shadows of time.
The colorful 'no-letter' squares were inspired by the type of candy I am eating
as I make the puzzle. As always all the other words are from a hand assembled file
of thousands of terms from science, engineering, mathematics, chemistry, astronomy,
etc. 7 Across + 15 Across to all!
...
 There is something about these proposed 'shorthand circuit symbols' that reminds me of the IEEE digital
logic symbols using the 'distinctive shape' (the traditional format) versus the
newer 'rectangular shape' format. The set is quite extensive when all the different
flavors of combinatorial blocks - flip-flops, timers, counters, shift registers,
encoders, decoders, etc. - are included. My personal preference, you might guess,
is the original format with distinctive shapes. Although I do not do a lot of digital
work, it is easier for me to follow the signal flow and mentally perform the logic
operations with the distinctive shapes. But I digress. This article from a 1947
issue of QST magazine introduces
...
White Paper by Anritsu
 Anritsu recently published a white paper titled
5G Standardization Status
in 3GPP. "3GPP is set to standardize 5G specifications which are expected to
be operational over the next few years. Similar to 3G and 4G cases, 3GPP will submit
IMT-2020 specifications based on ITU-R recommendations. This guide discusses ITU-R's
vision of 5G, 3GPP activities for 5G and new functionalities in 5G." A
free download is available,
but you do need to fill out a form to get it.
Needs an RF Field Test Engineer
 DEC has an immediate opening for an RF Field Test Engineer
in Dayton, Ohio. The position requires a BS Electrical Engineering and 5+ years
of relevant experience. Primary duties consist of planning and conducting field
evaluations of innovative / experimental RF systems. This includes travel to western
test ranges, coordination with Federal Government agencies, frequency allocation,
trouble-shooting, and data analysis. Experience with bi-static systems desired,
but not required. Applicants must be U.S. citizens with ability to obtain a TS/SCI
security clearance. The primary job location is in Dayton, Ohio at Wright Patterson
Air Force Base ...
Competition Winners
 The winners of the 2016 EPSRC "Science Photography
Competition" have been announced. It was held by the
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the
"UK government agency for funding research and training in engineering and the physical
sciences, investing more than £800 million a year in a broad range of subjects -
from mathematics to materials science, and from information technology to structural
engineering." Recipients of funding from EPSRC submit photographs for judging. This
year's top prize titled "Microwave Ion-Trap Chip for Quantum Computation" went to
Mrs. Diana Prado Lopes Aude Craik, University of Oxford, for her photo of a gold
ion trap. Per the website, it "shows the chip's gold wire-bonds
...
Elevated to IEEE Fellow
, an Analog Devices, Inc. engineering director, has been named an IEEE Fellow
for his leadership in the design of high speed converters. Elevation to an IEEE
Fellow involves a rigorous evaluation procedure and less than 0.1% of IEEE voting
members are selected annually for this prestigious honor. Manganaro, who holds a
Dr.Eng. and a Ph.D. degree in Electronics from the University of Catania, Italy,
has been engineering director for high speed converters at Analog Devices since
2010. His career in data converter design spans more than 20 years. "Gabriele has
been a highly visible part of the industry's data converter community for many years,
and he was able to contribute to "
of Public Sector Radio Spectrum
 "UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne
announced in the 2016 budget that
750 MHz of public sector radio spectrum would be 'released' -
that is, auctioned. The Amateur Service in the UK currently shares significant spectrum
with the public sector. In 'Supporting the digital economy,' the
Budget 2016 document calls electromagnetic spectrum a valuable
and scarce resource. 'Budget 2016 announces a new government commitment that 750
MHz of valuable public sector spectrum in bands below 10 GHz will be made available
by 2022, of which 500 MHz will be made available by 2020.' The document states
..."
in a Multielement Quad
 Multielement quad antennas are as popular
today as they were in 1967 when this article appeared in the ARRL's QST
magazine. That is not to say they are common. This particular design is for the
10-, 15-, and 20-meters bands, all three
of which are still in use today. If you build a multielement quad as shown here,
you might want to find a substitute for the bamboo frame members; aluminum tubing
is pretty cheap, but if you use metal, you'll need to use insulators at the connection
points. Formulas are provided for determining element lengths and director and reflector
...
Battery-Operated Superheterodyne
 This Radio Service Data Sheet provides schematics
and parts lists for
Silver-Marshall Model 727-DC Battery-Operated Superheterodyne
receiver. Most - if not all - electronics servicemen had subscriptions to these
magazines because they were a ready source of not just these service sheets, but
because of the extensive articles offering advice on servicing radios and televisions.
In fact, many electronics manufacturers had a policy of supplying service data only
to bona fide shops. A large list is included at the bottom of the page of similar
documents from vintage receiver schematics, troubleshooting tips, and alignment
procedures
...
Family of Programmable Attenuators
Fairview Microwave, a supplier of on-demand microwave and RF components, announces
the release of their new
digitally controlled programmable attenuators with performance
up to 40 GHz and up to 60 dB attenuation range with 0.03 dB minimum step size. These
programmable attenuators are commonly used in electronic warfare, military and space
communication systems, radar and test and measurement applications. Fairview's digitally
controlled attenuators perform the important function of adjusting the amplitude
of signal
Looking for an RF Technician
Defense Engineering Corporation is looking for
a full time RF Technician with at least 5 years experience, specifically in the
area of testing in an anechoic chamber environment. Responsibilities will include
maintaining, implementing and operating an indoor range anechoic chamber test facility
measuring antennas, radomes, and multiple RF systems. Experience collecting and
reducing data in a compact range anechoic chamber environment including antenna
patterns and radar cross section measurements is preferred. The job location is
in Dayton, Ohio at Wright Patterson Air Force Base ...
Memory to Be Tested
 "Russian scientists claim to have invented
a new superconducting memory architecture that will be 100s of times
faster and consume dozens of times less power than conventional memory chips. The
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology working with the Moscow State University
claim the architecture can also be used to perform single-flux quantum logic operations
for superconducting processors, but admits that commercialization is decades away.
'What we have so far is an idea
..."
"Army Times" "Navy Times" Sold to VC
 "A group of California
venture capitalists have bought my alma
mater, Defense News, as well as Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps Times and
Federal Times. They also laid off several top people there. Vago Muradian,
host of Defense News TV and my successor as editor at the paper, has been laid off,
according to my sources. He was not alone. Defense News' Managing Editor Dave
Gustafson, longtime Deputy Editor Greg Couteau and business reporter Andrew Clevenger
were let go. The CEO of Sightline Media Group, Mark Flinn, and the VP for Defense
News, Kate Tapplett, were let go, along
..."
In-flight Broadband
 "Low cost
mobile broadband for air-travellers is
a step closer thanks to a £300,000 prize from the Institution of Engineering and
Technology (IET) a UK researcher has claimed. Currently, air passengers have to
switch their mobile phones to 'Flight Mode' and pay an additional charge to access
data on their devices. However, according to Prof Yang Hao from Queen Mary University
of London, advances in next
..."
RFCafe.com Viewed on a Samsung S4
 For no particular reason, I took a picture
of how the RFCafe.com homepage looks on my daughter's Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone.
My extreme nearsightedness permits me to read it at that size without glasses, but
zooming in definitely makes it easier. The S4 has a 1080 x 1920 pixel format
(~441 ppi pixel density), which is about as good as
it gets for a smartphone display
other than an LG G3/4 or iPhone 6s. This might be just the excuse you need to do
a phone upgrade ;-)
Notable Tech Quote: Robert Lucky
 "Nothing is forever, and forever comes very
quickly in technology." Robert W. Lucky, writing in
The End of the Smartphone?, IEEE Spectrum.
Dr. Lucky authored the "Reflections" column in Spectrum for more than two decades,
always providing a great combination of technical savvy, wit, and humor; his was
usually the first thing I read each month.
Converter Radio Service Data Sheet
 Retrofit kits for adding shortwave bands to
commercial broadcast band radios were a big deal back in the 1930s. Magazines like
Radio-Craft were full of articles and advertisements for such kits. Few
layman radio owners were capable of installing the conversion kits, so radio service
shops took in a lot of business installing them. A large percentage of radio models
soon thereafter began shipping with the shortwave bands incorporated into the base
unit - known as 'all-wave' radios. This
Majestic Model 11 Short-Wave Converter is a prime example of the
kits. My
1941 Crosley Model 03CB vacuum tube console radio has shortwave
bands, as does
..
EW Attack on GPS System
 "After two decades of largely ignoring the
danger, the Army is seriously training for a scary scenario: What if GPS, our satellite
communications and our wireless networks go down? It's hardly a hypothetical threat.
Russian electronic warfare units locate
Ukrainian troops by their transmissions and jam their radios so they can't call
for help, setting them up for slaughter. American soldiers are much better trained
and equipped than Ukrainian ones, but they're also much more dependent on wireless
devices. Almost 80%
..."
Killed the Mercedes-Benz
 Here's a really great installment of EE Times'
Sherlock Ohms feature. Contributor Douglas
Pocius tells of his adventure troubleshooting an intermittent problem with his car
inexplicably shutting down, and how pure chance can play a big role in a solution
- provided the circuit probing sleuth is wise enough to recognize the cause and
effect connection (pun intended). As usual readers' responses are as good as the
story itself. I particularly like the Oscar Wilde quote where
Lord Darlington (not the high current
gain
transistor pair guy) defines a cynic as, "A man who knows the price of everything,
and the value of nothing
..."
Breaking Records
 "The
2016 Mobile World Congress (MWC) broke
attendance records and attracted governments, leading CEOs, the cream of industry
and visitors from around the globe. It was a hotspot for innovation and a springboard
for new technologies that will impact people's everyday lives worldwide, now and
into the future. International editor Richard Mumford and technical editor
Gary Lerude attended the event and share their views on the issues impacting the
mobile ecosystem, the technology being developed to address them and the role of
the
..."
Here Are a Few with Electronics Themes
 Thanks to
Janet Smith, of Keysight
Technologies, for Tweeting the "Power Supply" poem I posted from
a 1942 issue of QST, in recognition of today, March 21, being
World Poetry
Day. Back in the middle of the last century it was not uncommon to find reader-submitted
poems in electronics magazines like Popular Electronics and QST.
I have posted those poems here on RF Cafe when I run across them. A full list of
poems is posted on each page, including others like "A Radioman's Nightmare" and "More 'Tower' to You." Enjoy, and happy World Poetry Day to everyone!
Recording - Phono-Radio Combination
 This Radio Service Data Sheet for the
RCA Victor Model VHR-307 Home Recording - Phono-Radio Combination
was published in the May 1941 issue of Radio-Craft magazine. It was quite
a work of electronics art for its day, especially with incorporating a recording
unit. We take for granted today the very simple matter of recording voice and music
today with miniature, inexpensive, maintenance-free recording and playback equipment,
but in the early 1930s the available media were wire, magnetic tape, and phonograph
records. Phono recorders actually cut the audio bumps into the groves. Magnetic
tape was considered to be a military secret up through
...
Temperature Sensors Part 2
 Martin Rowe, Sr., Technical Editor at
EE Times, has posted a second quiz on thermal sensors. " Did you really think
we couldn't come up with enough questions for a second
quiz on temperature measurement? As with
last week's questions, today's questions come from Measurement and Instrumentation:
Theory and Application by Alan S. Morris and Reza Langari and from Handbook
of Modern Sensors: Physics, Designs, and Applications
..."
Acceptance in the Cable Industry
Peregrine Semiconductor, founder of RF SOI (silicon on insulator) and pioneer
of advanced RF solutions, announces its high linearity RF switches are designed
into multiple DOCSIS 3.1 certified cable modems. CableLabs, the research and development
consortium that develops the DOCSIS specification, has certified the first DOCSIS
3.1 cable modems. Of the certified modems, Peregrine Semiconductor's RF switches—the
UltraCMOS® PE42722 and
PE42723—are
designed into the cable modems that feature a band-select feature. The PE42722 and
PE42723 are the only RF switches that enable dual
Earth Approach Since 1770
 "You'd
have to
go back to 246 years to find a comet that passed closer to Earth than
Comet PanSTARRS (P/2016 BA14) will on
March 22nd. Predicted to come within about nine lunar distances (2.1M mi. or 3.4M
km) of Earth around 16:00 UT on that day, P/2016 BA14 will soon claim the distinction
of second closest comet ever recorded. Lexell's Comet has them all beat. It missed
Earth by 1.4M mi. (2.2M km) on July 1, 1770. Although discovered in June that year
by the comet ferret himself, Charles Messier, it became popularly known as Lexell's
Comet after astronomer and mathematician Anders Johan Lexell computed its orbit.
As the comet
..."
Puzzle for March 20, 2016
 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
...
Trade Show Schedule
Are you planning on attending any conferences or exhibitions this year? everything RF
has compiled a list of all the important upcoming
RF & Microwave Industry Events in 2016. Visit these events
to keep up to date with the latest technologies, network with colleague and view
presentations. everything RF currently has 175,854 RF & Microwave products
from over 750 companies listed in 195 categories
and On-Chip Interconnects
 "Under the four million
Euro Carbon Nanotube Composite Interconnects
(CONNECT) European project, CEA, Fraunhofer IPMS, IBM, Aixtron, CNRS, GSS and University
of Glasgow join forces to explore the fabrication techniques and processes that
will enable reliable Carbon NanoTubes (CNTs) for on-chip interconnects in ULSI microchip
production. Today, interconnects have become the major bottleneck irrespective of
the application domain due to
..."
 Based on beleaguered wife Sylvia Kohler's
mention of GE's Electronics Park in this story (surely a fable... or not), she and
unintentional antagonist, superheterodyne hubby (aka 'Happy Boy', but we know him
as Popular Electronics cartoonist
Carl Kohler) probably lived in the Syracuse, NY, area. Electronics
Park existed during the hey days of General Electric when the sprawling campus ,
just north of I-90, designed and manufactured a plethora of both household and military
electronics products. GE's Electronics Laboratory ('E-Labs') was the company's pride
and joy. Today, a tiny portion of Electronics Park is still occupied by Lockheed
Martin, who bought that GE division in the 1990s, and the rest belongs the city.
But I digress... enjoy the story (her reason for referring to hubby as a Superheterodyne
is highlighted)
...
Secure Radar Technology
 "Radar detectors signaling speeding motorists
of police presence are about to get a run for their money as the Army is developing
innovative radar technology that could someday be common practice for users wanting
to mask their radar emissions. Over the past several years, the threat
of being compromised has become an increasing issue for Soldiers in theater. The
need to preserve radar system performance while operating in both a contested (adversarial
attack) and congested (high traffic) radio frequency environment
..."
 Very recently while watching a 1960s era
TV show I asked myself a question I've asked many times before: If one of those
heavy, bulky vintage cars constructed of thick pressed sheet steel body components,
full steel tube frames, and cast iron 8-cylinder engine blocks was to have a head-on
collision with a modern car built with light-weight materials of composite construction
and minimal structural bulk, which would be the victor? My gut reaction was to think
that the result would be like a
sledge
hammer and a Coke can colliding; I'd rather be the sledge hammer. I know cars
are engineered to sacrifice the car to preserve the passenger compartment by
...
Radio & Television News
 The December 1947 issue of Radio News
and February 1954 issue of Radio & Television News published these
electronics-themed comics. I give them a score of about 7 out
of 10, but you might think otherwise. There is a growing list of other comics at
the bottom of the page
...
Matched SP4T WiFi Switch
Skyworks is pleased to introduce a dual-band single-pole four-throw (SP4T) WiFi
switch with integrated GPIO interface and 50 Ohm match on all RF output ports. The
new SKY13575-639LF is ideal for dual-band switching in Wi-Fi access
points, WLAN 802.11ac and 3G/4G LTE systems and is also suitable for access points,
customer-premises equipment (CPE), LTE systems, dual-band WLAN and test and measurement
equipment. Using SOI technology, the switch consumes less than 10 µA of current
Solar Power in Space
 "One way to amp up solar power is to get
closer to the sun - as in space, where there are no atmospheric disturbances to
get in the way and where spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit can stay within the
sun's rays. The challenge is in being able to collect enough solar power to make
it worth the expense of launching a large solar array into space and then efficiently
getting that power transmitted down to Earth. A government/industry team of scientists
led by Dr. Paul Jaffe, a spacecraft engineer at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory,
has
..."
 This late 19th century photo of a telephone
cable tower in Stockholm, Sweden, is seen frequently on the Internet. The 'telefontonet'
tower, owned by Stockholms Allmänna Telefon AB (which later
merged with Ericsson), supported 5,500 lines. Those four decorative turrets
at the top were added to beautify the tower after residents complained about it
being an eyesore. Raise your hand if you think it was a good solution. A couple
decades later, the company began burying phone lines underground and the tower was
eventually taken down. At a smaller scale, many modern data centers look a lot
...
Fundamental Limit of Computing
 "No matter how efficient we make our transistors
and memory cells, they will always consume a fixed but tiny amount of energy set
by the second law of thermodynamics, a new study suggests. Now the question is how
close our real-world devices can get to this fundamental value. The idea that there
might be such a universal limit stems from a 1961 paper by Rolf Landauer of IBM.
Landauer postulated that any time a bit of information is erased or reset, heat
is released. At room temperature
..."
for Their Continued Support!
Triad RF Systems comprises
three partners with over 40 years of accumulated knowledge of what is required to
design, manufacture, market, sell and service RF/Microwave amplifiers and amplifier systems. "We do not make
decisions via committee or after time-consuming meetings; instead when an idea is
suggested, we typically prototype it and if successful, turn it into product. We
view Triad more as a technology partner than a vendor for our line-of-sight communications
product line."
LNA for Amateur Radio Operation
Ham radio operation at 10 GHz is somewhat exotic, being far removed from global
shortwave communication typically below 30 MHz. So when the design of a 10 GHz ham
radio station was originally discussed within the amateur radio community, one of
the key components that was missing in order to make this a reality included a good
LNA. This application note describes how an LNA was custom made utilizing NI AWR
Design Environment™, inclusive of Microwave Office software, to bring a 10 GHz ham
radio station into operation. The "Design of a 10 GHz Low-Noise Amplifier for
Amateur Radio Operation" application note is available for immediate download.
 "Nature
Photonics today published research by a team from South Africa and Italy demonstrating
a new type of laser that is able to produce laser beams 'with a twist' as its output.
The outputs and superpositions of the new type of laser form a set of beams, called
vector vortex beams. Using geometric phase inside lasers for the first time, the
work opens the way to novel lasers for optical communication, laser machining and
medicine. The idea was conceived by Professor Andrew Forbes of the University of
the ...
 Keysight Technologies was kind enough to provide
me with a copy of
Spectrum and Network Measurements,
by Robert A. Witte (SciTech Publishing). Its
contents will soon be the subject of an RF Cafe Quiz. "This new edition of Spectrum and Network Measurements
enables readers to understand the basic theory, relate it to measured results, and
apply it when creating new designs. This comprehensive treatment of frequency domain
measurements successfully consolidates all the pertinent theory into one text. It
covers the theory and practice of spectrum and network measurements in electronic
systems. It also provides thorough coverage of Fourier analysis, transmission lines,
intermodulation distortion, signal-to-noise ratio and S-parameters
..."
to Inspire Student Scientists
 ""On Thursday, March 10, 2016 astronauts on
the International Space Station logged their 1,000th educational contact with the
ground. NASA astronaut Tim Kopra answered questions posed by the North Dakota Space
Grant Consortium in Grand Forks, North Dakota. No matter how many times it happens,
talking directly with someone orbiting above the Earth remains a thrill for students.
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station/a>
(ARISS) works through an international consortium of amateur radio organizations
and space agencies
..."
as a New Supporter of RF Cafe !
 RF & Connector Technology
(RFCT), located in S. Korea, is a full solution & service provider
of passive RF components including
attenuators, terminations, power dividers, couplers, antennas, surge arrestors,
coaxial connectors & adapters, and coaxial cable & assemblies. From your
very first contact, you will be supported by competent RF specialists, all of whom
have several years of field experience in this industry, allowing them to suggest
a fundamental solution and troubleshooting approach. Please contact
RFCT today to see how they might
help your project.
 Another month brings another round of
engineering
career enhancement and advancement articles. I do try to vet them to filter
out one that appear to be written by people who have no real experience telling
other people how to act and run their lives. Sometimes when reading an advice article
what comes to mind is the line in the 1970s vintage song "Sunshine" that says, "He
can't even run his own life, I'll be damned if he'll run mine." These first two
items are videos recommending how to dress for an interview based on
...
- How to Dress for an Interview (M)
- How to Dress for an Interview (F)
-
25 Highest Paying Jobs in the U.S.
(doctor #1, lawyer #2, IC designer #8
-
Top LinkedIn Mistakes Mid-Career
Professionals Keep Making
<more>
Fluctuations in Nanoresonators
 ""The expectation has been that nano-electromechanical
systems (NEMS/a>) will replace its technological
predecessor micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) in the varied range of applications
for which MEMS are currently used. However, the emergence of the usurper technology
has not been without some struggles. There have been durability issues with NEMS
devices and there has also been the nagging issue that they never seem to perform
quite up to their theoretical limits. Now in joint
..."
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