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Sunday 20
 For the sake of avid
cruciverbalists amongst us, each week I create a new crossword
puzzle that has a theme related to engineering, mathematics, chemistry, physics,
and other technical words. At least 12 clues in this puzzle with an asterisk (*)
are pulled from this past week's (8/14 - 8/18) "Tech Industry Headlines" column
on the RF Cafe homepage. Enjoy!...
Friday 18
 The January 1969 issue of Electronics
World magazine published an extensive list of
Japanese company trade names and their addresses. Many of them
went out of business or were bought by other corporations long ago, as occurs in
all countries. I OCRed the company names, but didn't bother with the addresses.
You will see that "Craig" is listed twice, which appears to be a typo where the
first one should have been "Cardinal." "Aiwa" is also listed twice, but that might
have been a legitimate duplication due to separate locations. Aiwa stereo equipment
is now being serviced by Sony according to the Aiwa.com website. My first "real"
cassette...
 "A new study led by Michael P. Burke, assistant
professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia Engineering, has identified the
significance of a new class of
chemical reactions involving three molecules that each participate
in the breaking and forming of chemical bonds. The reaction of three different molecules
is enabled by an 'ephemeral collision complex,' formed from the collision of two
molecules, which lives long enough ..."
 Hmmm.... let us see what made the front page
of the July 1, 1948 edition of Murray Hill, New Jersey's, The Madison Eagle newspaper:
"Man Found Dead, Wedged in Drain on Park Edge," "Lawyer Fined $50 on Zone Charge,"
and Sandra Dean Stevenson had been born two weeks earlier. Oh, also included was
"Invention Replaces Vacuum Tube" and "Local Man Invents New Device
in Electronics for Bell Lab; Could Revolutionize Radio." Page 10 ran, "Bell Laboratory
Releases Data on Newly Invented Transistor." It is widely known that Drs. Brattain,
Shockley, and Bardeen formerly announced on December 23, 1947, within the walls
of Bell Labs...
Modelithics and Vanguard Electronics recently collaborated to develop for
multiple inductor and transformer components from Vanguard. Associated s-parameter
files are also available* to designers as free downloads, from Modelithics' website,
for use in RF design simulations. The s-parameter models are conveniently included
in the SPAR Library contained within the Modelithics® COMPLETE Library. The new
s-parameter models and S-parameter data files are now
 "Light particles (photons) occur as tiny,
indivisible portions. Many thousands of these light portions can be merged to form
a single super-photon if they are sufficiently concentrated and cooled. The individual
particles merge with each other, making them indistinguishable. Researchers call
this a photonic
Bose-Einstein condensate. It has long been known that normal atoms
form such condensates. Prof. Martin Weitz from the Institute of Applied Physics
at the University of Bonn attracted attention among experts ..."
Thursday 17
 If you do a search on solid state inductors,
you will not find much with a date later than the time when this article appeared
in Electronics World in 1969. It appears a patent was issued in 1965, but
the concept seems to never have caught on. The theory and construction is simple
enough according to the information here. Fundamentally, it involves exploiting
the properties of a Hall device when loaded with capacitive or inductive loads to
effect inductive or capacitive properties, respectively. The ability to integrate
capacitive elements into
solid state substrates means the current and voltage phase relationship
of an inductor can be obtained in an IC without a physical inductive...
 Based on its recent analysis of the universal
serial bus (USB) vector network analyzer (VNA) industry, Frost & Sullivan recognizes
Copper Mountain Technologies (CMT) with the 2017 Global Frost &
Sullivan Award for Product Leadership. The imminent move of many Internet of Things
(IoT) technologies from research to commercialization is expected to drive the demand
for lower cost instrumentation over the next 5 to 10 years. CMT is well positioned
to make the most of this opportunity with a strong and established USB VNA offering
that is coupled with superior customer support...
 1937 was one of the years where radio receivers
boasted major technology advances. American and European households had by then
finely crafted wooden-cased radios as the centerpiece of their living rooms, and
decent reception was the norm if reasonable care was exercised when installing the
antenna and avoiding static-generating appliances. The market was ready for and
receptive to whiz-bang new features like automatic stations tuning, "Magic Eye"
indicators, and high fidelity sound. This
Philco model sported all those features and more. Of course electronics
service shops loved the sophisticated electromechanical...
•
Philco Model '37-116 (Shadometer) and 122 (Dial Tuning)
•
RCA Victor Models 9T and K2, 5- to 566-Meter (Beam Power Output) Set
 "A major goal in the field of
molecular electronics, which aims to use single molecules as electronic
components, is to make a device where a quantized, controllable flow of charge can
be achieved at room temperature. A first step in this field is for researchers to
demonstrate that single molecules can function as reproducible circuit elements
such as transistors or diodes that can easily operate at room temperature ..."
 "Researchers have demonstrated the transmission
of two separate video signals through a
terahertz multiplexer at a data rate more than 100 times faster
than today's fastest cellular data networks. Multiplexing, the ability to send multiple
signals through a single channel, is a fundamental feature of any voice or data
communication system ..."
Wednesday 16
 Close out this Wednesday with a
tech-themed comic from a 1972 issue of Popular Electronics
magazine. Those of you who entered the engineering realm sometime after the 1990s
might not recognize the strange looking surface the guy is sitting behind. It was
an early tabletop touch-type display where the stylus with which the user created
an image (drawing) was a wooden stick with a round shaft of graphite located coaxially
in the center. The pointed, relatively soft tip wore down rather quickly and required
frequent reshaping to maintain a constant pixel width in the lines. Portions of
drawings made on those devices could only be erased and redrawn a few times ....
 "IBM T. J. Watson Research Center in the
USA has been exploring controlled
spalling as a method for transferring thin layers of gallium nitride
(GaN) from bulk and free-standing substrates. The researchers see the process as
potentially contributing to the application in power electronics, where at present
there are difficulties in thinning GaN to increase thermal conductivity ..."
 Author Thomas Haskett uses this space in
a 1969 issue of Electronics World to clear up misconceptions about how stereo
FM radio broadcasts are accomplished. It is not only about the
mechanics of frequency modulation itself - terms like frequency deviation and modulation
index (often erroneously confused or equated) - but also pre-emphasis, SCA (Subsidiary
Communications Authorization), simplex and multiplex operation, sum and difference
channels, etc. This is a good review of FM broadcasting without all the messy mathematics
on which engineers thrive...
Today's communication systems often use complex modulation techniques with peak-to-average
ratio (PAR) signals of 9 dB and higher, requiring power amplifiers (PAs) in
these systems to operate below the power levels that would yield optimum power-added
efficiency (PAE). This application note presents a modified three-level
Doherty amplifier as an alternative to the conventional three-way
Doherty amplifier. The operating principle of the modified amplifier, which produces
good efficiency over the top 10 dB of operation, is explained and the design...
 "U.S. military researchers are moving forward
with a project to revolutionize high-end integrated circuit
(IC) custom design for military and aerospace applications. Officials
of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va.,
announced AN $8.2 million contract modification Tuesday to the USC Information Sciences
Institute (ISI) in Los Angeles for phase-two options in the Circuit Realization
at Faster Timescales ..."
 "The idea of substituting electrons with
photons in computing has led to a variety of approaches for achieving the promise
of
speed-of-light computing. Not many of these schemes, however,
have involved devices in which electronic currents are optically switched and amplified
only by light and without the need for an electronic gate. Now a team of researchers
at Korea University has jumped into this largely untouched field with a nanowire-based ..."
Tuesday 15
 Poll: Which RF Cafe Features Do You Find Useful?
While there really is no easy way to determine what the most popular features might
be, your participation in the poll will provide at least some idea. You can post
comments without needing to sign in. Thanks...
 Talk about prescience on the part of a writer!
Electronics World magazine editor Walter Buchsbaum published this article
in 1969 predicting the wide-scale adoption of
electronic mail (e-mail) over a nationwide and even worldwide
network. Interestingly, he questioned whether e-mail could help lighten the U.S.
Post Office's load. Part of the scheme would include a joint effort by the USPS
and Western Union whereby "Telegramletters" would be sent long distance via telegram
and then printed and delivered by the Post Office to the final destination. It turns
out to have practically crippled the USPS by usurping the vast majority of personal
and business first-class service. A wideband microwave network...
 August issues of the most popular electronics
and RF magazines do not have a whole lot of really interesting
(to me, anyway) articles. One titled
Dead Meters Expose Battery Terminal Design Issues does strike
a familiar chord that is worth reading if for no other reason than to see the comments
by readers. Just about everyone has experienced the horror and inconvenience of
opening a battery-powered device and discovering...
•
Microwave Material Measurements Without Cables
•
Understanding Limitations of Modern Military Radio Testbeds
•
mmWaves Hit the Highway <more>
 You might think the world doesn't need another
RF basics book, but the fact is there are so many new people coming into the field
that there is always room for one more - particular a well-done edition like "RF Basics Handbook" from Rigol Technologies. The PDF download
is free, but you do need to fill out a submission form. A replication of the table
of contents give you an idea of all the topics covered. The photos and drawings
are very good quality. Of course the equipment used in the publication are representative
of Rigol's product line, but that's to be expected...
 "Researchers have built a true
random number generator that they say could improve the security
of printed and flexible electronics. They made it from a static random-access memory
cell printed with a special ink containing carbon nanotubes. The memory cell uses
fluctuations in thermal noise to generate random bits. Generating random numbers
within an electronic device is critically important because random numbers are the
basis ..."
Monday 14
 Here is a really great idea that is long
overdue. A lot of electronics devices that use standard cylindrical cells like AA,
C, and D, do not last long because the nominal voltage of rechargeable NiCd and
NiMH cells is 1.20-1.25 V, and most devices really are designed for 1.50 V
alkalines.
Batteroo ReBoost is a current Indiegogo (similar
to Kickstarter) project that is the brainchild of Frankie Roohparvar. He combines
one or more rechargeable cells into a standard case size along with an output regulator
(and booster if needed) to turn a 1.2 V cell into a 1.5 V cell. It appears
units are shipping now. Batteroo has received the Arrow Electronics Certification.
If I had money to spare, I'd invest in them...
 Few homeowners in the era of television antennas
on the roof had any knowledge at all about how the antenna and twin lead
transmission line system worked. Even those who were familiar
with it only knew the basics like keeping the transmission line away from metallic
objects and properly terminating the ends. This article in a 1970 issue of Popular
Electronics described a method for optimizing the antenna and transmission
line in terms of impedance matching and using very low loss open ladder line to
optimize signal strength to the receiver. It is exactly the subject (received signal
strength) I recently lamented about being often ignored when discussing aspects
of...
 "The Nanophotonics Lab at Arizona State University
(Tempe), working with Tsinghua University (Beijing), has demonstrated an on-chip
CMOS communications laser that the researchers say is the first to lase at room
temperature. The team built the proof-of-concept device without III-V compounds
by placing a monolayer of molybdenum ditelluride over a
nanobeam silicon cavity. Others have achieved monolayer ..."
 Saelig
sells and supports a wide range of electronic control and instrumentation equipment
and components to customers ranging from Fortune 500 industrial users, military,
educational institutions and hospitals to individual end-users. They've found remarkable
test equipment and components from around the world with specs or prices you won't
find anywhere else. Please visit Saelig today for your test equipment needs ...
 "The Pentagon has released its long-anticipated
report detailing plans to restructure the organizations that manage
acquisition and technology research for the Department of Defense.
The so-called Section 901 report, officially titled "Restructuring the Department
of Defense Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Organization and Chief Management
Officer Organization," was delivered to Congress on Aug. 1. The basic structures
of the reorg were set by the 2017 National Defense ..."
Sunday 13
 For the sake of avid cruciverbalists amongst
us, each week I create a new
crossword puzzle that has a theme related to engineering, mathematics,
chemistry, physics, and other technical words. At least 12 lues in this puzzle with
an asterisk (*) are pulled from this past week's (8/7 - 8/11) "Tech
Industry Headlines" column on the RF Cafe homepage (see the Headline Archives page
for help). Enjoy!
Friday 11
 "Employment of mechanical engineers is projected
to grow 5% through 2024, while some other engineering focuses will see higher employment
growth and some will see lower or no growth. Recent projections from the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics indicate engineering jobs will grow 3% over the coming 7 years.
While some disciplines such as aerospace engineering will experience a small decline
[including most electrical], jobs for most engineering disciplines are on the rise.
This is ..."
 I don't normally abet promotions involving
group identity angles, but since this article appeared (perhaps not coincidently)
around the date that Hedy Lamarr was awarded her patent for frequency hopping spread
spectrum (see the RF Cafe commemorative logo for
August 11), I decided
to go ahead and link to it. "Women in engineering have produced some of the greatest
achievements in engineering, yet most endured harsh inequalities - some of which
continue today in various forms. Female engineers will never have equal footing
with their male counterparts. This is not to imply anything in terms of ..."
 APC-7 (Amphenol Precision Connector - 7 mm)
coaxial connectors were standard on network analyzers by the time I entered the
microwave design and manufacturing field in the late 1980s. The test equipment we
used for maintaining the S-band airport surveillance radar in the USAF (early 1980s)
used N coax connectors, and I cannot recall what was used for the X-band precision
approach radar. SMA coax connectors were developed in the 1960s, same as the APC-7
connectors, but I don't remember seeing an SMA until I started working for General
Electric Aerospace Electronics Systems...
 Aviat Networks, a trusted expert in microwave
networking, has an immediate opening for a Transmission Engineer to support the
North American Sales and Delivery teams. Responsibilities include desktop microwave
designs for clients' proposed, and existing network optimization projects, design
of microwave radio paths in terms of antenna selection, center-line optimization,
recommendation of space diversity, site selection and, in some cases, recommendation
of specific radio modulation types and capacities. Additionally, you will perform
site and path surveys to validate modeled conditions for proposed microwave links
by...
 "I pass with relief from the tossing sea of
Cause and Theory to the firm ground of Result and Fact." - Winston L. Spencer Churchill,
The Story of the Malakand Field Force - An Episode of Frontier War,
p60. Other Notable Tech Quotes...
 "Advances in modern electronics has demanded
the requisite hardware, transistors, to be smaller in each new iteration. Recent
progress in nanotechnology has reduced the size of silicon transistors down to the
order of 10 nanometers. However, for such small transistors, other physical effects
set in, which limit their functionality. The recent discoveries of topological materials
- a new class of relativistic quantum materials - hold great promise for use in
energy saving electronics ..."
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