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Homepage Archive - March 2018 (page 1)

See Page 1 | 2 of the March 2018 homepage archives.

Thursday 15

BAE Systems to Upgrade Australia's Long-Range Radar Network

BAE Systems Australia to Upgrade Australia's Long-Range Radar Network - RF Cafe"BAE Systems Australia today welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Marise Payne and the Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Christopher Pyne that the Company has been selected to upgrade Australia's long-range high frequency radar network. The Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN) protects Australia's coastal approaches through a network of three remote radars in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The radars play a vital role in supporting the Australian Defence Force's air and maritime..."

ViaSat-2 Satellite Comms Services Now Available for Military

ViaSat-2 Satellite Communications Services Now Available for Military - RF Cafe"Viasat has announced the availability of the ViaSat-2 satellite communications (SATCOM) service for government, defense and military applications. The service leverages the most advanced communications satellite, ViaSat-2, along with innovations in ground networking technologies, that will deliver significant performance advantages over any other commercial or U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) SATCOM system. In early March 2018, Viasat conducted a ViaSat-2 SATCOM system demonstration..."

Mac's Service Shop: Keeping Abreast of Your Field

Mac's Service Shop: Keeping Abreast of Your Field, April 1969 Electronics World - RF CafeMac and Barney discuss with some degree of trepidation the alarmingly increasing rate at which new electronics technology is being developed and marketed. As service shop owner and technician, respectively, they needed to constantly educate themselves on new components and circuits in order to stay current and be efficient enough to turn a profit. Mac recounts his lengthy background beginning with the days of mainly battery-powered AM radios, and progressing through AC-DC, FM and all-band (shortwave) radio, B&W television and the color TV, CB radios, and a new breed of appliances with electronic controls...

FCC Accuses Startup of Launching Rogue "SpaceBee" Satellites

FCC Accuses Startup of Launching Rogue SpaceBee Satellites - RF Cafe"The U.S. communications agency says tiny Internet of Things satellites from Swarm Technologies could endanger other spacecraft. On 12 January, a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket blasted off from India's eastern coast. While its primary cargo was a large Indian mapping satellite, dozens of secondary CubeSats from other countries traveled along with it. Seattle-based Planetary Resources supplied a spacecraft that will test prospecting tools for future asteroid miners..."

IPP-7148: New 90° SMD Coupler for 690-6000 MHz

IPP-7148: New 90° SMD Coupler for 690-6000 MHz - RF CafeInnovative Power Products introduces their latest 90° SMD Coupler that operates over the full 690 – 6000 MHz. band. Our new Model IPP-7148, handles 130 watts CW and comes in a small SMD Style package which is only 0.50 x 1.00 x 0.167 inches. The IPP-7148 will combine two signals up to 130 Watts CW of total output power. This coupler has very good amplitude balance across the whole band and insertion loss of <0.80 dB. The VSWR is less than 1.35:1 with greater than 16.5 dB of Isolation making them ideal for commercial, industrial or military...

Chinese Lunar-Orbit Amateur Radio Payload Could Launch This Spring

Chinese Lunar-Orbit Amateur Radio Payload Could Launch This Spring - RF Cafe"China's twin-launch Chang'e 4 mission to the far side of the moon will place a pair of microsatellites in lunar orbit this spring 'to test low-frequency radio astronomy and space-based interferometry.' The two satellites, unofficially called DSLWP-A1 and DSLWP-A2 (DSLWP = Discovering the Sky at Longest Wavelengths Pathfinder), could launch this spring. The pair represent the first phase of the Chang'e 4 mission, which involves placing a relay satellite in a halo orbit to facilitate communication with the Chang'e 4 lander and rover..."

Wednesday 14

Large Single-Crystal Graphene Could Advance Scalable 2-D Materials

Growing Large Single-Crystal Graphene Could Advance Scalable 2-D Materials - RF Cafe"A new method to produce large, monolayer single-crystal-like graphene films more than a foot long relies on harnessing a 'survival of the fittest' competition among crystals. The novel technique, developed by a team led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, may open new opportunities for growing the high-quality two-dimensional materials necessary for long-awaited practical applications. Making thin layers of graphene and other 2D materials on a scale required for research..."

Light-Sensitive Photodiodes

Light-Sensitive Photodiodes, July 1969 Electronics World - RF CafePhotodiodes and phototransistors were relatively new on the electronics scene in 1969 when this article appeared in Electronics World magazine. Prior to semiconductor light detectors, vacuum phototubes did the job in cameras, motion sensors, light level detectors, medical imaging equipment, etc. High voltages and the large volume for containing components supporting vacuum tubes created hazards (especially with medical equipment), inconvenience, and high cost. What we take for granted nowadays in terms of price, performance...

Magnetic Cooling of Nanoelectronic Chips

Magnetic Cooling of Nanoelectronic Chips - RF Cafe"Temperatures below 3 millikelvin can be maintained for seven hours. High-tech refrigerators have been used to reach temperatures as close to absolute zero as possible - 0 kelvin or -273.15 °C. Physicists aim to cool equipment to as close to absolute zero as possible, because these extremely low temperatures offer the ideal conditions for quantum experiments, and allow entirely new physical phenomena to be examined. A nanoelectronic chip was successfully cooled to a temperature lower than 3 millikelvin using..."

Rohde & Schwarz Offers Free Charts and Pocket Guides

Rohde & Schwarz Offers Free Charts and Pocket Guides - RF CafeRohde & Schwarz is offering at no cost a variety of reference charts (posters) for hanging on your lab or office wall, and some handy-dandy Pocket Guides. In the current age of (seemingly) paperless offices and laboratories, opening a cardboard package from R&S containing the pictured items caused me to wax nostalgic over the days when sales reps handed out such materials during workplace meetings and at trade shows. Wall charts are still fairly easily obtained, but the spiral-bound pocket guides are more rare. Maybe soon we'll be seeing the resurrection of cardboard slide rule calculators...

Triad RF Systems Intros 1400 - 160 MHz, 50 W Linear Power Amplifier

Triad RF Systems Intros 1400 - 160 MHz, 50 W Linear Power Amplifier - RF CafeTriad RF Systems announces the TA1014 is a lightweight and high power linear power amplifier that works from 1400-1600 MHz. The TA1014 is compatible with high data rate signals such as 4k video, making it ideal for mobile sports broadcast applications, as well as anywhere that high power and portability are key. This amplifier also boasts an impressive 40 watts of output power for its small size. This class AB GaN module is designed for both military and commercial applications. It is capable of...

On-Chip Inductors Get Smaller with Graphene and Electron Momentum

On-Chip Inductors Get Smaller with Graphene and Electron Momentum - RF Cafe"U.S. researchers have made on-chip inductors smaller by adding 'kinetic inductance' to conventional magnetic inductance. The work cuts the size of 10-50 GHz inductors by a third. Kinetic inductance arises from the physical momentum of charge carriers resisting the change in current direction associated with a change in electric field, according to the team, from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Any kinetic inductance created appears in series with the conventional magnetic inductance of the inductors..."

Tuesday 13

Many Thanks to Axiom Test Equipment for Continued Support!

Axiom Test Equipment - RF CafeAxiom Test Equipment allows you to rent or buy test equipment, repair test equipment, or sell or trade Axiom Test Equipmenttest equipment. They are committed to providing superior customer service and high quality electronic test equipment. Axiom offers customers several practical, efficient, and cost effective solutions for their projects' TE needs and is committed to providing superior customer service and high quality electronic test equipment. Please check out Axiom Test Equipment today!...

Tools for the Electronic Hobbyist

Tools for the Electronic Hobbyist, March 1965 Popular Electronics - RF CafeAlthough the article's title specifies "electronic hobbyist," the advice applies equally well to students and professional technicians and engineers. A few of the tools are no longer available from the original manufacturers, but modern equivalents - often of better design and quality - are available. If you are nostalgic for the originals, though, you can always look for them on eBay; there's not much you cannot find there if you wait long enough. To show how much times have changed, get a load of (pun intended) that pistol-shaped soldering gun. Can you imagine the mayhem that would ensue if it...

Firms Need Engineers, But Resist Paying More to Get Them

Firms Need Engineers, But Resist Paying More to Get Them - RF Cafe"It's probably no surprise that the job outlook for engineers is positive. In a January Bureau of Labor Statistics report, employment in the electrical and electronics space is expected to grow seven percent by the year 2026. To capitalize on the country's economic growth, organizations are expanding and looking for more workers to fill traditional roles in addition to new and emerging positions. As such, the engineering market is experiencing a lower unemployment rate compared to the national average, with tens of thousands of jobs expected to..."

RFOptic's Online Link Gain Calculator

RFOptic's Online Link Gain Calculator - RF CafeThe Link Gain Calculator is RFOptic's helpful online tool to calculate the link gain and the optical predicted parameters for RFOptic's RFoF programmable product line. It is designed for the programmable RFoF family - 2.5 GHz, 3 GHz, 4 GHz and 6 GHz. It is designed for the users of programmable RFoF family solutions in order to determine how the embedded LNA and attenuator should be set up to meet their required RFoF link budget. They also have a useful Radar Testing Directory with webinars, white papers, tutorials, and more...

Electric Motorcycles May Finally Be Making the Turn

Electric Motorcycles May Finally Be Making the Turn - RF Cafe"For most of the world a motorcycle or a scooter is a basic means of transportation. Cheap to purchase and operate, and easy to park on crowded city streets, commuting on two wheels is a way of life. This is especially in emerging markets where a motorcycle or scooter is an attractive alternative to a bicycle, a public bus, or walking. In the 1950s and 1960s in the U.S., motorcycles had a utilitarian purpose too, but somehow, during the 1980s and 1990s, motorcycles, and in particular U.S.-built Harley Davidson motorcycles, became lifestyle..."

Monday 12

3D Printing Breakthrough Has Stretchable Electronics Potential

3D Printing Breakthrough Has Potential in Stretchable Electronics - RF Cafe"According to researchers at Oregon State University's College of Engineering, vertical structures are difficult to print with a liquid metal due to the low viscosity and high surface tension of the gallium alloy. The team in the college's Collaborative Robotics and Intelligent Systems Institute put nickel nanoparticles into galinstan, a liquid metal alloy, to thicken it into a paste with a consistency suitable for additive manufacturing. According to the team, the resulting rheological modification of the liquid metal..."

All-Silicon Active Antennas for High Performance 5G/SATCOM Terminals

All-Silicon Active Antennas for High Performance 5G/SATCOM Terminals - RF CafeDavid Corman, of Anokiwave, has a good article on silicon phased array antennas. This concept, using printed arrays, is gaining popularity for providing steerable beams in WiFi hotspots, Bluetooth, small cells, etc., where a dense communications environment generates too much ambient signal presence for long enough range. Now, implementation in silicon for mm-wave antenna arrays is being investigated. "Using active antennas allows highly-directive antenna beams to be formed by physically-small apertures, which helps offset the higher path loss associated...

Daylight Saving Time vs. Standard Time

Daylight Saving Time vs. Standard Time - RF CafeTo be or not to be - that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous bi-annual clock shifts, or to take up arms against a sea of contradicting justifications for and against the existence of DST, and by opposing, end it. Twice each year, a majority of the western world is subject to a manmade disruption in circadian and habitual cycles with an inane one-hour clock change on and off of "Daylight Saving(s) Time" (DST). Some historians claim that Benjamin Franklin joked about DST in the 18th century, but it was New Zealander George Hudson who proposed the modern day clock...

Many Thanks to Bittele Electronics for Continued Support!

Bittele Electronics PCB Fabrication - RF CafeSince 2003, Bittele Electronics has consistently provided low-volume, electronic contract manufacturing (ECM) and turnkey PCB assembly services. It specializes in board level turnkey PCB assembly for design engineers needing low volume or prototype multi-layer printed circuit boards. Free Passive Components: Bittele Electronics is taking one further step in its commitment of offering the best service to clients of its PCB assembly business. Bittele is now offering common passive components to its clients FREE of Charge...

Axiom Test Equipment Early March Specials

Axiom Test Equipment Early March Specials - RF CafeAt Axiom Test Equipment we provide high-quality services and affordable solutions such as test equipment rental, test equipment sales, and test equipment repair. These examples of test equipment specials are a very small sample of our extensive stock available for rental or for purchase. Axiom can also perform repair and calibration of your gear. Contact us today with your needs...

Maxwell's Demon in Quantum Zeno Regime

Maxwell's Demon in Quantum Zeno Regime - RF Cafe"In the original Maxwell's demon thought experiment, a demon makes continuous measurements on a system of hot and cold reservoirs, building up a thermal gradient that can later be used to perform work. As the demon's measurements do not consume energy, it appears that the demon violates the second law of thermodynamics, although this paradox can be resolved by considering that the demon uses information to perform its sorting tasks. It's well-known that when a quantum system is continuously..."

Sunday 11

RF Cafe Engineering & Science Crossword for Puzzle March 11

RF Cafe Engineering & Science Crossword for Puzzle March 11, 2018For the sake of all the avid cruciverbalists amongst us, each week I create a new technology-themed crossword puzzle using only words from my custom-created lexicon related to engineering, science, mathematics, chemistry, physics, astronomy, etc. You will never find among the words names of politicians, mountain ranges, exotic foods or plants, movie stars, or anything of the sort. You might, however, see someone or something in the exclusion list who or that is directly related to this puzzle's theme, such as Hedy Lamar or the Bikini Atoll, respectively...

Friday 9

100 Years Later, the Madness of Daylight Saving Time Endures

100 Years Later, the Madness of Daylight Saving Time Endures - RF Cafe"The original arguments Congress made for 'springing ahead' have been thoroughly debunked. So why are they still being used today? One hundred years after Congress passed the first daylight saving legislation, lawmakers in Florida this week passed the 'Sunshine Protection Act,' which will make daylight saving a year-round reality in the Sunshine State. If approved by the federal government, this will effectively move Florida's residents one time zone to the east, aligning cities..."

IEEE COMSOC 4 Day Intensive Wireless Communications Course

IEEE COMSOC 4 Day Intensive Wireless Communications Course - RF CafeIEEE COMSOC is conducting a 4 day, intermediate level Intensive Wireless Communications Course covering 7 key areas. Tuesday, April 10th through Friday, April 13th from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm EDT. Attend this 20-hour course online via WebEx. Instructor Alan Bensky will cover basic radio engineering fundamentals, propagation, smart antennas, beam forming, radio receiver characteristics, multiple access technologies, cellular network architecture and evolution through LTE and LTE, Wi-Fi security in GSM through LTE and more...

Vanadium Dioxide Enables III-Nitride Phase-Transition FET

Vanadium Dioxide Enables III-Nitride Phase-Transition FET - RF Cafe"Cornell University has demonstrated a GaN phase-transition FET based on loading a metal-oxide-semiconductor high-electron-mobility transistor (MOS-HEMT) with a vanadium dioxide (VO2) resistor. The combination enabled very low leakage along with sub-thermionic subthreshold steep-switching behavior. The researchers comment: 'This first demonstration of ultralow-leakage steep switching in GaN phase-FETs using integration-friendly ALD VO2 opens the door..."

Electromaze Puzzle

Electromaze Puzzle, April 1966 Popular Electronics - RF CafeRobert Radford's (not to be confused with Robert Redford) "Electromaze" is a unique - and weird - sort of word puzzle that appeared in the April 1966 issue of Popular Electronics magazine. You will probably want to print out the maze grid and find an old guy who should still have a pencil stowed away somewhere you can borrow to use for filling in the boxes. Note that in my opinion the answer given for clue number 2 is technically wrong. What say you?...

R&S Intros Bench Power Supply with Unique Features for Its Class

Rohde & Schwarz Intros Bench Power Supply with Unique Features for Its Class - RF CafeThe New Rohde & Schwarz NGE100 is a robust and affordable high-performance power supply. 2 or 3 Channels, 33.6 W each. 0 V to 32 V and 0 A to 3 A per channel. Max 96 V or 9 A in parallel / serial operation. Electronic fuse, overvoltage, overpower and over-temperature protection. USB and optional LAN or W-LAN interface. Starting at $805. The R&S®NGE100 has high efficiency combined with low ripple and a variety of functions that are usually not found in this class of power supplies. All operating conditions of all channels are...

Wi-Fi Testing: More Than Compliance

Wi-Fi Testing: More Than Compliance - RF CafeMartin Rowe, over at EDN, has been "Mr. Test & Measurement." I knight him with that title based on his many years writing for the long-ago absorbed trade magazine Test & Measurement World. Mention of this article was motivated by the photo of the small anechoic measurement enclosure by octoScope. Note that it is not a TEM cell, which is characterized by its tetrahedral shape and accommodates a wide range of frequencies. octoBox is a special purpose, limited range test environment. As with so many things these days, you can outfit just about any T&M setup with mostly prefabricated components...

LIDAR System Faster Than Speeding Bullet

LIDAR System Faster Than Speeding Bullet - RF Cafe"A new laser system that can make precise measurements of distance at record-breaking speed has been unveiled by researchers at Germany's Karlsuhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland. Made using optical frequency combs, the system can measure the surface profile of a speeding bullet. Modern technologies such as aerial drones, observation satellites, self-driving cars and manufacturing robots need to make rapid, highly-accurate measurements of distances to..."

Thursday 8

Design Innovations in 5G mm-Wave FEMs and Phased Arrays

Design Innovations in 5G mm-Wave FEMs and Phased Arrays - RF CafeMicrowave Journal's Technical Education Webinar Series is presenting "Design Innovations in 5G mm-Wave FEMs and Phased Arrays." Date: March 14, 2018, Time: 11am ET. Sponsored by: GlobalFoundries. "5G is the new generation of radio systems and network architecture. It will deliver faster data rates, lower latency connectivity and higher bandwidths in the millimeter wave (mm-Wave) bands (28, 39, 60, 86 GHz, …) to support many different applications including: 5G handsets, wireless infrastructure, WiGig, ADAS, small cells and LEO/GEO broadband..."

The Sarasota Mystery First Follow-Up

The Sarasota Mystery First Follow-Up - RF CafeThe initial part of this article, The Sarasota Mystery, appeared in the previous issue (March). Mr. Minto is still scratching his head over hydronic communications...

The Sarasota Mystery

The Sarasota Mystery, April 1966 Popular Electronics - RF CafeAfter reading both this article and "The Sarasota Mystery First Follow-Up" article in the April 1966 issue of Popular Electronics, I'm convinced that the inventor Wallace Minto either did not understand the phenomenon he describes, or he's out to punk the reader. If this initial article had been printed in the April issue rather than March, it almost certainly would have to have been a Fool's scam. Minto believes he has discovered a new form of electromagnetic propagation that exploits molecular / atomic properties of water to transmit the signal - without attenuation and without picking up noise. If it...

The Real Meaning of Short-Range Wireless

The Real Meaning of Short-Range Wireless - RF Cafe"Here's what I'd like to know: Is short-range wireless really radio? Most of the wireless standards we use daily are considered short-range technologies. The question is, just what is short range? For standards like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Z-Wave, and others, it ranges from a few feet up to 100 meters or so. The range varies widely with frequency, power level, antennas, as well as many environmental conditions. These are radio technologies. Then there are some wireless tech that have a very short range. Short..."

ConductRF Cable Assemblies Semi-Flexible Alternative to Semi-Rigid

ConductRF FPA Cable Assemblies Semi-Flexible Alternative to Semi-Rigid - RF CafeConductRF's FPA RF Cable Assemblies provide a cost effective high performance solution for applications typically supported by Semi-Rigid or high cost flexible precision cables. Multi-layer shielded cable provides both flexibility and form-ability by combining a flexible spiral foil over which is a tin plated copper braid which can be formed. This create a half-way situation, but with added benefits of lower costs, improved performance and enhanced shielding. Flexible Low Loss RF cables with direct solder connectors. Custom marking available on...

DOD Looks to Share More Spectrum

DOD Looks to Share More Spectrum - RF Cafe"The government announced plans to study the possibility of sharing or clearing a 100 megahertz swath of spectrum for high-speed mobile broadband. David Redl, administrator of the National Telecommunications and Industry Administration, said in a Feb. 26 blog post that 100 MHz in the 3450-3550 MHz band, used by the Department of Defense for military radar, could be a key asset in expanding the U.S. broadband spectrum inventory. Under the Spectrum Pipeline Act, passed in 2015 with the budget bill, agencies can..."

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