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4 of the November 2018 homepage archives. Sunday 11
 This
is my annual Veterans Day tribute. On November 11 (the 11th day of the 11th
month), at 11:00 am (the 11th hour), we observe 2 minutes of silence in honor of
countrymen who "gave the last full measure of devotion." A Pittance of Time
is performed by Canadian citizen Terry Kelly
(he went blind at an early age). It was written after
an experience he had on Veterans Day in 1999. It is done in the finest Celtic tradition.
Friday 9
 Yes, I needed to look up the definition of
"callithump." I have to admit to not really being sure why the
title seemed apt to the editors. This is two separate mini-stories. The first, "A
Dubious Tale," is a clever manipulation of a very familiar electronics / electrical
mathematical law applied to a fictional town located on the shores of Scandinavia.
The second, set in the mid-1960s, tells a futuristic tale - projected way forward
into the 1980s - of a discussion between a father and his son regarding how things
are going at school. Unlike similar predictions in the 1960s of a flying car in
every garage and Dick Tracey watches on every wrist, this scenario has, although
not exactly as envisioned, come to fruition...
 Motor technology is advancing by leaps and
bounds, as is battery technology. Power and energy density is incredibly high compared
to a mere two decades ago. Check this out. "Conventional electrical machines do
face the problem that due to their fixed windings the number of pole pairs cannot
be changed. Electrical machines are thus low-loss energy converters only for an
optimized operating point. Apart from that point, the efficiencies of conventional
electric drives are decreasing enormously. In the
ISCAD system, instead of copper windings, aluminum bars are used
in the stator. Every single bar is supplied by a dedicated power electronics..."
has published their 4th quarter newsletter for 2018. In addition to presenting
new RF amplifier products for CubeSats, defense, and aerospace applications, they
are proud to announce their inclusion in the prestigious list of companies
- #2839 to be exact, which is quite an accomplishment given the millions of companies
out there. Also, Mr. Patrick Sherlock is the new VP of Business Development
at Triad RF Systems. Sounds to me like a lot of good news from Triad RF Systems...
 Sporadic E skip is an upper atmosphere
phenomenon whereby the "E" layer is ionized to where certain radio frequency (RF)
wavelengths are refracted to the degree that they are bent back down towards the
earth's surface rather than exiting into space. It facilitates long distance (DX)
communications to areas not normally available otherwise. Amateur radio operators
(Hams) have exploited sporadic E skip for nearly as long as there has been
Ham operators - even before anyone knew for certain that the upper atmosphere could
be ionized. Thus far there is no concrete correlation between sunspot activity and
sporadic E propagation, although sunspots definitely have other profound effects
on propagation when highly energetic electrons released from the sun's
photosphere interact with molecules in the ionosphere...
 RF Cafe visitor Jeff B. of Beverly,
MA, sent me these photos of his
General Electric Model M-49, 4-tube radio-phonograph, dual-wave
superheterodyne set that he is going to restore to working order. It appears to
be in extremely nice condition for a 1930s era unit. He found the Radio Service
Data Sheet from a January 1935 issue Radio-Craft magazine that I posted
back in October 2016. These are now the only images of the M-49 anywhere I can find
on the Internet...
RF Superstore
launched in 2017, marking the return of Murray Pasternack, founder of Pasternack
Enterprises, to the RF and microwave Industry. Pasternack fundamentally changed
the way RF components were sold. Partner Jason Wright manages day-to-day operations,
while working closely with Mr. Pasternack to develop RF Superstore into a world
class RF and microwave component supplier. RF coaxial connectors & adapters,
coaxial cable & cable assemblies, surge protectors, attenuators. Items added
daily. Free shipping on orders over $99. We're leading the way again!
 "U.S. sailors aboard the Arleigh Burke-class
destroyer John Finn destroyed a target Friday with the latest version of the Standard
Missile-3 interceptor during a flight test off the coast of Hawaii. The ship launched
the
SM-3 Block IIA guided missile, which then successfully intercepted
a medium-range ballistic missile target deployed from the Pacific Missile Range
Facility at Kauai, Hawaii, according to a U.S. Missile Defense Agency press release.
Mark Wright, a spokesman for MDA, confirmed that the SM-3 Block IIA impacted with
the target. 'It's a kinetic kill vehicle, meaning it has to slam into the target,
not just explode near it,' he told Military.com..."
Thursday 8
 Pop Quiz: What is the contemporary name we
have given to the
voltage variable resistor (VDR)? Although VDRs are nowadays used
most familiarly for overvoltage protection due to spikes on a power or signal line,
they used to be functional parts of television display and power supply circuits.
They also made those newfangled field effect transistors - junction (JFET), and
enhancement mode and depletion mode insulated-gate (IGFET, aka MOSFET). Thermistors,
silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCRs), and varactor diodes are also discussed. Sylvania
was a prime user of all these devices back in the day as part of their effort to
modernize televisions and radio by abandoning vacuum tubes wherever possible...
 Impedance matching between two transmission
mediums (media?) is essential to maximum power transfer from one to the other. Imperfect
impedance matching results in reflections of the incident signal, thereby reducing
the amount of signal transferred to the other medium. We in the RF realm are accustomed
to the phenomenon of voltage standing ratio (VSWR), but in the world of optics and
mechanics, similar impedance mismatch issues are important. This article in NASA's
Tech Briefs reports on 'invisible glass' that is rendered so via nanoetching techniques
on the surface instead of the typical thin film polymers. Doing so creates sort
of the equivalent of a tapered impedance transition. Interesting...
Empower RF
Systems is a global leader in power amplifier solutions. Empower RF Systems
is an established and technologically superior supplier of high power solid state
RF & microwave amplifiers. Our offerings include modules, intelligent rack-mount
amplifiers, and multi-function RF Power Amplifier solutions to 6 GHz in broadband
and band specific designs. Output power combinations range from tens of watts to
multi-kilowatts. Unprecedented size, weight and power reduction of our amplifiers
is superior to anything in the market at similar frequencies and power levels...
 In all-too-typical style, the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) decided to look for a scapegoat it could not just blame for but
strong-arm a solution for claimed problems plaguing
Citizen Band (CB) radio as it was rapidly becoming a popular hobby
in the 1960s. In the same manner in which bureaucrats blame gun and steak knife
manufacturers for the abusive actions of a minority of their products' users, the
FCC sought to curtail improper (maybe even illegal) operation of CB radios by imposing
type certification and feature restrictions on equipment manufacturers. To demonstrate
its magnanimity, though, the FCC offered to give companies half a year to deplete
their existing inventories. At the time and through 1977, CBs had 23 channels, after
which time 40 channels became the new mandate...
Reactel has become one of the industry leaders in the design and manufacture
of RF and microwave filters,
diplexers, and sub-assemblies. Through a continuous process of research and development,
they have established a full line of filters of all types - lowpass, highpass, bandpass,
bandstop, diplexer, and more. They offer the generally known tubular, LC, cavity,
and waveguide designs, as well as state of the art high performance suspended substrate
models. Established in 1979. Please contact Reactel today to see how they might
help your project...
 "Expanded program portfolio seeks to increase
access to DoD-specific electronics manufacturing capabilities, enhance hardware
security, and ensure ERI investments translate to DoD applications. First announced
in June 2017, DARPA's Electronics Resurgence Initiative (ERI) - a five-year,
upwards of $1.5B investment in the future of domestic electronic systems - is rolling
out the second phase of its research priorities. Comprised of several ongoing DARPA
programs – including the six recently awarded ERI 'Page 3' programs - ERI addresses
long-foreseen obstacles to Moore's Law and the challenges impeding 50 years of rapid
progress in electronics advancement. The next phase of ERI will focus..."
Wednesday 7
Innovative Power Products (IPP) has over 30 years of experience designing &
manufacturing RF & microwave passive components. Their high power, broadband
couplers, combiners, resistors,
baluns, terminations and attenuators are fabricated using the latest materials
and design tools available, resulting in unrivaled product performance. Applications
in military, medical, industrial and commercial markets. Take a couple minutes to
visit their website and see how IPP can help you today...
 TotalTemp Technologies has posted a new blog
titled, "Controlling Instruments with GPIB, Ethernet, USB ... or What is Next?
At least 5 busses - GPIB, USB, parallel, Ethernet, and serial - are in use today,
each with unique advantages. Sometimes, especially with older test equipment, you
do not have a choice. " Selecting the right computer bus for your test equipment
is a little bit of a moving target but fortunately is moves fairly slowly and moving
in the direction of better. RS-232 - originating back in the early 60's, RS-232
was developed as a standard for serial digital communication. Connecting computers
to other computers, or remote instrument communication with a minimum number of
wires was the primary use..."
 Before there were vacuum tube and semiconductor
diodes for use as RF signal detectors, there was the
coherer. This article by Henry Davis in the May 1967 Popular
Electronics magazine discusses the invention of the coherer by Dr. Edouard
Branley. Dr. Branley's work was, as is often the case for the ultimate inventors
of a new apparatus or process, based on predecessors who over time pieced together
the puzzle of electromagnetic energy and its effects on objects located some distance
from the source. Coherers rely on relatively strong, broadband energy like that
emitted from the early spark gap transmitters in order to function; both being extremely
crude methods compared to modern techniques. The important thing is that the system
worked and provided a springboard for rapid...
 "Two U.S. defense companies are helping the
U.S. military in an urgent effort to develop low-band tactical RF jammers for low
size, weight, and power consumption (SWaP) applications on the U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler electronic
warfare (EW) carrier-based aircraft. Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command
at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., are looking to L-3 Technologies Communications
Systems-West in Salt Lake City, and the Northrop Grumman Corp. Mission Systems segment
in Bethpage, N.Y., to investigate the use of existing technologies to develop a
low-band tactical jammer for the EA-18G aircraft. L-3 and Northrop Grumman..."
Electro-Photonics is a global supplier of
RF & Microwave components.
Their products include SMT hybrid and directional couplers, wire bondable passive
components, mounting tabs, filters, transmission lines, and very useful test boards
for evaluating components (spiral inductors, single-layer capacitors). The Electro-Photonics
team can support your small R&D design requirements with RF & Microwave
test fixtures and save you valuable design and characterization time. Please take
a moment to visit Electro-Photonics' website and see how your project might benefit...
 This
Radio Spectrum Archive is a pretty amazing application of Software
Defined Radio (SDR). You will want to watch the short demo. "The Radio Spectrum
Archive will let you listen to old broadcasts as if they were live. Thomas Witherspoon
is building a time machine, of sorts. With it, you'll be able to pick a date and
tune through an entire broadcast band as if you had a radio that could pick up transmissions
from the past. Sure, well-established shows already make past episodes available,
but with Witherspoon's time machine you'll be able to hear not just that programming
but everything else that was on the air as well: the local news, the commercials ..."
Tuesday 6
 Meteor scatter (aka meteor burst) communications
is today largely the domain of amateur radio operators in their ongoing attempts
to set records for making long distance (DX) contacts with a minimum amount of transmit
power. When this article was written by U. California's Victor Latorre, transcontinental
fiber optic cables did not interconnect the world with high speed, phase stable
media that meets the exacting needs of precise time synchronization. Radio astronomy,
quantum physics experiments, and even stock market trading depends on microsecond
or finer timing. Mr. Latorre mentions here about using
meteor scatter communications' unique phase-stable characteristic
to send synchronization signals between scientific and navigation facilities. Of
course meteor scatter has the severe disadvantages...
 It seems a tad early to be publishing year
2018 top stories since we still have two full months available for at least an 8th
breakthrough that could change our lives. "We, humans, are always on the path of
inventions and innovations. In addition to building new technologies and machines,
the invention of new materials greatly influences the future of products and their
manufacturing processes. Wondering what are the best materials invented in 2018?
Here they are. The strongest biomaterial known to man was the Spider silk, which
is pound to pound stronger than steel. Many types of research have made to either
replicate this material on a large scale or even surpass the spider silk in terms
of strength..."
 ConductRF's Hi-Flex VNA Test Cable Series offers
customers superior solutions for applications up to 70 GHz. Excellent class
leading phase & amplitude stability for dynamic high-frequency testing, demonstrated
by Internal flex testing results of better than ±5° & ±0.05 dB respectively
over repeated 8 hours flexing cycles. With a light armor internal stainless steel
construction along with a soft FEP external cover, and a Nomex weaved covering,
this combination provides excellent flexibility and ruggedness and is industry leading
in its stability under flexure. Available connector solutions include 1.85 mm
(V connectors), 2.4 mm, 2.92 mm (K connectors), 3.5 mm and Type-N.
Swept right angle versions are available offering the same high performance of their
straight counterparts in both
 Bob Witte has a short primer on the EDN
website covering maximum power transfer using values of complex impedance and the
accompanying phase relationships of voltage and current. "Welcome to my first blog
post that explores fundamental principles of electrical engineering and attempts
to tease out some new insights. For many of you, this will be a refresh of concepts
you already know (or used to know) but I'll also try to add some new insights into
the mix. Jacobi's Law Most engineers are familiar with the
Maximum Power Transfer Theorem (also known as Jacobi's Law). Figure
1 shows a resistive source and resistive load connected with the aim of transferring
power from the source to the load. This principle can be stated as..."
 Here is a dose of high tech
POPULAR ELEComics levity
to help ease your workaday blues. This set of comics is from the December 1967 issue of Popular Electronics magazine.
As usual they represent issues of concern to people in the day. Television set
problems were always a good topic to make fun of, because most people had a
love-hate relationship with their sets. It drove them crazy when the reception
crapped out at a crucial moment during a sports event or a war movie or a
daytime soap opera tragedy. Dealing with home stereo systems also presented many
a frustration to a novice audiophile...
TotalTemp Technologies has more than 40 years of combined experience providing
thermal platforms. Thermal
Platforms are available to provide temperatures between -100°C and +200°C for
cryogenic cooling, recirculating circulating coolers, temperature chambers and temperature
controllers, thermal range safety controllers, space simulation chambers, hybrid
benchtop chambers, custom systems and platforms. Manual and automated configurations
for laboratory and production environments...
 "Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory
in Tennessee have developed
wireless charging technology that they say could fill up a typical
electric car today in under an hour. This represents a six-fold improvement over
a similar wireless charging system they announced in 2016. That plugless EV charging
technology, they report, is now being modified for commercial applications including
delivery trucks. And the team isn't done, says Burak Ozpineci, leader of Oak Ridge's
Power Electronics and Electric Machinery group. They are, he says, working toward
the larger goal set by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) to build a portfolio
of rapid, safe, and easy electric vehicle-charging..."
Monday 5
 Axiom Test Equipment, a premier provider of electronic
test and measurement equipment rentals and sales, is now accredited in accordance
with ISO/IEC 17025:2017 requirements from the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board
(ANAB). This high-level accreditation is awarded to labs that have demonstrated
technical competence, systematic approaches to procedures, and traceability of measurements
to national standards. Shannon Johnson, Axiom's Vice President of Operations states,
"Achieving 17025 accreditation is an important milestone for the growth of our business
and expands the capabilities of our lab. It opens doors to new markets and gives
customers high confidence when they rent or buy..."
 Congress was breathing hard down the neck
of NASA while
Ranger 6 was being prepared for its surveillance mission
to the lunar surface. In 1962, Ranger 3, the first to carry a TV camera, went
into orbit around the sun after missing the moon. Ranger 4 (dubbed "Brainless
I") impacted the moon but did not send back any data. And Ranger 5 lost power
after launch and missed the moon by about 450 miles. Time was running out to collect
data for use in fulfilling the challenge issues by President John F. Kennedy
on May 25, 1961, to "...commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade
is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth." That
challenge was successfully met by the Apollo 11 mission partially on July 21st,
1969 by landing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon...
INSTOCK Wireless Components designs & manufactures UHF/RF power dividers,
bias tees, GPS antenna signal splitters, DC blocking L-Band splitters, high-power
combiners, and current steering splitters with models in 2-way thru 64-way configurations
with Type N, SMA, TNC, BNC, & QMA connectors covering frequencies from 10 MHz
to 6 GHz. Custom configurations also available including mix-and-match connector
options, IP67 outdoor weatherproof, rackmount, and micro-sized units...
 Last week I posted a link to Part 2
of the
2018 Salary & Career Report, and now here is Part 3,
which reports on salaries (up nearly 10% over 2017, BTW). Being self-employed, my
pay has effectively gone down over the past few years since I keep my prices fixed
and low for the benefit of others. My pay depends on you
buying my stuff. "Although many electrical and electronics engineers
that responded to Electronic Design's latest reader survey are unable to
shake the feeling that they could make more money in another profession without
the stressful conditions and punishing workload, two-thirds of respondents actually
feel that they are adequately compensated for what they do..."
Kaelus, a leading supplier of high-quality, PIM test and measurement instruments and
RF conditioning solutions, has debuted, software designed to accurately identify
and locate external PIM sources outside antenna infrastructure. Used in combination
with the Kaelus iVA Cable & Antenna analyzer and the iPA portable PIM analyzer,
PIM finder is a software option available through Kaelus Unify, used to pinpoint
and detect external PIM sources such as loose mounting and cable brackets, fasteners,
parapet walls and more, while allowing for the elimination of key causes of PIM
interference. "LTE and 5G high data rate modulation schemes require clean spectrum
to operate to their potential," said Tony Langelaan, Product Line...
Transient Specialists specializes in
EMC test equipment rentals
and carries a complete line of ESD guns, surge immunity test equipment, and EFT
generators. Rentals available for military (Mil-Std 461), automotive (ISO 7637),
and commercial (IEC 61000-4) EMC testing. Flexible terms, accredited calibrations
and technical support on EMC testing equipment offered. Equipment consists of top
EMC Test System manufacturers, including Teseq, Thermo Keytek, EM Test and EMC Partner...
 "Samsung's
smartphone shipments have declined for the past four quarters
and the overall market has followed. At the same time Huawei continues to go from
strength to strength. Annual smartphone shipment growth of 41% allowed Huawei to
take second place in the global rankings last quarter and 32% growth this quarter
was enough to keep Apple at bay once more. Samsung's shipments declined by 13% this
quarter and if these trends keep up Huawei could grab the top spot before long -
a previously unthinkable event. 'Global smartphone shipments tumbled 8% annually
from 393.1M units in Q3 2017 to 360.0m in Q3 2018..."
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