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5 of the May 2019 homepage archives. Friday 10
 As you already know if you are planning
to be at the International Microwave Symposium (IMS) this year, it is being held
from June 2nd through the 7th in Boston, Massachusetts. The last time the IMS
show was in Boston venue was 2009, and RF Cafe was there. It was my very first
IMS show. The entire day was spent taking photographs and meeting as many RF
Cafe website advertisers as possible. I also got to visit with a few people from
companies I used to work for. The National Electronics Museum had a very nice
display set up showcasing the evolution of the Microwave industry. Up until a
couple weeks ago, Melanie and were planning on returning this year to the IMS
show, but some family matters have required some extensive travel lately...
 Empower RF Systems' CTO Paulo Correa will
be presenting "High Power Solid State Advances in Technology" at the 2019
Electronic Warfare Europe convention in Stockholm, Sweden. While the
electromagnetic battle space becomes more densely occupied and our adversaries
develop new threat methodologies, more capable threat simulation emitters
systems are required. The stakes are high and domination of the electromagnetic
battle space will determine the winner of conflicts, not the dominant air power.
The technology scenario is not unlike the development of the airplane, its value
not quickly appreciated (how we found ourselves behind China and Russia EW
technology). Figuratively we are moving...
 Popular Electronics began publishing
a monthly electronics detective story series, "Carl and Jerry: A New Company is
Launched," in the debut October 1954 issue. The two main characters,
Carl Anderson and Jerry Bishop, were the brainchild of John T.
Frye, who also authored the "Mac's Radio Service Shop." Carl and Jerry helped
keep the world safe from miscreants by way of their investigative prowess and
deductive skills, often with the assistance of their Ham radio skills. The Hardy
Boys were a couple of pikers in comparison. The theme and ultimately solving of
each mystery is centered around use of electrical and/or electronics devices and
methods, with a bit of intrigue and humor thrown in. If you enjoy short stories,
then you will like the Carl & Jerry series...
 San Francisco Components (SFC), a recognized
leader in Printed Circuit Board (PCB) fabrication, assembly, and testing, is now
offering expanded
PCB testing and inspection capabilities to its customers,
further ensuring high-yield PCBs that meet rigid design and performance
specifications across all applications and industries. San Francisco Circuits
offers PCB testing for Bare Boards (before the board is assembled) and Assembled
Boards (once the board is assembled), that will detect and minimize issues that
would affect performance. "PCBs need to be tested early in the design and
production phases in order to control component tolerances, part-to-part
performance variations..."
 "College costs in the US continue to soar,
with the
most expensive schools topping out above $70,000 per year.
Getting an engineering degree is tough, and the soaring price of colleges
doesn't make it any easier. For many years, college costs have been rising at
twice the rate of inflation, and today's most expensive engineering degrees
reflect that, having recently cracked the $70,000-a-year plateau. To be sure,
all of those $70,000-plus schools offer financial aid, often in substantial
amounts. In some cases, the final dollar figure may be comparable to that of a
state school after all the aid is totaled up. That, of course, is if the
applicant receives financial aid. All of the colleges on the list offer great
educations..."
 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...
Thursday 9
 Today's electronics and RF magazines tend
to cater to engineers and managers, as opposed to technicians and hobbyists. That's
not to say that techs do not benefit from the material presented, but that information
is typically concerned with new product and system design with little attention
paid to troubleshooting and maintenance. The predecessors to modern magazines much
more often included articles on the latter. Publications like Popular Electronics,
being intended for hobbyists, featured useful quizzes, "how to" articles, and troubleshooting
tips along with product reports and an occasional design methodology piece.
Electronics World, the predecessor to Popular Electronics, was more
of an equal split between professional and hobby themes. This particular article
tests the reader's
knowledge of capacitors by proposing circuit failure
examples...
 RF Cafe typically receives
8,000-15,000 website
visits each weekday and about half that on
weekends. RF Cafe is a favorite of engineers, technicians, hobbyists, and
students all over the world. With more than 7,000 pages in the Google search
index, RF Cafe returns in favorable positions on many types of key searches,
both for text and images. New content is added on a daily basis, which keeps the
major search engines interested enough to spider it multiple times each day.
Items added on the homepage often can be found in a Google search within a few
hours of being posted. I also re-broadcast homepage items on LinkedIn, Facebook,
and Twitter. If you need your company news to be seen, RF Cafe is the place to
be. Banner advertising begins at $150/month...
 Whitepapers, pamphlets, books, magazines,
and chapter examples listed here are a small sample of a lot of new items that are
offered for FREE through
TradePub.
The publishers make them available to qualifying people as a promotional
campaign for their full line of offerings. Whitepaper topics include careers,
manufacturing, and engineering, while magazine titles include Microwave
Engineering Europe, Electronic Design, and Microwave Product Digest. Note: I
earn a few pennies (literally) when you download one of these or the many other
pubs available, so please help yourself...
 Last year Withwave introduced their new Vector
Network Analyzer (VNA)
Automatic Calibration Module that operates up to 12 GHz. Now,
Withwave has versions that operate at 18 and 26.5 GHz! All Automatic Calibration
Modules are ideal for users who want fast and easy calibration for various
popular VNAs. They are powered either via USB or a 5.5 VDC connector.
Communications with the equipment is via USB or LAN. Full 1-port through 2-port
calibrations are accomplished automatically using a simple One-Push START
button. This module works as host systems to measure and calculate calibration
coefficients and sends the data to the VNA...
 This is the first of a two-part "Radar Principles" article by British engineer and researcher
Dr. R.L. Smith-Rose. Dr. Smith-Rose explains the basics of radio detection and
ranging using simple illustrations and calculation examples. When these articles
were written, radar had recently been credited with playing a major role in
helping the Allies successfully wage war against aggressive Axis powers that
were ravaging London and other European cities with air attacks comprised of
both manned and unmanned vehicles. While the principles of radar were somewhat
familiar to people because of its analogy to using hearing to estimate distance
and location, the actual science behind the operation of radar was and still is
considered a form of black magic nearly everyone...
 "A metals manufacturer faked test results
and provided
faulty materials to NASA, causing more than $700 million in losses
and two failed satellite launch missions, according to an investigation by the U.S.
space agency. The fraud involved an Oregon company called Sapa Profiles Inc., which
falsified thousands of certifications for aluminum parts over 19 years for hundreds
of customers, including NASA. Taurus XL rocket Source: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB
The bad parts were used in the making of Taurus XL, a rocket that was supposed
to deliver satellites studying the Earth's climate during missions carried out
in 2009 and 2011. The launch vehicle's fairing, a clamshell structure that
carries the satellite as it travels through the atmosphere, didn't fully open,
causing the unsuccessful launch, according to a statement from NASA..."
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...
Wednesday 8
 This
Electronics Current Quiz from the October 1963 edition of
Popular Electronics is recent enough (if you consider half a century ago to
be recent) that it uses both transistors as well as vacuum tubes in the example
circuits. I have to admit to only scoring 60% on the quiz, which is pretty lame.
You will probably do better, especially if you are my age or older. As when
looking up the solution to problems in the back of the textbook and the answers
seem obvious (well, not always), so too do these...
 Microwave & RF magazine has a regular
Q&A feature where industry titans are interviewed about their companies and
personal involvements therewith. In the April issue, Chris DeMartino talks with
Custom MMIC's John Greichen. "Although Custom MMIC has been in existence for
a relatively short amount of time, the company is now regarded as a top supplier
of monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). How did the company get to
where it is now? Custom MMIC is a 13-year-old company. We started as a custom
design service company in 2006, serving the advanced MMIC technology needs of
military radar and communications. Our experience and design expertise provided
a strong base to enable a transition into standard products..."
 With today being the anniversary of the end
of WWII (VE Day), this January 1942 article from QST
magazine report on how it affected amateur radio operators helps add context to
the era. It came as no surprise to amateur radio operators that their
operational privileges would be curtailed immediately after the United States
was drawn into World War II following the Japanese Imperial Navy's attack on
Pearl Harbor. After all they were subject to the same kind of restriction during
WWI. Just as President Woodrow Wilson issued an executive order prohibiting
unauthorized transmissions by amateurs, President Roosevelt had the FCC ban the
radio transmissions of Hams. The fear was that enemy intelligence gathering
posts...
 Advanced Test Equipment Rentals is a leading
provider of test and measurement equipment. ATEC has established solid relationships
with industry leading manufacturers worldwide. ATEC offers competitive pay and benefits.
Advanced Test Equipment Rentals is looking for a Technical Support Representative.
Our ideal candidate has knowledge of electronic testing equipment. Responsible for
prompt technical support to product teams and customers assists in activities required
for product teams to quote an order, confers with customers and representatives
of associated industries to evaluate and promote improved and expanded services,
plans and directs rental orders failed in field (FIF)...
 "University of Kiel and Fraunhofer Institute
for Silicon Technology (ISIT) in Germany claim the first demonstration of ferroelectric
behavior in a III-V-based semiconductor. The researchers used
aluminum scandium nitride (AlScN) alloy in their demonstration,
but they also believe other group III (group 13 in more modern periodic table notation)
elements such as gallium (e.g. GaScN) and group-3 scandium-relative yttrium (e.g.
AlYN) could provide materials with ferroelectric behavior. Moving from group 3,
the quaternary alloy aluminum magnesium niobium nitride (AlMgNbN) is another
contender, they report. Magnesium is group 2 and niobium group 5..."
 Withwave manufactures an extensive line
of metrology quality coaxial test cable assemblies, connectors (wave-, end-,
vertical-launch, board edge, panel mount), calibration kits (SOLT), a fully
automated vector network analyzer (VNA) calibrator, between- and in-series
connector adaptors, attenuators, terminations, torque wrenches, test probes &
probe positioner. Frequency ranges from DC through 20 GHz. Please contact
Withwave today to see how they can help your project succeed...
Tuesday 7
 A nice article by Donald Lancaster appeared
in an issue of Radio-Electronics magazine that introduces and puts into
layman's terms the relatively new (at the time) world of
digital logic circuits. Rapidly falling prices and equally
rapidly rising performance fuelled the craze. By 1969, most of the barriers
preventing former never-tubers from adopting the fledgling semiconductor
paradigm and there was by then a new generation of electronics hobbyists,
technicians, and engineers who had "grown up" on transistors and integrated
circuits. I like the author's analogies for AND gates and OR gates that involve
the familiar objects that include a garden hose with the house tap and nozzle,
and the kitchen sink faucet with the hot and cold handles. It's interesting how
often water, a substance generally to be avoided around electricity...
 Teledyne Paradise Datacom (Paradise), part
of the Teledyne Defense Electronics Group, announced today that it has begun shipping
the latest version of its innovative line of
Q-Flex modems, the 400 Series. The flagship 400 Series
features faster data rate speeds, providing up to 345 Mbps, while also being
both smaller and lighter in weight. Expanding on the groundbreaking flexibility
the Q-Flex has long been known for, the 400 Series offers more powerful FPGAs
(Field Programmable Gate Arrays) that will accommodate further firmware upgrades
and features in the future. 'We are also pleased to announce that the new
QMultiflex-400 delivers DVB-S2X on outbound and return carriers as well, in line
with the rest of the Q-Flex range. With this upgrade, customers..."
Gain-Bandwidth Product is
Not (Always) Constant
 Hugo Coolens posted an article on the
Electronic Design website entitled, "Gain-Bandwidth Product is Not (Always) Constant." He includes
plenty of equations and nice video to demonstrate how to make the gain-bandwidth
product measurement. Says John, "Gain-bandwidth is always constant, isn't it?
Using the inverting single-pole op-amp amplifier as an example, this article
explains why that often-held belief is a fallacy. When talking amplifiers, I
sometimes get the impression that whole groups of electronics hobbyists and
engineering students have been brainwashed by endlessly hearing and repeating
the mantra 'Gain-bandwidth product is a constant.' Hearing this statement so
often, they actually start to believe this is a universal truth. I was reminded
of this once again some time ago..."
 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...
 "The CubeSat
is a type of miniaturized satellite for low earth orbit (LEO) space research and
applications. One of these is typically made up of one or more 10x10x11.35 cm cubic
units, and each unit has a mass of no more than 1.33 kilograms. In addition to being
light and small, designers often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) electronic
and structural components. Although bunches of
CubeSats have been launched on dedicated rockets, they are
most often put into orbit in small numbers via the International Space Station
or placed in orbit as secondary payloads. It all started about 17 years ago..."
 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...
Monday 6
 All college curricula seem to have a number
of particular "weeding out" courses that cull the herd - so to speak - from the
eventual graduating class. The unfortunate victims are then faced with either dropping
out of college (not always such a dooming fate) or choosing a different major. For
mechanical engineers (MEs) it was often statics; for electrical engineers (EEs)
it was AC circuits - the topic of this article. DC is relatively simple because
voltage and current is always in phase, thus no "hard" vector math is involved,
but throw in reactance with its attendant non-zero phase angles and suddenly the
student is faced with trigonometry - the kiss of death to mathphobes. My experience
in engineering school showed that for MEs who lived through statics, dynamics provided
the next level of weeding out (it nearly got me). For EEs it was Fourier and Laplace
transforms. Level three for MEs was thermodynamics (thermogodda**ics was a
popular alternate title)...
 On May 14, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm PT, Keysight
Technologies will be hosting a live broadcast of it
Keysight World event with five technical tracks: 5G (New Radio
[NR] standards, trends, opportunities, NR release 15/16 standards, over-the-air
[OTA] test: implications and solutions, real-world performance, data throughput),
Automotive and Energy (automotive Ethernet backbone of the connected car, advanced
automotive radar test solutions, Vehicle-to-Everything [V2X] Comms), Data Center
and Telecom, Network Operations and Security, and Advanced Measurements
(wideband mm-wave PA test, wideband modulated source: distortion and correction,
advanced mm-wave component characterization)...
Advanced Test Equipment is looking for an Account
Manager (Radio Communications and Signal Analysis) with experience in test and measurement
equipment. You will work with customers from a broad range of industries, including
aerospace/defense, consumer electronics, semiconductor, medical devices, automotive,
and manufacturing automation. Responsibilities to include prospecting to managing
accounts to achieve the monthly rental revenue growth target within your product
line. Expertise in technical sales & customer engagement to rent Audio Analyzers,
Cable & Antenna Analyzers, Interference Analyzers, Radio Test Sets, Signal Analyzers,
Signal Generators, Spectrum Analyzers, Vector Network Analyzers, RF Channel Emulators,
Oscilloscopes, EF Power Meters and Sensors, Noise Generators...
 Here is another electronics quiz for you to
try. It covers the
functions of resistors in various circuits. The quiz appeared
in the January 1962 edition of Popular Electronics, compliments of Robert P.
Balin. I got 100%, just for the record - PhD not required, by the way. Having
worked with tubes in the days of yore helps with figure B since it does not
really have a direct transistor equivalent, but by process of elimination you
can get it...
 "Researchers transmit data via a semiconductor
laser, opening the door to ultra-high-speed Wi-Fi. For the first time, researchers
have used a
laser as a radio transmitter and receiver, paving the way for
towards ultra-high-speed Wi-Fi and new types of hybrid electronic-photonic devices.
This device uses a frequency comb laser to emit and modulate microwaves wirelessly.
The laser uses different frequencies of light beating together to generate microwave
radiation. The researchers used this phenomenon to send a song wirelessly to a receiver.
Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
transmitted a recording of Martin's classic 'Volare' wirelessly..."
 Custom MMIC is a
fabless RF and microwave MMIC
designer entrusted by government and defense industry OEMs. Custom and
off-the-shelf products include switches, phase shifters, attenuators, mixers and
multipliers, and low noise, low phase noise, and distributed amplifiers. From
next-generation long range military radar systems, to advanced aerospace and
space-qualified satellite communications, microwave signal chains are being
pushed to new limits - and no one understands this more than Custom MMIC. Please
contact Custom MMIC today to see how they can help your project...
Sunday 5
 Since 2000, I have been creating custom
technology-themed crossword puzzles for the brain-exercising
benefit and pleasure of RF Cafe visitors who are fellow cruciverbalists. The
jury is out on whether or not this type of mental challenge helps keep your gray
matter from atrophying in old age, but it certainly helps maintain your
vocabulary and cognitive skills at all ages. A database of thousands of words
has been built up over the years and contains only clues and terms associated
with engineering, science, physical, astronomy, mathematics, chemistry, etc. You
will never find a word taxing your knowledge of a numbnut soap opera star or the
name of some obscure village in the Andes mountains...
These archive pages are provided in order to make it easier for you to find items
that you remember seeing on the RF Cafe homepage. Of course probably the easiest
way to find anything on the website is to use the "Search
RF Cafe" box at the top of every page.
About RF Cafe.
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