See Page 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 | of the July 2024 homepage archives. Friday the 19th
 As mentioned previously, my professional
electronics career began with the U.S. Air Force in late 1978. As an Air Traffic
Control Radar Repairman (AFSC3x1), the first phase of training was basic electronics,
and a short course on proper soldering techniques. A lot of emphasis was placed
on removal of the faulty component without damaging its environment (circuit board,
point-to-point chassis connections, etc.), and then to properly install the new
component, also without damaging the environment. We learned about forming component
leads so as not to stress them mechanically, orientation and placement, cleaning
the connections both before and after soldering, and then soldering technique. We
also learned how to repair circuit boards (only singe and double sided). As shown
in this 1961 Radio-Electronics magazine article entitled "Technician's
Guide to Good Soldering," there is a preferred way to tin component...
• Private 5G Tech Competes
with Wi-Fi
•
Taiwan Enjoys Growing Role in Electronics Startups
•
RFID Market CAGR of 11.1% to $40.9B by 2032
• GaN
HEMTs on 8-Inch Sapphire
• U.S. Launches
Probe into Chinese Telcos
 You might have noticed earlier today that
my RFCafe.com,
RFCafe.net, and
AirplanesAndRockets.com websites
were down (fortunately, they're back up now). According to my web host, it was due
to the global outage caused by a
CrowdStrike security update affecting Microsoft servers. "Banks, airports, TV
stations, health care organizations, hotels, and countless other businesses are
all facing widespread IT outages, leaving flights grounded and causing widespread
disruption, after Windows machines have displayed errors worldwide. In the early
hours of Friday, companies in Australia running Microsoft's Windows operating system
started reporting devices showing Blue Screens of Death (BSODs). Shortly after,
reports of disruptions started flooding in from around the world, including from
the UK, India, Germany, the Netherlands, and the US: TV station Sky News went offline,
and US airlines United, Delta, and American Airlines issued a 'global ground stop'
on all flights..."
 Bandwidth compression is a major strategy
in today's seriously overcrowded communications spectrum. Compression has occurred
both through m-ary digital modulation and through downsampling of voice - the latter
of which is partially responsible for the crappy quality of cellphones versus old
fashioned copper landline telephones. The mathematics of sampling theory are complex
to say the least, and its ability to accommodate reliable communications in the
midst of incredibly dense interference is amazing. This article appeared in a 1969
issue of Electronics World magazine, near the beginning of digital communications.
Probably the earliest form...
 "Global efforts to combat climate change
hinge on pivoting sharply away from fossil fuels. To do that will require electrifying
transportation, primarily by shifting from vehicles with combustion engines to ones
with electric drive trains. Such a massive shift will inevitably mean far greater
use of electric traction motors, nearly all of which rely on magnets that contain
rare earth elements, which cause
substantial environmental degradation when their ores are extracted and then processed
into industrially useful forms. And for automakers outside of China, there is an
additional deterrent: Roughly 90% of processed rare earth elements now come from
China, so for these companies, increasing dependence on rare earths means growing
vulnerability in critical supply chains. Against this backdrop, massive efforts
are underway to design and test advanced electric-vehicle (EV) motors that do not
use rare earth elements..."
 It seems the title, "Mac's
Radio Service Shop" for John Frye's tech tales might have been dropped after
Radio & Television News magazine changed its name to Electronics
World in May of 1959. The characters' names and roles were all the same, but
the title was dropped - probably to not bias the new theme of the magazine. This
episode discusses some of the strange ways in which a faulty bypass capacitor can
manifest itself. A big part of effective troubleshooting is the experience of "having
seen that before." Interestingly, by 1963 vacuum tubes were still in common use,
but printed wiring boards had been introduced, along with their propensity for developing
broken traces. Also mentioned is why having a safety...
 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. Please contact TotalTemp Technologies today to learn
how they can help your project.
Thursday the 18th
 Here we go with three more circuit puzzlers
from the November 1961 issue of Radio-Electronics magazine. The feature
title, "What's
Your EQ?," is a play on "IQ," but instead of Intelligence Quotient it means
Electronics Quotient. The first challenge is a simple application of series and
parallel resistance combinations and Ohm's Law. With the Black Box problem, don't
hurt your brain too much. The author's solution is unarguably the simplest. The
last, "Impossible Voltages," was devised by TV troubleshooting master Jack Darr,
who publishes regular columns on the art/science, so few will probably get it right
- unless you have experience with circuit containing complex mixes of resistors,
capacitors, inductors, and transformers. It evidently stems from an actual case
he worked on. Then again...
 Usually an article about clean
layout techniques would be about printed circuit board layout; however, this
one refers to chassis layout. Having built many electronics chassis in my days as
an electronics technician (prior to earning an engineering degree), I have a great
appreciation for a professional-looking job. In fact, I chose to build most of my
own prototypes as a design engineer as well. Some of the work done by hobbyists
that appear in magazines like QST, Nuts & Volts,
and the older titles like Poplar Electronics looks pretty darn nice, sometimes
like a commercial product - both for kits and homebrews. There are still a lot of
people out there who design and build their own equipment. It's a short article,
but worth a quick look...
 This meme appeared online, in response to
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle claiming there were no counter-sniper
agents on the roof of the building where the 20-year-old would-be assassin managed
to navigate because the slope would pose an unacceptable danger to expertly trained
federales. I'm guessing she has never been on top of any roof in her entire life
- not even at PepsiCo where she previously earned her security credentials. Now,
having this inside information about what an effective barrier to armed federal
agents looks like, you can easily defend your home against an uninvited visit.
 This "A
Phase Noise Analysis Tool for Sparse Numerical Phase Noise Data," article by
Shawn Logan, appears in the July 2024 issue of Microwave Journal magazine.
He offers the free software tool described therein. He begins: "This article describes
a phase noise analysis tool that creates a numerical model from discrete phase noise
data. The tool includes an adaptive algorithm to identify spurious deterministic
components in the data. It also creates a physics-based numerical model for the
random noise component. Despite its apparent simplicity, analyzing the temporal
and Fourier characteristics of an oscillator from its phase noise characteristic
presents challenges to designers and those wishing to specify an oscillator for
an application..."
 Capacitor science has evolved at a very
rapid rate since the beginning of electronics and electrical circuitry. Since the
early Leyden jar (named after the city where it was invented by Ewald Georg von
Kleist) type capacitor, continual advancements in materials for electrolytes and
metal plates, as well as in packaging, have led to incredibly high storage density,
miniature size, high voltage and current, mounting configuration, low ESR, high
frequency operation, price, stability, temperature extreme tolerance, and other
parameters. It is always instructive and interesting to read the history that has
led to the
current state of capacitor art. This 1963 Electronics World magazine
article does just that...
 With more than 1000
custom-built symbols, this has got to be the most comprehensive set of
Visio Symbols
available for RF, analog, and digital system and schematic drawings! Every object
has been built to fit proportionally on the provided A-, B- and C-size drawing page
templates (or can use your own). Symbols are provided for equipment racks and test
equipment, system block diagrams, conceptual drawings, and schematics. Unlike previous
versions, these are NOT Stencils, but instead are all contained on tabbed pages
within a single Visio document. That puts everything in front of you in its full
glory. Just copy and paste what you need on your drawing...
Wednesday the 17th
 The International Geographic Year (IGY),
which ended up lasting about 18 months, ran from July 1957 through December 1958.
One of its main purposes was to explore and quantify the nature of the
electrically conductive region of the Earth's atmosphere, within which and through
which future sounding rockets, orbiting satellites, and deep space probes would
operate. Sputnik launched at the end of 1957, and Echo launched in mid-1960. Both
professional and amateur radio operators had already ascertained significant clues
about the ionosphere's characteristics by observing its affects on electromagnetic
signals. Direct, in-situ measurements confirmed some beliefs while disproving others.
More than 65 years later, we know much significantly more about the ionosphere,
having sent thousands of craft - including many manned - into and through it. When
this "Nature's Invisible Radio Mirror" article appeared...
Anatech Intros
3 New Ceramic Bandpass Models
 Anatech Electronics offers the industry's
largest portfolio of high-performance standard and customized RF and microwave filters
and filter-related products for military, commercial, aerospace and defense, and
industrial applications up to 40 GHz. Three new
ceramic bandpass filters have been announced for July 2024 - a 793 MHz bandpass
with a 5 MHz bandwidth, an 806 MHz bandpass with a bandwidth of MHz,
and an 847 MHz bandpass with a bandwidth of MHz. All have an insertion
loss of no more than 4 dB. Custom RF power filter and directional couplers
designs can be designed and produced with required connector types when a standard
cannot be found...
 It is hard to believe in 1936, a time when
cars were huge and dashboards had almost nothing behind them except some heater
ducts, that access to something as simple as a radio speaker would be difficult.
Evidently it could be, according to the first-place winner of "Short-Cut"
in Radio-Craft magazine. There was not then the rat's nest of wires, air
bags, and control cables found in modern autos. Voluminous trunks back in the day,
and engine compartments that you could almost stand in while changing spark plugs
(I once had a 6-cylinder, 1970 Chevy truck that I could do that with) were typical.
Compare that to modern weenie trunks barely large enough to hold groceries and engine
compartments accommodating front-wheel-drive transmissions and dozens of emission-reduction...
 This whole concept seems so idiotic as to
be dismissible out-of-hand. Who legitimately thinks having
high power
energy beams raining down from space is a good idea? Evidently some people do.
Aside from the danger of coming into contact with a beam, surely there will be a
major increase in the ambient EM noise floor worldwide, and the massive orbiting
structures would further destroy the night sky. It seems anymore if I am watching
a particular area of the sky through my telescope, within a few minutes a satellite
will pass through the field of view. Per IEEE Spectrum magazine: "The accelerating
buildout of solar farms on Earth is already hitting speed bumps, including public
pushback against the large tracts of land required and a ballooning backlog of requests
for new transmission lines and grid connections. Energy experts have been warning
that electricity is likely to get more expensive and less reliable unless renewable
power that waxes and wanes under inconstant sunlight and wind..."
 Fellow cruciverbalists, here from a 1963
edition of Electronics World magazine is an
electronics-themed crossword puzzle for your mid-week enjoyment. You can click
on the grid for a larger, printable, write-on-able paper version. If you are an
avid worker of crosswords and don't already know it, I have created hundreds over
the last two decades. Unlike this crossword from Electronics World (and
most others for that matter), RF Cafe's technology-themed crossword puzzles
have only hand-picked words related to engineering and science...
 With more than 1000
custom-built stencils, this has got to be the most comprehensive set of
Visio Stencils
available for RF, analog, and digital system and schematic drawings! Every stencil
symbol has been built to fit proportionally on the included A-, B-, and C-size drawing
page templates (or use your own page if preferred). Components are provided for
system block diagrams, conceptual drawings, schematics, test equipment, racks, and
more. Page templates are provided with a preset scale (changeable) for a good presentation
that can incorporate all provided symbols...
Tuesday the 16th
 The
Echo 1 communications satellite was launched in August of 1960, shortly
before this October 1960 Radio-Electronics magazine "News Briefs" item
reported on the preparations made for the first message to be bounded off the metallic
film covering its spherical shape. The November 1960 issue of Electronics World
magazine included an infomercial from Bell Telephone Laboratories claiming success.
While waiting for Echo 1 to be placed into orbit, tests were made of the round-trip
signaling system by bouncing signals off the moon. The moon, being about a quarter
million miles farther away from Echo's orbit and having a much less radio-reflective
surface than Echo, resulted in a significantly weaker received signal. That confirmed
the system would perform well with the Echo 1 signal. In fact, as mentioned
above...
 "Electronics are used to communicate with
loved ones, manage finances, fly aircraft, autonomously drive us to work, and even
save lives. As we achieve further advances in technology, electronics will continue
to lead the way in adapting these technologies into new critical systems and processes.
The benefits that electronics have provided us are undeniable. However, there is
a significant drawback as the implementation of sensitive electronic circuitry continues
to increase our vulnerability to the effects of electromagnetic threats such as
an EMP attack. An
electromagnetic
pulse (EMP) is defined as a high amplitude, short duration, broadband pulse
of electromagnetic energy that can have devastating effects on unprotected electronic
equipment and systems. EMPs are historically known..."
 Less than half a decade had passed since
the invention of the transistor when Radio & Television News magazine
editor Oliver Reed wrote this piece extolling the virtues of the transistor and
how "it may well revolutionize the entire electronics industry." If you have followed
a lot of my postings from the vintage electronics magazines here on RF Cafe,
you are well aware that there was a lot of resistance to and doubt about the future
of semiconductors. Naysayers had the same kind of reaction to the advent of the
horseless carriage (automobile) and locomotive, relativity and quantum mechanics,
and even curative medicines. Point contact transistors were still largely in use,
but were costly compared to the relative simplicity and low cost of junction transistors
once the manufacturing details were worked out - which, as we now know, happened
very rapidly. By 1965 the process was so refined that
Gordon Moore formulated his eponymous law...
Exodus AMP4022DBP-4KW X-Band
Pulse SSPA
 Exodus Advanced Communications, is a multinational
RF communication equipment and engineering service company serving both commercial
and government entities and their affiliates worldwide. We are pleased to announce
the Exodus Advanced Communications'
AMP4022DBP-4KW X-Band, 8-12 GHz Pulse Amplifier, which is designed for
Pulse/HIRF, EMC/EMI Mil-Std 461/464 and Radar applications. Providing Superb Pulse
Fidelity and up to 100 usec pulse widths. Duty cycles to 6% with a minimum
66 dB gain. Available monitoring parameters for Forward/Reflected power in
Watts & dBm, VSWR, voltage, current, temperature sensing for outstanding reliability
and ruggedness for compact integrations...
 According to a plethora of news reports
in the last few years (many links links posted on RF Cafe), the "cord
cutting" phenomenon is having a significant impact on cable media providers.
Consumers long ago grew tired of the monopolistic practices of corporations forcing
mostly unwanted programming onto everyone and then trying to convince them that
they were getting a good deal if the cost per channel was considered. No one bought
that argument, but it didn't matter because there was no competition for service.
PUC efforts to force prime line owners to rent out "space" in an attempt to provide
competitive products has never worked, but that doesn't keep PUCs from trying (job
security). The advent of wideband wireless service has opened...
 Banner Ads are rotated in all locations
on the page! RF Cafe typically receives 8,000-15,000 visits each
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With more than 17,000 pages in the Google search index, RF Cafe returns in
favorable positions on many types of key searches, both for text and images.
Your Banner Ads are displayed on average0,000 times per year! New content
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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. If you need your company
news to be seen, RF Cafe is the place to be...
Monday the 15th
 In 1964, when these
electronics-themed comics appeared in Radio-Electronics magazine, the
world was still in the process of adopting FM radio after decades of owning AM radios.
Radio repair shops could install conversion kits in many models of radios (still
of the vacuum tube variety, mostly). For that matter in the early days of color
TV, conversion kits were available enable pseudo-color from black-and-white (B&W)
sets, using a spinning color wheel. This was in the pre-throw-away era when it might
have been cheaper to get something repaired or modified than to buy a new model.
I grew up toward the end of that era (born 1958). Anyway, the comic from page 58
pokes a bit of fun at the extremes some people expected. The page 94 comic reflect
the expectation of soon-to-be-available wrist watches that ran on precision crystals
rather than on a much less consistent spring and escapement mechanism. The Hamilton
Pulsar, the world's first electronic watch
 "Unfortunately,
good technical ability and good business ability do not always grow naturally
on the same figurative tree." That line by "Mac," (Mac McGregor) is all too true
for lot of us, and I definitely include myself as part of "us." I have often paraphrased
the line by Dr. McCoy on Star Trek as, "Dammit, Jim, I'm an engineer, not a salesman."
Part of the reason RF Cafe has pretty much remained at the same level of income
over the years is due to my unwillingness to make performance guarantees to anyone
in return for pay - other than to not do anything intentional that will harm them.
My advertisers choose to do so based on RF Cafe's reputation for unbiased (mostly)
presentation of information and abstention from the form of political correctness
that sacrifices efforts of hard working people to spare the fragile feelings of
slothful and/or insidious and/or jealous actors. More than one accomplished businessman
has advised me that being more aggressive would pay big dividends...
 IMHO,
the future for sustainable
electric power is nuclear, not solar and wind. IEEE Spectrum (and maybe
Australia) seems to agree. "A day after the United States Senate passed legislation
on 18 June to develop advanced nuclear technologies, in Australia, opposition leader
Peter Dutton promised, if elected, to build seven nuclear plants along the coasts
of the island continent. The U.S. legislation passed with a vote of 82-2, but Dutton's
proposal brought forth fierce dispute from both federal and state governments, as
well as energy experts and supporters of green energy. Though Australia has the
world's largest deposits of uranium, it doesn't have any nuclear plants for electricity
generation. In fact, its federal and state laws prohibit their construction. What's
more, the regional governments of the five states Dutton has earmarked for nuclear
plant constructions have all rejected the plan. Several state leaders cited the
high costs involved in establishing a nuclear program from zero..."
 As far as I know, Radio-Electronics
magazine editor Hugo Gernsback's fear that
intergalactic signals (not from alien life forms) might someday interfere with
terrestrial communications has not been a problem. His primary concern is if something
like a supernova occurs close enough to Earth to emit sufficient energy in our communications
bands to disrupt or even completely prevent radio operation. Such a scenario is
possible, if not improbable. If you want to call it good news, the fact is astronomers
have so thoroughly scanned, analyzed, and cataloged the heavens that if there was
a star on the verge of going supernova, we would know about it. Even if such an
occurrence is imminent but the star has not been directly observed because the electromagnetic
energy has not yet reached us, signs of the event would be detectable - like a disturbance
in the force along its path leading to Earth. Whilst on the subject of novae...
With more than 1000
custom-built stencils, this has got to be the most comprehensive set of
Visio Stencils
available for RF, analog, and digital system and schematic drawings! Every stencil
symbol has been built to fit proportionally on the included A-, B-, and C-size drawing
page templates (or use your own page if preferred). Components are provided for
system block diagrams, conceptual drawings, schematics, test equipment, racks, and
more. Page templates are provided with a preset scale (changeable) for a good presentation
that can incorporate all provided symbols...
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. I also
have an extensive list of
Recently Added topics.
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