Friday the 14th
Thursday the 13th
"The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
last week announced a Special Temporary Authority (STA) for AST SpaceMobile to enable
its operator partners - AT&T and Verizon - to test its Bluebird direct-to-device
(D2D)
satellite constellation over the United States. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom,
Vodafone has used the nascent Bluebird constellation to enable a video call between
Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone Group chief executive in Newbury, England, and
Vodafone engineer Rowan Chesmer..."
The
San Andreas Fault has been in the news again lately, with hundreds of small
tremors being detected along its 750 mile extent. Given its proximity to many of
the world's most important and valuable high technology companies, government facilities,
and universities, a delve into some of the issues is relevant to RF Cafe visitors.
According to some sources, the probability of a major rupture along the San Andreas
Fault varies depending on the specific segment and the time frame considered. According
to the Third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3), developed
by the USGS and other institutions, there is an estimated 7% chance of a magnitude
8.0 or greater earthquake occurring...
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- and don't miss the blog articles!
Wednesday the 12th
Put on your thinking cap again and take
a shot at these trio of new circuit analysis problems that appeared in the "What's
Your EQ?" feature in the February 1964 issue of Radio-Electronics magazine.
These days, I'm guessing not too many people are familiar with the characteristics
of neon bulbs, and even way fewer with vacuum tube circuits. Neon bulbs were one
of the earlier forms of voltage references since once ignited, the voltage drop
across them is fairly constant, sort of like a gaseous Zener diode - except there
was zero current flow prior to ignition. Although I didn't know for sure, I figured
that even with its high input impedance...
It is doubtful that as many people today
build their own
stereo speaker enclosures as was the case back in the 1950s through about the
1970s. During those decades stereo equipment was a really big deal, as evidenced
by the large number of articles in technical and hobby magazines. I have posted
a couple dozen articles on the subject here on RF Cafe. Topics included equipment
reviews and feature comparisons, troubleshooting and alignment, modifications to
commercial units, build-it-yourself projects, optimized room layout and construction,
and even advice on how to best enjoy your stereo system. Lots of comics appeared
in the magazines as well poking fun at how a stereo enthusiast's family members
and neighbor might not appreciate the ear drum-busting power capability of your
system. There were also quizzes like this one on speaker enclosure baffle design ...
The long-running
patent litigation between ParkerVision and Qualcomm is in the news again. It
has been a significant case in the wireless technology industry, focusing on radio-frequency
(RF) receivers and signal down-conversion methods. Given the importance of RF technology
in Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi, and even wireless charging, the outcome of this case
has broader implications for wireless communication markets. ParkerVision's patents
center on RF down-conversion technology, a key process in wireless communications.
RF down-conversion involves converting high-frequency signals into lower frequencies...
"Ofcom has given Amazon the go-ahead to
launch satellite broadband services in the UK and simultaneously announced it is
releasing more high-band spectrum that could be used by the satellite industry.
Meanwhile, the UK government is also getting in on the act, allocating funding to
a pair of projects in the satellite space. The UK telecoms regulator has granted
an earth station network licence to
Amazon's Kuiper. That essentially means that the company has the green light
to provide satellite connectivity services, including high-speed..."
This is a story with a lesson learned by
the author and thousands of others ever since electric power appliances and tools
first became available. Fortunately, his Ham buddy was not permanently harmed, but
even today with all the effort put into educating the public, people continue to
use ungrounded (2-wire type, or with the ground prong removed) extension cords in
conjunction with 3-wire power cords on tools and end up
electrocuting themselves (or somebody else). I've told the story before about
a friend of mine from high school who shortly after graduation was making a piece
of furniture in a garage that had a damp dirt floor, and was electrocuted to death
by the metal-framed circular saw that had no ground connected. Nowadays we often
have power provided by a GFCI receptacle...
Crane Aerospace & Electronics' products
and services are organized into six integrated solutions: Cabin Systems, Electrical
Power Solutions, Fluid Management Solutions, Landing Systems, Microwave Solutions,
and Sensing Components & Systems. Our Microwave Solution designs and manufactures
high-performance
RF, IF and millimeter-wave components, subsystems and systems for commercial
aviation, defense, and space including linear & log amplifiers, fixed &
variable attenuators, circulators & isolators, power combiners & dividers,
couplers, mixers, switches & matrices, oscillators & synthesizers.
Tuesday the 11th
If you believe this 1953 advertisement in
Radio & Television News magazine, engineering at
Bell Telephone Laboratories invented the wire-wrapping process. A little additional
research shows that indeed it was a Bell Telephone engineering team led by Arthur
Keller who developed the method and a wire-wrap tool to do the job. Field technician
needed a fast, durable, and reliable electrical connection when making hundreds
or thousands of splices at relay stations and while up on telephone poles. The key
to making a good wire-wrap connection is sharp corners on the wrapping post so that
the corner pushes through any oxidation or contaminant on the bare wire. NASA and
the Department of Defense (DoD) have exacting workmanship standards to guarantee
a rugged, durable electrical connection...
"Coordinate your actions, unify your approach,
and collaborate to fulfill a shared objective. This 'pep talk' succinctly captures
how NASA's latest swarm-based breakthrough operates. Known as
Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy (DSA), it allows each satellite to make decisions
independently while uniting with fellow spacecraft to pursue collective goals, all
free from human oversight. Within NASA's DSA project, researchers achieved multiple
unprecedented feats when testing technologies for satellite swarms. Managed at NASA's
Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley, the project..."
This article reporting ongoing research
for
auto anti-collision systems and backup warning systems appeared
in a 1972 issue of Popular Electronics has only come to practical fruition
within the last decade and a half. High-end cars were offering such equipment
options in the early 2000s, but it has only been commonplace since around 2010.
1972 components were still pretty large and power hungry, and digital processing
capacity and speed was significantly less advanced as well. Bendix, one of the early
developers of anti-collision systems, estimated that the option on a new car might
add about $200 to the price, which was a really ambitious estimate, even considering
that is the equivalent of $1,492 in 2024 money per BLS Inflation Calculator. The
total add-on cost of both anti-collision and backup warning systems...
The debate over whether to
stop minting new pennies is rooted in economic efficiency, public convenience,
and the broader impact on commerce. President Trump's directive to the Treasury
Department to halt penny production is driven by the fact that each penny costs
nearly three cents to produce, leading to a financial loss for the U.S. government.
However, this decision raises concerns about potential shortages, changes in pricing
strategies, and consumer sentiment regarding the smallest unit of U.S. currency.
One major argument in favor of stopping penny production is the high cost...
Providing full solution service is our motto,
not just selling goods. RF &
Connector Technology has persistently pursued a management policy stressing
quality assurance system and technological advancement. From your very first contact,
you will be supported by competent RF specialists; all of them have several years
of field experience in this industry allowing them to suggest a fundamental solution
and troubleshooting approach. Coaxial RF connectors, cable assemblies, antennas,
terminations, attenuators, couplers, dividers, and more. Practically, we put priority
on process inspection at each step of workflow as well as during final inspection
in order to actualize "Zero Defects."
Monday the 10th
Here are four more
electronics-themed comics to help get your work week started on a happy note.
They all appeared in Radio-Electronics magazine in the 1960s. The page
107 comic conjures up a bit of a nostalgic memory in me, remembering earlier days
sitting at a workbench and troubleshooting a piece of electronics gear. I never
heated a coffee pot on a chassis, but definitely remember cases with vacuum tubes
operating inside that were hot enough to do so. Some of those buggers could melt
flesh. I've told the tale before how whilst in the USAF tuning up our air traffic
control radar system, I (and fellow techs) would open an access door on the front
(not intended to admit passage of a human hand) and blindly "walking" tuning wand-carrying
my fingers across the tops of piping hot tubes to get to a potentiometer...
"Join The Engineer, Dassault Systèmes, BAE
Systems, Monolith AI, AMRC and others experts from across industry on Tuesday Feb
25th for this online panel session exploring
what the rise of AI means for engineers. AI is currently dominating industry
discussion, is at the heart of industry's accelerating digital transformation and
is widely anticipated to be one of the most transformative trends in manufacturing
and engineering as more and more engineering and manufacturing organizations look
at how they can integrate AI capabilities within..."
The late 18th century was a period of intense
effort to standardize measurement systems in both France and the United States.
Thomas Jefferson and the French Academy of Sciences independently developed proposals
for a
rational system of weights and measures based on decimal principles. While Jefferson's
system was designed for national use, the French metric system aimed for universal
application. Despite their similarities, the two systems differed in fundamental
ways, particularly in their definition of base units...
Exodus Advanced Communications, is a multinational
RF communication equipment and engineering service company serving both commercial
and government entities and their affiliates worldwide. Exodus' model
AMP20100 is an elegant, quiet, broadband class A/AB solid state amplifier (SSPA)
and excellent TWT replacement. Ideal for EMC/EMI testing applications including
automotive pulse/radar & commercial applications. Frequency ranges from 2.0
to 8.0 GHz, 200 W minimum, 250 W typical, 53 dB minimum gain,
and -20 dBc harmonics. Monitoring...
The
Gloster E.1/44, presented in this 1948 issue of Popular Science magazine,
was a British experimental jet fighter developed in the 1940s as a potential single-engine
counterpart to the twin-engine Gloster Meteor. Designed by the Gloster Aircraft
Company to meet Air Ministry Specification E.1/44, it was powered by a Rolls-Royce
Nene turbojet and featured a sleek, straight-wing design with a tricycle landing
gear. Initially conceived as a simpler and more economical jet fighter for the Royal
Air Force, the project faced numerous delays due to shifting priorities...
Temwell is a manufacturer of 5G wireless communications filters
for aerospace, satellite communication, AIoT, 5G networking, IoV, drone, mining
transmission, IoT, medical, military, laboratory, transportation, energy, broadcasting
(CATV), and etc. An RF helical bandpass specialist since 1994, we have posted >5,000
completed spec sheets online for all kinds of RF filters including helical, cavity,
LC, and SMD. Standard highpass, lowpass, bandpass, and bandstop, as well as duplexer/diplexer,
multiplexer. Also RF combiners, splitters, power dividers, attenuators, circulators,
couplers, PA, LNA, and obsolete coil & inductor solutions.
Friday the 7th
In much the same way as the solution to
a word problem seems obvious when you look it up in the back of a textbook, Sylvania's
answer to manufacturing a
vacuum tube heater element that is more robust and less subject to vibration
failure is illustrated in this advertisement which appeared in a 1968 issue of
Radio-Electronics magazine. Eliminating the suspended element and wrapping
it securely on a supporting post facilitated an "instant on" requirement for up-and-coming
transistorized televisions and radios by reducing heat-up time to about a second.
The heater's symmetrical shape also assured even emission of electrons from the
cathode. Its captured winding around the support post also eliminated the annoying
failure mode where a broken-off heater...
Amplifier Solutions Corporation (ASC) is
a manufacturer of amplifiers for commercial & military markets. ASC designs
and manufactures hybrid, surface mount flange, open carrier and connectorized amplifiers
for low, medium and high power applications using Gallium Nitride (GaN), Gallium
Arsenide (GaAs) and Silicon (Si) transistor technologies. ASC's thick film designs
operate in the frequency range of 300 kHz to 6 GHz. ASC offers thin film
designs that operate up to 20 GHz. ASC is located in an 8,000 sq.ft. facility
in the town of Telford, PA. We offer excellent customer support and take pride in
the ability to quickly react to evolving system design requirements.

The
development of capacitors dates back to the 18th century when scientists were
exploring the principles of static electricity. The first practical capacitor was
the Leyden jar, invented in 1745 by Pieter van Musschenbroek of the University of
Leiden and independently by Ewald Georg von Kleist in 1746. The Leyden jar consisted
of a glass container coated with metal foil on both its inner and outer surfaces,
with a conducting rod protruding from the top to connect to an external charge source.
This device demonstrated the principle of storing electrical charge, laying the
foundation for future capacitor technologies. Capacitors function based on the principle
of electrostatic...
• EVs Stall, Hybrids
Gain
• ARRL Launches
Dream Station Sweepstakes
• FCC Spectrum
Auction Pays for Huawei Rip-and-Replace
• 4G & 5G to Take off in
35 USAF Bases in 2025
• Magazine Highlights
Achievements in 6G Research
Popular Electronics magazine for years
ran a monthly electronics tutorial column entitled, "After Class." Various guest
authors wrote the articles. All you need to do is substitute transistors and associated
biasing and interstage coupling for the tubes used in these
fundamental crystal oscillator circuits to bring this article's content up to
date. Or, maybe you are the owner of a vintage vacuum tube radio and would like
to learn a little about how things were done in the olden days. Either way, as with
so many aspects of electronic circuits, the basics haven't changed much in the last
100 years. It's all still good...
Established in 1990,
dB Control supplies mission-critical,
often sole-source, products worldwide to military organizations, as well as to major
defense contractors and commercial manufacturers. dB Control designs and manufactures
high-power TWT amplifiers, microwave power modules, transmitters, high- and low-voltage
power supplies, and modulators for radar, ECM, and data link applications. Modularity
enables rapid configuration of custom products for a variety of platforms, including
ground-based and high-altitude military manned and unmanned aircraft. Custom RF
sources and receivers, components and integrated microwave subsystems as well as
precision electromechanical switches. dB Control also offers specialized contract
manufacturing and repair depot services...
Thursday the 6th
Lots of happenings in the tech world were
reported in the February 1964 "News
Briefs" section of Radio-Electronics magazine. The winner for best
item has to be where a little girl bit into a TV power cord and got launched a couple
feet into the air. The aftermath was gruesome. UNIVAC 1 was retired from service
at the Bureau of the Census where it crunched numbers since March 1951. Awarding
of engineering PhD and Master of Science degrees were on the rise, while Bachelor
of science degrees were in decline. No explanation was offered. Maybe the relatively
new hippie movement was causing...
"Researchers have created a new type of
optical memory called a
programmable photonic latch, which is both fast and scalable. This memory unit
provides a high-speed solution for temporary data storage in optical processing
systems, utilizing silicon photonics to enhance performance. The programmable photonic
latch is inspired by the set-reset latch, a fundamental electronic memory device
that stores a single bit of data. It works by switching between two states: set
(1) and reset (0), based on input signals. 'While optical communications and computing..."
Anatech Intros 3 Filters
for February
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 filter models have been added to the product line in February, including a 5470-5725 MHz
cavity bandpass filter, a 4960 MHz cavity bandpass filter, and a 5530 MHz
cavity bandpass filter, all with low insertion loss and outstanding return loss.
Custom RF power filter...
"Praetersonic" - now that's a word you don't
run up against very often. It is a combination of praeter (beyond) and sonic (related
to sounds), or what more familiarly is called ultrasonic. If fact, praetersonics
was the early term given to
surface acoustic wave (SAW) piezoelectric devices. Amazingly, even as far back
as the early 1970s, SAW filters were being fabricated that worked in the 40 MHz
realm. This 1971 Popular Electronics article does a really nice job of
introducing the basics of SAW and BAW (bulk acoustic wave) technology...
Wednesday the 5th
Only two circuit challenges were presented
in the July 1969 "What's
Your EQ?" feature in Radio-Electronics magazine. "EQ," or Electronics
Quotient, is a play on "IQ," Intelligence Quotient. EQs are submitted by readers,
although occasionally one of the magazine editors contributes. "Lamp Switching"
is a classical puzzle where a mechanical switch and a handful of steering diodes
are connected, and your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to figure out what
is inherently wrong with the way the author constructed his circuit. He admits it
didn't work as planned, and invites you to come...
Electromagnetic absorbers are essential
in energy, stealth, and communication technologies, yet current designs underperform.
A research team has introduced ultra-thin absorbers nearing theoretical efficiency
limits, promising transformative industrial applications. Absorbing layers are essential
to advancements in technologies like energy harvesting, stealth systems, and communication
networks. These layers efficiently capture electromagnetic waves across wide frequency
ranges, enabling the creation of sustainable, self-powered...
Teledyne HiRel Semiconductors announces
the availability of its latest
rad-tolerant wideband 50 GHz RF switch, model TDSW050A2T. This switch operates
from true DC to 50 GHz, delivering excellent RF performance down to zero Hertz,
making this device ideal for many of today's complex space and defense applications.
It has been developed in a 150 nm pseudo orphic High Electron Mobility Transistor
(pHEMT) Indium Gallium Arsenide (InGaAs) process and is available in a 1.15 mm
x 1.47 mm x 0.1 mm die ideal for hybrid...
A while back I was using the familiar
analogy that relates water pressure, hose diameter, and flow rate to electrical
voltage, resistance, and current, respectively, in an explanation to my daughter
regarding why the water characteristics in her house changed after the well supply
pipe and indoor plumbing changed. The cause, I proposed, was due to an increased
distance between well and house, and the use of the plastic PEX tubing with a smaller
inside diameter than the old copper pipe, respectively. The submersible pump and
holding tank still supply the same 50 psi as before, but since that pressure
now has to force...
Warfare has evolved far beyond the conventional
image of tanks, troops, and artillery. In today's battles, control over invisible
forces often determines victory or defeat. One of the most critical of these forces
is the electromagnetic spectrum - a domain where Electronic Warfare (EW) plays a
pivotal role. EW involves the strategic use of electromagnetic energy to sense,
disrupt, or deny an enemy's capabilities, often without a single shot being fired.
Electronic Warfare has become an indispensable tool, shaping the outcome of conflicts
by dominating the unseen forces that power today’s military technology. everything
RF has created the
"Electronic Warfare" eBook to act as a comprehensive...
Here is a good old fashion
Q&A session on Ham radio topics, with the emphasis on "old." QST
magazine published a couple of these columns in the 1960s, and this is the second
in the series. It is the half-century-ago equivalent of the contemporary "The Doctor
Is In" column by the ARRL's Joel Hallas, W1ZR. I didn't read anything that wouldn't
be applicable today, especially if you have some vintage gear. As with most such
articles, there is something to be learned by just about anyone who deals with electronics,
especially in the RF realm. One particularly interesting part is where the author,
in response to a question about building and tuning your own radio...
Tuesday the 4th
The February 1964 issue of Radio-Electronics
magazine contained these three
electronics-themed comics. The one on page 48 reminds me of the time about a
decade ago when I was moving an old freezer out of someone's garage, and found underneath
it a huge skeleton of some sort of rodent or ruminant. I'm not sure what it was,
but given the ferocious teeth if had I was glad it was long dead. The page 100 comic
is my favorite. I didn't notice at first what was displayed on the oscilloscope.
"Getting" the page 109 comic took a moment, but the gag eventually hit me. I colorized
them to bring them into the 21st Century...
Join this
Automotive Radar Testing Seminar on Wednesday, February 26, 2025. The introduction
of the R&S RadEst revolutionizes automotive radar testing. It sets a new price-performance
point and provides radar developers and production managers with benefits such as
cost, space and time efficiency as well as assurance from accurate and reliable
results. In this webinar we will talk about the latest automotive radar technology
and market developments. We will dive deep into the radar lifecycle and test challenges
as well as the applications of the RadEsT compact target generator...
"Glasgow University researchers have led
work that could lead to a new generation of
diamond-based transistors for use in high-power electronics. Their new diamond
transistor is claimed to overcome the limitations of previous developments in the
technology to create a device much closer to being of practical use across a range
of industries that rely on high power systems. The team has found a new way to use
diamond as the basis of a transistor..."
An
iconoscope was
an early form of television image capturing tube. Some amateur radio operators were
experimenting with slow scan TV even back when the technology was relatively new
to the world. When this article was appeared in a 1944 of QST magazine,
there were still large portions of the United States that did not have television
broadcast coverage. Of course I would argue that at the time of my growing up in
the 1960s and early 1970s a lot of areas - even suburbs - were still not covered
by TV signals, based on how cruddy the reception...
Monday the 3rd
Continuing its long-time monthly "What's
Your EQ?" feature where readers submit electronics-related challenges, Radio-Electronics
magazine published these three in the December 1962 issue. I have to admit to not
getting the "120-240 Switchover" problem due to thinking only "inside the box."
I didn't consider that adding another component to the circuit was permissible.
I thought only the presented wires and component were available for use. Don't you
make the same mistake. "Voltage Quandary" was not as difficult, but took some head
scratching...
$1.6B in government loans gone up in steam.
"Maybe you've seen the unsightly, blindingly bright towers while traveling from
L.A. to Las Vegas, in the Mojave Desert near the California-Nevada state line. Maybe
you've read about birds getting fried to death as they fly through the sunlight
directed to the tops of the towers by fields of mirrors. When state officials agreed
to let Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison buy power from
Ivanpah roughly 15 years ago, they saw this type of technology - known as 'concentrated
solar power' - as the future of renewable energy. It was expensive...
During World War II, Americans, Britains,
Frenchmen, and other civilians were seriously engaged in helping to defend their
homeland. Those who were not in the military gathered bottles, tin cans, tires,
and clothing to use in the war effort. Others volunteered at the Red Cross, veterans'
hospitals, and USO offices. Some stood guard at their nation's seashores and land
borders, both as armed sentries and as troop and aircraft spotters. As part of the
civil defense effort, listening devices were built to help detect the sound of approaching
airplanes. In patriotic tradition, magazines like Popular Science published many
articles to assist the population contribute. Here is a plan for a "Homemade
Plane Detector." It used a horn "antenna" that...