 Friday 14
Thursday 13
Wednesday 12
 This "Electronic
Crossword" appeared in the September 1958 issue of Radio & TV News magazine.
Its creator, John Gill, designed specialty theme crossword puzzles for many
other editions of Radio & TV News and Electronics World (see the big list at the
bottom of the page). He considered this crossword to be a "fooler" because he
claims to include many "unusual definitions and a number of obscure words which
you will have to work around if your vocabulary of 'exotic words' is rusty." It
really doesn't seem so difficult to me, and anyone used to working my custom RF
Cafe Crosswords will have no problem with it.
 To meet the challenging requirements of cellular
LTE and 5G NR infrastructure applications, Skyworks has released the
SKY67183−396LF and SKY67189−396LF low noise amplifiers (LNAs). These LNAs feature
ultra low-noise figure, exceptional linearity, and operate over a wide range of
frequencies. To reduce PCB board space, these devices are housed in an ultra-compact
2 x 2 mm plastic surface mount package. The SKY67183−396LF and SKY67189−396LF are
ideal for 2G/3G/4G/5G TDD and FDD infrastructure applications, including small cell,
massive MIMO, and macro base stations...
 "After completing a countdown dress rehearsal,
Astra is gearing up for its first orbital launch attempt this week from Kodiak Island,
Alaska, but company officials said it will likely take multiple test flights before
the new
small satellite launcher successfully reaches orbit. Astra's small satellite
delivery vehicle was set for liftoff from the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Alaska
during a two-hour window opening at 10 p.m. EDT Sunday, or 6 p.m. local time in
Alaska. In social media updates, Astra said it fueled the small satellite launcher
with liquid propellants Sunday. But officials said out-of-limits upper level winds
and a boat in restricted waters offshore of the launch site..."
 When someone with the first name of "True"
writes an article about transmission line feeds for short-wave antennas, you should
probably take note. This very topic has been covered in detail many times since
the use of impedance-matched transmission lines have been in use (more than a century),
but since there are always people new to the concept, it is good to keep introducing
the topic on a regular basis."Transmission-Line
Feed for Short-Wave Antennas" appeared in a 1932 issue of QST magazine.
Even in this era of prefabricated everything, it still often comes down to winding
coils and adjusting cable lengths to get optimal impedance matches between transceivers
and antennas.
 I
have extolled the virtues of Aerospace & Defense Technology magazine
many times for its variety of extremely interesting articles on a wide range of
topics. The August issue has a story on the
element Vanadium (atomic number
23) and the critical role it
plays as an alloy component of metals. At concentrations of less then 0.1%, vanadium
can nearly double the strength of steel and aluminum, as well as increasing resistance
to corrosion. It is also used as a catalyst (sometimes a substitution for nickel
and platinum), in electronics components, and in ceramics. Use of vanadium is considered
"green" because most of it is obtained from byproducts of other industrial processes
like ash from coal burning. Vanadium is the earth's 22nd most abundant element and
is found everywhere, but as you might suspect China provides 61% of the supply while
the U.S. does a mere 3% (Russia makes 14%). Fortunately, part of the Dept. of Interior's
2018 charter was to include vanadium on its list of critical commodities and must
act to significantly increase domestic production rather than be dependent on foreign
sources. It's long past time.
 Manufacturing
of all our products continues to operate at full capacity as part of the "Essential
Business" community. Professional high frequency
TSA89 series of RF test cables with performance to 40 GHz. Precision connector
choices include; SMA, Type-N, 3.5mm, 2.92mm, & 2.4mm. Key features: High-frequency
point to point cable, light weight rugged double-shielded, flexible cable, low loss <0.68 dB/ft
@ 40 GHz, low VSWR < 1.35:1 (Typical < 1.25:1), RF leakage >−100 dB
to 18 GHz, temperature rated from -55ºC to 125ºC. 100% factory VSWR and insertion
loss tested. Cables are in stock and available immediately from Digi−Key. Made in
the USA.
 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.
Tuesday 11
 The word prefix "para" can mean "above and
beyond" or "resembling" or "abnormal or incorrect." Ward Products probably preferred
first two be inferred by potential customers when naming their
PARA−CON television antenna, although it actually is a shortening of "parabolic."
The "con" part is a shortening of "conical." After reading the text of this full-page
advertisement from a 1951 issue of Radio & Television News magazine, I'm inclined
to assign the third prefix meaning of "para" to it. Then, add in the "con" part
where "con" can take on either the noun form meaning of "disadvantage" or the verb
form definition of "to trick or defraud," and you get what this antenna truly represented
in terms of achieving superior performance. At best the PARA−CON exhibited the characteristics
of a phased pseudo-[bi]conical antenna. The allusion to a parabolic antenna...
 "Sensing devices have a range of industrial
uses - from carrying out ground surveys to monitoring volcanoes - and scientists
are developing ways to improve their sensitivity with quantum technologies that
are based on cold atoms. Machines using quantum technology are, however, bulky and
difficult to transport, making current designs unsuitable for most industrial uses.
According to Birmingham University, the researchers have used a new approach that
will enable
quantum sensors to shrink to a fraction of their current size. The research
was conducted by an international team led by Birmingham University and SUSTech
in China in collaboration with Paderborn University in Germany. Their results are
published in Science Advances..."
 Not everyone who visits websites like RF
Cafe is a seasoned electronics veteran. While I and most likely you, too, can do
series and parallel circuit analysis (and series/parallel for that matter, possibly
using Fourier or La Place transforms for reactive AC circuits) in our sleep,
many are recently getting into the wonderful world of electronics who are just coming
of age or have suddenly at a later point in life developed a passion for the craft.
Accordingly, this article from Radio News magazine provides yet another
tutorial on the fundamentals of series and parallel circuit analysis. Only resistors
and basic Ohms law are covered...
 Withwave's Precision
1.0 mm to 1.0 mm Adapter Series are designed based on precision microwave
interconnection technologies. Configurations include 1.0 mm (F) to 1.0 mm (F),
1.0 mm (M) to 1.0 mm (F), and 1.0 mm (M) to 1.0 mm (M).
These Adapters are manufactured to precise microwave specifications and constructed
with male and female gender on both side. The precision microwave connector interfaces
ensure an excellent microwave performance up to 110 GHz. Features: Frequency
range = DC to 110 GHz, VSWR (max) = 1.30:1, Body = stainless steel (passivated)...
 Aegis Power Systems is a leading supplier
of AC-DC and DC-DC power supplies
for custom and special applications. Aegis has been designing and building highly
reliable custom power supplies since 1995. They offer a complete line of switch
mode power supplies and power converters for a variety of markets including defense,
industrial, aircraft, VME, and telecom. Supports military, aircraft, EV, telecom,
and embedded computing applications. Design and manufacture of custom power supply
solutions to meet each customer's exacting specifications. Please visit Aegis Power
Systems today.
Monday 10
 Here are a couple more
tech-themed comics from a vintage electronics magazine (Popular Electronics).
The one from page 101 reminds me again about how different the world of retail sales
is today compared to just two short decades ago. Prior to the advent of online marketing
and sales, you either walked into a brick and mortar (a term rarely heard before
the Internet era) type store and walked out with your purchased product, or you
thumbed through a catalog and placed an order either by mail or telephone. Most
people opted to pay for a postage stamp rather than pay the long distance phone
charge (a term rarely heard today). Free overnight or 2-day shipping from many e-stores
makes online shopping nearly as instantaneous as walking into a store. People under
20 years old have never known much different, but some old-timers still find the
paradigm change strange. The way things are going...
Exodus Advanced Communications
Intros X-Band High Power Pulse Amplifier
 Exodus Advanced Communications' model
Exodus AMP5055P-SSC Pulse Amp (9.6-9.9 GHz, 150 W pulse) is IP67 rated
and fully qualified for outdoor applications. Designed for Pulse/Radars in the harshest
of environmental conditions up to a 20% duty cycle. The unit provides outstanding
Pulse fidelity, excellent band flatness, all in a compact lightweight package with
the highest reliability. Other frequency ranges & power levels available. Features:
Outdoor waterproof packaged high power SSPA, class AB Pulse, GaN design, designed
for high power X-band pulse applications, built-in control, monitoring, and protection
circuits, high reliability and ruggedness...
 Since this is a presidential election year,
I figured it would be a good time to post a tongue-in-cheek- story that appeared
in the November 1952 issue of QST magazine about a fictional American president
J. Willoughby Winkelspoof. The ARRL always has been and still is apolitical,
so don't take seriously anything you read here. If you are an astute follower of
politics, you might pick up on the nuances woven into the story, and might even
marvel on how much the political landscape has changed in the half century since
Pres. Winkelspoof graced the Oval Office. Incidentally, the 1952 presidential election
was between Dwight D. Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson. You might wonder how many
U.S. presidents were/are Amateur Radio operators. Answer...
 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 are serviced around the world. Please take a couple minutes
to visit their website and see how IPP can help you today.
 Frequent visitor and contributor Joe B.
sent me a link to a page entitled, "40 Hilarious
Ads For Technology From The Past That Look Insanely Expensive Now." It fits
in well with the theme of RF Cafe so you might enjoy being reminded of (if you're
old like me) or seeing for the first time (if you're not old like me) what people
were paying for technology which was bleeding edge then and is toy-quality now.
No kidding. Pick any microprocessor-driven toy from a shelf at Walmart and it will
have nearly as much memory and processing power. One example is a 10 MByte
hard drive costing $3,398 in 1981, which is the equivalent of $10,069 ($1k/MByte)
in 2020 money per the BLS
Inflation Calculator. These kinds of themes can be found all over the Internet,
and as usual, the same set of examples are repeated on those pages. Do an image
search on "10
mbyte hard drive ad" and you'll see what I mean.
 Teledyne Aerospace & Defense Electronics
UK (TADE UK) announced the latest business unit addition to its brand portfolio,
Teledyne Energetics
UK, headquartered in Lincoln, England. Visit the home page of the company's new
website here. The new website gives an overview of the Energetics UK systems, subsystems,
and component offerings, which are ITAR-free and designed and manufactured exclusively
in the UK. The website promotes the company's extensive heritage in all major deployment
theatres including aerospace, land, surface maritime, subsea ASW and LEO launch.
Teledyne Energetics UK designs and develops solutions for the safety, arming, and
initiation technology sector, in particular military energetic devices...
 NorthEast RF's comprehensive
antenna testing
services include linear | circular polarized antenna measurements and OTA cellular
device pre-compliance. Up to 18" diameter and <10 kg weight. Antennas can be
rapidly evaluated and optimized using our fast near field spherical system. Test
results supplied in data file with pattern viewer software. A picture of the test
configuration is included to help aligned axis. Our selection of human head and
hand phantoms are ideal for verification of body worn devices. Turnaround time is
usually 3-days.
Sunday 9
 August 9th's custom
Amateur
Radio crossword puzzle contains many words particular to Amateur Radio (labeled
with an asterisk *). Each week for two decades I have created a new technology-themed
crossword puzzle using only words (1,000s of them) from my custom-created lexicon
related to engineering, science, mathematics, chemistry, physics, astronomy, etc.
You will never find among the words names of politicians, mountain ranges, exotic
foods or plants, movie stars, or anything of the sort. You might, however, find
someone or something in the otherwise excluded list directly related to this puzzle's
technology theme, such as Hedy Lamarr or the Bikini Atoll, respectively. Avid cruciverbalists
amongst us...
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Electronics-Themed
Comics June 1951 Radio-Electronics
 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 13,000 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. If you need your company news to be seen, RF Cafe is the
place to be. Advertising begins at $40/month.
 RF Cascade Workbook 2018 is the next phase in the evolution
of RF Cafe's long-running series, RF Cascade Workbook. Chances are you
have never used a spreadsheet quite like this. It is a full-featured RF system cascade
parameter and frequency planner that includes filters and mixers for a mere $45.
Built in MS Excel, using RF Cascade Workbook 2018 is a cinch and
the format is entirely customizable. It is significantly easier and faster than
using a multi-thousand dollar simulator when a high level system analysis is all
that is needed. An intro video takes you through the main features...
 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. The file
format is XML so everything plays nicely with Visio 2013 and later...
 This assortment of custom-designed themes
by RF Cafe includes T-Shirts, Mouse Pads, Clocks, Tote Bags, Coffee Mugs and Steins,
Purses, Sweatshirts, and Baseball Caps. Choose from amazingly clever "We Are the World's Matchmakers"
Smith chart design or the "Engineer's Troubleshooting Flow Chart." My "Matchmaker's"
design has been ripped off by other people and used on their products, so please
be sure to purchase only official RF Cafe gear. My markup is only a paltry 50¢ per
item - Cafe Press gets the rest of your purchase price. These would make excellent
gifts for husbands, wives, kids, significant others, and for handing out at company
events or as rewards for excellent service. It's a great way to help support RF
Cafe. Thanks...
 RF Cafe's raison d'être is and always has
been to provide useful, quality content for engineers, technicians, engineering
managers, students, and hobbyists. Part of that mission is offering to post applicable
job openings. HR department employees
and/or managers of hiring companies are welcome to submit opportunities for posting
at no charge. 3rd party recruiters and temp agencies are not included so as to assure
a high quality of listings. Please read through the easy procedure to benefit from
RF Cafe's high quality visitors...
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"After completing a countdown dress rehearsal,
Astra is gearing up for its first orbital launch attempt this week from Kodiak Island,
Alaska, but company officials said it will likely take multiple test flights before
the new
small satellite launcher successfully reaches orbit. Astra's small satellite
delivery vehicle was set for liftoff from the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Alaska
during a two-hour window opening at 10 p.m. EDT Sunday, or 6 p.m. local time in
Alaska. In social media updates, Astra said it fueled the small satellite launcher
with liquid propellants Sunday. But officials said out-of-limits upper level winds
and a boat in restricted waters offshore of the launch site..."
 "Scientists said they had discovered a way
to
detect space debris even in daylight hours, potentially helping satellites to
avoid the ever-growing cloud of junk orbiting the planet. Defunct rockets, satellites
and spacecraft parts continue to orbit Earth after they are discarded. The estimated
500,000 objects circling the globe range in size from a single screw to an entire
rocket fuel tank. Travelling at thousands of miles an hour, they pose a huge and
rising collision risk to satellites. Using lasers, it is possible to detect the
debris from the ground..."
 "The life-givers of
integrated circuits and quantum devices in silicon are small structures made
from patches of foreign atoms called dopants. The dopant structures provide charge
carriers that flow through the components of the circuit, giving the components
their ability to function. These days the dopant structures are only a few atoms
across and so need to be made in precise locations within a circuit and have very
well-defined electrical properties. At present manufacturers find it hard to tell
in a non-destructive way whether they have made their devices according to these
strict requirements. A new imaging paradigm promises to change all that. The imaging
mode called broadband electric force microscopy..."
 "To enable data transmission speeds that
surpass the 5th Generation (5G) standards for telecommunications, scientists from
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) and Osaka University
in Japan have built a new chip using a concept called
photonic topological insulators. Published recently in Nature Photonics, the
researchers showed that their chip can transmit terahertz (THz) waves resulting
in a data rate of 11 Gigabits per second (Gbit/s), which is capable of supporting
real-time streaming of 4K high-definition video, and exceeds the hitherto theoretical
limit of 10 Gbit/s for 5G wireless communications. THz waves are part of the electromagnetic
spectrum, in between infrared light waves and microwaves, and have been touted as
the next frontier of high-speed wireless communications..."
 "In novel materials known as
topological insulators, electricity or light can flow around corners and defects
with virtually no losses. All topological insulators produced so far are comprised
of an insulating bulk and perfectly conductive edges. Now scientists have found
- at least in theory - that fractal topological insulators could possibly be made
up only of edges, with no bulk at all. Topology is the branch of mathematics that
explores what aspects of shapes can survive deformation. For example, an object
shaped like a doughnut can get deformed into the shape of a mug, with the doughnut's
hole forming the hole in the cup's handle, but it could not get pushed or pulled
into a shape that lacked a hole..."
 "The first European satellite that is capable
of being completely repurposed after launch and developed within an ESA Partnership
Project - Quantum - has concluded its radio-frequency tests at a specialized facility
in Toulouse (France). Quantum is the first ever
software-defined satellite, preparing the way for the next generation of telecommunication
satellites that can be reprogrammed in orbit. It offers unprecedented in-orbit reconfigurability
in coverage, frequency and power, which allows for complete mission rehauls including
changes in orbital position. Engineers involved in the Quantum Partnership Project
from manufacturer Airbus, operator Eutelsat and ESA (European Space Agency) have
developed new working practices that have enabled them to keep working during the
coronavirus pandemic. This ensures that the satellite will be fully ready to launch
later in the year..."
 "U.S. Special Operations Command could order
up to $172M worth of
inflatable satellite communications terminals under a new five-year contract
with GATR Technologies, a subsidiary of Cubic Corp. By using an inflatable radome,
GATR Technologies' antennas are designed to be ultra-portable and easy to set up.
The smaller version can be set up in less than 20 minutes, while the larger can
be set up in less than 30 minutes. Consisting of five one-year ordering periods,
the indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract provides for the procurement
of 1.2-meter and 2.4-meter inflatable satellite communications terminals and related
equipment. The contract was issued as a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research
award by USSOCOM..."
 "Electronic filters are essential to the
inner workings of our phones and other wireless devices. They eliminate or enhance
specific input signals to achieve the desired output signals. They are essential,
but take up space on the chips that researchers are on a constant quest to make
smaller. A new study demonstrates the successful integration of the individual elements
that make up
electronic filters onto a single component, significantly reducing the amount
of space taken up by the device. Researchers at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
have ditched the conventional 2-D on-chip lumped or distributed filter network design
- composed of separate inductors and capacitors - for a single, space-saving 3-D
rolled membrane that contains both independently designed elements. The results
of the study, led by electrical and computer engineering professor Xiuling Li..."
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