If you are like me, you spend a lot of time
reading articles from technical magazines. Sometimes I read the entire article,
but usually I just scan the text for highlights and look at the schematics,
block diagrams, and charts / graphs. Often, I want to go back and find an article
but cannot recall where I saw it. A Google search will usually eventually reveal
a hyperlink to the article, but a lot of times it takes a lot of digging. Since
my key interests are not necessarily the same as RF Cafe visitors, an attempt
will be made to catalog all of them. If there is a magazine not included here
that you would like me to include in the list, please send me an e-mail and
I will try to incorporate its articles, too.
Aerospace & Defense | EDN | Electronic Design |
High Frequency Electronics |
IEEE Spectrum | Microwave
Journal | Microwaves & RF |
Microwave Product Digest |
Here's a trip down Memory (640 kB)
Lane for those of us around during the early PC days, using MS−DOS. EDN
magazine has been running their column "Tales from the Cube"
(a take-off of the equally long ago "Tales from the Crypt" TV show) where readers
submit sagas of (usually) troubleshooting experiences. Most often the problem
is the result of an intermittent event or of human error (pronounced "stupidity").
This is a case of the latter. If you fondly recall the times when 256-color
VGA
CRT monitors,
3½" floppy disks, 20 MB hard drives, and an
i80287 math coprocessor
were to die for, when you were deemed a computer expert if you could write batch
files, and half your computer's CPU power was not consumed by antivirus programs
(no WWW, just
Kermit for local
net access), then you might like this "The Mysterious
MS-DOS Reboot" anecdote by Robert Yankowitz. Enjoy!
Whenever I see John Dunn's name I think
of the English poet John
Donne, but that's my problem. Mr. Dunn wrote an article for EDN magazine
entitled, "What's
the Difference Between EMF and Voltage?" He begins: "I once read this very
strongly-written essay about the difference between electromotive force (EMF)
and voltage. The author seemed like he was on some kind of holy crusade and
was intensely determined to set his readers straight on fundamental truths that
were NOT to be dismissed by infidels. I read his words, but for all of the vitriol,
I didn’t understand him at all. Recently, I decided to take a closer look at
the issue. EMF is given in units of joules per coulomb. The frame of reference
for this definition is for any device that uses a non-electrical source of energy
to impart electrical energy to a unit of charge, which if given the chance,
will flow somewhere..."
"As the EV market grows, so does demand
for robust magnetic field sensors within these vehicles. Stray magnetic fields
may diminish the accuracy of these sensors, though, which is where active stray-field
compensation comes to the rescue." So begins Frederik Berstecher in his
article entitled,
Overcome Stray Magnetic Fields with Active Stray-Field Compensation, posted
on the Electronic Design website. Continuing, "The electric-vehicle
market continues on a serious upswing: Allied Market Research forecasts show
it will reach $802.81B by 2027, up from $162.34B in 2019
[can they really estimate to 5 significant digits?
- KRB]. Such growth also pushes the need for additional magnetic field
sensors within these vehicles for position detection. The sensors are robust
enough to withstand a variety of harsh environmental conditions, temperatures,
vibrations..."
It has been a while since I saw an article
discussing stability circles for amplifier design. Ain Rehman has one posted
on the High Frequency Electronics website entitled, "Understanding
Stability Circles." Even in the age of computer design and optimization
for just about everything, it always help to have a basic understanding of what
the result should look like as well as what affects the result. He begins: "Stability
circles are a tool, used to examine and analyze the stability of an amplifier
(in the case under discussion) using a graphical technique, with the help of
a Smith Chart. (Note: A free, demo version of smith chart software is available
on the web from Fritz Dellsperger). This monograph presents the stability circle
tool for engineers. It is understood that many CAD programs can generate these,
but it is always useful to understand the stability circle on an intuitive level
as a good engineering practice..."
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