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Tech Industry Headlines - RF Cafe - Archive -

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• China Has 12x More Robots in Workforce Than Thought

• Electronic Isolation on a Chip

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• Telecoms Industry's Failure to Monetise 5G

• Difference Between Supercapacitors and Battery-Based UPS

• Pentagon Trims Tech Research Funding Request

• U.S. Needs More Fabs to Meet $1T by 2030 Goal

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Today in Science History

Electronics-Themed Comics

Electronics-Themed Comics, December 1964 Radio-Electronics - RF CafeIt's been a while since I posted a new set of electronics-themed comics from vintage magazines. These three appeared in a 1964 issue of Radio-Electronics. The page 37 comic shows the wife asking a presumably inane question, but in fact there were duo-whatever vacuum tubes that were the inclusion of a pair of single tube types, usually with a 12.6 V heater voltage. A well-known example is the 12AX7, which is essentially a pair of 6AV6 triode tubes. Besides that, there was both a 6SN7 and a 12SN(X)7 tube, the former with a 6.3 V heater and the latter with a 12.6 V heater. Here's a question for you: What is that thing on the floor to the right of the box of vacuum tubes in the page 37 comic?* The page 72 comic is not so far-fetched. I have no doubt that somewhere in the world - multiple places and times, likely - people have heated or cooked something in front of a microwave communications dish...

Russia Avangard Hypersonic Glide Vehicle

Russia Avangard Hypersonic Glide Vehicle - RF CafeA lot has been in the news recently about Russia's new hypersonic glide vehicle capable of delivering nuclear (and conventional) warheads across the globe at over than Mach 20 (14,822 mph) in the atmosphere. That's 4.1 miles per second. From a 150 mile high apogee, that's less than 40 seconds from space to target. Not even a high power laser can stop that. The great circle path from Siberia to San Francisco is 5,900 miles, for a flight time of less than a minute after launch phase. Moscow to D.C., (4,900 miles) takes a little less time. Here is a recent interview with Putin on Russia's state of the union regarding social, economic, and military issues - including hypersonic weapons. Oh, and they're not fixing their low birth rate by importing felons, psycho patients and cannibals from the third World. Interestingly, he addresses the rampant embezzlement schemes that U.S. defense contractors and their management perpetrate. Sure, a lot is propaganda, but so is what comes out of Washington.

Dodging the Weather - With Radar

Dodging the Weather - With Radar, August 1956 Popular Electronics - RF CafeAs with nearly things electronic, innovations in radar systems that were ground-breaking a few decades ago are now available commercially at a small fraction of the cost, a much more compact size, and much greater performance and reliability. Radar operators during World War II noticed that they were able to detect strong rainstorms demonstrating that signals did not necessarily need a metallic object to be reflected strongly enough to be received and processed. Research began soon thereafter to build radars optimized for detecting weather phenomena. Early weather radars were "simple" reflective types that indicated distance, height, and speed (by comparing successive samples). Doppler radar was developed next, adding a much greater capability to characterize particular weather systems according to intensity, direction, rotation (hurricanes , tornadoes), composition (ice, snow, rain, etc.), speed (average and gust), and other parameters...

everything RF's 2024 "RF Filter Digest" eBook

everything RF's 2024 "RF Filter Digest" eBook - RF Cafeeverything RF has published an eBook titled "RF Filter Digest 2024." This eBook is crafted to be a comprehensive resource for anyone looking to learn about the current-generation RF Filters. With the introduction of new wireless technologies, the frequency spectrum is getting very crowded. To maintain seamless operation among these technologies without interference, RF Filters play an integral role. RF Filters are crucial in optimizing signal transmission and reception, selectively allowing desired frequencies to pass through while attenuating unwanted signals. The "RF Filter Digest 2024" eBook discusses the challenges involved with 5G mmWave filtering, high-rejection LTCC filter performance, the role of MMIC filters in developing next-generation systems, and the impact of BAW filters on 5G applications. This eBook also includes an exciting section that discusses filter design in the Cadence AWR design environment...

Opportunity Awareness

Opportunity Awareness, October 1970 Popular Electronics - RF CafeEach month I used to post a list of articles with advice on career enhancement including tips on preparing resumes, conducting yourself properly at interviews, getting along well with co-workers, handling a difficult boss, etc. I also posted links to polls and studies done on career satisfaction, pay rates, education and experience levels, years in the field, etc. Those types of articles have been around since Johannes Gutenberg invented the movable type printing press. In the 1970s, Popular Electronics magazine ran a series of articles titled "Opportunity Awareness" that offered such advice, much of which in principle is still valid today. One of the biggest advantages you can give yourself when job hunting is a willingness to relocate to a new area - even if you need to pay for the move yourself. I moved many times during my career and before getting my BSEE, paid my own moving expenses as a technician...

RF Cascade Workbook

RF Cascade Workbook - RF Cafe RF Cascade Workbook 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 (click here for screen capture). 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 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...

Fresnel Zone Calculator in Espresso Engineering Workbook

Fresnel Zone Calculator in Espresso Engineering Workbook - RF CafeThere are many online Fresnel Zone calculators. Most do the basic calculation for the maximum radius of the Fresnel Zone for a given frequency and separation between antennas. Some allow you to enter an obstacle's distance from one of the antennas, and its height, then lets you know if the obstacle falls within the Fresnel Zone. Very few plot the shape of the Fresnel Zone, and even less include an obstacle positioned on the plot. Most rare are calculators which take the curvature of the Earth into account. RF Cafe's Espresso Engineering Workbook includes a Fresnel Zone calculator incorporating all those features - and more...

What's Your EQ?

What's Your EQ?, August 1967 Radio-Electronics - RF CafeThis "What's Your EQ?" (EQ = Electronics Quotient) from a 1967 issue of Radio−Electronics magazine offers just two challenges to your circuit analysis prowess. The first, "Voltage Booster," is a classic black box (although I colored it blue) mystery where you are supposed to figure out what is inside that produces the stated output given a stated input. Spoiler: You'll need to be familiar with vacuum tube characteristics in order to solve it. Unlike with many such circuits, a simple mental substitution of a field effect transistor will not do the job. You might as well not even try "Shifted Tuning" unless you have hands-on experience with tuning mechanisms of the era. Just go straight to the answer, and gain an appreciation for advancements in radio technology. Guys like Mac McGregor dealt with this kind of phenomenon on a regular basis...

LadyBug LB5975W 50−75 GHz True RMS Power Sensor

LadyBug LB5975W 50 GHz to 75 GHz True RMS Power Sensor - RF CafeLadyBug Technologies' LB5975W is 50 GHz to 75 GHz a high accuracy, platform independent RF & Microwave Power Sensor for general purpose average power or True RMS and scalar measurements. The sensor features exceptionally fast measurement speed, a broad dynamic range, and the widest set of options for programmatic and embedded applications in the industry. LadyBug's feature rich Power Meter Application is provided with each sensor. Time domain trace visibility is included and aids in setting markers. The sensor is useful in research & development, manufacturing & service applications including radar, satellite and telecommunications. Highlights include coverage from 50 to 75 GHz, accurate power measurements on any modulated signal, dynamic range: -50 to +18 dBm, Just Measure - patented NoZero NoCal before use technology, and a variety of options such as triggering, security & analog outputs...

Mac's Service Shop: Philosophy of a Kit Manufacturer

Mac's Service Shop: Philosophy of a Kit Manufacturer, November 1972 Popular Electronics - RF CafeIf you are a seasoned reader of episodes of "Mac's Service Shop," you might have noticed that the stories almost always begin with either Mac or Barney commenting on the weather, which corresponds to the time of year in which the story was originally published. Note the reference to the "bleak, cold November morning" in this 1972 edition of Popular Electronics magazine. This time around, the boss and trusty employee discuss the value of electronics kits, Heathkits in particular. BTW, Heathkit is now making an impressive comeback into the kit realm with new designs. Manuals for some of the more popular vintage Heathkit projects are available again, which are a welcome thing to collectors. They also are producing some replacement assemblies, like for replacing old Nixie tube displays with LEDs (of course most people would probably rather have replacement Nixie tubes). Back in the 1970s, before everything we bought was assembled in far away lands using pseudo-slave labor, it was often less expensive to buy a kit of parts and put together you own television or radio. It was also an era when electronics service shops still did a brisk business fixing appliances, and building such devices were part of the schooling process for up−and−coming technicians...

Huawei Foldable Smartphone's Liquid Armour

Huawei Foldable Smartphone's Liquid Armour - RF Cafe"Researchers with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei spent three years developing the technology for its foldable phone screens, drawing inspiration from the impact-absorbing qualities of starches under certain conditions. Huawei's technical team told the Post that the resilience of its Mate X3 and X5 phones stemmed from the unique properties of a flexible inner screen beneath the scratch-resistant outer surface. The material - which took more than 100 experiments to develop - is based on a phenomenon that turns starch solution in the right proportions into a non-Newtonian fluid that acts like water but hardens into a solid under sudden impact..."

RF Cascade Workbook

RF Cascade Workbook - RF Cafe RF Cascade Workbook 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 (click here for screen capture). 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 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...

Generator Hurls Life-Size Lightning

New Generator Hurls Life-Size Lightning, September 1949 Popular Science - RF CafeNikola Tesla is usually credited with popularizing experimentation with extremely high voltage. We've all seen the photos of his gigantic generators discharging across a laboratory, including the iconic picture of Tesla sitting calmly beneath an array of deadly bolts of artificial lightning, while looking at a book. That was a heck of a reading lamp. These photos of a test laboratory for lightning research appeared in a 1949 issue of Popular Science magazine. Mr. Tesla would have loved it. Interestingly, Tesla's name is never mentioned in the article. Maybe that's because it is a General Electric facility, a company founded by Thomas Edison, who was a fierce competitor of Tesla back at the turn of the last century. If this story had been about lightning research in a Westinghouse lab, Tesla's name definitely would have been included. See "The War of the Currents." Much has been learned about nature of lightning and ways to mitigate the effects of it. The new battlefront for high voltage tolerance is in electronics, where modern semiconductor devices contain junctions that can barely withstand a dozen volts - never mind thousands. That is the science of electrostatic discharge (ESD)...

Compound for Building Space-Age Antennas

Compound for Building Space-Age Antennas - RF Cafe"In a first-of-its-kind development, UBC Okanagan researchers, in collaboration with Drexel University, have created a new compound that can be used to 3D print telecommunication antennas and other connectivity devices. These 3D printed products, created by combining a two-dimensional compound called MXenes with a polymer, can be used as an alternative for metallic counterparts and can make a vast improvement in communication technology including elements such as antennas, waveguides and filters. Waveguides are everywhere, yet most people don't know what they are, says Dr. Mohammad Zarifi, a researcher in UBC Okanagan's Microelectronics and Gigahertz Applications (OMEGA) Lab. Waveguides are structures or pipes that help direct sound and optical waves in communication devices and consumer appliances like microwaves. Waveguides vary in size, but historically they are made of metal due to their conductive attributes. Dr. Zarifi and his OMEGA team develop state-of-the-art communication components that have a compatible performance to metal, but are 10 to 20 times lighter, less expensive and easy to build..."

More Solid-State Electronics for the New Cars

More Solid-State Electronics for the New Cars, April 1972 Popular Electronics - RF CafeIt is well known that American automobile manufacturers really dropped the quality ball in the mid-1970s through about 1990. Foreign car makers were gaining increased access to domestic markets with designs that had more efficient engines and transmissions with superior materials and techniques, and corrosion control was much better than most American cars that often began to exhibit rust bubbles underneath the paint within a year or two - particularly in regions where roadways were salted for controlling ice and snow. People (like me) who bought used cars were leery about a vehicle with more than 70k-80k miles on them because it was almost guaranteed that a major engine or transmission repair would not be far off. Foreign cars, in contrast, were still going strong at 100k miles. If you were there, you know of what I speak. I mention that background to help explain the opening statement in this 1972 Popular Electronics magazine article describing what could be expected in the near future with electronics in cars and trucks. A look at the one drawing reveals that by now everything predicted is now standard equipment even on low-end cars, and of course not many people would have predicted GPS navigation, Bluetooth-connected tire air pressure sensors, satellite radio, or even air bags...

Werbel 2-Way Power Splitter for 0.5-6 GHz

Werbel Microwave 2-Way Power Splitter for 500 MHz to 6 GHz - RF CafeModel WM2PD-0.5-6-N from Werbel Microwave is a 2−way power splitter covering the continuous bandwidth of 500 MHz to 6 GHz. The product features low insertion loss, high isolation and excellent VSWR performance. Tight phase matching and amplitude balance between outputs. Aluminum body with stainless steel N female connectors. Ready for 5G and 6G deployment. The device is RoHS compliant. Typical phase balance of 2 degrees and insertion loss of 0.8 dB...

Shakespeare CB Antenna Advertisement 

Shakespeare CB Antenna Advertisement, February 1970 Popular Electronics - RF CafeUh-oh, here we go again. This is yet another advertisement from a vintage electronics magazine that would never make it past the politically-correct editors of today's cowardly corporations. This one appeared in a 1970 issue of Popular Electronics magazine. We live in a time of hypersensitive weaklings who benefit from an army of lawyers standing ready to come to the aid of anyone who is the least bit offended. The same people who tell the rest of us that we must not just tolerate, but accept and endorse their idiosyncrasies, are the first to cry foul when faced with something that insults their sensibilities (a lot are just compulsive agitators). My guess is that Shakespeare's antenna sales were boosted by the ad, like it or not...

Promote Your Company on RF Cafe

Sponsor RF Cafe for as Little as $40 per Month - RF CafeBanner Ads are rotated in all locations on the page! RF Cafe typically receives 8,000-15,000 visits each weekday. RF Cafe is a favorite of engineers, technicians, hobbyists, and students all over the world. 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 average 280,000 times per year! 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. If you need your company news to be seen, RF Cafe is the place to be...

R-E Puzzler, March 1967 Radio-Electronics

R-E Puzzler, March 1967 Radio-Electronics - RF CafeThese R−E Puzzlers look like a typical crossword puzzle, but they are not. The only "crossword" aspect is a single letter being shared by two words. There are no words formed vertically, only horizontally. That makes them a little more difficult because if you don't know one of the words, there is no way to discover any additional letters in it other than the one given. This particular R-E Puzzler appeared in a 1967 issue of Radio-Electronics (hence the R−E part), so it is no surprise that there are a couple vacuum tube related words. It should present no problem if you know common numerical prefixes and append "ode" to the end. Have fun...

Mac's Service Shop: Single Sideband for the CB'er

Mac's Service Shop: Single Sideband for the CB'er, June 1970 Popular Electronics - RF CafeIf you need a little brushing up on your basic single sideband (SSB) operational theory versus straight amplitude modulation (AM), then let this dissertation by Mac to Barney be it. The piece was the topic of "Mac's Service Shop" feature in the June 1972 issue of Popular Electronics magazine. There are no circuit details, just talk about how power from the carrier and dual sidebands is reallocated to a single sideband, thereby improving efficiency. I like the 'dried milk' analogy Mac uses in reference to SSB being transmitted sans carrier (i.e., water), with the receiver being responsible for reintroducing the carrier in order to demodulate the signal. Although I cannot personally comment as to its validity, many people familiar with comparing DSB AM to SSB AM say there is a certain je ne sais quoi that is missing in the tonal quality of SSB...

World's Smallest, Lightest, and Fastest Fully Functional Micro-Robots

World's Smallest, Lightest, and Fastest Fully Functional Micro-Robots - RF Cafe"Two insect-like robots, a mini-bug and a water strider, developed at Washington State University, are the smallest, lightest and fastest fully functional micro-robots ever known to be created. Such miniature robots could someday be used for work in areas such as artificial pollination, search and rescue, environmental monitoring, micro-fabrication, or robotic-assisted surgery. Reporting on their work in the proceedings of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society's International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, the mini-bug weighs in at eight milligrams while the water strider weighs 55 milligrams. Both can move at about six millimeters a second. 'That is fast compared to other micro-robots at this scale although it still lags behind their biological relatives,' said Conor Trygstad, a PhD student in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering and lead author on the work. An ant typically weighs up to five milligrams and can move at almost a meter per second..."

Subsidiary Communications Authorization (SCA) Adapter

Simple Subsidiary Communications Authorization (SCA) Adapter, June 1970 Popular Electronics - RF CafeUnlike Radio Broadcast Data System (RBDS) which is responsible for your FM radio being able to display song title and station identification via a digital subchannel (began in 1992), Subsidiary Communications Authorization (SCA) has been around as an analog subchannel for more than half a century. SCA (was) used for tasks such as book reading for the blind, telemetry, paging services, and most familiarly - Muzak (aka "elevator music"). This article presents a simple circuit for stripping the subcarrier off of the FM broadcast signal to permit a listener to avoid commercials, PSAs, weather reports, and other items that are played between songs. Personally, I'll endure the commercials and weather reports but would like to be able to block songs I can't stand. Note the 6.3 VAC supply requirement, which is obviously a remnant from the readily available vacuum tube heater voltage transformers that were on their way out of common use...

RF Cascade Workbook

RF Cascade Workbook - RF Cafe RF Cascade Workbook 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 (click here for screen capture). 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 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...

Mathematical Puzzles, 1988 Old Farmer's Almanac

Mathematical Puzzles, 1988 Old Farmer's Almanac - RF CafeHere is a nice collection of mathematical puzzles from the 1988 edition of the Old Farmer's Almanac. As always, they range in difficulty from Level 1 (easiest) to Level 5 (most difficult). Solutions are provided for all but Level 5. Readers were invited to submit their solutions, and then winners were announced in the next year's edition. If you wanted to see the results, you needed to write and request them (and pay mailing cost). The first couple puzzles are very familiar. Puzzle 5 requires either some simple algebra for multiple equations in multiple unknowns, or you can get it with trial and error while zeroing in on the answer. By the time you get to Puzzle 9, you'll need to be a serious Puzzler to spend time on it. In 1988, there were not easily accessed calculators and solvers for just about every need. Puzzle 11 wants you to find the prime factors of 2,095,632,000. I easily found them in about 30 seconds, including the time needed to do a search for this Prime Factorization Calculator. If you solve Puzzle 13, you're definitely a geometer akin to Euclid and Pythagoras.

What's Your Favorite Song About Radio?

Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me) - RF CafeThe Electronic Design website has a Quick Poll up asking "What's your favorite song about radio?" They offer 12 songs to choose from, but somehow didn't include the best one ever! Their list has "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?" (The Ramones, 1980), "On The Air" (Peter Gabriel, 1978), "Radio Cure" (Wilco, 2002), "Radio Free Europe" (R.E.M., 1981), "Radio Ga Ga" (Queen, 1984), "Radio Nowhere" (Bruce Springsteen, 2007), "Radio Radio" (Elvis Costello and the Attractions, 1978), "The Nightfly" (Donald Fagen, 1982), "The Spirit of Radio" (Rush, 1980), "Video Killed the Radio Star" (The Buggles, 1979), "W.O.L.D." (Harry Chapin, 1973), and "You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio" (Joni Mitchell, 1972). What they missed was "Life is a Rock (but the Radio Rolled Me)," by Reunion, released in September of 1974. I remember it well, that being my Junior year in high school. One of my friends could sing the entire song almost as fast as Joey Levine. If you haven't heard it, listen now. If you have heard it, you'll want to listen again...

Nuclear Radiation & Detection

Nuclear Radiation & Detection, November 1972 Popular Electronics - RF CafePart 1 of this 3-part series discussed the basics of nuclear radiation, and now here in Part 2, author Ello delves into various methods of detecting and measuring radiation levels. Ionizing radiation measurement capability is needed for the safety of life forms due its ability to knock electrons away from their host atoms, thus generating ions that cause molecules to form that might not otherwise do so. If those molecules happen to part of a self-reproducing living cell, then a mutant - or cancerous - cell is the result. With luck, body defense cells will hunt down and kill it, but if not, a tumor will develop - maybe benign, but maybe malignant. Parts 1, 2, and 3 of this series appeared in the October, November, and December 1972 issues of Popular Electronics, respectively...

RIGOL Ultra-Portable Generators and Multimeters

RIGOL Welcomes New Generators and Multimeters to Ultra-Portable Instrument Family - RF CafeRIGOL Technologies is expanding its family of ultra-portable instruments with the introduction of the DG800 Pro and DG900 Pro Series Function / Arbitrary Waveform Generators, along with the DM858 Series Digital Multimeters. Like their predecessors - the DHO800 and DHO900 Series High-Resolution Oscilloscopes - these new generators and multimeters deliver impressive performance and functionality in a compact and light form factor. DG800 Pro & DG900 Pro Series Generators The DG800 Pro and DG900 Pro Series Function/Arbitrary Waveform Generators are packed with functionality. Beyond the obvious performance of function generation and arbitrary waveform generation, these instruments include the capabilities of noise generator, pulse generator, harmonic generator, analog/digital modulator, and frequency counter. They deliver impressive performance - up to 200 MHz maximum output frequency, 1.25 GSa/s sample rate, 16-bit vertical resolution, and 3 ns rise time...

News Highlights

News Highlights, April 1972 Popular Electronics - RF CafeTiVO systems are just the latest incarnation of programmable systems for recording television programs for playback at a later time. In 1972, Sears, Roebuck & Company announced "plans to market the first integrated videotape cartridge recording-playback unit for the home." It was part of a package that included a specially designed 25" color TV, a camera, and a recording / playback unit. The projected price of $1,600 is equivalent to $12,006 in 2024 money. As always, it was the early adopter technophiles who financed the engineering and market research that eventually led to the sub-$1,000 monster LED TVs and $200 TiVO units of today. Earned engineering degrees had leveled off in numbers by 1971, with a grand total of 43,167 Bachelor's degrees, primarily electrical engineering. The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) reports that 106,658 Bachelor degrees in engineering were awarded in the U.S. in 2015. That represents a 147% increase over 45 years. The U.S. population has increased by 155% in the same time, so that's about right. Also in the news was Tandy's takeover of Allied Radio stores, which we know disappeared many moons ago just as the last vestiges of Radio Shack have pretty much disappeared. Allied Electronics is now a parts of RS - whatever that is...

RF & Electronics Symbols for Visio

RF Electronics Wireless Analog Block Diagrams Symbols Shapes for Visio - RF CafeWith 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...

Nomorule: A Complete Calculator on a Sheet of Paper

Nomorule: A Complete Calculator on a Sheet of Paper, March 1967 Radio-Electronics - RF CafeNobody really needs a printed nomograph these days given the ready availability of hand-held calculators, smartphones, and laptop and desktop computers. The upside of other than a nomograph is that results are more generally more precise with less possibility of error, and the user does not have to keep track of the decimal point location. The downside is that there is no visual cue as to how the inputs interact to produce an output. A nomograph, as presented in this 1967 Radio−Electronics magazine article, uses points on two indexed scales to intersect a corresponding result on a third scale. The user can easily see how varying one or both values affects the output. The nomograph can just as easily be used to calculate a required input or inputs to arrive at a desired output. For instance, calculating the equivalent resistance of two resistors connected in parallel, governed by the equation Req = 1/(1/R1 + 1/R2), is not an easy mental exercise, unlike with resistors in series, governed by Req = R1 + R2. Using a nomograph, you locate the value of each resistor on the two respective scales, then use a straight edge to find where it intersects the resultant resistance scale. Conversely, if you you need a particular Req and you have an assortments of resistors from which to make that value...

China Push to "Delete America" from Its Technology

China Push to "Delete America" from Its TechnologyWhen China initiates policies to secure its social, political, and economic superiority in the world, it is often heralded as a positive reflection on the patriotic mindset of its people - and it is. However, when America or EU countries do something similar, it gets reported as the evil colonialist schemes of White Western cultures. Without doubt, China has many brilliant scientists, engineers, economists, and doctors who are doing great things, but much of the root knowledge originated from outside the country. Here's the thanks we get: "China's push for self-sufficiency targets US tech companies like Dell, IBM, HP, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, and Oracle. Chinese leader Xi Jinping aims to make China less dependent on the West and focus on domestic supply chains. Western companies can tap into opportunities in advanced tech and sales to multinational companies in China. For American tech companies in China, the writing is reportedly on the wall or as an exclusive report in Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said, 'its also on paper, in Document 79.' For those wondering what this Document 79 is, it is a directive issued by the Chinese government that some refer to as 'Delete A,' for Delete America. Document 79 is said to be so sensitive that high-ranking officials and executives were only shown the order and weren’t allowed to make copies. For American tech companies in China, the writing is reportedly on the wall or as an exclusive report in Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said, 'its also on paper, in Document 79..."

Mac's Service Shop: Meter Accuracy Specifications

Mac's Service Shop: Meter Accuracy Specifications, April 1972 Popular Electronics - RF CafeMy 1970s-era Radio Shack Micronta model 22-208 FET-VOM with a mirrored scale still does regular duty on my electronics workbench - particularly when the DMM happens to have been left somewhere else. One of the first things a person is taught about using analog meters is to always select a range that put the needle toward the upper end of the scale. It has to do with the accuracy of the reading based on characteristics of the meter movement. A digital meters' accuracy is often assumed to be ±1 rightmost displayed digit, but if you read the specifications, it is often not the case. In this technosaga appearing in the 1972 issue of Popular Electronics magazine, shop-owner Mac informs his technician, Barney, on many aspects of issues to be aware of when using both analog and digital meters. Digital meters would never have entered into the discussion on the earliest stories of "Mac's Radio Service Shop" since they were published when the only digital displays used Nixie tubes and were too expensive for most users...

Unlocking Electronic Secrets of Water

Unlocking Electronic Secrets of Water - RF Cafe"Researchers at EPFL have achieved a significant breakthrough in understanding the electronic properties of water, a fundamental component of life and the environment. There is no doubt that water is significant. Without it, life would never have begun, let alone continue today - not to mention its role in the environment itself, with oceans covering over 70% of Earth. But despite its ubiquity, liquid water features some electronic intricacies that have long puzzled scientists in chemistry, physics, and technology. For example, the electron affinity, i.e. the energy stabilization undergone by a free electron when captured by water, has remained poorly characterized from an experimental point of view. Even today's most accurate electronic structure theory has been unable to clarify the picture, which means that important physical quantities like the energy at which electrons from external sources can be injected in liquid water remain elusive. These properties are crucial for understanding the behavior of electrons in water and could play a role in biological systems, environmental cycles, and technological applications like solar energy conversion..."

Satellite Pictures Show Earth's Resources

Satellite Pictures Show Earth's Resources, November 1972 Popular Electronics - RF CafeEver since the advent of Google Earth in 2001, high resolution photos from orbiting satellites has become routine, expected technology rather than awe-inspiring technology. In 1970 when this article appeared, however, satellite imagery was still in its infancy. The TIROS 1 weather satellite, with a mere 78-day lifespan, had been launched just a decade earlier. Nations' militaries had the biggest and best platforms, and pictures like those now routinely seen on Google Earth were highly classified. If you recall, governments had conniption fits over Google's photos taken of secret installations. Civilians eventually got space-based images of Earthly weather systems on the evening news forecast segment, and some commercial users could purchase high resolution photos from specially licensed private companies. Nowadays, satellites carry not only optical sensors, but sensors covering a broad span in the electromagnetic spectrum, gravity sensors, particle detectors and other types of sensors...

RF & Electronics Stencils for Visio

RF & Electronics stencils for Visio r4 - RF CafeWith 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...

Many Thanks to Anatech Electronics for Long-Time Support!

Anatech Electronics logo - RF CafeAnatech Electronics (AEI) manufactures and supplies RF and microwave filters for military and commercial communication systems, providing standard LP, HP, BP, BS, notch, diplexer, and custom RF filters, and RF products. Standard RF filter and cable assembly products are published in our website database for ease of procurement. Custom RF filters designs are used when a standard cannot be found, or the requirements dictate a custom approach for your military and commercial communications needs. Sam Benzacar's monthly newsletters address contemporary wireless subjects. Please visit Anatech today to see how they can help your project succeed. 

Electronic Antenna Rotation

Electronic Antenna Rotation, August 1967 Radio-Electronics - RF Cafe"What's in a name?," as Juliet famously asked of Romeo's surname, Montague. Here in this 1967 Radio-Electronics magazine article, author Ray Thrower writes about phased array antennas. Might not the emission of directed electromagnetic waves be described as throwing rays? Or, maybe it's just my lame attempt at being profound. Yeah, probably the latter. Anyway, this is a useful demonstration of how a simple array of three antennas situated in an "L" pattern and spaced 90° (¼-wave) apart can be fed with a phase shifting network in order to obtain seven distinct radiation patterns. That's with using 90° paths in the phase shifter. Other angles would produce a different set of patterns. Back in the day, patterns were plotted based on equation solutions worked by hand, using a slide rule. It took a lot of time. Of course some people can intuitively derive simple patterns without the use of equations. Access to an electronics computer was available to others, who would encode instructions in punch cards and feed them into the machine. The resulting table of values had to be plotted by hand. If you are so motivated, you can model this three-antenna array into EZNEC...

Major Helium Find in Minnesota

Helium gas well discovered Pulsar Minnesotr - RF CafeA Canadian mineral exploration firm named Pulsar announced a gas well finding in Minnesota with initial helium concentration of 12.4%. They were looking for platinum and palladium. Helium projects are potentially economically viable when gas extracted from the ground has just 0.3% helium, according to the article. That follows a nearby 10.5% find in 2011 by U.S. company Duluth Metals. The global helium supply has been considered critical for many years as demand increases for applications as simple as party balloon inflation to cooling for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines. In January, the Federal Helium Reserve was sold off to German company Messer, so the country's emergency stockpile is gone. Helium (HNT) market prices began 2021 at around $1.30, peaked at $52 by the end of the year, then gradually returned to around $1.30, and is ramping up again for today's price of around $9.00. Inn case you don't know, helium was detected in the sun's spectral lines before being found on Earth. Its place as element #2 in the periodic table was empty for many years.

Minicomputers - What They Are and What They Can Do

Minicomputers - What They Are and What They Can Do, June 1972 Popular Electronics - RF CafeWe do not speak of "minicomputers" today, but if we did, what would come to mind is not an EIA 19" equipment rack packed full of equipment. Only network servers with teraflops of computing power and/or petabytes of data storage are configured thus these days. "Minis" in 1972 sported microprocessors that handled 8- or 16-bit words and a whopping 32 kBytes of operating system and program execution memory. FORTRAN, ALGOL, and BASIC were the languages of choice - with no object-oriented code in sight. Don't laugh at the poor slobs of computer yesteryear or congratulate yourself for living in an enlightened and highly facilitated time. 45 years from now - heck, 20 years from now - our kids will look back at 2017 and chuckle at the thought of silicon technology with rigid binary logic compared to their bioelectronic circuits and quantum computing. Unlike the the perpetual promise of fusion electricity generators (tokomaks) and a flying car in every garage, the aforementioned will definitely arrive on schedule - guaranteed or your subscription fee to RF Cafe will be fully refunded...

3D-Printed Alternative Metallic Telecoms Devices

3D-Printed Alternative Metallic Telecoms Devices - RF Cafe"Researchers have created a new compound that can be used to 3D print telecommunication antennas and other connectivity devices. These 3D printed products, created by combining MXenes with a polymer, can be used as an alternative for metallic counterparts and can make a vast improvement in communication technology, including elements such as antennas, waveguides and filters. Waveguides are everywhere, yet most people don't know what they are, said Dr Mohammad Zarifi, a researcher in UBC Okanagan's Microelectronics and Gigahertz Applications (OMEGA) Lab. Dr. Zarifi and his OMEGA team develop communication components that have a compatible performance to metal, but are 10 to 20 times lighter, less expensive and easy to build. "

How to Get Started in Radio Control Modeling

How to Get Started in Radio Control Modeling, February 1974 Popular Electronics - RF CafeRadio control hobbyists realized a huge technology advance with the introduction of solid state proportional control systems that began appearing in the late 1960s. Prior to then, most R/C systems used vacuum tubes and their accompanying large, heavy batteries. Size and weight was not too big of a deal for the transmitter, but both those factors for an airborne receiver significantly impacted airplane design and performance. The new systems enabled smaller, lighter weight aircraft that not only cost less, but flew better. Of course other forms of R/C modeling like boats and cars also benefitted from the advances, but weight and size was not as much of an issue (other than for convenience).  Incremental improvements in electronic components and packaging helped improve solid state systems through highly integrated circuits for modulation / demodulation function, servos motor power and efficiency, RF sections, and human interface elements like gimbal sticks and programmability. An FCC mandate changing the system bandwidth from 40 MHz to 20 MHz doubled the available unique frequencies (channels) in the popular 72 MHz (model aircraft only) and 75 MHz (cars & boats only) unlicensed bands. Ham operators can opt for 50 MHz and 53 MHz operation...

RF & Electronics Stencils for Visio

RF & Electronics stencils for Visio r4 - RF CafeWith 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...

Many Thanks to KR Electronics for Long-Time Support!

KR ElectronicsKR Electronics has been designing and manufacturing custom filters for military and commercial radio, radar, medical, and communications since 1973. KR Electronics' line of filters includes lowpass, highpass, bandpass, bandstop, equalizer, duplexer, diplexer, and individually synthesized filters for special applications - both commercial and military. State of the art computer synthesis, analysis and test methods are used to meet the most challenging specifications. All common connector types and package form factors are available. Please visit their website today to see how they might be of assistance. Products are designed and manufactured in the USA.

News Briefs

News Briefs, March 1967 Radio-Electronics - RF CafeIn 1967 when this set of News Briefs was published in Radio−Electronics magazine, the use of semiconductors in laser light applications was the domain of government, corporate, and university research laboratories. The device only modulated the beam. It did not generate the beam, although as seen below infrared laser diodes were already in the works. Also wowing the readership was a pinhead-size gallium arsenide (GaAs) transmitter which could generate frequency modulated (FM) signals in the 60 MHz to 2.5 GHz range. The "highest ever" starting salary for engineering students in that year was a whopping $166/week, or $8,632/year. That is the equivalent of $80,674 in 2024 money. By comparison, $16/hour fast food workers in California are pulling in $33,280/year, and qualify for many welfare benefits and healthcare. A really interesting item is how a group of British high school radio enthusiasts routinely tracked Russian satellite orbits to reverse engineer the point of launch, and on occasion discovered new ground bases, like the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Mirny.