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Tuesday 20
 Bliley Technologies has been manufacturing oscillators
and crystals in Erie, Pennsylvania, since 1930. That's pretty amazing. Bliley's 64,000
square foot facility is only a few miles from my home. The
Erie Times-News published a feature article on them in today's edition
that has some photos from inside the plant. Note the stack of vintage-looking test equipment
on the benches in the background (high-res). Despite its rather run-down appearance, Erie and
the surrounding area is home a lot of high-tech industries including plastics, electronics,
metal plating, industrial electrical equipment, and medical paraphernalia. The crime
and cost of living are low here ...
 ConductRF provides 3 styles of solution for
DAS applications in Stadiums,
Malls, Campuses, Hotels and more. Straight & R/A Low PIM Connectors are available
for 7/16, N, SMA, QMA, 4.1/9.5 and 4.3/10 interfaces. We also offer Low PIM Adapters
and PIM Test Cables for all these series. Utilizing ConductRF's new Low PIM Direct Solder
Attachment Connectors, we provide high performance solutions for Low PIM interconnect
including Straight, Right Angle, Bulkhead and Panel attachment. Performance better than
-155dBc is validated through 100% testing ...
 The
Josephson effect was predicted in 1962 by British physicist Brian David Josephson.
It postulated the possibility of a resistance-less path for electrical current across
an extremely thin insulator sandwiched between two superconductors. Dr. Juri Matisoo,
of IBM, is credited with building the first Josephson junction switch in 1967, demonstrating
sub-nanosecond switching times. Back in the day, superconducting materials, like graphene,
were resources available only to well-funded research establishments like major corporations,
universities, and government facilities. Now, anyone with an interest can order both ...
 Anatech Electronics, a manufacturer of RF and microwave
filters, has published its February newsletter. In it, Sam Benzacar writes in "The Magic
in Sprint's Magic Box" about how Sprint, which "has always been the Number Four wireless
carrier," is surreptitiously catching up because of the widespread distribution of its
personal cell extenders. Sam has a lot of insight into the wireless business through
decades of keeping his finger on the pulse of the industry, and has written much about
it. These monthly newsletters always provide good tidbits you likely won't find elsewhere ...
 Rohde & Schwarz has published this application
note on eCall. "Emergency Call (eCall)
is a service provided in Europe with the goal of reducing response times for acci- dents
or other emergencies on the roadways. This application note briefly describes the technology
behind eCall and presents conformance tests for eCall using the R&S ® CMW500 RF tester
and the R&S ® SMBV100A vector signal generator. A Test software for eCall makes it
quick and easy to perform these tests with the GSM or WCDMA wireless communications standard.
It also shows a test solution for GNSS performance tests for eCall using ..."
 "Back in 1998, who would've predicted the wireless
technology's current ubiquitousness? Can you believe it? Bluetooth is 20 years old. My,
my, how time flies. Who would have thought back in 1998 that this nascent technology
would become an important part of our lives? Today BT is everywhere. Go ahead and count
up the number of BT radios you use every day. Be amazed. Taking inventory, I determined
today that I must own about a half-dozen BT radios. It appears in our smartphones, our
hands-free ..."
Monday 19
 KR Electronics has released part number 3337+,
which is a 1208
MHz lowpass filter. The filter is a selective elliptic type filter. The stopband
starts at 1292 MHz and is maintained to >6 GHz. The filter is supplied in
a miniature surface mount package measuring 0.20" x 0.30" x 0.18". Other frequencies
and bandwidths are available. Data sheets are available ...
 RIGOL Technologies announces a significant addition
to its portfolio of RF Test Instrumentation with the introduction of the
New RSA5000 Real-Time
Spectrum Analyzer. The RSA5000 combines the power of a high performance swept spectrum
analyzer with superior Real-time performance unmatched in this product category. Available
in 3.2 GHz and 6.5 GHz models all RSA5000 Series Analyzers provide Resolution
Bandwidth (RBW) down to 1 Hz, a noise floor as low as ...
 A decade after
tunnel diodes were first invented by Nobel Laureate Leo Esaki, grand plans for the
unique device never played out. Predictions included its use for computer solid state
memories to replace magnetic core arrays. Tunnel diodes benefitted from the aura surrounding
their exploitation of the quantum mechanical tunnelling phenomenon, which had a futuristic
ring to it. Conventional diodes, having a relatively wide depletion region, require the
current carriers (electrons and holes) to overcome a potential hill in traveling from
the valence band to the conduction band of energies. Since high doping levels are used
in the tunnel diode, a narrow depletion region is formed at the junction. This allows
electrons ...
 On many occasions in both the lab and on installed
equipment I have run into "unexplainable" problems of signal leakage and/or crosstalk
that ended up being poor
ground issues. Ground loops can be particularly frustrating. This
new book written by the highly experienced and regarded H. Ward Silver, with degrees
from both universities and The School of Hard Knocks, will be a valuable resource for
your own situations. A mere $23 investment could be invaluable ...
 Triad RF Systems announces their new
TTA1007 is a 500 - 2800 MHz, 5 W Amplifier designed for use in many general
purpose applications where a small size and light weight are preferable. This amplifier
supports any signal type and modulation scheme, including 3G, 4G, WLAN, OFDM, DVB, and
CW/AM/FM. This class A GaAs module is designed for both military and commercial applications.
It is capable of supporting any signal type and modulation format, including but not
limited to 3-4G telecom, WLAN, OFDM, DVB, and ...
 "A mobile hotspot network will deliver 1.25 Gbps
WiFi to subway customers allowing them to stream HD videos without interruption while
underground, thanks to a newly-developed mm-wave wireless backhaul technology. The first
commercial service using this technology will debut on the Seoul subway system later
this year. The technology was developed by ETRI, Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications
Research Institute The network transmits ..."
Sunday 18
 At least 10 clues with an asterisk (*)
in this technology-themed crossword puzzle are pulled from this past week's (2/12 - 2/16)
"Tech Industry Headlines" column on the RF Cafe homepage (see the Headline Archives page
for help). For the sake of all the avid cruciverbalists amongst us, each week I create
a new technology-themed crossword puzzle using only words from my custom-created related
to engineering, science, mathematics, chemistry, physics, astronomy, etc. Enjoy ...
Friday 16
 "The
gallium-nitride HEMT-LED lets voltage control light, replacing typical
LED support circuitry A new device could make upcoming microLED displays easier to engineer
and visible light communications systems, like LiFi, faster. As IEEE Fellow Kei May Lau
sees it, the problem with conventional LEDs, which are current controlled devices, is
that turning them on and off rapidly to control brightness or using them for Li-Fi takes
careful engineering and a bunch of circuitry. 'Most IC designers would rather work with
voltage control device, but LEDs are ..."
 "Operation of modern-day technology requires an
ever-increasing use of broadband frequency signals. This, in turn, has grown the demand
for reliable, efficient methods of signal transmission that prevent interference and
are more efficient in their use of the scarcely available frequency spectrum. These requirements
are constrained, however, by reciprocity - a law of physics that forces the transmission
of light to be identical in opposite directions. In past decades, scientists and engineers
have ..."
 A series of three articles appeared in 1973 issues
of Popular Electronics that conducted a high-level review - or introduction if you've
never seen it before - of DC circuit analysis. In this first installment, Professor Arthur
Seidman, of the Pratt Institute, covers a variety of subjects starting with
direct current (DC) circuit theory. Ideal current and voltage sources, units and
notations, Ohm's law, Kirchhoff's law, resistors, capacitor and inductor charge and discharge
curves, series and parallel circuits, power calculations, conductance, and other good
stuff is covered. There is even (gasp) a bit of calculus presented ...
 JFW Industries announces the availability of
Model 50MS-367 2.9MM is a 4 X 4 Blocking Matrix Switch operating
DC-40 GHz with 50 Ohm, 2.9mm female connectors. This unit is remotely controlled via
Ethernet or RS-232, and it utilizes our 3.X.X firmware command set. All unused input
and output ports are self-terminating at 50 Ohms, and the current IP settings and serial
baud rate are displayed on the front panel which can be updated using ...
 Saelig has introduced the patented
Sol Chip Saturn802
Energy Harvester IC - a unique photovoltaic (PV) cell which can produce output voltage
levels of 0.75 V, 1.5 V, 2.25 V, 3.0 V, 4.5 V, and 9 V,
which existing solar cells cannot do. The maximum power which can be obtained in full
daylight is around 10 mW, or 55 uW in office lighting, so the Saturn802 IC
is targeted at low-power applications. The size of the die is approximately 1 cm
by 1 cm, and the stable voltage levels are available from separate pins of the device. The
IC can be used with or without a back-up ...
 "Two Waterloo chemists have made it easier for
manufacturers to produce a new class of
faster and cheaper semiconductors. The chemists have found a way
to simultaneously control the orientation and select the size of single-walled carbon
nanotubes deposited on a surface. That means the developers of semiconductors can use
carbon as opposed to silicon, which will reduce the size and increase the speed of the
devices while improving their battery life. 'We're reaching the limits of what's physically
possible with ..."
Thursday 15
 This is Part 3 of a series of articles on
atomic radiation that appeared in Electronic World magazine in 1969. It
deals with measurement techniques and equipment. Shippingport Atomic Power Station, the
first full scale nuclear power plant in the U.S., went operational in 1957. It marked
the dawn of a new era of electric power generation that was filled with grandiose predictions
of limitless, non-polluting, dirt cheap power. Everything was going to be powered by
electricity - air heating and cooling, lighting, automobiles, water heating. Atomic power
was going to be a figurative and almost literal beating of swords into ploughshares as
the destructive energy ...
 "At DESY's X-ray source PETRA III, scientists
have followed the growth of tiny wires of gallium arsenide live. Their observations reveal
exact details of the growth process responsible for the evolving shape and crystal structure
of the crystalline nanowires. The findings also provide new approaches to tailoring nanowires
with desired properties for specific applications. The scientists, headed by Philipp
Schroth of the University of Siegen and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT),
published ..."
 A growing order book and plans for future development
of the business means leading microwave engineering company Flann Microwave is to
increase its workforce in Bodmin, Cornwall, UK, by 10%. With a current
team of 60 based in Bodmin, Flann has grown over six decades to secure a global reputation
and market leading position in the design and manufacture of precision microwave communications
equipment, for example, in radar and to allow internet and mobile data to be carried
between mobile phone ...
 Are you old enough to remember when
Reader Service Cards were inserted into the binding of magazines? One of these circa
1969 tech-themed comics has the husband anxiously telling his wife to hurry and send
in a Reader Service Card for his radio system that was spewing parts. The fact is
 that was not the purpose of Reader Service Cards;
they were for getting product information, not for requesting repairs or replacement
parts. Reader Service Cards were the old world version of website URLs and QR scan
codes ...
 By Rogers Corporation, Microwave Journal
magazine. "Millions of cell phones trying to connect voices and download unimaginable
numbers of files worldwide point to the inevitability of Fifth Generation (5G) wireless
communications networks. 5G is coming, and it will require the right
circuit materials for many different types of high-frequency circuits,
including power amplifiers (PAs). 5G may represent the latest and greatest in wireless
technology, but it will be challenging to design ..."
 "Astronomers at the National Astronomical Observatory
of Japan (NAOJ) using the HINODE spacecraft observed the
strongest magnetic field ever directly measured on the surface of
the Sun. Analyzing data for 5 days around the appearance of this record breaking magnetic
field, the astronomers determined that it was generated as a result of gas outflow from
one sunspot pushing against another sunspot. Magnetism plays a critical role in various
solar phenomena such as flares, mass ejections, flux ropes, and coronal heating. Sunspots
are areas of concentrated magnetic ..."
Wednesday 14
 Have you ever started a relatively simple investigation
into a trivial matter, only to find yourself going down the metaphorical "rabbit hole"
even after finding the original answer? Such was the case for me when someone sent me
an e-mail with a signature that included his
amateur radio call sign. The first three characters, KB3, matched mine and that got
me wondering on what date his call sign was granted compared to mine. Let us say for
example* the writer's call sign was KB3PGM and mine is (actually) KB3UON. I looked them
up in the FCC's ULS self-serve license ...
 "University of New Mexico and University of California
Santa Barbara in the USA have been studying the effect of crystal orientation on the
modulation bandwidth of indium gallium nitride (InGaN) light-emitting
diodes (LEDs). In particular, the researchers sought high bandwidth at lower current
injection where the efficiency of InGaN LEDs is higher, reducing 'droop' effects. The
non-polar m-plane (10-10) orientation was found to have the largest 3 dB (half-power)
bandwidth, with a value of more ..."
 Mini-Circuits announces the availability of four
new devices in its lineup of
RF and microwave components. Included are a high pass filter with a passband of 8
to 24 GHz, an ultra-high dynamic range MMIC amplifier matched to 50 Ω from
30 MHz to 2 GHz, an absorptive solid state SP4T switch controlled by USB and
I2C connection, and an LTCC band pass filter having a pass band from 4620 to 6640 MHz ...
 The transition from vacuum tubes to semiconductors,
and from black and white to color televisions was in full swing by 1973. Accompanying
the change in components was a re-thinking of the most effective and profitable method
of manufacturing and servicing the new equipment.
Modularization was thought to be key to future success even though production costs
were slightly higher. Reliability improvements were already reducing the need for service
calls and highly trained technicians who could troubleshoot failures down to the component
level. Swapping out suspect modules with known-good modules, in Mac's words, results
in "a quickly trained module swapper who knows only 'how' and not ..."
 ByRob Rutkowski, Microwaves & RF
magazine. As
small satellites become more prevalent, the GPSDO can function as
a timing solution to enable successful missions. This post explains the importance of
timing before diving into GPSDOs. "Small satellites have grown dramatically over the
past decade—and they are still growing fast and furiously. In this post, you'll learn
about how to achieve mission success for satellites and how GPS disciplined oscillators
(GPSDOs) can do the trick. A Growing Space The initial surge of small satellites has
been attributed to the curiosity of R&D. Much of this ..."
 Please welcome
Joseph "Pat" Dunagan to our exclusive
list of former and current USAF radar techs. Pat is the first officer amongst us, so
that unofficially makes him the ranking member on the page - not including 5CCG commander
Col. John Kopsick, who did not actually maintain equipment. Along with time in the regular
Air Force, he also did time as Chief of Maintenance in the Reserve 55th CBCS mobile combat
outfit at Robins AFB where I was stationed. He had responsibility for MPN-13/14 and TPN-19
radars ...
 "Living life in the fast lane can be tremendously
exciting, giving us the 'time of our lives' but how long does it really last? Experiments
at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai have answered this question
for a bunch of electrons traveling
faster than light (fasten your seatbelts!) through a piece of glass.
This study, done in collaboration with the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the UK and
Centre for Intense Laser Studies and Applications (CELIA) in France has appeared ..."
Tuesday 13
Comparing Narrowband and Wideband
Channels
 By Jack Browne, Microwaves & RF magazine.
Narrowband and wideband communications channels make use of available
bandwidth in different ways—so employ them according to the requirements of a particular
application. "Bandwidth is limited at all frequencies. This holds true whether we're
discussing those in the kilohertz range used for amplitude-modulated (AM) radio broadcasting;
microwaves and millimeter waves for commercial and military radar systems; or those frequencies
bands with the shortest-wavelength electromagnetic (EM) ..."
 Rigol's
product line includes
spectrum analyzers and RF signal generators, digital and mixed signal
o-scopes, arbitrary waveform generators, sensitive measurement products, and data acquisition
systems. Their test solutions combine superior product performance, quality, and advanced
product features; all delivered at extremely attractive price points. Applications include
technical education, WiFi integration, EMC, and manufacturing. Rigol delivers unprecedented
value for your investment, reduced overall cost of test, and help speed time to completion
of designs or projects ...
 When I first began designing circuits in the 1990s
using
active filters, the upper frequency was limited to a few tens of kHz because of the
gain-bandwidth product of the available amplifiers. That made them useful in baseband
circuits, but that was about it. There were also issues with the noise figure and intercept
points and intermodulation product levels. Today, you can get fully integrated and programmable
active filters which operate at tens of MHz and beyond, and with much better RF-type
specifications. That makes them useful in low intermediate frequency (IF) circuits as
well as at baseband. BTW, this article is one of about ten dealing with filter types
in ...
 EDI CON China
2018, a conference that brings together engineers working on high-frequency analog and
high-speed digital designs, taking place March 20-22, 2018 at the China National Convention
Center (Beijing, China), announces registration is now open and the technical program
is now live at www.ediconchina.com.
In its sixth year, EDI CON China 2018 includes technical conference sessions as well
as workshops, panels, keynotes, poster sessions, and demonstrations from industry leading
exhibitors in the RF, microwave, and high-speed digital industries ...
 "In an effort to further increase the capacity
of wireless equipment, Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) and Fujitsu Laboratories
Ltd. have developed a CMOS wireless transceiver chip that can process signals at high
speeds across a broad range of frequencies, from 70 to 105 GHz, using their own
bandwidth-increasing technology. With these developments, they succeeded
in achieving wireless transmission speeds of 120 gigabits per second (Gbps), the fastest
in the world. There has been an increase in research and development activities with
the aim of developing ..."
 Why rent test equipment from Axiom? Get
test equipment without a capital budget. Tax benefits - the expense of a rental can
be deducted immediately. Protects you against product obsolescence. Save time and money
with quick delivery. Try equipment out before committing a lot of money to a purchase.
Save time and money on maintenance costs (which are the responsibility of the rental
company). Please contact Axiom today for your rental needs ...
 "Using 3D printers, researchers have created a
metamaterial from cubic building blocks that responds to compression
forces by a rotation. Usually, this can only be achieved by transmission using a crankshaft,
for example. If a force is exerted from above onto a material, the latter deforms in
various ways. It may be bulged, compressed, or bent; however, according to the rules
of mechanics, it will not rotate. The researchers designed a filigree cubic structure
that reacts to loading by a rotation around its axis. Using computer simulation, a design ..."
Monday 12
 Mobile World Congress is the world's largest gathering
for the mobile industry, organised by the GSMA and held in the Mobile World Capital,
Barcelona, February 26 - March 1 2018. Industry leaders will gather, network, showcase,
and exchange ideas - and you don't want to miss it. The mobile world connects in Barcelona.
Discover the future of mobile as top companies give an exclusive first look at the latest
innovations. Make plans now ...
 Here is a unique type of article from a 1974 issue
of Popular Electronics. Author Ralph Tenny presents a
poor-man's environmental test chamber constructed with a Styrofoam picnic cooler,
a dry ice sump, a heater, a thermocouple, and a bunch of input/output ports for making
electrical measurements. While working on my senior project at college - an electronic
remote weather station - I needed to verify functionality up to 150°F and down to 0°F.
Having the Torture Box would have been handy, but instead I used the kitchen oven and
freezer with the interconnect cable mashed between the door gasket and frame. Unfortunately
I don't have any ...
 Microwaves & RF magazine published their
2017 Salary & Career Report last fall, but it didn't appear in
print until the January(?) issue. It is a very comprehensive collection of data based
on geographical location, years in the profession, time at present company, job title,
and much more. I count about 27 different statistics with charts, tables, and maps. Oddly
for an engineering magazine, there does not seem to be info on the number of participants
or what the error is for sample size. I downloaded the PDF version and don't see it there,
either ...
 Anatech Electronics, Inc. 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. Anatech has introduced three
new filters for your convenience: a 3000 MHz stripline highpass filter with SMA
connectors, a surface mount low-loss 100 MHz IF SAW filter, and a 4700 MHz
cavity bandpass filter with N connectors ...
 "As contemporary electronics embrace light weight,
increasing efficiency, and high speed, each link of the manufacturing process also conforms
to this philosophy, including printed circuit board (PCB) assembly. Soldering has played
an essential role in determining the success of electronic products, since electrical
connections derive from precise soldering. Compared with hand soldering,
automatic soldering has been widely selected due to its merits of
high accuracy and speed, and the demands of large volume ..."
Sunday 11
 At least 10 clues with an asterisk (*)
in this
technology-themed crossword puzzle are pulled from this past week's (2/5 - 2/9) "Tech
Industry Headlines" column on the RF Cafe homepage (see the Headline Archives page for
help). For the sake of all the avid cruciverbalists amongst us, each week I create a
new technology-themed crossword puzzle using only words from my custom-created related
to engineering, science, mathematics, chemistry, physics, astronomy ...
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