Today in Science History -

The Man Who Made Gasoline from Water

This story from the 1976 issue of Old Farmer's Almanac (OFA) is fair game for RF Cafe because of its technical aspect, but there is yet another interesting reason that might require an amateur radio operator to notice. "The Man Who Made Gasoline from Water" is about a 70-year-old inventor named Louis Enricht who in 1916 tried to convince would-be investors that he had discovered a method for converting a fuel tank filled with drinking water into gasoline merely by dropping a magic pill into the filler tube. Henry Ford expressed interest in the miracle pill, but a more skeptical businessman and chemist investigated the matter. You'll have to read the story to learn the results (very interesting), but you might be interested to know the name of that wise entrepreneur: Hudson Maxim. Does that name sound familiar...

Electron Beam Sculpts Graphene in 3D

"Graphene can be sculptured by electron beams, according to researchers at Georgia Tech. Carbon atoms can be added or subtracted - and in the case of graphene oxide, surface oxygen can be used to remove carbon atoms with no additional chemicals. 'By timing and tuning the energy of the electron beam, we can activate interaction of the beam with oxygen in the graphene oxide to do etching, or interaction with hydrocarbons on the surface to create carbon deposition,' said mechanical engineer Professor Andrei Fedorov. 'With atomic-scale control, we can produce complicated..."

Antenova Adds High Performer to Its 5G Antennas

Antenova Ltd, UK manufacturer of antennas and RF antenna modules for the Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) applications, has added a high performing 5G SMD design to its array of 5G antennas. This brand-new antenna, Lepida SR4L054, is a wideband antenna in SMD form, designed to achieve high efficiency and performance right across the spectrum from 600 MHz to 3800 MHz. Lepida operates right across the cellular bands B71 (617-698 MHz), LTE 700, GSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900, WCDMA2100, B40 (2300–2400 MHz), B7 (2500-2690 MHz), and B78 (3300-3800 MHz). The antenna is linear polarised and has been designed to ensure excellent coplanarity. Antenova has built Lepida for the more demanding applications in 5G, 4G and LTE where antenna performance and reliability...

The Clairvoyant Dr. Fox

Mystery stories were broadcast on radio stations in the days before television - and for quite a while after TV was available for that matter. Families gathered around the living room radio set in excited anticipation of the next adventure of shows like "The Shadow," "Amos 'n' Andy," "Tales of the Texas Rangers," "Dragnet," and "The Green Hornet." During that era, it was common also for electronics magazines, which focused largely on radio communications, to experiment with printed dramas that had a radio-centric theme. Here is the first of a series tried by Radio-Craft in the late 1930s. A couple decades later the Carl & Jerry adventures were run in Popular Electronics, but other than that I don't recall seeing a lot of these things. If you're a mystery fan, then here you are.

Post Your Engineer & Technician Job Openings on RF Cafe for Free

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...

Keys to Successful Naval Defense Using MIMO/MANET Radio System Deployments

Triad RF Systems, a leading designer and manufacturer of integrated radio systems and high performance RF/Microwave amplifiers, just published a very nice Tech Brief entitled "Keys to Successful Naval Defense Using MIMO/MANET Radio System Deployments." Beginning with a review of applicable radio history (HF, VHF, UHF, SATCOM), the document extolls the virtues of MIMO (Multiple-Input / Multiple-Output) and its antenna diversity scheme (a la your Wi-Fi router). Building on the technology is MANET (Mobile Ad-Hoc Networking), which exhibits self-forming and self-healing networks that survive in hostile signal environments. While the title specifies naval applications because of Triad RF's extensive involvement in the realm, this technology extends into other military services as well as domestic law enforcement...

Thanks to Reactel for Their Long-Time Support!

Reactel has become one of the industry leaders in the design and manufacture of RF and microwave filters, diplexers, and sub-assemblies. They offer the generally known tubular, LC, cavity, and waveguide designs, as well as state of the art high performance suspended substrate models. Through a continuous process of research and development, they have established a full line of filters of filters of all types - lowpass, highpass, bandpass, bandstop, diplexer, and more. Established in 1979. Please contact Reactel today to see how they might help your project.

RFI Grows Up

According to this 1976 issue of QST magazine, in 1974 the FCC received 42,000 complaints of radio frequency interference (RFI). 38,000 of them (90%) involved interference to home-entertainment devices such as stereos and TV sets. 34,000 (89%) of were found to be due to design deficiencies in the home-electronic devices themselves. Since that time, and especially since Wi-Fi and cellphones, the potential for RFI has increased significantly. Fortunately, thanks to much more stringent compliance testing, the likelihood of interference from a commercially produced device has been reduced, but the sheer volume of stuff spewing some level of RF energy has raised the overall noise floor in heavily populated regions around the world. Concurrently - and also fortunately - technology advances in filtering, oscillator frequency stability, shielding, and modulation schemes...

Many Thanks to San Francisco Circuits for Continued Support!

SF Circuits' specialty is in the complex, advanced technology of PCB fabrication and assembly, producing high quality multi-layered PCBs from elaborate layouts. With them, you receive unparalleled technical expertise at competitive prices as well as the most progressive solutions available. Their customers request PCB production that is outside the capabilities of normal circuit board providers. Please take a moment to visit San Francisco Circuits today. "Printed Circuit Fabrication & Assembly with No Limit on Technology or Quantity."

PCBONLINE Blog: Comprehensive Guide to SMT Stencils

PCBONLINE, a global high-end PCB manufacturer servicing electronics manufacturing (EMS) customers in defense, aerospace, medical, and other high-end industries, has posted a technical blog entitled, "Comprehensive Guide to SMT Stencils." It answers questions about what are SMT (Surface Mount Technology) and SMT stencils and what are they used for, where do you get SMT stencils for PCB assembly, what are the different types of SMT stencils, and how do you use SMT stencils? SMT (Surface Mount Technology) stencils are very important for PCB designing and manufacturing. If you can't decide which type of SMT stencil to go for and you need a detailed guide for this topic, then you're in the right place. This article will focus on every aspect of PCB stencils and by the time you reach the end...

Mac's Radio Service Shop: Mac and Free Estimates

I always learn something new with each episode of "Mac's Radio Service Shop," but not necessarily related to electronics. Such is the case in this 1950 issue of Radio & Television News magazine where after Mac gives Barney a quick lesson in how to determine a transformer's winding turns ratio when needing to create an impedance match circuit. He then, while discussing whether 'free' repair estimates are truly free or of any real value at all, he uses the phrase 'a horse on you.' Maybe it is because I don't frequent bars that I had never heard that, but after a little research I now know it refers to a bar dice game called 'Horse.' 'A horse on you' is when you lose the final round of a 2-out-of-3 challenge. 'A horse apiece' is when you and your opponent...

ConductRF LSA Series of Flexible RF Cable Assemblies to 18 GHz

ConductRF LSA series of Low Loss, Performance flexible RF Cable Assemblies, provide microwave system designers with a versatile solution for most applications. Offered is a solution for 0.086" diameter cable that facilitates greater flexibility and handling or, 0.141" diameter that exploits the same great performance but with almost half the loss. Connector options include SMA, Type-N, TNC & SMP that provide excellent VSWR between DC and 18GHz, also solutions for MCX & SMB are available in a wide array of configurations. These assemblies are built using our own double shielded, FEP jacketed cable, that was developed specifically for performance solutions. With shielding effectiveness exceeding 90 dB through 18 GHz...

Beam Propagation mm-Wave Directed Energy Weapons

"Comparing the relatively simple Fraunhofer or 'far field' approximation commonly used in radar and high-powered microwave systems with the more complex near field propagation model based on the field equivalence principle demonstrates which approach achieves reasonable modeling fidelity with minimal compute power. Modeling and Simulation can be used to explore the design trade space of directed energy weapons. M&S can be particularly helpful when that trade space is influenced by a large number of parameters and when acquiring field data to explore those parameters requires a large amount of resources. One example involves the Active Denial Technology system, a non-lethal, counter-personnel..."

Please Thank RF Superstore for Their Continued Support

RF Superstore launched in 2017, marking the return of Murray Pasternack, founder of Pasternack Enterprises, to the RF and microwave Industry. Pasternack fundamentally changed the way RF components were sold. Partner Jason Wright manages day-to-day operations, while working closely with Mr. Pasternack to develop RF Superstore into a world class RF and microwave component supplier. RF coaxial connectors & adapters, coaxial cable & cable assemblies, surge protectors, attenuators. Items added daily. Free shipping on orders over $25. We're leading the way again!

Engineering Themed Crossword Puzzle for September 27th

September 27th's custom Engineering themed crossword puzzle contains only only words from my custom-created lexicon related to engineering, science, mathematics, chemistry, physics, astronomy, etc. (1,000s of them). 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. The technically inclined cruciverbalists amongst us will appreciate the effort...

Microwaves - Receiving and Transmitting Antennas

This is the eighth and final installment on a "Microwaves" series of articles in Radio-Electronics magazine by author C.W. Palmer. Each part is a stand-alone tutorial that does not rely on previous parts to be useful. Unlike most of the preceding articles that dealt in one way or another with waveguide, this final one concerns "receiving and transmitting antennas for microwave communication." It touches lightly on various types of antennas, field patterns, impedance matching, and applications. If you've been around for a while, you've likely seen it all before, but there are some nice photos of antennas designed and deployed by Bell Telephone Laboratories for their nationwide microwave telephone relay network. Bell Labs has done a lot of ground-breaking research in all aspects of communications technology...

Power Electronics with Microscopic Plumbing Saves Lots of Money

"Designing semiconductor circuits hand-in-hand with microfluidic cooling systems could mean huge boosts in efficiency. The heat generated by today's densely-packed electronics is a costly resource drain. To keep systems at the right temperature for optimal computational performance, data center cooling in the U.S. consumes the as much energy and water as all the residents of the city of Philadelphia. Now, by integrating liquid cooling channels directly into semiconductor chips, researchers hope to reduce that drain at least in power electronics devices, making them smaller, cheaper and less energy-intensive. Traditionally, the electronics and the heat management system are designed and made separately..."

Many Thanks for Alliance Test Equipment's Support!

Alliance Test Equipment sells used / refurbished test equipment and offers short- and long-term rentals. They also offer repair, maintenance and calibration. Prices discounted up to 80% off list price. Agilent/HP, Tektronix, Anritsu, Fluke, R&S and other major brands. A global organization with ability to source hard to find equipment through our network of suppliers. Alliance Test will purchase your excess test equipment in large or small lots. Blog posts offer advice on application and use of a wide range of test equipment. Please visit Allied Test Equipment today to see how they can help your project.

Quickly Assess Coax Cable Shielding Quality

Kenneth Wyatt has a good article on the EDN website entitled, "Quickly Assess Relative Coax-Cable-Shielding Quality." It begins: "Testing most products for radiated emissions usually requires all I/O and power cables to be attached to the equipment under test (EUT) and spread out in accordance with the specific product standard. In many cases, we test engineers simply grab the nearest cables and hope for the best during the compliance test. Unfortunately, poor-quality cables can lead to emissions failures due to poor shielding or poor shield termination (via 'pigtails') to the connectors. In an earlier article, I related the issue of HDMI cable radiation due to shield pigtails. I also graphically demonstrate why cable shield pigtails lead to radiated emissions in the video. In addition to the shield pigtail issue, coax cables..."

WWV Offers Additional Services

WWV is the oldest continuously-operating radio station in the U.S. since first going on the air from Washington, D.C. in May 1920. It moved around an area near D.C. for a few years before being relocated to its current location in Boulder, Colorado, in 1966. WWVB, another time standard transmitter, had already been established in Boulder a few years earlier. Sister station WWVH is located in Hawaii. The National Bureau of Standards (NBS) was renamed National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 1988, nearly a century after its inception in 1890. Having grown up not too far from Beltsville, Maryland, I remember driving by their main campus when the NBS sign was still on the lawn. The decision to change the name never did make sense, but then most of what government bureaucrats do perplex me...