Electronic engineering trade magazines are written and edited to keep engineers on top of the latest developments. While most articles are definitely not for radio amateurs, every once in a while, hams will find something of interest. The September 14, 2006 issue of Electronic Design is a case in point. It has three articles that amateurs will find amusing:
- “Antenna-Analyzer Designer Bypasses the Busines Bull” discusses the process that engineer Dale O’Harra, NX6S, went through to get the AntennaSmith on the market.
- “Poly-Band Mobile Broadcast Tuner Makes Adding Radio/TV a Snap” describes the Mirics Semiconductor MS1001, an RF front end that covers 100 kHz to 1.9 GHz. While designed for mobile devices, such as cell phones, it could find applications in amateur radio. I even thought about purchasing the evaluation board for this devices until I saw the price: $1,000!
- “The Elusive Software-Defined Radio” takes a shot at describing the current state of the art in SDR. Apparently, the verdict is still out as to whether it will be used widely or in just niche applications.
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