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Spectrum Receives Patent for Broadband Antenna

Spectrum Control, Inc.'s Spectrum Advanced Specialty Products Business Segment has applied for and received a patent (pending) for their next generation harsh environment broadband antenna. In addition to the patented design, the new antenna incorporates multiple proprietary technologies to operate in extremely harsh environmental conditions. Its broad frequency range addresses many major applications such as GPS, RFID, Cellular and Wi-Fi plus others within the frequency band.

Dick Southworth, Spectrum Control's president and CEO, commented, "Our innovative technologists have succeeded in developing this new and exciting antenna, which has already provided new market opportunities for our company. Market acceptance of the new antenna has been outstanding and we anticipate significant new orders in the coming months. This product, like others, reinforces our strategy of investing in R&D to generate organic growth with custom application-specific solutions."

Laird Chosen by Enfotrace to Supply Stealth II Device

Laird Technologies, Inc. of St. Louis, Missouri, a global leader in the design and supply of customized, performance-critical components for wireless products and advanced electronics, has been awarded a supply contract to provide the new Stealth II GPS tracking device to Trackn powered by Enfotrace of Irvine, California.

The Stealth II is a self-contained GPS and cellular-based tracking device that can quickly and effectively locate any vehicle or mobile asset. The device is the smallest of its kind available in the market. Key product features include starter immobilizer, remote door unlock, no external antennas, vehicle location 24/7, alarm reporting, speed notification, electronic fencing, and ease of installation.

"Laird Technologies is a valued partner for Enfotrace. Their presence as a Tier One manufacturer, combined with our leading-edge design of the Stealth II, ensures above-industry standards and performance for location-based services," said Ken Wiesner, executive member of Enfotrace.

Emrise Receives $3 Million Order for RF Devices

Emrise Corp. of Rancho Cucamonga, California, a multi-national manufacturer of defense and aerospace electronic devices and communications equipment, has received an additional order in excess of $3 million for RF devices used in radio-controlled improvised explosive device (RCIED) jamming systems for the U.S. military. The order, part of a major program, was received from a large, existing customer. Shipment is expected to be completed by the end of June.

RCIED jamming systems are designed to prevent the detonation of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). IEDs wound or kill thousands of people in military conflicts and terrorist attacks around the world.

The order was received by the company's advanced control components subsidiary that was acquired by Emrise in August 2008, and is a follow-on from one of ACC's customers involved in supplying RCIED jamming systems to the U.S. military. ACC develops and supplies a wide variety of RF and microwave devices, including RF devices to support RCIED jamming systems.

This order brings the total value of orders received for RF devices used in life-saving RCIED jamming systems to more than $7 million since ACC was acquired last August.

IEEE Names Kibble Recipient of Keithley Award

Kibble

Bryan Kibble has been chosen by the IEEE as this year's recipient of the Joseph F. Keithley Award in Instrumentation and Measurement. Kibble, who worked for the Division of Electrical Science at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, Middlesex, U.K., prior to his retirement, is being recognized for his work in pioneering experiments and techniques in the field of fundamental electrical metrology, which led to the realization of the International System of Units.

Sponsored by Keithley Instruments in memory of the company's founder, the award is presented for outstanding contribution in the field of electrical measurement. It consists of a bronze medal, a certificate, and an honorarium.

Criteria considered by the award's IEEE Evaluation Committee include innovation or development, social value, uniqueness of concept, other technical accomplishments, and the quality of the nomination. The award is administered through the Technical Field Award Council of the IEEE Awards Board and is independent of Keithley Instruments.

Harris to Honor Richard Buckley with Fellow Award

Richard Buckley has been named the 2009 recipient of the Harris Fellow Award, the highest recognition for engineering achievement at Harris Corp. Buckley, a senior scientist with Harris RF Communications division in Rochester, New York, was presented with the award at the company's annual Fellows Dinner April 27.

A 25-year veteran of Harris, Buckley is being honored for his technical expertise, leadership skills, and innovative, continuous contributions in achieving and sustaining Harris Corporation's leadership in the tactical radio market. His radio communications designs have set the industry standard for multiband RF performance. In addition, Buckley is among the key technical contributors to the success of Harris Falcon II® and Falcon III® multiband manpack radios.

"Harris tactical radios have long been the solution of choice for superior performance and reliability on the battlefield," said Howard L. Lance, Harris chairman, CEO and president. "Rich's innovations in RF power amplifier technology have been invaluable in helping Harris to achieve and sustain our technical leadership position in the tactical radio market worldwide."

AR Expands Product Applications Team

Hannon

Reporting three additions to its product applications team is AR RF/Microwave Instrumentation of Souderton, Pennsylvania. Michael Hannon has been promoted to product applications engineer; Jerry Joseph and Rob Rowe have each been named product applications specialist for transient and conducted immunity test systems.

Joseph

Hannon joined AR in 2006 as a test technician. He is a graduate of Lincoln Technical Institute with an associate degree in electronics engineering. His experience includes the design and development of semi-rigid, flexible and hand-formable coaxial cable assemblies.

Joseph holds a master of science degree in electrical engineering from Lehigh University. He did his undergraduate work at The Pennsylvania State University, where he majored in electrical design engineering technology.

Rowe

Rowe, also a graduate of The Pennsylvania State University, holds a degree in both electrical engineering technology and biomedical engineering technology. Rowe also brings three decades of industry experience to his position at AR.

As product line applications specialists, Rowe and Joseph will provide product applications support to customers, along with being responsible for technical training, technical writing, and guidance for product development for AR RF/Microwave Instrumentation's transient and conducted immunity products.

Navy to Continue Development of EM Launch System

Reuters reports that the U.S. Navy has opted to allow General Atomics to continue work on its electromagnetic aircraft launching system (EMALS), slated for installation onboard the USS Gerald R. Ford. The aircraft carrier, built by Northrop Grumman, is slated to enter service in 2015.

Lieutenant Commander Victor Chen said EMALS "promises to lower overall life-cycle costs, require less maintenance than steam catapults and generate less physical stress on carrier-based aircraft." However, a recent GAO review of the program identified several concerns, including cost-overrun risks and technical problems.

Specifically, the GAO said the Navy may not know whether EMALS works as promised until at least seven months after the first components of the system are installed onboard the Gerald R. Ford. By that time, it would be too late to install a steam-based catapult system, at least not without significant redesigns and delays.

The GAO termed EMALS one of the highest risk factors in keeping work on the new carrier on schedule.

Tektronix Names Amir Aghdaei President

Aghdaei

Tektronix named a new president on May 1, Amir Aghdaei. He replaces Jim Lico, who has run the Beaverton, Oregon company since Danaher Corp. bought Tektronix.

Lico remains a Danaher vice president overseeing its test-and-measurement business, which includes Tektronix and Everett, Washington-based Fluke Corp.

Aghdaei holds an engineering degree from the University of Iran and a masters degrees from the University of Delaware and Georgia State University. He comes to Tek from Fluke, and before that spent seven years as general manager of Agilent's measurement systems business, based in Singapore.

Electromagnetic Hybrid Vehicle

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, former Microsoft chief technology officer Nathan Myhrvold, and other entrepreneurs are working on an electromagnetic engine that turns mechanical energy directly into electricity.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a patent application describing an internal combustion engine that "converts mechanical energy of a piston to and from electrical energy during each piston cycle" submitted in October 2007 by Searette LLC, part of Intellectual Ventures, a Bellevue, Washington company launched in 2000 to buy and license patents. Gates is listed as one of 10 inventors on the application.

The patent application outlines several different options for configuring such an electromagnetic engine. Among them: using internal combustion of some sort of fuel (which the patent application refers to as a reactant) to move a piston equipped with a magnet to generate electric current, or using electrical current to move the magnet (as well as the piston), or both. As Fast Company puts it, this is possibly a blueprint for a "hybrid engine without the need for two discrete drivetrains, as with today's hybrids."

Schaffner Appoints Bellero, Forms PQ Group

Bellero

Schaffner of Edison, New Jersey, has named Ken Bellero as vice president of sales for the newly formed Electronics Group, responsible for all of the Americas.

Bellero will supervise several aspects of the new group activities including those performed by the application engineers, the distribution sales manager and the customer service group. He will manage all of the electronic representatives and distribution.

A 10-year veteran of Schaff- ner, Bellero previously served as the company's regional manager and manager of customer service. Prior to joining Schaffner, he was with Newark Electronics as well as Alpha Wire and Cable. Bellero holds a bachelor's degree in commun-ications from Kean University.

Schaffner EMC Inc. has formed the Power Quality (PQ) Group to address the growing industrial market for high current and three-phase filters as well as the newly introduced passive and active harmonic filters, which are experiencing rapidly growing demand.

Gillis Mellen, president of Schaffner EMC, will oversee the PQ Group, which is aimed at establishing new channels to market to and address the automation and controls industry. Mellen will also retain his full responsibilities for Schaffner EMC.

Facility Granted NVLAP Accreditation

Retlif's Harleysville, Pennsylvania facility has been fully assessed by the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

This multi-day, on-site assessment covered all areas of laboratory operations, both administrative and technical, in accordance with ISO/IEC Standard 17025:2005. Fulfillment of this standard means the laboratory meets both the technical competence requirements and management system requirements that are necessary for it to consistently deliver technically valid test results and calibrations. The management system requirements in ISO/IEC 17025:2005 (Section 4) are written in language relevant to laboratory operations and meet the principles of ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management Systems — Requirements and are aligned with its pertinent requirements.

This assessment has resulted in the Harleysville facility being granted NVLAP accreditation, NVLAP Lab Code: 200815-0. The scope of this accreditation includes, but is not limited to: 1) All test methods of MIL-Std-461 A, B, C, D, E and F; 2) All EMC test methods of RTCA/DO-160 A, B, C, D, E and F; 3) All relevant IEC, CISPR and EN test methods in order to support Retlif's designation as a Conformity Assessment Body (the US equivalent of a European Notified Body) under the EMC and R&TTE Directives; 4) ANSI C63.4 to support manufacturers self declaration of conformity under FCC Part 15; 5) SAE J1113, Automotive EMC standards; and 6) AS/NZS, CNS, BSMI and BSMI standards to support manufacturers exports to APEC trading partners.

EM Bombs for Future Warfare

An ElectroMagnetic Pulse (EMP) bomb which has multiplied the destructive potential of electromagnetic energy could dominate future warfare, according to an Indian scientist. In a paper on Emerging Trends in Airborne Defence Technologies, Sreenath Bhat has said the EMP bomb generates a broadband, high intensity, low duration burst of magnetic energy which disrupts or damages electronic equipment miles from the explosion.

In a paper published in DRDO Science Spectrum 2009, Bhat said the high intensity EMP can be generated using a nuclear explosion at high altitudes. Although the electric field created from an EMP lasts for only a short time, its effects can be devastating. It is predicted that a single high altitude burst 200 miles above the U.S. could propagate an EMP enveloping the entire country.

"Electrical systems connected to conductors, wires, antennas and metal objects will suffer significant damage. EMP effects on electronics include interference of radio frequency links, irreparable damage to microcircuits and even the disabling of satellites. Thus, the EMP bomb could be the super weapon of the future which could paralyse the enemy in a matter of a few seconds. Pentagon has predicted the use of EMP bombs by 2012," the paper said.

SIL 2 Compliant Safety Trip Alarm

Moore Industries has introduced the STA Safety Trip Alarm. Part of the company's FS Functional Safety Series, the STA is certified to IEC 61508: Parts 1, 2 and 3 by TÜV Rheinland for single use in safety instrumented systems up to SIL 2. The firmware is suitable for a SIL 3 system. This allows the STA to be used in a redundant architecture.

The alarm performs as a logic solver and acts on potentially hazardous process conditions; warns of unwanted process conditions; provides emergency shutdown; or provides on/off control in safety instrumented systems and traditional alarm trip applications.

The four-wire (line/mains-powered) STA accepts a signal input from transmitters, temperature sensors, resistance and potentiometer devices, and a wide range of other monitoring and control equipment.

It provides three fail-safe alarm outputs. Two configurable process alarms trip when monitored process variables fall outside of user-set high and/or low limits. Providing extensive self- and external diagnostics, the third alarm will trip if internally-diagnosed faults and external faults, such as loss of sensor or bad quality input, occur.

For more information, visit
www.miinet.com.

Portable Oscilloscope Wins Product of the Year

Agilent Technologies' U1253A handheld OLED digital multimeter has won Electrical Construction & Maintenance (EC&M) magazine's Product of the Year in the Portable Test and Measurement category.

The award, selected by editors, recognizes the leading-edge innovation of the U1253A in the electrical, industrial and commercial/institutional facilities. A world's first, the multimeter provides crystal-clear viewing indoors, a high contrast ratio of 2000:1, even in dark, off-angle situations.

"This win further underlines Agilent's com-mitment to delivering superior value in our handheld instruments," said Ee Huel Sin, vice president and general manager of Agilent's Basic Instruments Division. "And with the U1253A, testing becomes more pleasant and convenient, both on the go and on the bench."

Field engineers and technicians worldwide are asking for measurement instruments that can be easily transported and have three key attributes: mobility, accuracy and affordability. Looks like Agilent is answering the call.