As is always the case, we've been busy adding plenty of new stuff to Microwaves101. We ain't been slack, Cap'n Walker!
New for March 2024... With all the kerfuffle about the recent Alaskan Airline's Boeing 737-Max 9 losing a door plug, the situation could be a lot worse. In March 1974, Turkish Airlines flight 981 (a McDonnell Douglas DC10) lost a cargo door due to a design defect that had been reported by engineers and largely ignored by management. At 23,000 feet and a differential pressure of 5.5 psi, the door blew off over France with catastrophic results. Initially, a section of the floor was ejected with six passengers attached to it. The flight lasted another 79 seconds as pilots struggled for control, with primary and backup control cables all severed. Fifteen miles from the first debris to hit the ground, the plane crashed into a forest at 487 miles per hour. With all 335 passengers and 11 crew lives lost, this flight remains the worst single-plane crash in commercial aviation history. Because of this and other accidents, the FAA temporarily banned DC10s from US airspace in 1979. In January 1982, a World Airways DC10 skidded off the runway at Logan airport (due to ice, not a design issue), the nose broke off and two people drowned in frigid water. The Unknown Editor himself saw the crashed plane from a flight taking off a few days later, and reports that workers were painting over the airline's name on the hull (see sequence of photos on this website). DC10 production ended in 1989, and it is generally not considered a successful product line. After spending 30 years without a new airframe product, McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing in 1997. With limited IRAD spending (money spent to correct existing problems is not research) and no new designs in the works, could Boeing be following in MD's footsteps?
Meanwhile, what's new on the Microwaves101 site?
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We wrap up our four-bit MMIC phase shifter design with lessons six, seven and eight: a SPDT switch used in the 180-degree bit, the 180-degree bit itself and the four-bit design with all of the MMIC bits cascaded. Thanks for attending phase shifter college, please pay your tuition on the way out!
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Be sure to download each phase shifter lesson MWO project, they are in our download area. If you follow all of the lessons, you are eligible for a valuable Microwaves101 certificate of participation, which you can pad your resume with! We guarantee if you ever get tasked with designing a digital phase shifter, your feeble Googling efforts are going to lead you back to Microwaves101.
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We've updated our Microwave Events calendar page so you can plan all your boondoggles for the remainder of 2024.
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We've added FALCOMM to our MMIC suppliers page. This start-up has been around since 2021, and claims a new high-efficiency architecture they call dual-drive™.
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On our where-are-they-now page we have added information on Ball Aerospace, Maury Microwave, Mentor, AVX. Ball just recently sold to BAE Systems, Maury Microwave picked up Wireless Telecomm in 2023, Mentor was grabbed by Siemens in 2017, and we noted that AVX has been part of Kyocera for since 2020.
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The Microwave Mortuary has an new exhibit, an RF cable that melted due from high CW power.
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We've sent out Microwaves101 pocketknives to the following contributers...Alan, for his contribution on putrid foam disease.
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The Unknown Editor talks about electric versus gas systems, and it has nothing to do with automobiles.
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Also on our discussion board, we've always got some questions that need YOUR answers. Please try to help out our members... Like Blind Boy Fuller, Step it up and go! Here are the newest threads:
https://forum.microwaves101.com/discussion/222/ask-mtt IEEE MTT-S has a LinkedIn group that will answer your microwave questions if they decide they are worthy
https://forum.microwaves101.com/discussion/220/micrrowaves101mtt-s-ims-special-session Looks like we won't be able to do a livestream at IMS 2024, but maybe we can give away tee shirts
https://forum.microwaves101.com/discussion/214/reactive-power-combiners more thoughts on power combiners, original question has not been answered
https://forum.microwaves101.com/discussion/221/directivity a link to a great app note on directivity from Marki Microwave
Pop on over to the discussion board to register and sign in, then chime in on existing threads, or start your own topics. Our user approval process is quick and anonymous, blocks most bots, and eliminates spam by more than 99%. At least that's what the sales rep told us.
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We're always fixing typos and making corrections of one kind or another, mostly whenever one of you eagle-eyed viewers write to tell us when we've made a mistake. For this month, we fixed some mistakes on our quarterwave tricks page having to do with matching PIN diodes, thanks to Edwin. Thanks to all of our assistant editors out there!
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As always, we want you to sign up for the MW101Stuff newsletter, or submit a photo for our Microwave Mortuary. We'd love to hear from you, whether you have nice things to say about Microwaves101.com or just want to tell us how we've ruined your life.
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