Here’s one just for fun. Unfortunately modern microwaves employ a stirrer or agitator so you don’t see standing waves or resonance patterns. I find it remarkable how uniform the fields are. Hat Tip: Neatorama
Electromagnetics
174 posts
Here are a few RTLS and wireless updates: UWB RTLS vendor Ubisense raised £5M to fund expansion. And 50 Ubisense tags are available on eBay with a starting bid of $9.99. Another UWB RTLS vendor, decaWave, was honored for “best technology development” at a tradeshow. It’s Nearly Time for Near-Field […]
Here are a few Thanksgiving day updates on full-body scanners: See My Helical Tryst: TSA X-ray backscatter body scanner safety report: hide your kids, hide your wife for an in depth analysis from a biochemist on the radiation dose from x-ray backscatter scanners. He reiterates the critical point that safety […]
This post extends on my post of last week: How Full-Body Scanners Work – and Fail The aim of this post is to explain x-ray backscatter scanning in further detail by examining a few of the patents that describe how x-ray backscatter full-body scanners work. In order to receive a […]
It’s been tough to keep up with all the news on body scanning developments. Here are a few items from the last few days: Your Morning Cup Of TSA Horror – The Consumerist. Representative Holt Continues to Question Science, Effectiveness of TSA Full Body Scanners. Hat Tip: Mark Frauenfelder, BoingBoing […]
Bruce Schneier Interview – Security Theater and the TSA – Popular Mechanics. Hat Tip: Glenn Reynolds.
http://bit.ly/dtNTAy Also, the Electronic Privacy Information Center maintains an updated news page on the subject.
Today’s post is a mix of recent updates and older background posts on full-body scanners. Kevin Poulsen writes in Wired that New York City may forbid TSA from using body scanners at New York airports, including JFK. There’s a summary on full-body scanners in New Scientist. Here’s an older piece […]
TSA has been introducing full-body scanners to perform a virtual strip search of air travelers. Although technically travelers have the right to opt out, the TSA discourages this behavior with aggressive and invasive pat-down searches. Initially, TSA denied punitive pat-down searches. Then they acknowledged testing a “more aggressive pat-down technique.” […]
John Brandon, writing at Digital Trends, features my company, The Q-Track Corporation, as one of “Six tech start-ups that could change the way we live.” Q-Track’s Near-Field Electromagnetic Ranging technology provides the “indoor GPS” to bring location awareness to the most difficult industrial RF propagation environments. The piece is a […]
Steven J. Crowley once again has an update on Experimental License Applications before the FCC. A couple of highlights include: “Zimmerman Associates filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for special temporary authority to test the capability of using a full polarimetric UWB radar system for identifying roadside bombs and improvised […]
Courtesy Science@NASA, Author: Dr. Tony Phillips “Every hundred years or so, a solar storm comes along so potent it fills the skies of Earth with blood-red auroras, makes compass needles point in the wrong direction, and sends electric currents coursing through the planet’s topsoil. The most famous such storm, the […]
Ultra-wideband (UWB) data products are coming to market at last. Last month, Alereon (Facebook, Twitter) announced that their UWB “NoWire(TM)” technology will be used in Imation’s Wireless Video/Audio Extender providing an up to 220Mbps link. Here’s a review. Alereon chips will also power Toshiba’s Wireless Dynadock W20. Now, Alereon’s competitors […]
A few updates: The FCC has granted Garmin’s request for an extension of the waiver allowing transmission of digital GPS coordinate data on GMRS. Hat Tip: Steven J. Crowley Trimble acquired RFID vendor ThingMagic. Hat Tip: VeryFields RFID GS1 Hong Kong announced the winners of the Hong Kong RFID Awards […]
Spread-spectrum and ultra-wideband (UWB) technology arose during the Second World War. Actress Hedy Kiesler Markey (better known by her screen name, Hedy Lamarr) and George Antheil invented a frequency-hopping secret communication system. [1] The Figure below shows their frequency hopping transmitter. A record tape encodes a unique coding pattern to […]
Previously on ÆtherCzar, I’ve discussed the aspect of antennaphobia that compels cell phone antenna towers to be hidden so antennaphobes don’t realize they are there. Botanist Wayne Armstrong provides an extensive field guide to these cell phone “trees.” Now there are additional extensive collections of cell phone “tree” photos from […]
Mitchell Lazarus over at CommsLaw Blog notes that although the FCC’s final UWB authorization is set to take effect November 12, determined opponents may yet ask the FCC to reconsider. If (as seems likely) the FCC rejects their petition, opponents may pursue an appeal through the courts. Here’s a lengthy […]
It was a busy week to have been out on vacation. Here are some RTLS and Location-Based Services links to help get caught up: My employer, NFER® RTLS vendor Q-Track, unveiled an updated website, took second place in the Global Security Challenge, West Coast Final, and was featured in RFID […]
Here are some updates: Not only does Steve Crowley have his monthly review of experimental license applications at the FCC, he also draws attention to a review of the proportion of lawyers, economists, and engineers at the FCC compared to other country’s telecommunications regulatory bodies. MP Antenna partners with TESSCO […]
Some Georgia Tech and University of Washington researchers have developed a scheme to use home wiring as an antenna for low power sensors operating at 27MHz. Patel’s team has devised a way to use copper electrical wiring as a giant antenna to receive wireless signals at a set frequency. A […]
In 1898, Sir Oliver Lodge (1851-1940) patented the first syntonic or tuned radio system. Ironically, the very patent that inaugurated this fundamental concept of narrow-band, frequency-domain radio also disclosed some of the first ultra-wideband (UWB) antennas: As charged surfaces or capacity areas, spheres or square plates or any other metal […]
This piece from Popular Mechanics on the evolution and development of the Leatherman Tool inspired me to draft this post about the evolution of one of my UWB antenna designs from conception, through prototyping, and finally to production. This paper describes the end result, and the design is covered in […]
Technically this is more about antenna maintenance than design and engineering, but let’s not quibble. The video embedded below shows climbers ascending a 1768 ft antenna tower explaining the features of the antenna design. I feel acrophobic just watching it. But talk about a workplace with a view – in […]
A few quick updates, while I recover from Wireless Wednesday on Twitter: New Scientist explains the history of complex numbers in a fascinating piece, “Putting the ‘i’ in iPods.” But since the iPod is more an accomplishment of engineering instead of physics, shouldn’t it be called the” jPod?” To learn […]