Coaxial Connectors, Starting With The PL259

For the casual breadboard experimenter with a microcontroller and a few peripherals, there’s little concern over interconnects as a set of jumper wires will suffice. But as any radio amateur will tell you though, at higher frequencies it’s a very different affair. [Ria Jairam N2RJ] has embarked upon a series …read more

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Oliver Heaviside: Rags to Recognition, to Madness

Like any complex topic, electromagnetic theory has its own vocabulary. When speaking about dielectrics we may refer to their permittivity, and discussions on magnetic circuits might find terms like reluctance and inductance bandied about. At a more practical level, a ham radio operator might discuss the impedance of the coaxial cable used to send signals to an antenna that will then be bounced off the ionosphere for long-range communications.

It’s everyday stuff to most of us, but none of this vocabulary would exist if it hadn’t been for Oliver Heaviside, the brilliant but challenging self-taught British electrical engineer and …read more

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