Mr. Vacuum Tube: RADIO XLII An Indoor Old Radio Flea Market in West...

Mr. Vacuum Tube: RADIO XLII An Indoor Old Radio Flea Market in West...: "Here it is, the biggest antique radio swap meet in new england, coming up on Feb 20! For more info please download the flyer. RADIO XLII An ..."

Mr. Vacuum Tube: Winner of the 2011 IAP Radar Course SAR imaging co...

Mr. Vacuum Tube: Winner of the 2011 IAP Radar Course SAR imaging co...: "Tony Hyun Kim, Nevada Sanchez, and Paresh Malalur have won the SAR imaging contest for the 2011 MIT IAP radar course. Their winning SAR i..."

Upcoming AP-S Talk: Multiple-Beam Planar Lens Antenna Prototype

Greetings AP-S. We hope the new year is treating you well thus far.

The IEEE AP-S is excited to inform you about an upcoming seminar entitled, "Multiple-Beam Planar Lens Antenna Prototype." This seminar is based on work by Paul Elliot and Dr. Kiersten C. Kerby from MITRE Corporation.

Paul Elliot is a Lead Engineer at the MITRE Corporation in Bedford, Massachusetts. He works on antennas for communications, navigation, and radar.

Dr. Kiersten C. Kerby is a Senior Engineer at MITRE Corporation, where she develops antennas for radar and other applications.

The seminar will be held on Wednesday January 26th at 6PM and located at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory A-Cafe, 244 Wood Street, Lexington, MA. For directions please see: http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/map.html.

For more details, please visit:
http://www.ieeeboston.org/org/subgroups/antennas_propagation.html

Please invite friends and colleagues to this event. The seminar and discussion should be quite interesting and fulfilling. We look forward to seeing you there.

Christy F. Cull, AP-S

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ABSTRACT
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A new low-height X/Ku-band (8.2-12.2 GHz) antenna was designed, built and tested which provides full 360 degree coverage around azimuth using multiple beams, covering the low elevation angles with peak gain of 12 dBi at 10 GHz. Computer modeling showed that about 18 dBi gain can also be achieved using this type of lens. The antenna shape is circular and flat with feed ports in a circle near the periphery. Switching between beams is accomplished by switching between beam ports. The prototype antenna built was 13.3 cm diameter by 1.56 cm high, which is approximately 41⁄2 wavelengths wide by 1⁄2 wavelengths thick at 10 GHz. The weight was 259g. Each feed port drives a small monocone to feed the lens, which radiates a beam close to endfire on the opposite side from the driven feed port. This flat lens antenna is extremely wideband and radiates a leaky wave from the surface of the beamforming lens, so it combines the functions of beamformer and planar radiating aperture into one structure, thereby achieving lower height and weight and simpler construction than other antenna types with 360° coverage.

Attention MIT Students: Build a Small Radar System Capable of Sensing Range, Doppler, and Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging

A great opportunity for MIT undergrad and graduate students to enroll in the 2011 IAP course:

Build a Small Radar System Capable of Sensing Range, Doppler, and Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging
Dr. Gregory L. Charvat, Mr. Jonathan H. Williams & Dr. Alan J. Fenn, Dr. Stephen M. Kogon, Dr. Jeffrey S. Herd
Mon Jan 10, Fri Jan 14, 21, Mon Jan 24, Fri Jan 28, 10am-12:00pm, 56-114

Enrollment limited: advance sign up required (see contact below)
Signup by: 07-Jan-2011
Limited to 24 participants.
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)
Prereq: Participants supply their own laptop with MATLAB installed

Are you interested in building and testing your own imaging radar system? MIT Lincoln Laboratory is offering a course in the design, fabrication, and testing of a laptop-based radar sensor capable of measuring Doppler, range, and forming synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. You do not have to be a radar engineer but it helps if you are interested in any of the following; electronics, amateur radio, physics, or electromagnetics. It is recommended that you have some familiarity with MATLAB. Teams of three will receive a radar kit and will attend a total of 5 sessions spanning topics from the fundamentals of radar to SAR imaging. Experiments will be performed each week as the radar kit is implemented. You will bring your radar kit into the field and perform additional experiments such as measuring the speed of passing cars or plotting the range of moving targets. A final SAR imaging contest will test your ability to form a SAR image of a target scene of your choice from around campus, the most detailed and most creative image wins.
Contact: Dr. Gregory L. Charvat, (781) 981-3122, gregory.charvat@ll.mit.edu

Slides from Monday Dec 6, 2010 meeting with John Volakis on 'Small Wideband and Conformal Metamaterial Antennas and Arrays,'

Hi everyone,

Please find the slides from our Monday Dec 6 meeting with John Volakis on 'Small Wideband and Conformal Metamaterial Antennas and Arrays,' here.

Have a great Holliday,

Greg, Chair AP-S Boston Chapter

Metamaterials for Miniaturization of Narrowband and Ultra-Wideband Antennas

Please join the IEEE AP-S Boston Chapter for a special holiday seminar from distinguished lecturer John Volakis, Director of the legendary OSU Electro-Science Laboratory at Ohio State University.

Volakis will present his research on "Metamaterials for miniaturization of narrowband and ultra-wideband antennas."

This talk will be held on Monday December 6, at 6pm in the
MIT Lincoln Laboratory A-Café, 244 Wood Street, Lexington, MA. For directions please see: http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/map.html

For details, please visit:
http://www.ieeeboston.org/org/subgroups/antennas_propagation.html

Please feel free to invite your friends, it is sure to be an enjoyable
evening full of radar, antenna, signal processing, and sensing
discussions.

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ABSTRACT
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It is well-recognized that materials design holds promise in developing novel antennas that are much smaller and allow greater multi-functionality than ever before. Such needs stem from the unprecedented growth of wireless communications and related research that is highly fueled by growth in commercial and defense multi-band and high bandwidth future communication systems. This presentation will discuss how modified materials, inductive/capacitive lumped loads and low loss magnetic materials/crystals (Metamaterials) are impacting antenna design with the goal of overcoming miniaturization challenges (viz. bandwidth and gain reduction, multi-functionality etc.). Dielectric design and texturing has, for example, led to significant size reduction and higher bandwidth for low frequency antennas. Also, recent magnetic photonic crystals (MPCs) and non magnetic versions of these crystals hold a promise for antenna/array miniaturization. Formal design methods incorporating local, global or hybrid optimizers for antenna and their radio frequency (RF) applications will play a critical role in materials design. Practical realizations of these new materials are poised to challenge computational and design methods for a variety of RF applications.

Upcoming AP-S Boston Talks December-March

Hi Everyone,

Here is a list of the lineup of talks we have for you from December to March. We are looking forward to this winter season of learning new things about electromagnetics and more fascinating discussions with authors. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Greg, Chair AP-S Boston Chapter.

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December 6, 2010, 6pm at MIT/LL main cafe.
A special AP-S, AES, GRSS holiday meeting with the world famous John
Volakis, Director of the legendary OSU Electro Science Laboratory.
John will present a lecture to us about: Metamaterials for
Miniaturization of Narrowband and Ultra-Wideband Antennas. For more
information:
http://www.ieeeboston.org/org/subgroups/antennas_propagation.html

January 26, 2011, 6pm at the MIT/LL main cafe.
Paul G. Elliot and Kiersten C. Kerby from the MITRE Corporation will
present their fascinating work on a MULTIPLE-BEAM PLANAR LENS ANTENNA
PROTOTYPE.
ABSTRACT — A new low-height X/Ku-band (8.2-12.2 GHz) antenna was
designed, built and tested which provides full 360 degree coverage
around azimuth using multiple beams, covering the low elevation angles
with peak gain of 12 dBi at 10 GHz. Computer modeling showed that
about 18 dBi gain can also be achieved using this type of lens. The
antenna shape is circular and flat with feed ports in a circle near
the periphery. Switching between beams is accomplished by switching
between beam ports. The prototype antenna built was 13.3 cm diameter
by 1.56 cm high, which is approximately 41⁄2 wavelengths wide by 1⁄2
wavelengths thick at 10 GHz. The weight was 259g. Each feed port
drives a small monocone to feed the lens, which radiates a beam close
to endfire on the opposite side from the driven feed port. This flat
lens antenna is extremely wideband and radiates a leaky wave from the
surface of the beamforming lens, so it combines the functions of
beamformer and planar radiating aperture into one structure, thereby
achieving lower height and weight and simpler construction than other
antenna types with 360° coverage.

Feb 23, 2011, 6pm at MIT/LL main cafe.
The world famous Eli Brookner will present his 2010 IEEE Intl.
Symposium on Phased Array Sys. & Tech Plenary Session talk, Never
Ending Saga of Phased Array Breakthroughs. This is a must-see for
those of you who want a briefing on the state of the art phased array
technology as of this fall.
Abstract
• 3, 4, 6 face “Aegis” systems developed by China, Japan, Australia,
Netherlands, USA • Israel and Australia “Aegis” AESAs have an A/D at
every element, a major breakthrough.
• GaN advancing rapidly. Will be helped by use for PCs, notebooks,
cell phones, servers. • Extreme MMIC: 4 X-band T/Rs on 1 SiGe chip for
DARPA ISIS program; goal <$10/TR.
• Raytheon funding development of low cost flat panel X- band array
using COTS type PCB. • MA-COM/Lincoln-Lab. development of low cost S-
band flat panel array using PCB, overlapped subarrays and a T/R switch
instead of a circulator.
• Purdue Un. developing S-band low cost Digital Array Radar; GaN PA
and A/D at every element. • Revolutionary 3-D Micromachining:
integrated circuitry for microwave components, like 16 element Ka-band
array with Butler beamformer on 13X2 cm2 chip.
• Ultra low cost 77 GHz radar on 72mm2 chip together with >8 bits 1 GS/
s A/D and 16 element array. • Valeo-Raytheon 24 GHz phased array now
available for blind spot detection in cars for just $100’s.
• Lincoln Lab using 2 W chip increases spurious free dynamic range of
receiver plus A/D by 20 dB • JPL’s SweepSAR provides wide swath SAR
from space with 1/6 th power required by ScanSAR.
• Metamaterials: 1. Can now focus 6X beyond diffraction limit at 0.38
μm – Moore’s Law marches on. 2. Used in cell phones to obtain antennas
5X smaller and have 700 MHz-2.7 GHz bandwidth. 3. Provide isolation
between closely spaced antennas and antenna elements.

March 22, 2011, 6pm at MIT/LL main cafe.
A AP-S & AES joint meeting with Duane J. Matthiesen from Technia
Consulting, who will present to us his thoughts on, Efficient Beam
Scanning, Energy Allocation, and Time Allocation for Search and
Detection.
Abstract — Recently-developed unique and innovative concepts for
efficient radar search and detection are reviewed. These results
provide answers to the two fundamental search questions: (1) Where
should the radar beam point during the next increment of search effort
(energy and time)? (2) How much radar effort should be expended
during the next increment of search effort? These results provide the
most efficient allocation of radar search effort in both space and
time which maximizes target detection performance and minimizes radar
search energy and time. Typical savings of several dB of radar
power-aperture product and/or expected (average) detection time are
obtained. These new techniques are practical and can be used in the
next generation of radars with agile beams and variable-energy search
waveforms. Furthermore, the problem formulation and solution are
very general, so these search and detection techniques developed for
radar can also be applied to other both active (transmitting and
receiving) and passive (receive only) electronic sensors: optical,
IR, UV, sonar, seismic, passive RF, astronomy, etc.