Ingegneri delle RF e Microonde soddisfatti... negli USA !

Leggo i risultati del "2015 Engineering Salary Survey" effettuato negli USA e scopro che "In general, the RF/microwave industry appears to look positive, with 88.3% of respondents saying they are satisfied in their current position. Engineers also reported an average base salary of $100,657, with 66.7% saying they felt adequately compensated for their work.... Engineers remain well compensated for their innovative and challenging work—and with a generally high level of job satisfaction, the profession should remain strong for the foreseeable future."

Non posso fare a meno di fare un confronto con la situazione deprimente del nostro Paese, dove i ruoli tecnici sono sistematicamente mortificati a beneficio di quelli gestionali, con "manager" che gestiscono tecnologie che credono di capire...

Per approfondire cliccare qui.

3..2...1...we have lift off !

The Alphasat satellite was launched yesterday, and it is now in orbit. For those of you who missed the moment, here is the video of the launch (click here).

The activities with the experimental payloads will start in few months.

Countdown is progressing...

 
Follow the launch of Alphasat in real time, tomorrow evening:
 
Alphasat is ready to go..click here to follow the launch..
 

Signals from space

On 25 July 2013 (keep fingers crossed) ESA will launch the new ‘Alphasat' satellite, the largest European telecom satellite ever built. One of the payloads is dedicated to radio propagation experiments at Ka (20 GHz) and Q (40 GHz) band; this research activity will be coordinated by our research group at Politecnico di Milano. Space, the last frontier...

(Courtesy of ESA)

 Read more on:  http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Telecommunications_Integrated_Applications/Alphasat

It's a tough job

You can say it loud, working on antennas is a tough, tough job....

Plasma antennas

Well, I must admit I didn't know anything about plasma antennas since I read about them recently in the "Microwaves&Rf" magazine (www.mwrf.com).

From the magazine: "The plasma in these antennas is essentially a blend of electrons, ions, and neutrons. When the density of the plasma is high enough, an electromagnetic (EM) wave will travel on its surface rather than deep into it. The plasma will exhibit the properties of a conductor, serving as an antenna for transmitting and receiving signals. Consequently, a plasma column can be used as a radiative element in place of a metallic conductor. The plasma becomes conductive when energized by an RF source, and nonconductive once the source is removed." (i.e. the antenna just "disappears" like magic).

You can find the full story at: http://mwrf.com/passive-components/analyze-rcs-plasma-antenna

 

Everything started...

This is my first post to this "brand new" blog devoted to Antennas and Radiowave propagation...  those are weird topics, uh ?  Ok, I feel that some history is needed to put things into perspective.

Everything started (as it often happens) when I was a teenager (late 70s); at that time I was absolutely fascinated by the magic of long-range radio communications; there were no satellite TV and no Internet, and the only way to get out of your small world was to use a shortwave radio. I was so fascinated that I eventually got a radioamateur license (with the callsign IK7GDP first, that became IZ2EAS later), license that I still hold.

My interest in radio communications led me to pursue a professional career in the field; I enrolled at Politecnico di Milano as a freshman in 1983 and (like in Eagles' "Hotel California") I never managed to get out of that place. In fact, I have been working there since I graduated, teaching and doing research on.. (you guess...) antennas, radiowave propagation and electromagnetic fields.

 

It has been a long road, from there to here... stay tuned !