In one of those amazing discoveries that makes one appreciate  the thousands of years of human information (and other) technology that have led us to the internet, which, admittedly has its share of chaff, it also has some golden wheat: in this case RF Cafe, an amazing reference website which will be of great use to neophyte and expert alike, from experienced had operators to Make: Magazine readers and confirmed addicts of Instructables, by one very smart and when you’re not looking very funny electrical engineer named Kirk Blattenberger. How many bloggers can get Marconi, Johns Hopkins (he scientist, not the university named after him) onto one page and quote Chico Marx without it being a non sequitur?

Two. Us, because we told you about him, and the other is Mr. Blattenberger. For those who aren’t sure, “RF” in this context means “radio frequency.” Which  can refer to many things, depending on the context, but is the over-arching category which includes wireless communications, garage-door openers, shock collars for dogs (which, in our experience. are only rarely a good idea, but as a philosophical matter, we believe in positive reinforcement training of dogs and children and even some adults, but that’s a longer conversation for another day), two-way radios which carry voice, data, medical data, help manage air traffic control, help rescue people in all manner of situations, and even provide entertainment and education and news in more languages than we can count. Plus all manner of serious and cool remote control from Predator drones to remote control toy boats. Mr. Blattenberger has well-researched information on these topics and more, and has also written software on related topics.

He’s also got a job board;

Pages (multiple) about renewable energy resources; one generally about green energy;

another principally about photovoltaic energy (think solar turned into electricity, rather than, say, heating water);

And one entitled “Solar Power/Energy Websites;” to use Mr. Blattenberger’s own words,

Solar energy is the radiant light and heat from the Sun that has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation along with secondary solar resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass account for most of the available renewable energy on Earth. Only a minuscule fraction of the available solar energy is used.

Solar energy is the radiant light and heat from the Sun that has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation along with secondary solar resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass account for most of the available renewable energy on Earth. Only a minuscule fraction of the available solar energy is used.

RFCafe is an outstanding resource;  as we try to build our own knowledge of RF technologies and to make useful information available here on Popular Logistics, we’ll try to resist actual plagiarism and instead properly credit Mr. Blattenberger. Which may mean naming any “Radio Communications” reference pages after him.