Ukraine War & The Science Behind Radio Frequence

Ask an Engineer by TUFU Technology United for Ukraine (TUFU): This is our first interview with one of our engineers who volunteers his time, education, and experience using technology for Ukraine’s defense. It is important for the public to understand there is a wealth of knowledge coming from around the world by volunteers whose goal is the development of Ukraine as a power house in the defense, weapons, and technology sectors. Let’s meet our first engineer. TUFU: Please give us a little background of your education and experience in engineering. Maynard: I became interested in electronics in Jr. High and had the good fortune to take electricity and electronics classes in high school. I received a BS in electrical engineering in the 80's and worked in the quartz crystal filter industry for a few years. I went back for MS and PhD degrees in electrical and computer engineering using radio wave devices as sensors. I am presently semi-retired and consulting on projects in radio systems. TUFU: What is the science behind Radio Frequency (RF) engineering and how is it used in our daily lives? Maynard: We all think of electricity as flowing through wires, if we think about it at all. A generator pushes electrons through the wires. The force or pressure is the voltage and the flow is the current. Power is the product of flow and pressure. Electric power can turn motors, heat things, or power more complicated circuits. We use alternating current (AC), so the generators push out electrons, then pull them back. In fact, the electrons only travel a microscopic distance [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed\_of\_electricity\] but the moving electrons push other electrons down the wire and the current flows at the speed of light. If we go up in frequency we have audio frequencies (20-20,000 Hz instead of 50 or 60Hz) and if we keep going up we reach radio frequencies. Around 1,000,000 Hz (1 mega Hertz, MHz) a curious thing happens in long wires: they act like antennas and electrical energy can be launched into the air and received from it. AM radio operates around 1MHz and FM radio operates around 100MHz. Mobile phones operate in many bands from hundreds to thousands of MHz. Your radio, TV, WiFi, mobile phone and home security systems all use radio frequency communications. If you’re long in the tooth, meaning that you remember the vacuum cleaner and early remote control toys, they interfered with the AM radio and the television. Motor noise from the vacuum cleaner emitted unwanted radio waves and they interfered with the TV. I swear my sister did her chores at exactly the right time to perform early electronic warfare on my enjoyment of my TV shows and I might concede to using my RC (remote control) car during hers. On the one hand, we cleaned up the emissions from devices so they would not interfere with each other and on the other, we moved to FM ('Effff Emmmm, no static, no static at alll...") and cable television. TUFU: Can it be jammed? Can jamming be blocked? Maynard: Yes, RF can be jammed, but let’s dig into a history lesson first. So, of course radios became the cornerstone of the military. Everyone knows the Manhattan Project ended WWII, but almost as much money was spent on the quartz industry (accurate frequency references so two or more field radios could sync up quickly), sonar (to detect subs), and radar (to detect incoming bombers). It is argued that these quartz based radios won the war because they allowed coordinated battles in real time. It took no time to realize that intentionally transmitting over the radios with high power noise jammed the communications and only a little more time to outsmart these jammers. Now, let’s think back to the remote control car mentioned above. That remote control toy with a range of tens of meters in the 1970's gave way to the remote controlled helicopters and planes of the 80's and 90's. Today, we throw in Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) research into Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), technology transfer back into consumer drones, and we have the modern consumer grade drone. First taking a near-toy drone, then strapping a wireless camera (radio waves) and a grenade dropper onto it, added a very cheap, very effective fighting force with low loss of defender lives, resulting in the innovation of a force multiplier in large numbers. Again, it took no time to repurpose those radio jammers… TUFU: What drew you into the goals of TUFU helping Ukraine become a defense technology industry leader? Maynard: Donating to Jake Broe and other podcast fundraisers, while helping, wasn't getting it done in giving Ukraine an edge. When Trump seemed to be allying with Putin instead of our freedom loving allies, I looked for other ways to help end the war. Technology United For Ukraine was mentioned on Professor Gerdes' podcast. Knowing I had skills that could be taught and used for the benefit of the defense of Ukraine was all I needed. With that, I joined. TUFU: What do you see as the future of Ukraine, with the support of TUFU, in the global defense? Maynard: I see Ukraine will be a hotbed of defense RD for decades, but from the outside and through 2-3 layers between me and them, it looks like Ukraine is a consumer of RF and not an innovator. That may be my distance from those that are, but with so many kits and modules off the shelf, even the TUFU teams are favoring module connection engineering and not long RD efforts. This can change with the drive and education it takes to entrench oneself in engineering, seeing the long term developments and benefits over the short term rapidity which, unfortunately, is needed at the moment. TUFU: What advice would you give to high school and college aged students who want to become engineers in this industry for long term research and development of Ukraine’s defense? Maynard: I suggest they read the OLD books written by the people who figured it all out. Why? Because this gives the student the DEEP KNOWLEDGE basics of how it all started which I just briefly mentioned. Study the inventors and what they saw as the solutions to problems. The movie actress Hedy LaMarr was more than a Hollywood starlet, but a respected self taught engineer in her own right. There are other radio frequency research pioneers who can inspire students in the budding Ukraine technological future. New books are better presentations but they lose the information on how we figured it all out and tied it to observables. If the next generation wants to use RF (but let others do the deep work), then get circuit development kits for Long Range and other license free radio links. By experimenting and sharing information among their peers, our future engineers can learn how the high level stuff works. The payoff will be an engineering workforce for the betterment of Ukraine. TUFU: Thank you, Maynard, for speaking with us and for the interview