I created a quick Python function to calculate the component values for an impedance match between two real (resistive) terminations using the technique taught in the Introduction to Impedance Matching course. Here is what the code ends up looking like, and it shows how useful Python can be for working as a "quick programmable calculator." In the old days, I might have been tempted to program my old HP48 calculator to crank out the same values. It only took a few minutes to put the code together, which is the beauty of working with Python.

An early version of the Smith Chart web app is now available to try out. There are a couple of issues that I will be working on initially, such as the frequency entry dialog box appears to be transparent for some reason. I'll also be working on the layout to try and make the various parts of the app fit better on the page. At the moment, the app is only optimized for mouse input and does not respond to touch-based dragging events (to move elements around on the chart).

Back in the mid-1990's, Les Besser and I wrote a series of articles on RF amplifier design for Applied Microwaves and Wireless magazine (unfortunately this magazine is no longer in circulation). Since that time, Les Besser and Rowan Gilmore have written a two-volume textbook on RF circuit design that covers this topic as well as a great deal of background knowledge on working with RF circuits.

The successful landings of Space-X's first stage rockets (and Blue Origin's success as well) signals a major breakthrough in the future reduction of the cost of space access. It seems to reason that this will result in a dramatic increase in the entrepreneurial interest in using satellite-based infrastructure to provide new services to a global audience. For example, companies like Google could deploy wireless internet access using small "cube" satellites that cost much less to build and launch than current systems.