text:
by James A. Vincent, G1PVZ (email G1PVZ) Copyright James A. Vincent, 1993
Voice link over spread spectrum radio was originally published in the September and October 1993 issues of ELECTRONICS WORLD + WIRELESS WORLD. Thanks to James Vincent and the editor of EW+WW for giving permission to reprint the article on the World-Wide Web and the TAPR Spread Spectrum pages.
The article contains two parts:
1 - Basic Principles
Until quite recently spread spectrum techniques were almost exclusively
in the military domain. Their use in GPS and the latest cellular phones
will be followed by many other civil applications. This article, the first
of [two] parts, examines the technology by describing an experimental direct
sequence voice transmission system as a worked example.
2 - Detailed Circuitry
Spread spectrum radio is now used extensively for both military and
civilian communications. James Vincent describes the circuitry for a fully
functional experimental voice link.
1:Basic PrinciplesMost Communication Engineers are used to minimising transmission bandwidths. The trend has been to use narrower bandwidths, as with the transition from double sideband to single sideband modulation. It is quite obvious that narrower bandwidths permit more communication channels to be packed into a defined frequency band.
However the rationale of using the very wide bandwidths required by Spread Spectrum systems needs explanation. Claude Shannon produced a ground breaking paper on the mathematical theory of communication in 1949. Shannon's resulting theorem can be expressed as:
where C = data rate in bits per second, W = bandwidth (Hz), S = average signal power (W), N = mean white gaussian noise power (W). It can be seen from the equation that the only options available to increase a channel's capacity are to increase either the bandwidth (W) or the signal to noise ratio (S/N).
An increase in the signal to noise ratio requires an increase in transmitter power as the noise within the channel is beyond our control! Thus we can either trade power or bandwidth to achieve a specified channel data rate. Because of the logarithmic relationship, increasing the power output is often unrealistic. However if frequency allocation constraints permit, the bandwidth can be increased. An appreciable increase in data capacity or signal to noise ratio (for a fixed data rate) can then be achieved.
Spread spectrum systems utilise very wide bandwidths and low signal to noise ratios. From Shannon's theorem:
changing bases
By logarithmic expansion
In a spread spectrum system the signal to noise ratio (S/N) is typically small, much less than 0.1
From the derived relationship it can be clearly seen that a desired signal to noise ratio for a fixed data rate C, can be achieved by increasing the transmission bandwidth.
For example, assume a data rate of 32 Kbits-1 and a signal to noise ratio of 0.001 (-30 dB)
So for a data rate of 32 Kbits-1, operation at the very low S/N ratio of -30db is achievable by spreading the signal over a bandwidth of 22 MHz. By using a very much wider bandwidth than that of the original data it is possible to maintain data capacity without increasing the transmitter output power. It is an extreme example of a power-bandwidth trade off.
Two criteria (see Dixon) for a spread spectrum system are:
- that the transmitted bandwidth is much greater than the bandwidth or rate of the information being sent; and
- that some function other than the information being sent determines the resulting radio frequency bandwidth.
However should the receiver not be synchronised to the transmitter or a conventional receiver be used, nothing will be heard unless the transmitter hops onto the receiver's tuned frequency. As a frequency hopping transmitter typically hops over tens to thousands of frequencies per second (the hop rate), the time it stays on a particular channel (the dwell time) is very short and as a result the signal would appear as a burst of interference.
The other major spread spectrum technique is known as direct sequence or pseudo-noise. In this technique a pseudo-random code directly phase shift keys the carrier increasing its bandwidth (see Figure 2). In a typical direct sequence system a double-balanced mixer (DBM) is driven by the PN code to switch a carrier's phase between 0 degrees and 180 degrees. This is known as biphase shift keying (BPSK) or sometimes phase reversal keying (PRK). Unlike a frequency hopping transmitter where the pseudo-random sequence commands a synthesiser to change frequency, the direct sequence signal is directly generated by the pseudo-random sequence.
The receiver despreads this wideband signal by using an identical synchronised pseudo-random code to that in the transmitter. As with the frequency hopper, the receiver must use a circuit to adjust its clock rate so that the receiver's pseudo-random code is at the same point in the code as the transmitter. A tracking circuit is necessary to maintain synchronism once it has been attained.
Sending data with spread spectrumSpread spectrum signals (whether direct sequence, frequency hopping or their hybrids) can support any conventional analogue or digital modulation scheme to impress data onto the spread spectrum carrier.
Obviously some modulation formats are less suitable than others. Amplitude modulation and its derivatives are the least desirable as their use will destroy the signal's uniform power spectral density. This constant carrier envelope is very desirable for spread spectrum systems designed for covert usage.
Frequency modulation (frequency shift keying for data) is often used in frequency hopping systems, but is infrequently used in direct sequence systems. This is because when a direct sequence signal passes through a squaring or frequency doubling circuit, a carrier at twice the signal's centre frequency is produced. This twice frequency narrowband carrier will contain any modulation impressed on the direct sequence signal. Thus with analogue modulation it is possible for the signal to be demodulated without any prior knowledge of the pseudo-random spreading code.
One of the commonest modulation techniques used in conjunction with direct sequence is known as code inversion or modification. The digitised voice or digital data is exclusive ORed with the PN spreading code. This will invert the PN code sequence if the data is a "1" or pass the PN code unmodified if it is a "0". Provided that the data stream is synchronised with the PN code, the correlation properties of the code are unaffected.
Assuming synchronisation at the receiver, the unmodified code despreads the direct sequence signal. This produces a narrowband signal which is still biphase shift modulated, but this time with the data or digitised speech. This signal can then be demodulated by a conventional biphase shift demodulator such as a squaring or Costas loop demodulator.
This code modification modulation is simple to implement in the transmitter and relatively easy to demodulate in the receiver. It also has the advantage of providing message privacy which the analogue modulated direct sequence signal does not have. It should be noted that it is possible to directly demodulate uncorrelated spectral components of an analogue modulated direct sequence signal should the demodulating receiver be very close to the transmitter. In addition the code modification technique preserves the constant power envelope of the direct sequence signal.
One disadvantage of code modification is that voice or other analogue signals require digitisation. As in any system design, the selection of the digitisation technique is very important. The technique selected must use the lowest possible data rate as data rate is inversely proportional to the process gain of the system. The technique selected for the system described uses a enhanced form of delta modulation to digitally encode the voice into a serial data stream.
Delta modulationDelta modulation is a variation of pulse-code modulation. It compares successive signal samples and transmits only their differences, rather than the actual amplitude as in PCM. This reduces the number of bits required to code the speech. The continuous audio signal is sampled at periodic intervals. The sampled value is then compared with a staircase approximation of the output signal. If the sampled waveform exceeds the staircase approximation, a positive pulse is generated. If the sampled waveform is less than the staircase approximation, a negative pulse is generated. This output pulse, positive or negative, forms the next step in the staircase approximation, i.e. the sum of the binary pulse train at the output of the encoder produces the delta-modulated waveform (see Figure 3).
At the receiver, the transmitted pulses are integrated and passed through a low-pass filter to remove unwanted high frequency components. The output consists of the original analogue signal together with some additional noise somewhat similar to quantisation noise.
Continuously Variable Slope Delta Modulation (CVSD) takes advantage of the fact that voice signals do not change abruptly and that there is only a small change from one sample to the next. A reasonably good reproduction can be obtained by transmitting in a given interval whether the output signal should increase or decrease. A linear delta modulated system has the undesirable feature that there is one input level which maximises the signal to noise ratio. In CVSD this is overcome by compressing the large amplitude in the signals relative to the smaller ones prior to encoding using a compressor circuit. In this way the input level to the encoder can be maintained close to the value which gives the maximum signal to noise ratio.
The receiver decodes the delta modulated binary stream and passes the analogue signal through an expander to counteract the effects of the transmitter compressor. Companding is optimised for the human voice. CVSD is considerably more effective than standard delta modulation and also exhibits less serious sound degradation in the presence of digital noise interference than PCM.
Circuit description
The system is described in functional blocks. First, the transmitter direct sequence modulator. The exciter's clock frequencies are provided by a master 4 MHz crystal oscillator and a divider. Power-up reset (with manual override) is configured around a Schmidt-trigger.
A shift register and exclusive OR gates are configured as a 4 MHz 127 chip (code bit) long maximal pseudo-random code generator (see section pseudo-random codes and generation).
Microphone audio is amplified by the VOGAD (Voice Operated Gain Adjusting Device) to the optimum level for the input of the delta modulator. The delta modulator converts the audio into a 32 Kbits-1 serial data stream (see column sending data with spread spectrum). This serial binary data stream must be coded into a format which is polarity insensitive because the receiver demodulator cannot recover the de-spread data's absolute phase. Only data transitions are recovered at the receiver, hence there is no way of determining whether the output data stream is inverted or not.
The digitised audio is converted from a non return to zero (NRZ) format into a polarity insensitive diphase (biphase-mark) data stream. This sub-circuit produces a diphase signal (Figure 4), where a logic 1 has start, mid-bit and end transitions and a logic 0 has only start and finish transitions.
In addition to providing phase insensitive data transmission the format also makes clock recovery at the receiver relatively easy, as unlike NRZ even a continuous stream of diphase encoded 0's results in many start and finish data cell transitions. The diphase encoded delta modulated digital voice signal is ex-ORed with the pseudo-random code producing a code modified PN spreading code.
The data modified PN code from the output of the exclusive-OR gate provides a balanced drive (plus or minus 24 mA as an AC logic family device has equal sink and source currents) via a coupling capacitor and 50 ohm matching pad, to a double balanced mixer (DBM) configured as a biphase shift keyer.
The PN code output alternately sinks and sources current, causing the diodes in the DBM to alternately switch on and off producing 180 degree phase reversals in the 435 MHz carrier signal (see Figure 5). The output spectrum consists of a series of symmetrical sidebands which have a Sinc2x distribution due to the many frequency components of the pseudo-random code.
As the spreading code has a pseudo-random character, the occurrence of a particular frequency is pseudo-random in time and the direct sequence output appears as noise on a spectrum analyser. The spread spectrum signal has a main lobe bandwidth of 8 MHz (twice the PN code clock rate for BPSK). This is amplified by a MAR8 MMIC (monolithic microwave integrated circuit) and further amplified to around 100 mW by a Motorola CA4812 Class A Amplifier module. Helical band pass filtering is used to ensure that the output signal is within the permitted bandwidth before free-space transmission.
Spread spectrum terminologyProcess Gain (Gp) is a fundamental concept in spread spectrum systems. The process gain indicates the gain or signal to noise improvement exhibited by a spread spectrum system by nature of the spreading and despreading process. Process gain can be estimated by the following empirical relationship.
BWRF = 3dB bandwidth of the transmitted spread spectrum signal (Hz). Rinfo = data rate of the information transmitted (bits per second).
For a direct sequence signal, BWRF is assumed to be equal to the 3 dB bandwidth of the spectrum (which is 0.88 times the pseudo-random code clock rate for a biphase shift keyed direct sequence system). For a frequency hopping system BWRF is equal to m times the channel bandwidth where m is the number of frequency channels available.
Jamming Margin. Although the process gain is directly related to the interference rejection properties a more indicative measure of how a spread spectrum system will perform in the face of interference is the jamming margin (Mj). The process gain of a system will always be greater than its jamming margin.
Lsystem = system implementation losses (dB); Gp = process gain (dB); (S/N)out = signal to noise ratio at the information output. (dB)
A spread spectrum system with a 30 dB process gain, a minimum required output signal to noise of 10 dB and system implementation loss of 3 dB would have a jamming margin of 30-(10+3) dB which is 17 dB. The spread spectrum system in this example could not be expected to work in an environment with interference more than 17 dB above the desired signal.
Power Spectral Density. By nature of the spreading process, the output power of the spread spectrum transmitter is spread over typically many megahertz of bandwidth. The spectral density is the number of Watts of radio frequency power present per Hertz of bandwidth. Thus for a direct sequence transmitter of 1W output and a spread bandwidth of 8MHz the power spectral density is:
For a conventional AM transmitter, power spectral density is around
some 31dB greater.
The advantage to the military user is that the signal strength apparent to a conventional narrowband receiver is very, very low and would probably not be recognised as a communications signal, hence the expression "Low Probability of Intercept" and "Low Probability of Recognition".
GlossaryAntijamming (AJ): Techniques used to minimise the effects of jamming or unintentional interference.
Auto-correlation: This is a measure of similarity between a signal and a time shifted replica of itself. Auto-correlation is a special case of cross-correlation. The auto-correlation function is the fundamental theoretical basis of spread spectrum communications.
Biphase Shift Keying (BPSK): A phase shift keying technique where the carrier phase changes between 0 degrees and 180 degrees (0 and pi radians) under the control of a binary code. BPSK is frequently used to generate direct sequence spread spectrum signals, where the binary code is a pseudo-random sequence.
Chip: A single element of the spreading code. This may be one or more of the PN code bits, depending on the modulation technique used. For BPSK one chip represents one code bit, whereas for quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) one chip represents two code bits.
This is because there are four states for QPSK (0, 90, 180 and 270 degrees) and only two states for BPSK (0 and 90 degrees). Obviously two binary bits are required to represent four states and only one bit for two states.
Code: The term code usually refers to the pseudo-random code used to control the modulation technique used to spread the carrier.
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA): A multiplexing technique where each user is given a different pseudo-random spreading code. To communicate with a particular user, the sender must select the code assigned to that user.
If the CDMA codes are carefully selected to ensure good correlation properties, then unwanted CDMA transmissions will not be correlated and hence rejected as wideband interference (up to the limit of the jamming margin Mj of the system). This technique can permit many users to operate simultaneously on the same frequency.
Correlator: A device to measure the similarity of two signals. Sometimes referred to as a de-spreader in direct sequence systems.
Costas Loop: A compound phase locked loop sometimes called an I-Q (In-phase/Quadrature phase) loop. It is used for demodulating double-sideband suppressed carriers (DSBSC) which is the modulation format of a biphase phase-shift keyed signal.
Cross-correlation: This is a measure of the similarity of two signals.
Delay Locked Loop: A tracking circuit which ensures the direct sequence receiver PN clock tracks (follows) any variation in the transmitter's PN clock rate once synchronisation has been achieved. (See column The Delay Locked Loop).
Delta Modulation: A analogue to digital conversion technique (see column Sending Data with Spread Spectrum).
Diphase (biphase-mark): A polarity-insensitive waveform, where a transition occurs at the beginning of every data period. A logic 1 is represented by a transition one half period later. There is no second transition for a logic 0.
Direct Sequence (ds): A spread spectrum modulation technique where a pseudo-random code directly phase modulates a carrier, increasing the bandwidth of the transmission. The resulting signal has a noise-like spectrum. The signal is despread by correlating with a pseudo-random code identical to and in synchronism with the code used to spread the carrier at the transmitter.
Frequency Hopping (fh): A spread spectrum modulation technique where the transmitter frequency hops from channel to channel in a predetermined but pseudo-random manner. The signal is de-hopped at the receiver by a frequency synthesiser controlled by a pseudo-random sequence generator synchronised to the transmitter's pseudo-random generator.
Jamming Margin (Mj): A measure of a spread spectrum system's resistance to jamming or un-intentional interference, (see column Spread Spectrum Terminology).
Linear Codes: Pseudo-random codes generated using only modulo-2 addition or subtraction,(see column Pseudo-random Codes and their Generation).
Maximal Code: A maximal code is the longest that can be generated with a feedback type pseudo-random generator (see column Pseudo-random Codes and Generation).
Process Gain (Gp): The measure of the gain or signal-to-noise improvement exhibited by a spread spectrum system by nature of the spreading and de-spreading process.
Pseudo-noise: Code sequences which have noise-like properties. The term pseudonoise (pn) is often used for direct sequence systems which use such codes to spread the carrier.
Sinc x: Sinc x is the mathematical term for the following expression:
A BPSK spread spectrum has a Sinc2x power spectrum.
Squaring Loop: A BPSK (or DSBSC) demodulator which regenerates the suppressed carrier through a frequency squaring (or doubling) process. This doubling process produces a twice frequency unmodulated carrier, which when divided by two can be multiplied with the input BPSK signal to recover the data.
2: Detailed CircuitryPseudo-random codes can be categorised as being linear or non-linear codes. Linear codes are generated using linear operations (which for binary pseudo-random codes is solely modulo-2 addition or subtraction). This essentially means only ex-OR gates are used in the shift register feedback path. A pseudo-random generator which does not use such techniques is termed non-linear.
The most commonly used group of pseudo-random sequences used in spread spectrum are the maximal linear code sequences (sometimes called M-sequences or PN -- pseudo-noise -- codes). Maximal codes are the longest codes that a shift register of specified length can produces and have mathematical properties well suited to spread spectrum communications.
A maximal shift register pseudo-random generator consists of a shift register with selected outputs being exclusive-ORed and fed back into the shift register input. The circuit goes through a number of states (determined by the bits in the shift register at each clock pulse) before it repeats itself after a set number of clock pulses. The maximum number of states for a shift register of length m is 2m, ie for a 7-stage shift register 27 = 128 states. However the all-zero state is not allowable as the pseudo-random generator would lock-up as ex-ORing two logic 0 results in yet another logic 0 at the input. Therefore a maximal length pseudo-random code generator can produce a pseudo-random sequence 2m-1 bits long before repeating itself.
To obtain a maximal sequence, the correct shift register outputs (tap points) must be found. These could be found be experimentation but this would be very time consuming! However tables of feedback connections are available.
A 7-stage (ie seven flip-flop) shift register can produce a maximal code of length 27-1 = 127 bits (known as chips in spread spectrum terminology) long. The feedback tap points may be taken from the following stages:
[7,1] [7,3] [7,3,2,1] [7,4,3,2] [7,6,4,2] [7,6,3,1] [7,6,5,2] [7,6,5,4,2,1] and [7,5,4,3,2,1]As the simplest circuit implementation is often desired, the first option of tapping the seventh and first stages is selected.
To avoid the all zero-lock up problem, inverting stages are inserted before the shift register input and at the output of the shift register. When the shift register is switched on, a reset pulse is initiated. This pulse initiates all shift register outputs to logic 0. This would normally lock up the pseudo-random sequence generator. However the input inverter injects a logic 1 so that the maximal sequence can commence. The output inverter ensures that maximal code output is inverted negating the effect of the anti-lock-up inverter at the input. The maximal code is also available at the output (A) of the modulo-2 adder, but the second inverter output is normally used to permit direct drive of the DBM in a direct sequence system.
Receiver Functional Description
The 435 MHz direct sequence (ds) signal is first amplified by a low noise amplifier2 followed by a helical filter and further amplification by a low noise amplifier block (MAN1-LN) and a MAR8. The ds signal is mixed with a 7 dBm 365 MHz local oscillator in a down-converter. The ds signal now centred on an intermediate frequency of 70 MHz is amplified (MAR8) and bandpass filtered (PIF-70), before being resistively split into three identical signal paths. In each signal path (late, on time or early) the 70 MHz signal is amplified by a further MAR6 amplifier. A DBM configured as a biphase shift keyer is driven by an early, on time or late pn code. The DBM is buffered by 50 ohm pads and driven by an AC logic buffer as with the DBM used as a BPSK modulator in the transmitter.
Assuming synchronism the despread output is injected into a NE605 low power FM IF integrated circuit. The second local oscillator at 64 MHz in conjunction with the on-chip mixer downconverts the despread signal (which contains the data in a BPSK format) to 6 MHz. The NE605 further amplifies the 6 MHz signal and provides filtering using 6 MHz ceramic filters originally designed for television sound strips.
A RSSI (received signal strength indicator) is available from each NE605 with a 90 dB range logarithmic output. The RSSI outputs from the early and late channels go to the delay locked loop circuit. The despread data output from the on time (punctual) channel is further amplified by a MAR8 amplifier before being frequency doubled in a Mini Circuits RK3 doubler. As previously discussed the despread data signal has a biphase shift keyed (BPSK) format. The BPSK frequency spectra is similar to that of a double sideband suppressed carrier and as for DSBSC, carrier recovery is required to demodulate the signal. It can be shown mathematically3 that by squaring or doubling a BPSK signal a twice frequency carrier is obtained. After passing the doubled signal through a 12 MHz crystal used as an exceptionally narrow bandpass filter, the signal is applied to a synchronous oscillator. This versatile circuit (see section The Synchronous Oscillator) free runs at 6 MHz and on application of the 12 MHz signal synchronously locks to half of the input frequency, effectively regenerating the 6 MHz carrier reference. This locked 6 MHz output is buffered and amplified to produce a logic level 0, +5v output, which together with the signal output from the on-time (punctual) NE605 IC is injected into a DBM configured as a phase detector. The voltage output of the phase detector is amplified, level shifted and using a voltage comparator converted into 0, +5v logic levels.
The output from this squaring loop BPSK demodulator does not recover the original data polarity as the original phase of the signal is lost in the doubling process. This is why the data was diphase encoded at the transmitter so that the correct data polarity could be recovered at the receiver.
An edge detector configured from an exclusive-OR gates produces a negative pulse for both positive and negative edges of the comparator's diphase data stream output. The edge detector output triggers monostable A, one half of a dual monostable. (Note: all monostables are non-retriggable). Monostable A is set to produce a positive output pulse with a duration of 75% of the diphase bit cell period. The Q output of monostable A triggers monostable B which produces a positive output pulse of duration 25% of the diphase bit cell period.
In turn the negative going edge of monostable B output triggers monostable C which produces a positive pulse with a duration of 50% of the diphase bit cell period. D-type flip-flop D1 is clocked by the /Q output of monostable C and flip-flop D2 by the Q output.
The positive edge of the Q and /Q outputs of Monostable C occur before and after any mid-bit transition. Thus when D1 and D2 are clocked, their outputs will be different if the diphase encoded bit represents a one, or the same if the diphase encoded bit represent a zero. If D1 and D2 outputs are exclusive OR-ed then the instantaneous NRZ data is obtained. The clock is recovered at the Q output of Monostable A. It can be seen that missing or corrupted diphase data could cause monostable A to trigger on a mid-bit transition rather than a 'start' transition. This false synchronisation will be corrected on the next diphase encoded zero as monostable A will not be triggered.
The recovered clock and NRZ data is delivered to the delta modulator integrated circuit where it is converted back into audio and amplified to a loudspeaker.
The delay lock loop and code generation circuitry permits code correlation, synchronisation and tracking. The difference amplifier has its inverting and non-inverting inputs respectively connected to the early and late channel RSSI outputs. The difference amplifier is followed by a summing amplifier used to adjust the quiescent frequency of the voltage controlled crystal oscillator and a low pass filter. The output of the inverter drives the control input of the voltage controlled oscillator. The VCXO consists of a high stability AT cut crystal in a discrete transistor based oscillator with varicap frequency control. The oscillator's low voltage output is amplified by approximately 10,000 by the linear biased HC logic gate. This hard limits the buffer's output to standard logic levels. The VCXO provides a highly stable, repeatable output which has a 2 kHz tuning range centred on 8 MHz for a tuning voltage of 0 to 6V.
The VCXO output is divided by two to produce a 4 MHz clock. This clock signal drives the 127 chip maximal PN generator. The output of this PN generator is re-clocked through a shift register by the original 8 MHz clock. By extracting the three outputs from neighbouring outputs three identical PN codes are available (early, on-time and late) but with a half clock cycle difference between them. Thus the early code is one clock cycle (or "chip" in spread spectrum terminology) ahead of the late code. Each PN code generator output drives the relevant correlator (de-spreader). See section Delay Locked Loop.
In operation the VCXO is offset to a slightly higher frequency than the crystal clock in the transmitter, effectively producing a sliding correlator. Assuming that the receiver is in range and unsynchronised, the receiver code will slide past the transmitter code. At one point in time the two codes will match. This will result in correlation and the direct sequence signal will be despread. The early channel will be despread before the late channel and the early RSSI value will be considerably higher than the late uncorrelated channel. This difference signal after filtering steers the VCXO output towards the frequency of the transmitter clock. When the receiver and transmitter clocks and PN codes are synchronised the RSSI outputs from the early and late channels will be identical and the difference amplifier output will be zero. Should the receiver clock be retarded greater energy will in the late channel than the early channel, and the VCXO will be driven by the difference amplifier to increase its frequency. If the receiver clock is advanced greater energy will be in the early channel than the late channel and the VCXO will be driven by the difference amplifier to decrease its frequency. Thus the delay locked loop will maintain synchronism once the sliding correlator has caused the receiver to lock. The frequency offset is selected such that it will cause rapid synchronisation but remain within the capture range of the loop.
The direct sequence transmitter and receiver were constructed on a combination of Veroboard and double-sided printed circuit boards. The radio-frequency circuits were built on the double-sided pcbs, with the usual RF design techniques employed. The photograph of the completed transmitter-exciter and receiver shows the combination of construction techniques used. (See August EW+WW).
The system is designed around easily obtainable components and all inductors and filters are selected from either the Toko or Mini-Circuits range to avoid the difficulties of winding coils.
The set-up of the receiver requires a functioning exciter as a source of a direct sequence signal, hence the exciter is adjusted first. This involves setting the master 4 MHz crystal oscillator with the aid of a frequency counter.
Now the receiver can be directly connected (with a suitable attenuator in-line to prevent overload) to the exciter output. Initially the 64 MHz second local oscillator should be adjusted on frequency. The VCXO's frequency is set using the centre frequency adjust potentiometer, to be slightly higher or lower than twice the measured frequency of the transmitter's master clock.
The resonant circuit of the synchronous oscillator (SO) has to be adjusted until it free-runs at 6 MHz. It is important to ensure that the SO oscillates at 6 MHz (ie not a harmonic) and the input level potentiometer is set to the minimum input level which permits reliable operation.
The gain and comparator reference point potentiometers should be adjusted such that the phase detector recovers the diphase data stream with HC logic compatible levels.
The VCXO frequency is slowly adjusted, until the sliding correlator and delay locked loop lock to and track the transmitter. If a spectrum analyser is available, a narrowband despread BPSK data signal will can be detected at the input to the PIF-70 filter. A dual channel oscilloscope can be used to monitor and compare the transmitter and receiver (punctual) PN codes. If the receiver has synchronised then the two PN codes will line up and the receiver code will be seen to track the transmitter's code. If all is correctly adjusted then the synchronous oscillator will regenerate the 6 MHz carrier with the data recovery circuit and delta-modulator i.c. recovering the audio. Various waveforms are shown on the circuit diagram to aid trouble shooting.
After this initial procedure the power and pre-amplifiers can be added for free-space checks (provided radio regulations permit). Some minor adjustments particularly of the VCXO frequency may be required to ensure reliable acquisition and locking. If the VCXO frequency offset is too great then the receiver will initially acquire the signal , but will be unable to track it. A degree of trial and error may be necessary to arrive at a receiver clock offset which provides rapid synchronisation and reliable tracking performance. The prototype took less than two seconds from power-up to synchronise and would remain in lock provided the signal was not lost.
The Radiocommmunications Agency (the UK radio regulatory authority) granted special authority to the author to experiment with spread spectrum techniques on the 70 cm band under his amateur radio service licence.
At present the UK amateur radio licence does not permit the use of spread spectrum modulation. It is hoped that in the future the standard UK licence will permit spread spectrum modes of operation as is allowed in the USA by the Federal Communications Commission.
The design and circuitry in this article is held in copyright by James A. Vincent, 1993.
TUF1, RK3 and MAR series devices are manufactured by Mini-Circuits (from Cirkit in the UK and Dale Electronics, Camberley) FX609J from Consumer Microcircuits, Witham, Essex, England. Crystals are available from IQD Ltd, Crewkerne, Somerset, England. RFFM2 DBM comes from Walmore Electronics, London, England.
1. Convert NRZ to Biphase. John T. McGaughey. Electronic Design April 12 1990
2. High Performance 70cm Pre-Amp. Timothy Edwards. Radio and Electronics World March 1982
3. Appendix 4 - Multiplication of Direct Sequence Signals. Spread Spectrum Systems Second Edition Robert C. Dixon. Wiley Interscience.
4. Communication in the Presence of Noise. C.E. Shannon. Proc.IRE, vol.37, No1,(pp10-21) Jan 1949.
5. The Synchronous Oscillator: A Synchronisation and Tracking Network. Vasil Uzunoglu & Marvin H. White. IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits. Vol. SC-20, No.6 December 1985.
6. Synchronous and the Coherent Phase-Locked Synchronous Oscillators: New Techniques in Synchronisation and Tracking. Vasil Uzunoglu & Marvin H. White. IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems. Vol.36, No7, July 1989.
7. A Practical Direct-Sequence Spread Spectrum UHF Link. Andre Kesteloot, N4ICK. QST magazine. [ Re-printed in the ARRL Spread Spectrum Handbook (pp 8-47 - 8-54) The American Radio Relay League. ].
8. United States Patents: 4 335 404, 4 274 067 and 4 356 456.
Spread Spectrum Systems Second Edition. Robert C Dixon, Wiley Interscience, ISBN 0-471-88309-3.
The ARRL Spread Spectrum Sourcebook. Editors Andre Kesteloot N4ICK and Charles Hutchinson K8CH. The American Radio Relay League. ISBN 0-87259-317-7.
Spread Spectrum Communications Volume 1, 2 and 3. Marvin K Simon, Jim K Omura, Robert A Scholtz and Barry K Levitt. Computer Science Press. ISBN 0-88175-017-7 (Set).
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Auto-Correlation and Cross-CorrelationThe main basis of spread spectrum communications is the correlation function, a measure of the similarity between functions. For the autocorrelation function:
A time dependent function (such as Sinwt) is compared with an identical replica time shifted by a magnitude and summed (integrated) for all values of t. This function has a maximum at = 0 which shows that (obviously) a function is most similar to itself when it has not been time-shifted. For periodic functions, further maxima appear for a multiple of this period.
The response of the correlation function at other values than = 0 determines how well the original function f(t) can be found again by variation of the time shift tau. It is also possible to compare various functions f(t) and g(t) using the cross-correlation function:
This cross-correlation function is a measure of the degree of agreement between functions. Since the functions to be compared are different may never achieve the maximum value of . It is an indication that the functions are different when a certain threshold (-1 in the case of a binary) is not exceeded.
In the correlation of binary code sequences, the result for cross-correlation will be +1 if the functional values coincide and -1 if they do not. The integration then forms a summing of all bits of the code. The correlation value for a certain phase-shift can therefore be simply calculated by placing the bits over another and comparing them bit by bit. The correlation rate is the sum of agreements and disagreements.
For example, the maximal code sequence 1110010 is compared with itself in the seven possible phase-shifts.
shift sequence agreements disgreements agreements minus disagreements 0 1110010 - - - 1 0111001 3 4 -1 2 1011100 3 4 -1 3 0101110 3 4 -1 4 0010111 3 4 -1 5 1001011 3 4 -1 6 1100101 3 4 -1 7 1110010 7 0 +7As can be seen the auto-correlation function value is always -1, except for the case of coincidence, where it is a maximum. The greater the length of the code, the higher the auto-correlation amplitude and the greater the code discrimination or cross-correlation response. The auto-correlation function for maximal and non-maximal codes are shown in the drawing below. As shown in the figure, maximal codes have only one auto-correlation maximum, whereas non-maximal codes have side maxima as well.
When non-maximal codes are used it is important to ensure that a sufficiently large spacing exists between the main and side maxima. Despite these disadvantages, non-maximal codes are used to exploit their main advantages of rapid synchronisation and message security.
The Delay Locked LoopAfter initial acquisition, the spread spectrum receiver must maintain synchronisation by tracking changes in the transmitter's PN code clock. The circuitry required is known as a tracking loop, as it tracks the transmitter's code clock frequency variations. Without a tracking loop synchronisation will be lost as the transmitter and receiver PN code clocks will tend to drift apart.
In a delay locked loop two identical pseudo-random or PN despreading codes are delayed with respect to each other. Each PN code is used in separate correlators (early and late) to despread (correlate) the received direct sequence signal. The result of correlation between an incoming direct sequence signal and the receiver PN code is a triangular function two chips (code bits) wide. Assuming synchronisation two correlated signals (each with a triangular correlation waveform) are produced with their correlation peaks separated by the delay between the early and late receiver PN codes. If the two correlation signals are summed in a difference amplifier and filtered, then a composite correlation function is produced. This composite correlation function has a linear region between its maximum and minimum values.
If this composite correlation function is used to control the receiver's code clock frequency (for example by driving a voltage controlled oscillator) then the receiver will track the transmitter's code clock at a point halfway between the maximum and minimum values of the composite correlation function.
An optimum solution is to have a third on-time (punctual) PN sequence correlator channel for signal recovery, with early and late correlators simply providing tracking to keep the on-time channel in the middle of the correlation window. Such an approach provides an optimally correlated (despread) output signal for subsequent data demodulation.
The Synchronous OscillatorThe synchronous oscillator is an elegant but little known circuit which can be used to advantage where a phase-locked loop (PLL) would normally be employed. The SO is a free-running oscillator which oscillates at a frequency determined by its LC tank with no signal applied to its input.
When a signal is applied within the SO's acquisition bandwidth the oscillator synchronises and tracks the input signal. The SO output amplitude is constant when locked to and tracking an input signal. A decrease in the input carrier-to-noise ratio reduces the SO's tracking bandwidth to maintain a constant signal-to-noise ratio at the SO's output. This characteristic allows a SO to acquire and track very noisy signals.
The SO can also act as a frequency multiplier or divider. In the direct sequence receiver, the SO locks to a noisy 12 MHz signal and provides a stable 6 MHz output. This function could be achieved using a PLL but the SO has many advantages5,6,7,8 and, as it is based on only two transistors, is much simpler to implement.
A simplistic explanation of the SO operation is that the upper transistor acts as a Class C oscillator. The upper transistor only conducts for a very brief period of time; when the upper transistor conducts, there is a voltage across the lower transistor biasing it allowing it to conduct. At this time the input signal can then be injected to synchronise the oscillator. During the rest of the oscillator cycle input noise is unable to enter the oscillator as the lower transistor is reverse biased. This arrangement produces coherent amplification which is why the SO can extract signals from very low signal-to-noise inputs.
Copyright James A. Vincent, 1993


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Cranberry Sauce
Makes Approx. 1 Pint/2 Cups
1 bag cranberries
1 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup orange juice (1-2 oranges, depending on "juiciness")
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Strong dash of ground cloves
Strong dash of cardamom powder
1. Wash cranberries and remove any leaves or stems. Place in a large pot.
2. Add remaining ingredients to pot. Cook over medium-high heat for about 30 minutes, or until the cranberries have popped and softened, and the sauce has become thick and ruby-red. Serve warm or chilled.
Yes, Virginia, it really is that easy. I tend to quadruple the recipe and make a couple of large batches each year. I process it (ie: can it) to have at the ready. It's great served along pork chops, added to rice pilaf for a little kick, or mixed with mayonnaise for turkey sandwiches.
Even if the rest of your Thanksgiving is from a box, try making this simple, quick, from-scratch recipe to dress up your holiday feast. Everyone will be impressed with your efforts! Have a wonderful Turkey Day, my friends!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
It wasn't that long ago that I dreaded checking out the latest Hollywood restaurant-slash-lounge. Why? Because, if you managed to get past the inevitable velvet rope and be seated at a table, the food was usually so bad you left hungry — at 2 in the morning. Maybe club owners have finally figured out that you can't get away with that for very long, I don't know. But recent entries in the genre (Beso excepted) have really been playing up the food. And in some cases, it's not just PR hyperbole, but the real thing.
The new La Vida in the old Pinot Hollywood space is a case in point. Somehow the owners were smart enough to hire chef Joseph Panarello away from John Sedlar's Rivera and give him his own kitchen. The theme? Spanish with a California sensibility. Not to get too excited: Spanish here doesn't mean the exuberant cutting-edge cuisine of Catalonia or the Basque country, but more familiar Moorish-influenced dishes from the south of Spain.
The chef, though, gets big points all the same for trying something different. He's forging his own path rather than falling back on the same tired dishes proposed at trendier Hollywood spots where kids come to pick at their food, not actually eat. Here, the menu proposes dishes you'd actually want to taste.
A beautiful deconstructed salad of chilled cubed avocado, watermelon and cucumbers in a cilantro mint mojito dressing. Skinny, delicately spiced Sonoma lamb sausages come grilled and served with a tangy yogurt sauce on a mini-charcoal brazier. Moist black cod is topped with a loose, brilliant green salsa that leaves a lingering sear.
Sunset Entertainment Group, the folks behind Green Door and Pig 'n Whistle, have given the space a well-considered makeover. The immense courtyard patio in front has never looked so inviting. Now it is covered with an enormous clear-plastic tent roof with crenellated edges in a Moroccan motif.
The décor makes a reference to Tinseltown's Rudolf Valentino glory days with that Spanish-Moroccan theme. Giant potted palms. Beaded chandeliers and Moroccan glass lanterns that shimmer in the slight breeze. A ceramic fire pit spouts blue flames. With heat lamps, it's warm enough to dine outside, which is where everyone wants to be.
Panarello's menu is a breezy California riff on Spain with an occasional foray into other Latin cuisines. Ceviche is practically part of the California canon now, and his is a straightforward and juicy one made with sushi-grade tuna, dosed with plenty of citrus and garnished with purple Peruvian potato chips.
He livens up steamed mussels with a little curry and fire-breathing red chiles. You might want to keep it all to yourself. Definitely for sharing, though, is the crispy squid, pale and crystalline, not a bit greasy, to dip in a pink-coral aji amarillo chile aioli. I can't get enough of that stuff.
Seated at a long table, a tribe of urban nomads — older men, beautiful women and their extended broods — dine on appetizers in casual splendor. I can just picture the spread in Vogue magazine. Take away one of the men and replace him with Julian Schnabel and you get the idea.
That's one reason why everybody wants to eat outside. But half the time the best spots are reserved. And requesting that you'd like to eat outside when you make the reservation doesn't necessarily mean you'll get a table there.
Not to worry. Touster Wright Design has made it cozier than it ever was when it was part of Pinot Hollywood. The light is warm. The armchairs are comfortable, and with the French doors open, you're looking onto all the goings-on in the garden.
The clue that La Vida is more than just another lounge and restaurant is that most people are eating a lot more than just appetizers, whether or not they intended to when they sat down. Here, unlike most nightclubby restaurants, main courses are definitely not a snore.
Panarello starts off strong with his Champagne-braised branzino. OK, I admit most branzino (Mediterranean sea bass) tastes like limp tissue. But wherever the chef is getting his fish, it's very fresh and beautifully cooked, every bite a delight.
Kurobuta pork steak comes out about a half-inch thick, rubbed with achiote to a rust color, bursting with flavor and juiciness. And tandoori-spiced lamb chops are double-thick chops served with sweet, caramelized onions and a "Moroccan" glaze that piles on the spices. They're good.
I liked the paella too, even though the texture seems closer to risotto than the paella you'd get in Spain, which comes with that gorgeous crunch at the bottom. I recommend the one laced with clams, chorizo and cilantro.
Not everything works so well. Grilled octopus with potato is a bit dull. And a special of plump sweet diver scallops with vinegared rhubarb and white asparagus cream just misses the mark. The vanilla in the asparagus cream gives it a perceived sweetness that cloys.
Also, the wine list doesn't have many bottles for less than $50 that you'll care about drinking. Big spenders can find a half-dozen bubblies over $200. Among the white wines "in cork" as opposed to "in glass," I'd probably go with Chalone's ever-reliable Pinot Blanc for $43. Finding an interesting and affordable red is even harder. Look to the offerings from Spain, Argentina and Chile — and, of course, California Zins.
The hidden weapon at La Vida is pastry chef Jose Detres. He was most recently assistant pastry chef at Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood. These desserts are way above what you'd ever expect to find at the latest Hollywood hotspot. Subtle, well thought out and executed with skill, they include a silky coffee crème brûlée with a fragile burnt sugar crust and a fantastic chocolate mousse with caramel sauce and lavender ice cream decorated with a shard of sugar "glass" spiked with chile. Could mousse be making a comeback?
Anything is possible if this neglected spot at the corner of Sunset and Gower can be brought back to life as La Vida.
La Vida Restaurant & Lounge
Rating: Two stars
Location: 1448 N. Gower St. (at Sunset Boulevard), Hollywood; (323) 962-0800; http://www.lavidahollywood.com.
Price: Appetizers, $9 to $16; salads, $7 to $12; mini grills, $12 to $14; entrees, $19 to $30; sides, $5; desserts, $9 to $10. Corkage fee, $25.
Details: Open for lunch Tuesday to Friday,11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and for dinner Tuesday and Wednesday, 5 to 10 p.m. and Thursday to Saturday, 5 to 11 p.m. Happy hour Tuesday to Friday, 5 to 7 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking, $3.50 for lunch, $5 for dinner.
Rating is based on food, service and ambience, with price taken into account in relation to quality. Four stars: Outstanding on every level. Three stars: Excellent. Two stars: Very good. One star: Good. No star: Poor to satisfactory.
It wasn't that long ago that I dreaded checking out the latest Hollywood restaurant-slash-lounge. Why? Because, if you managed to get past the inevitable velvet rope and be seated at a table, the food was usually so bad you left hungry — at 2 in the morning. Maybe club owners have finally figured out that you can't get away with that for very long, I don't know. But recent entries in the genre (Beso excepted) have really been playing up the food. And in some cases, it's not just PR hyperbole, but the real thing.


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The return of the Interurban
Pete McMartin: The return of the Interurban rail system (with video)
An era, and a piece of the Fraser Valleyai??i??s history, ended with that trip. The Interurban ai??i?? the beloved web of track and tram cars that connected Vancouver to Chilliwack and points in between ai??i?? had made its last run. The reign of rail had ended: The Age of the Car had begun.
But a group of volunteers, backed by a consortium that includes the City of Surrey, BC Hydro and Southern Rail of B.C., have brought a working portion of the old Interurban back, complete with rail car #1225, now 100 years old.
The result is, in a word, spectacular.
The 7.4-kilometre track is on an original portion of the Interurban line, from 176A Street near Highway 10 in Cloverdale to the intersection of 64th Avenue and 152nd Street, in the old Surrey neighbourhood of Sullivan. It runs through some of Surreyai??i??s busiest areas to some of its most bucolic. And at each terminus are working copies of the Cloverdale and Sullivan rail stations, built from historical records to be exact replicas of the originals (with some modern touches added, like wheelchair accessibility).
And rail car #1255, rescued from the Orange Empire Railway Museum, in Perris, Calif., where it had languished for years, has been restored to pristine condition, with its original bright red and buttermilk colour scheme. The restoration took four years and 20,000 man-hours, all of them volunteer.
The line, dedicated in late June, opened for business two weekends ago, and in four working days has already carried more than 1,000 passengers. It operates only on Saturdays and Sundays between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., and the round trip ai??i?? $10 for adults and $5 for children ai??i?? takes just under an hour. It travels at a stately 25 km/h.
ai???The old rail cars,ai??? said Henry Ewert, a local historian whoai??i??s written four books on the Interurban, ai???could go 80 km/h easily, and often did.
ai???The first Interurbans began in 1891, between Vancouver and New Westminster, and the line out to Chilliwack began in 1910. That line was the first, real transit option open to people then, and the building of the line in 1910 absolutely opened up the Fraser Valley. For the first time, people could take day trips, visit between city and country, buy property. It was an integral part of the development of the valley. It was phenomenal.ai???
Ewert himself remembers riding the Interurban in the 1940s with his parents, going from Mount Pleasant to Chilliwack to visit his Mennonite relatives. The 120-kilometre trip would take just over three hours, with the windows of the tram car wide open and the countryside rolling by. Theyai??i??d stop at stations with names like Warwhoop, Bradner, Dennison, Evans Thomas, Sardis.
ai???Youai??i??d cross the bridge at New Westminster ai??i?? which was a big deal even then ai??i?? and youai??i??d climb up Scott Road, and after Newton, you were gone, you were out in the valley. Oh, it was wonderful. Suddenly, youai??i??d see Mount Baker, and for a boy living in Mount Pleasant, it was like climbing a stairway to heaven.ai???
At its height, the BCER operated 500 streetcars and 73 Interurban cars on almost 500 kilometres of track. During the war years, when rationing made driving difficult, the BCER carried over 140 million passengers annually. (In 1945, its peak year, the BCER carried 144.4 million passengers, and carried 833,000 tonnes of freight to boot. As comparison, the entire SkyTrain system in 2010, the Olympic year, carried 117.4 million passengers.)
With the warai??i??s end, the long decline of electric rail began. But the fondness for the BCER survived, and in 1996, the Surrey Heritage Advisory Commission came up with the idea of the possible restoration of part of the line.
Following a four-year feasibility study, the Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society was formed. The society acquired two Interurban cars ai??i?? the aforementioned BCER #1225, and BCER #1304, an original Chilliwack rail car the society found in the Oregon Electric Railway Museum in Glenwood, Ore. (The society has since acquired a third tram, a BCER streetcar which was last doing active duty in Lisbon, Portugal.) When BCER #1304 is restored, there are plans to incrementally expand the rail line west to Newton, Kennedy and Scott Road, where it will link up to the SkyTrain station there. The society hopes to be at Scott Road in five to six years, with both cars and three more stations operating on the line.
ai???The value of this project,ai??? said Allen Aubert, secretary of the society and chair of the original feasibility study, ai???is about $7.5 million in cash donations, volunteer work and in kind services. I would say thereai??i??s probably in excess of 250 corporate and individual donors, a core group of about 50 to 60 volunteers and a membership of 380.ai???
Riding the existing line is, simply, a delight. The interior of BCER #1225 is pristine, with the leaf green painted interior contrasting with the bright yellow replicas of the original BCER rattan benches (with imported Indonesian rattan woven in a ai???railwayai??? weave). There is dark wood and bright brass fixtures throughout, and the wood windows open to let in the breeze. The car even has a ai???smoking areaai??? ai??i?? with wood benches and inlaid match strikes ai??i?? and original advertisements overhead. (ai???Burnettai??i??s Vanilla,ai??? ai???Rest-Arch Shoes For Women,ai??? ai???HomeKraft Bread.ai???)
And when it moves down the track, you can hear not only the sound of the rails but the creak and groan of wood. It is sweetly pleasant, with something organic about it, if thatai??i??s the right word. Itai??i??s moving, this moving bit of history, a remembrance of a slower time.
Aubert was asked if people ever ask him why we readily gave up something so pleasant.
ai???Oh,ai??? he said, ai???we get that. We get that all the time.ai???


text:
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text:
CHANEL EASY CALFSKIN FLAP BAGCategories:Other Brands
About a week ago, we made a post about the Chanel Easy Flap Bag in Lambskin. One of our members spotted this bag in Paris and bought it for a great price. We were stunned because we thought the Easy Flap Bags were no longer in stock.
READ: Shopping with Kimberly: I found the Chanel Easy Lambskin Flap Bag
But then we received another surprising story, there is a new Chanel Easy Flap Bag released in the store and it's not made from Caviar, but from Calfskin.
A very short summary about 'why we love the Easy Flap Bag' so much. Because this bag looks quite similar to the Classic Flap Bag and its much cheaper but the design is still timeless and stunning.
We got this news from Joana and she bought this bag in Athens, Greece: 'This is not caviar, but aged calfskin. It is the easy flap Bag in aged calfskin with ruthenium hardware! I bought this bag in the medium size, in Athens, Greece only a month ago. It costs 2770 euros'.
When we heard this news we were like: 'Are you sure it's the easy flap bag?'
'I am pretty sure it is. It has all the characteristics of the easy flap and I know there wasn't only the caviar version. The price is also about the same. The first easy flap that was ever made had a slightly different look and it was made with perforated lambskin (if I am not mistaken). I believe that after the easy caviar, the easy flap design settled as it is now! And I bet we will see more leather/hardware combinations in the future.'
So tell us more about your experience. Do you love it?
'I have to tell you that it is MOST useful and handy for a flap bag, for many reasons but mostly due to the zipper! And the medium size is divine. It has a longer chain strap so you can wear it cross body. You probably know that the chain strap of the medium classic flap is not long enough for cross body (unless you are petite). So if you want a classic flap but need to carry it cross body then you must go Jumbo size, which is big and heavy (not to mention much more expensive)! So the medium easy flap is perfect (at least for me)! I am very happy with my purchase!'
Thank you so much for sharing Joan. And oh my… anyone shopping spree? Anyone?
And oh yes, so the medium size is priced at 2770 euro with VAT right now. And one more thing, another member by its name Ps has bought one in bigger size:
Tags: bag Chanel Flap EASY CALFSKIN


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Republican state auditor candidate Debra Goldman is defending herself against allegations that she had an affair with a fellow Wake County school board member, according to a newspaper report.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) � Republican state auditor candidate Debra Goldman is defending herself against allegations that she had an affair with a fellow Wake County school board member, according to a newspaper report.
Debra Goldman told the News & Observer of Raleigh (http://bit.ly/Rcyj01 ) for a story Sunday that she rebuffed Chris Malone's advances.
Goldman had identified Malone as a suspect in a 2010 burglary at her home in which $130,000 in jewelry, cash and coins was taken. Goldman had told police she suspected Malone was involved in the burglary because he had made her feel uncomfortable with his attention.
Malone told police he and Goldman had a "very heated" physical relationship.
Cary police reopened the investigation last week but have not said why. Both board members are married, though Goldman is now estranged from her husband, the paper has reported. Malone was dropped as a suspect in the reported burglary.
Malone has said he agreed to Goldman's request to keep their relationship on a friendly basis. On a tape that Goldman says was recorded June 23, 2010, at the former Wake school board headquarters, she can be heard telling Malone to leave her alone.
"You are not to physically touch me again in any way," she says on the tape.
Malone is heard agreeing to her conditions, adding, "I thought we had some kind of a friendship." In police reports, Malone acknowledges the meeting with Goldman but described it as having happened after the end of their "very heated" relationship.
Goldman also told the newspaper that her 2010 vote to stop work on a zone-based assignment plan backed by her Republican colleagues was based on concerns about the plan's effect on families, not on ill will toward Malone.
"I could not subscribe to any plan that would create racially isolated schools," she said. "But I stood firmly behind the idea of community-based schools."
Malone has said his attorneys have advised him not to comment on the police report. He and Goldman were elected to the school board in 2009 as part of a new Republican majority that scrapped a decade-old classroom assignment plan that aimed for diverse student populations.
Goldman is competing against Democratic State Auditor Beth Wood in the November election. Malone is the Republican candidate for the state House District 35.
Information from: The News & Observer, http://www.newsobserver.com


text: I used to be on the other camp on this, but you know what, debt sucks.If you can get into any Michigan school other than cooley odds are you have a 160 lsat. That is a free ride at cooley. Take the zero debt. Employers may laugh at the degree, but you will have a spotless creditscore.


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Portland, OR (PRWEB UK) 19 February 2014
Extensis released today a new update for Suitcase Fusion™ 5, the professional-grade font manager which integrates fonts directly into the creative workflow. This latest update advances features which foster design inspiration, including a new Fontspiration™ panel which showcases the latest and most cutting edge typography. The update also doubles the collection of QuickComp™ templates, a new feature introduced in Suitcase Fusion 5 that allows designers to quickly experiment and pair typefaces in print or Web templates.
The free update is available from Suitcase Fusion's in application update menu, or by downloading the installer from Extensis' Web site.
New Fontspiration Panel Provides Window into Cutting Edge Typography
Graphic design moves at the speed of the web. New, gorgeous typefaces are released and quickly make it into the most cutting edge designs. The new Fontspiration™ panel gives designers a window into the latest in typography, in addition to cutting edge designs of the past, present and future. With the panel, designers can:
- Locate new and interesting fonts for their creative work
- See what other creative pros are using in real-world projects
- Explore the boundaries of lettering, typography and fonts in design
- Dig into what professionals from bygone eras have learned about type
Double the QuickComp Templates for Quick and Easy Mock-Ups
Introduced in Suitcase Fusion 5, QuickComp enables designers to quickly experiment and pair typefaces without having to activate their whole font collection, bounce between applications, and version documents repeatedly. With QuickComp, designers can experiment with headline and body copy pairings side-by-side in print or web templates directly in Suitcase Fusion 5. Samples can be saved to PDF font proofs for easy sharing.
Since its debut, Extensis has doubled the library of QuickComp templates, giving designers more options to get started quickly.
The Command Center for Fonts
Suitcase Fusion 5 provides a central hub for designers to take full control of their font collection (desktop, web and beyond). Providing instant access to the font tools designers need in all the places they need them, key features include:
- Auto-activation plug-ins for Adobe® Creative Cloud™ , Adobe Creative Suite™ , and QuarkXPress®
- QuickComp for fast font mock-ups
- QuickMatch™ for finding similar fonts fast
- Connections to both WebINK® and Google Font libraries, allowing designers to preview and prototype with the ever-expanding collection of over 6500 web fonts available from these services
- Mac OS X Mavericks (10.9) and Windows 8.1 support
Today's update for Suitcase Fusion 5 is available as a free update for current users.
Suitcase Fusion 5 is available to new users as a 30-day free trial download. Try it before you buy it.
Full product and upgrades are available through all IT resellers and retailers, and direct from the Extensis website.
Suitcase Fusion 5 is offered in English, French, German, Japanese, Italian, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese. For more information, visit http://www.extensis.com/suitcase-fusion/.
About Extensis
Celebrating 20 years in business, Extensis® is a leading developer of software and services for creative professionals and workgroups. Their solutions streamline workflows, securely manage digital assets and fonts, and control corporate typographic branding. Used by hundreds of Fortune 5000 companies, Extensis' award-winning server, desktop, and web service products include: Portfolio Server® for digital asset management, Universal Type Server® for server-based font management, Suitcase Fusion™ for single-user font management, and the WebINK® web font rental service. Founded in 1993, Extensis is based in Portland, Oregon, and the United Kingdom. For additional information, visit http://www.extensis.com.
© Celartem, Inc. d.b.a. Extensis All rights reserved. EXTENSIS, WebINK, and Suitcase Fusion are trademarks or registered trademarks of Extensis in the United States of America, Canada, the European Union and/or other countries. This list of trademarks is not exhaustive. Other trademarks, registered trademarks, product names, company names, brands and service names mentioned herein are property of Extensis or other respective owners.


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Hale Bullen
Annapolis, senior
Bullen is coming off a tremendous cross country season that was capped with a victory in the Class 3A state championship meet with a time of 16 minutes, 19.5 seconds. He has blossomed into one of the state's top distance runners.
Vince Ciattei
Perry Hall, senior
In the fall, Ciattei won the Baltimore County championship and the Class 4A North regional title in cross country before finishing third in the tough Class 4A state championship meet. Last winter, Ciattei was a member of the Gators' 3,200-meter relay team that won the Class 4A state title.
George Flaviano
Digital Harbor, senior
A big part of why the Rams won the Baltimore City meet, tied with Hereford for the Class 3A Central regional title and finished tied for fourth in the Class 3A state meet last winter, Flaviano won the 300-meter race at the state meet and ran on the victorious 1,600-meter relay.
Landrie Hatcher
Mount St. Joseph, junior
Last spring, Hatcher won the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association triple jump and took second in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles. He also won the high jump indoors last year and should be in four events for the Gaels this winter.
Kevin Payne
Hereford, senior
Payne is an unusual multi-event threat who's in training for the decathlon. He vaulted 14 feet last year and can score points easily in running and field events, a combination that makes him valuable to the Bulls.
Tyler Spear
Loyola, senior
Spear became the Dons' No. 1 cross country runner during the fall and led the Dons to another MIAA team title. He won the individual championship in 15 minutes, 58.4 seconds, and should be a force through the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons.
Timmy Usher
Reservoir, senior
After winning the Class 3A state title in the 500 meters and finishing second in the 800-meter race last winter, Usher should do well in both events again this season. He's also likely to help the Gators on relays.
Tim Virostek
Wilde Lake, senior
Virostek won the 800- and 1,600-meter events at the Class 3A state championship meet last winter, which was a big reason why the Wildecats tied Digital Harbor for fourth place in the race for the team title with 39 points.
Julian Woods
Century, senior
Woods' versatility will help the Knights this winter because he can do a little bit of everything -- helping in both running and field events. Last winter, he finished fourth in the 300-meter dash and third in the 55-meter hurdles at the Class 2A state title meet.
Sam Zunkeler
Gilman, senior
He has been one of the MIAA's most consistent distance runners over the past few years. Zunkeler will lead another deep Gilman team this winter as the Greyhounds try to repeat as MIAA champions.
Other notables:
Carrington Akosa, Western Tech
Weston Carvalho, Winters Mill
Justin Daigle, Francis Scott Key
Grant Dell, North Carroll
Chris Heydrick, River Hill
Kyle Hunt, Archbishop Curley
Chris Jackson, Gilman
Nick Lefavor, Old Mill
Sam Lipsky, Liberty
Alex Love, Chesapeake-AA
Jon Luckin, Hereford
Liam May, Calvert Hall
Jibri McLean, Gilman
Emmanuel Mitchell, Old Mill
Doug Neary, Mount St. Joseph
Sam Pershall, Severna Park
Dominic Piedmont, Loyola
LaMarr Poole, Owings Mills
Danny Rau, Howard
Andrew Robinson, McDonogh
Gibrill Sheriff, Reservoir
Jimmy Shipley, Severna Park
Mikey Singer, McDonogh
Quick Stukes, Digital Harbor
Lenier Tucker, Edgewood


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Time Money Assessment Tool
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We understand that your interest in exploring a career with RE/MAX Ultimate Realty Inc Brokerage should remain private and confidential. After submitting your information, you will be contacted by our Recruiting Associate who will answer any questions and coordinate a priority interview with you.
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As a thank you for putting them up for the musical-helicopter-extravaganza, Mum and Dad bought me the complete DVD set of Twenty Twelve, a BBC mockumentary sitcom about the organising of the London Games that I'd missed most of first time around. I'm sure there are parts of Twenty Twelve that were pure fiction, as in the end, the Games seemed to go off pretty well. But there were quite a few aspects of the show that were frighteningly accurate. The second episode, for example, had a coach carrying delegates from Rio de Janeiro getting completely lost in London because the coach driver didn't know where he was going. When Brother and I took a special Olympics coach (from First Great Western as is happens) to see the table tennis in the first few days of the Games, the coach driver spent 15 minutes driving around the same roundabout in Coventry because he had no idea where he was going, and when we got the Olympic Park, he disappeared up a small side street and then had to turn around in it (luckily there was a handy car park). And that was only the start of our transport difficulties... Anyway, suffice to say, some aspects of the show are pretty accurate.
Episode 3 of Twenty Twelve sees an unexpected hiccup in the building of the Aquatic Centre, as the site for the Centre turns out to be contain a Roman burial site (possibly along with some other Roman stuff involving cheese - I didn't really follow that bit). This may have been what Fictional!Boris Johnson was trying to explain on the phone, apparently in Latin. (We Classicists are mostly very pleased that the Mayor of London is so keen on our subject, but it is possible everyone else in the country is less enthusiastic).
Situations like this are basically a nightmare for everyone involved. Although new finds are always exciting, no archaeologist wants to rush in and tear as much to possible to pieces as quickly as they can to meet a building deadline (the archaeologist here is particularly unimpressed at being offered two days, which is a nice touch. Real archaeology, as opposed to TV archaeology, takes a lot longer than two days). This sort of emergency dig - known as rescue archaeology - has been done, albeit in a period of months, not days, but it's not ideal. Meanwhile, anyone spending a lot of money on a new building project is going to be frustrated to learn that they have to wait for a bunch of archaeologists to do their stuff before they can get on with it, and if you have a deadline like the Olympic Opening Ceremony to meet, it really can't be done. It's no wonder Twenty Twelve's protagonist Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville) was hoping the bones would turn out to be just a murder.
After some potential solutions have to be vetoed (for instance, making the diving pool a couple of metres shallower so that it wouldn't go down as deep as the Roman bones, which could have a knock-on effect for the divers), the eventual solution, taking out the architect's beloved urban water hole and preserving the bones underneath the entrance hall, has to be communicated to both the architect and the public. This would be easier if PR head Siobhan Sharpe (Jessica Hynes) didn't think the Romans founded the Olympic Games. (To be fair, the Romans did have the Olympics - they kept them going until AD 394). And that joke would look more exaggerated if a genuine BBC programme celebrating the Games hadn't declared that they took place on Mount Olympus.
According to the Aquatic Centre website, 'before construction began on the site of the Aquatics Centre, archaeological investigations discovered evidence of an Iron Age settlement; including an ancient burial site with four skeletons.' The website does not explain what actually happened to the Iron Age bones, or whether they ended up underneath the entrance hall.
Twenty Twelve has a wonderful dry wit ('As usual, it's Monday morning'), all narrated in the soothing tones of David Tennant (I have a couple of Doctor Who audio books narrated by David Tennant. Besides, you know, being the Doctor, his voice with his real accent is perfect for listening to for hours. It must be the Scottish thing). It's well worth discovering on DVD - while the immediacy of the issues covered may have passed, the humour is just as fresh and the characters just as engaging. It also makes a rather nice souvenir of the London Games as a whole - especially if your coach was unable to find its way in either London or Coventry...


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Simulation is integrated into every academic program at Samuel Merritt University (SMU).
Pre-licensure nursing students using simulation
Each program incorporates simulation to meet its own unique learning objectives. In the Health Sciences Simulation Center many SMU students now have their first taste of clinical practice as early as two months into their training, and well before they actually embark on their clinical practicum experience. They continue performing, evaluating and improving their skills through simulation right up to graduation.
Across the curricula university wide, feedback from both students and faculty has been overwhelmingly positive. At SMU, simulation plays a major role in transforming students into skilled, confident and effective clinical practitioners.
Click on the links below for more on how simulation fits into each of SMU's programs:


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Horn of Africa Crisis
Horn of Africa Crisis
Drought in the Horn of Africa, coupled with conflict in Somalia, has affected over 13 million people. WFP is implementing food operations in five countries in the region (Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda). This page brings together a range of information on the hunger crisis in the Horn and WFP's emergency response.
The Situation
- The rains have started in the Horn but several consecutive seasons of drought have left millions of people requiring food assistance until the next harvest comes in.
- WFP is providing food assistance for 7.8 million people in five countries and is working towards reaching a target figure of 10.9 million with food.
- WFP is moving life-saving food and nutritional products by sea, air and road into Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia to address hunger among the most vulnerable.
- WFP is providing highly fortified supplementary food products for children to prevent malnutrition in the first two years of life (when it can lead to irreversible damage to children's minds and bodies.)
- In Somalia, WFP is focusing its efforts on distributing food to as many people as it can reach in areas which it has access. We will scale up to meet the urgent food needs of some 1.5 million people in those regions.
- In Ethiopia WFP is currently reaching 3.8 million people with emergency food assistance. Taking into account its other programmes, WFP will feed 7.1 million people in 2011.
- In Kenya, Where 3.75 million people are affected by drought, WFP is reaching nearly 2 million people with emergency food aid – this includes over half a million refugees in the Dadaab and Kakuma camps.
Region Background
The Horn of Africa encompasses Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Kenya. It's one of the most food insecure regions in the world, characterised by frequent droughts and conflict. Concern about the impact of drought in the region escalated in June, when the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, FEWSNET, reported that this year was among the driest since 1950.
Latest News
BOSSASO – In a courtyard at the GDA centre in the port town of Bossaso, women ululate and sing as they pull brilliant pieces of cloth out of a boiling cauldron, then rinse them and hang them on...
DOLOW - Ali Sharif beams with pride as he works on his farm in Surguduud, along the river Dawo on the outskirts of Dolow town in the Gedo region of southwestern Somalia. Ali is chairman of a...
DONGOROYO – When Asha Adan heard that WFP would be distributing food to cyclone survivors in Dongoroyo in Somalia's Puntland region, she lost no time in making her way to the town....
Hargeisa - "Aqoon la aq'aan waa iftiin la aane" ("To be without knowledge is to be without light") is a popular Somali proverb. But for many young people in this...
Dadaab – Fartun Abdi squats in front of the mound of red tomatoes in one of Dadaab's busy markets and expertly selects a few of the best-looking fruits. She hands them to the trader, who...
Easy ways to help
- In the USA: Donate $10 to our efforts in the Horn of Africa by texting the word AID to this number: 27722
- In Canada: Donate $5 to our efforts in the Horn of Africa by texting the word RELIEF to this number: 45678
- In the UK: Donate £3 to our efforts in the Horn of Africa by texting the word AID to this number: 70303
- Place a donation banner on your site or blog. Choose from the selection we have here: Banner selection
- Help us disseminate these public service announcements: Print Ad Selection
- 1 of 31
- ››
Horn of Africa Crisis in the Media
- allAfrica - 4 February 2013
- PBS NewsHour - 31 October 2011
- BBC - 31 October 2011
- Sporting News.com - 13 October 2011
- Windsor Star - 13 October 2011
Media Contacts
Challiss McDonough - East, Central and Southern Africa
David Orr - East, Central and Southern Africa
Stephanie Savariaud - East and Central Africa
Judith Schuler - Ethiopia
Rose Ogola - Kenya


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We got a mention and a link on the BBC's website yesterday!
as well as a page on Anime News Network last month
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-r ... tival-2010
If anyone else has spotted word of SFL plastered around the interwebs anywhere stick those linkies on up.
Sci-Fi-London spotting
Post links to websites you want to share. got a forum or a fan site you want to promote?
Post Reply
3 posts • Page 1 of 1
- Shinji Ikari
- SFL Pro
- Posts: 1141
- Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2004 1:07 am
- Contact:
Re: Sci-Fi-London spotting
not as of yet but ill keep my eyes open
Post Reply
3 posts • Page 1 of 1


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Dragons Team Up With VX3 And Lovell
12 June 2018
Welsh Region, Dragons have joined forces with VX3 and parent company Lovell Rugby to announce an exciting new long-term partnership. Th...
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Transportation Industry
Trucking and Warehousing -This industry is comprised of 1.7 million wage and salary jobs and 881,000 truck drivers. Most of the work is done for small establishments of 10 employees or less.
Transportation and Warehousing
Industry description
Firms in the trucking and warehousing industry are a link to manufacturers and consumers, by picking-up, transporting and delivering various goods. Two distinct segments of this industry are local and long distance trucking. Local trucking comprise 60,000 trucking establishments, while long-distance trucking number 50,000 establishments. Other segments include large amounts of goods directly to their destination, with no stops, while other carriers load and unload at many destinations. Courier services carry 100 pound packages or less. The rest of the industry is comprised of freight transportation terminals and public warehousing and storage.
Needs and initiatives
Logistical services are improving the entire shipping industry. There is "just-in-time" shipping now to reduce inventory storage and inventory management, handling and warehousing. Competition in this industry is intense with the railroad industry. Courier and delivery services are also growing.
The work in this area provides for independence,
but frequently travel occurs overnight on holidays and weekends. Often
repairs are made "on the road." Heavy physical labor is often required
in warehouse and freight terminals.
Transportation and
Greatest segment needs
Truck drivers make for 51% of employment in this industry, transporting from one location to another. Local drivers have the same routes daily and weekly. Long-distance truckers are often on the road for long stretches of time and have overnight stays. Dispatchers coordinate the movement of freight and trucks. There are mechanics for safety checks and repairs and marketing and sales workers. Positions in logistics management require graduate and undergraduate degrees. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations require truck drivers to be at least 21 years of age and have 20/40 vision and good hearing.
Many truck drivers enter the occupation by attending training schools for truck drivers. Some large trucking companies however have formal training programs. There are long-distance drivers who go into business for themselves and have a good business sense, as well as trucking experience. Managerial jobs are usually filled by persons with a bachelor's degree, in business, marketing, accounting and industrial relations.
Earnings average about $13.62 an hour. Truck drivers who operate heavy tractor-trailers generally have higher earnings of about $14.09, then those with light delivery trucks. Truck mechanics average $12.43 and industrial trucks and tractor operators average $10.83. Top executive managers in the trucking industry and make about $24.04 per hour.
Employment Outlook
The number of wage and salary jobs in trucking
is expected to grow about 11 percent from 1998 - 2008. This is compared
to an overall economy average at a growth rate of 15%. Opportunities for
qualified truck drivers are expected to be favorable.
Air Transportation - This industry provided 1.2 million jobs in 1998. Eighty percent of employees work in ground occupations.
Industry description
Major airlines and air taxi companies provide transportation for passengers and cargo.
Needs and initiatives
There were severe financial losses in the 1990's, but smaller regional and commuter airlines have lowered costs.
Most employees work in fairly comfortable offices, terminals and airplanes. Mechanics however work in noise, dirt and grease. Workers will experience irregular hours and schedules. Work will often be at night, weekends and holidays. Flight personnel are away from home frequently.
Greatest segment needs
There are many jobs in this industry. Aircraft mechanics may specialize in jet transports, engines, hydraulics or electrical systems. Dispatchers plan flights for airline crews and analyze weather conditions and determine fuel requirements. There are ticket and reservation agents for customer service and security representatives to screen passengers for weapons and illegal or forbidden items. Most pilots carry transport and cargo, but some apply chemicals for crops, spread seed for reforestation and test aircraft or take photographs. Helicopter pilots work with fire fighting, police work, evacuation and rescue, or construction. A flight attendants most important function is the safety of the passengers.
You may enter some of these jobs from high school, while others require extensive training. Mechanics and pilots both are certified by the Federal Aviation Association (FAA). Pilots also have a commercial pilot's license. Pilots receive their instruction and training in the military or flight school and many require 2 years of college. Mechanics should complete trade schooling.
Most employees receive standard benefits of life and health insurance. Aircraft pilots and flight engineers earn about $39.32 per hour. Communications managers are at $22.40. Aircraft mechanics make $19.28 and first-line supervisors earn $16.82. Light attendants earn about $16.70 per hour and reservation and transportation ticket agents make an hourly wage of $11.12 per hour.
Employment Outlook
The outlook is projected for 18% over the next decade, which is about as fast as average with other industries. Occupational demand for pilots is extremely competitive, with few openings. Competition is also stiff for reservation and ticket agents. Opportunities for flight attendants though is good.
Telecommunications - This industry provides 1,042,000 wage and salary jobs in 1998. Most jobs are in telephone communications. Sixty percent of all workers are employed in either administrative support or precision production, craft and repair.
Industry description
Changes in technology are transforming this industry. The transmission not only of voice, but data, graphics and video is now common. High capacity transmission of information is done with fiber optic cables and networks of radio towers and satellites are rapidly expanding wireless telecommunications Although wireline communications is ever present, wireless network operate to transmit information from radio towers and then the signal connects through an antennae to a wireline network. Wireless services include beepers, pagers and satellite telephone services. Other sectors of the industry include e-mail and facsimile services.
Needs and initiatives
Government deregulation has resulted in an increase in competition. This competition from outside of the industry will increase with cable companies, public utilities and high-speed Internet access partners are entering the telecommunications market. The transmission of analog voice signals requires transmission capacity of bandwidth. Therefore new fiber optic networks need to be laid for higher speed transmission with wavelength multiplexing (WDM). These technologies transmit voice and data communications. This process will blur the lines between telecommunication providers and Internet service providers.
This industry offers steady year-round
employment. Line installers and repairers will be willing to work
outside and in all kinds of weather. Telecommunications equipment
mechanics and installers will generally work indoors. The equipment
operators work in pleasant air-conditioned surroundings.
Greatest segment needs
Line installers and repairers connect telephone
central offices to customer's telephone systems. Telecommunication
equipment mechanics, installers and repairers maintain an array of very
complex communications equipment. Station installers and repairers work
on customer's property. Then the rest of the industry is comprised of
communications equipment operators, director assistance switchboard
operators and customer service. The highly technical side of this
industry requires the help of engineers, computer analysts and
scientists. Telecommunications specialists design voice and data
communications systems, helping to integrate communication equipment
with computer networks.
This industry provides for a great variety of skills and training. Many line installers are initially hired as helpers and ground workers before becoming line installers. Most companies prefer to hire telecommunications equipment mechanics, installers and mechanics with postsecondary training in electronics from a two or four year college. The need for these skills is great. Bachelor's degrees are usually required for entry-level jobs in electrical and electronics engineering. Computer engineers hold a degree in computer science or software engineering. Administrators often have degrees in computer science and information management.
Earnings in this industry varies to a great degree. Communications, transportation and utility managers earn $31.13, while computer programmers earn about $23.45 and central PBX installers make $20.39. Telephone and cable repairers make about $18.87 and directory assistant operators earn about $14.48 per hour.
Employment Outlook
Employment in this industry is expected to
increase 23 percent over 1998 - 2008, which is faster then the 15%
projected for the rest of the economy. Some employment loss will occur
with improved labor-saving technologies, such as self-monitoring
equipment. Employment in directory assistance will decline with the
increase in automation. Businesses will request more wireline
installations to increase connections to suppliers and customers.
Employment in mechanics, installation and repair is expected to
Cable and Other Pay Television Services - Cable and other pay television services provided about 181,000 wage and salary jobs in 1998.
Cable and Other Pay
Industry description
This industry provides widely used television and other services on a subscription or fee basis. Cable networks produce original studio productions. Currently two-thirds of households have pay television services.
Needs and initiatives
It used to be that this service was strictly from the cable company to the customer. New technologies are allowing though for two-way communication with telephone service and high-speed Internet access. New digital transmission creates higher resolution television.
The working conditions in this industry varies. Most professional and clerical workers are indoors. technical and craft workers perform duties in all kinds of outdoors weather.
Greatest segment needs
About one-third of this industry is in administrative support, while another third is in craft and repair which includes installers, line technicians and maintenance technicians. The rest of the occupations include such work as camera operations, producers and newscasters. Electrical and electronic engineers design wireless distribution systems, network administrators maintain computer servers. Lastly market researchers and sales representatives work to sell advertising time to sponsors.
Cable and Other Pay Occupational Outlook
Many of the jobs do not require a college degree, but increasingly mechanical, mathematical and electrical postsecondary studies are necessary. A two year associates degree is recommended. There are also trade schools for cable technicians. Professional positions often require a bachelor's degree, such as broadcast journalists, engineering and computer specialists.
Earnings for installers and repairers runs about $11.56 per hour, while sales agents make about $14.21.
Employment Outlook
Employment in this industry is expected to
increase by 27% between 1998 to 2008, which is faster then the 15%
projected for all industries. The high demand for high-speed Intenet
access and digital television programming will increase customer
subscription demand. Opportunities will be the best for those with
technical skills. Cable installation jobs and customer service
representatives will also be in demand. Lastly this drive for cable
access will increase the demand for producers, newscasters and camera
Career and Employment Services
Gannon Building - StarZone
Phone: (517) 483-1172
Additional contact information »


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Laura Schjeldahl necesitaba un nuevo diseño de página web y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 22 diseños de 7 diseñadores freelance.
Onsharp, a web dev company, owns the application SmartPay. SmartPay is an electronic invoicing/payment system. We create customized & branded portals for merchants to post bills that their customers can login to see & pay.
The colors of the portal are different for almost every merchant. The page layout & style remain the same.
The merchant's customers are the target audience here. If the merchant is a cable company, the customer might be you! Imagine yourself going online to view and pay your cable bill (or a doctor bill, utility bill).
People come here to pay their bills, so we don't want to distract them from their primary purpose.
The interface already exists. We need you to reorganize the page to include 1 or 2 advertisements that the merchant (cable company) wants the customer to see - kind of like when they include those annoying ads with the bill you get in the mail.
The merchant will be able to decide if they want to include 1, 2 or no ads on the web page, so the page shouldn't look weird if there aren't any ads and it shouldn't be overwhelming if there are 2.
You decide:
- standard size for ads
- orientation for ads
- placement of ads
If you think the design of the existing page stinks, feel free to move the elements around, re-size them, make them do the hokey pokey, etc.
Redesign or reorganize the attached page. This will be the initial page the customer sees after they login, or if they click an email link.
This is a stretchy screen, but we would like to optimize for 800x600.
Login page for the portal: https://smartpay.onsharp.com/
Informational website (this is going to be redesigned soon too): http://gosmartpay.com/publicpages/index.aspx


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Welcome to the CRG Discussion Forum!Forum registration problems: Make sure you enter your email correctly and you check your spam box first. *Then* email KurtS2@gmail for help.Classified ads are not allowed on the forum.
I think it's setup that the post can be edited for a couple of minutes after you post it. .....I just increased that to 20 minutes right now.It can be disabled so that you can edit a post forever, but I've seen that be a problem on many boards.