Need information about RF Books

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matteo128

Joined: 19 Oct 2001
Posts: 25

23 Jan 2003 20:03 Need information about RF Books

Hi,

I am just starting in RF. I would like to get some recommendation for the standard textbooks in the area. I did some research on Amazon and elswhere but would like to hear what do you think.

I can buy 2 or 3 books but since they are expensive and I cannot see them before ordering I don't want to make a mistake. I am interested in transceivers for digital information, in frequency range 900MHz to couple of GHz.

The only book I have now is Bowick's which is quite good in what it covers.

Thanks in advance,
Matteo

toonafishy

Joined: 18 Jun 2002
Posts: 461
Helped: 25
Location: Earth

23 Jan 2003 21:10

I have lots of books in my bookcase but these four are always out on my desk:

R/F D/e/s/i/g/n G/u/i/d/e V/i/z/m/u/l/l/e/r
M/i/c/r/o/w/a/v/e T/r/a/n/s/i/s/t/o/r A/m/p/l/i/f/i/e/r/s G/o/n/z/a/l/e/z
R/F/ M/i/c/r/o/e/l/e/c/t/r/o/n/i/c/s R/a/z/a/v/i
M/i/c/r/o/w/a/v/e E/n/g/i/n/e/e/r/i/n/g P/o/z/a/r

flatulent

Joined: 19 Jul 2002
Posts: 4875
Helped: 324
Location: Middle Earth

23 Jan 2003 21:20 Pozar

I suggest that the Pozar book in the previous post is probably your best bet if you only buy one book. Gonzales is the second best book. You can also try the used book search site www.bookfinder.com if you want to save some money. The best oldest book (which is only available used) is by Terman and is his third edition (1943) of "Radio Engineers' Handbook." The other editions 1-4 are not as good. This will give you the best return of basic theory (both circuit and system) for your funds. Reprits were being sold new by the publisher as late as 1965 which shows you how popular this book was even when transistors had repaced tubes (valves) in new designs.

Finally, you can try a library to have a look at the books you will purchase later.

Even though you did not ask, I think that AdLab Plus is the best cheap ($40 US) set of design utilities. http://people.freenet.de/weberconnect_free/adlabp2.htm

zafeiras

Joined: 20 Dec 2002
Posts: 12

24 Jan 2003 1:32

I’m sorry but I will not agree that Pozar is the best choice.
It depends on what you want. Pozar isn’t a book for starters neither for someone who really wants to understand RF and Microwave theory.
It’s a book for engineers, probably one of the best books for an engineer, but nothing more.
Its title declares it: Microwave Engineering.
There are a lot of books much more educational than Pozar like:

Foundations for Microwave Engineering by Robert E. Collin

I assure u that it covers Pozar. It is a connection between theory and practice. It’s not easy to read but neither is Pozar. They both require considerable math knowledge.
If u don’t have it or u just want to be able to make some constructions and devices, u can buy the:

The ARRL HANDBOOK for Radio Communications (the comprehensive RF engineering reference), published by “the national association for amateur radio”
It will help u to construct whatever u want and u will learn a lot of things reading it.
New editions are released every October, it’s really cheaper than the above and every radio-amateur loves it.
And dont forget to visit: www.educatorscorner.com and click "RF corner" or search for
“application notes” into the site. There is a really huge amount of information about RF, microwaves and communications.

Thank u for listening