Customer Reviews

Radio-Frequency Electronics: Circuits and Applications

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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I first came across "Radio-Frequency Electronics" in 1996 when I was a student. Back then, this short volume seemed sparse in details compared with the typical 700+ page engineering texts that are full of minutiae. It was later that I understood the true value of this book, which is to focus on the *ideas* by describing them in words. The detailed equations and derivations can be found in other texts. If you enjoyed reading the Feynman Lectures on Physics then you will also like this text by Jon Hagen because the writing style and outlook are similar.

I used this book when I took the RF Circuit Design class at Cornell. The experience with this book was devastating. It did not give me any good detail of any single RF circuit. I am not sure what kind of background the author expected, but I am sure that this book is not a good choice for a beginner. And if you got a Ph.D. in RF design, why do you wanna read a magazine version of an RF design?

I use this book as the standard text of my RF course at Cornell. Honestly, this book is only for casual reading.
Though it covers many topics, but all of them lack in details. For instance, it use 10 pages to explain class A and B amplifier. After reading that 10 pages, I still didn't understand why they are named class A and B. While dealing with modulation, no mathematical details is provided (Does the author assume that we already understand that?) After all, I don't feel this book to be a textbook. The way it treats RF is like a computer magazine treats computer architecture. You learn there are CPU and RAM in a computer from the magazine, but you never learn how to build a CPU or RAM. You can't even learn how to build a full bit adder from it.

This book is great for casual or serious self-study.
Read Art of Electronics as a prerequisite. And be prepared
to puzzle for a while over each of the RF building blocks
and design techniques presented.

Radio-Frequency Electronics is made up of short, brutally
minimal chapters on topics central to RF design. This is
one of the few great practical books that the beginner can
use to learn electronic design--and not just for wireless.

The book doesn't attempt to treat RF design with RF ICs,
which is of practical interest to many who are new to RF
electronics. There are also other practical omissions.
But what has been left out makes the core material even
more general and compelling.

The typesetting and display mathematics are unusually
clear, high-quality, and pleasing, as are the illustrations.