Interesting book on RF design

[daqq]

Found this:

https://repository.lib.ncsu.edu/handle/1840.20/36776

Looks to cover a lot of ground. I'm gonna look it over, hopefully my head will not explode.

What other books would you recommend to someone who's beginning with RF design?

[awallin]

Bowick is the usual (old school?) answer
https://www.amazon.com/RF-Circuit-Design-Christopher-Bowick/dp/0750685182

[worsthorse]

Bowick is the usual (old school?) answer
https://www.amazon.com/RF-Circuit-Design-Christopher-Bowick/dp/0750685182

Bowick would be my first choice if you want a practical treatment, and are mostly focused on passive components. Old school would be Understanding Amateur Radio, with the last edition by Grammer and the newer one by Demaw and Rusgrove.  For a more engineer-oriented text, Introduction to Radio Frequency Design by Hayward. And there's always Solid State Design for the Radio Amateur which is excellent though, unfortunately, out of print.

I'd start with Bowick. You will find you need to buy with a little more granularity than just "RF design". And be warned most of the books I consider to be good other folks would probably classify as outdated.

BTW, I took a look at the textbook you posted the link to. First, that is likely to be very heavy on advanced mathematics. Second, you probably want to be clear about what RF range you want to learn about. You are unlikely to find much in that textbook on anything but microwave frequency design, most of which is un-needed overkill or inapplicable at much lower frequencies.

[KE5FX]

Found this:

https://repository.lib.ncsu.edu/handle/1840.20/36776

Looks to cover a lot of ground. I'm gonna look it over, hopefully my head will not explode.

What other books would you recommend to someone who's beginning with RF design?

I took a look at the collection of textbooks by Steer, and it seems like a decent effort, heavy on the math without being entirely divorced from practical applications.  The editing is somewhat uneven, not exactly an uncommon complaint these days.

Overall Steer's books remind me of Lee's 'Planar Microwave Engineering'.  That one isn't quite as in-depth (and isn't free-as-in-CC licensed), but I think it would be a better choice for the less-experienced reader to start with.  Bowick is great as well.

[GerryR]

An older book, but Secrets of RF Circuit Design by Joseph Carr, and possibly Radio Handbook by William I. Orr (Sams Publication).

[bd139]

Introduction to RF design by Wes Hayward is a good one as well. He turns off ham mode for that one.

[daqq]

Thanks to everyone for the tips. I'm just getting started with the black art and it's confusing...

[jmpowell]

I have a great fondness for Experimental Methods in RF Design  http://www.arrl.org/shop/Experimental-Methods-in-RF-Design-Classic-Reprint-Edition/  It comes with a CD-ROM containing many of the referenced papers and PDFs of Solid State Design for the Radio Amateur, and Introduction to Radio Frequency Design.

[bd139]

EMRFD is an excellent book.

[worsthorse]

I will second that and the reprint edition is worth it, just for the CD reprints!

[TheUnnamedNewbie]

One of the common go-to books to teach microwave stuff is usually Pozar's Microwave Engineering.
If you want circuit design, Razavi's RF Microelectronics could be worth looking at.

I'm aware that both of these tend to be expensive books, and are in-depth. I don't really know what you are looking for so I thought I might just suggest them.