Customer Reviews

Radio Receiver Design

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

By way of full disclaimer, I just received this book. I previously searched for customer reviews but could find none. I took a chance on the rather skimpy reviews and ordered the book. Am I ever pleased!

Having read through just the first chapter, I am impressed with the authors writing style. My sense is that the book is tutorial in nature, delivers an easy-to-read discussion of all the architectural components needed understand a receiver, and is full of specific examples of the topics discussed. The book is not a "cookbook" with specific circuit examples. The book approaches receiver design from the standpoint of architecture at a systems level with discussion of the specification, considerations, and other characteristics needed to understand good receiver design.

Chapter 1 "introduces many of the basic concepts". I found that chapter one was a good review of the basic concepts more so than an introduction. Review of dB math, standard use of dBHz, dbK, etc. Following topics include frequency, propagation, and wavelength, transmission lines, two-port networks, matching and power transfer, modulation theory (AM, FM, PM) in the time and frequency domain, and noise theory. Each topic is short in the sense that a 140+ page chapter cannot do justice to a complete coverage of each topic. That written, the authors provide clear explanations with great examples of each topic of discussion. I found the discussion of transmission line theory very well written, did not overwhelm the reader excessive high-level math, and covered the key transmission line concepts that a receiver designer needs to master. The authors tell "war stories" to discuss real-life issues illustrating why mastering each topic is important in practice. A discussion of transmission line propagation using "bounce diagrams" was as clear as I've ever read.

More to follow as I read through the book...

Note: The copy I am reading has many errors. There is no email address to reach the authors and Noble does not appear to monitor (or respond) to email. It would be nice to provide corrections or have an errata sheet of known errors. So, Kevin and Tom, if you read this and plan on revising the book...

This book contains tons of practical information on receiver design. While it has a good amount of theory, what makes the book unique is that it has a lot of applied information based on the authors experiences. Once you've learned the theory (from Pozar maybe) this books will reinforce the concepts and help you apply them.

Very detailed treatment of mixers, oscillators, amplifier nonlinearities, and signal chain design.

Hi, Thanks for pointing out the errors. Can you share your e-mail so the errors can be known for the benefit of others... Thanks!

This book is excellent. The writing is very easy to understand and practical examples are given to help soidify concepts. Just enough technical calculation detail is given so as to not to confuse the reader. It's a must have.