Getting Started with RF - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: Omar Mekkawy
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2018, 01:35:41 am
content: Hi Friends,I have studied Computer engineering in my college but unfortunately they didn't teach us any principles or basics of the RF or even the electric field, The antenna, etc. and they think that these things are concerned for the communication engineers not the computer engineer !!. I found this a problem for me because I am interested in electronics, computers and many fields that deals with high frequency stuffs. Do anyone recommend me references or courses for the RF and its basics ?.Thanks a lot.

author: daybyter
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2018, 02:00:51 am
content: http://www.vk2zay.net/article/235Just start to tinker?

author: Omar Mekkawy
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2018, 02:36:07 am
content: Quote from: daybyter on May 18, 2018, 02:00:51 amThank you for the link. I just want a courses or references for teaching the principles of high frequency stuffs from the basics like the electric field and magnetic field, going through the antenna, etc. . I know how to make RF Stuffs practically but without having an theoretical background about how they work and how to analyze the high frequency signals and determining if there are glitches or high frequency components that needs bypassing. I have hear some words from Dave Jones in his videos like (Signal Integrity, signal fidelity, Antenna effect).

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 18, 2018, 06:07:58 am
content: Your college is right but you can of course study what you like.

author: hagster
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2018, 06:23:25 am
content: https://youtu.be/T-SbBlNgUTUThis is the simplest and best intro to RF that I have seen. Its very old, but very clear and accurate. There is a lot of missconceptions and myths online about RF and a big challenge is filtering that out.The following sites contain trust worthy information-AntennaTheory.com. there is a sister site about maxwells equations too.Microwave101 encyclopedia.

author: radiogeek381
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 20, 2018, 12:23:17 am
content: Quote from: Omar Mekkawy on May 18, 2018, 01:35:41 amGood for you for going beyond the curriculum.I've been a computer engineer for more than 30 years -- from TTL, ECL, to CMOS. I've worked on everything from embedded controllers to mainframes, and from low speed sensors to very fast microprocessors. There's not a single bit of electrical engineering education that's been wasted. Even the thermodynamics classes have been useful.And if it hasn't already come to pass, eventually most of the world's computers will be connected to an RF link. (That is likely already true given the number of cellphones in hands today.)So learning about RF is pretty useful for a computer engineer, even if the curriculum planners left it out.The "ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications" might be a good place to start. It is not at all rigorous, and leaves out most of the really neat math, but it at least exposes the reader to some first principles. Our fellow forumistas will no doubt weigh in with their own recommendations. The books that I used in the beginning are all now dated and out of print. So, let's see what they suggest...