Reddit mentions: The best telecommunication books

A little bit of background: I'm a guy who struggled tremendously with math in high school, and quite frankly I despised it. But three years ago I finished up a BS in math and now I'm wrapping up my electrical engineering degree. I hope my perspective can be useful:

>Is math a very crucial part of engineering?

Yes. There's no avoiding it. I remember asking myself in high school algebra "when am I ever going to use this," but today I struggle to find the words to express just how monumentally important mathematics are to modern society. I think it's fair to say that the better you are at math, the better you will be at engineering as well as most hard sciences.

>If its a math different from Algebra, then maybe I'll be fine.

If by "different" you mean "more advanced," then yes. At the same time, more advanced = more interesting. On its own, algebra is fucking boring if you're just trying to get the hang of it. It's the topics in which you use algebra that are interesting.

For what it's worth, I failed algebra in high school. I absolutely hated it, and I didn't really get the hang of it until my first year in college. After that, calc was much easier and much, much more interesting.

Thing is, if you don't master algebra, then the more advanced topics (calculus and beyond) will be prohibitively difficult. However, it's not as bad as you might think. At a certain point, doing algebra will be like breathing, or riding a bike. It's sort of like learning the basic scales for the guitar: it's horrendously boring to practice, but once you get a feel for it, it becomes second nature and you'll find that it's absolutely indispensable for being a good musician.

The best advice I can give is to get a taste of calculus, which would hopefully motivate you to really master algebra. This book is great if you want to get a feel for it. If you've got at least a basic understanding of algebra, this book should be fairly accessible. The first chapter sets up the basic algebraic principles, and also discusses trig and exponential functions. The second chapter will probably be the toughest to get through: it establishes the concept of the limit, which won't actually seem relevant until you apply it to calculus, but believe me when I say that it is a critical foundation for calculus. Chapter three actually starts getting into using calculus.

Oh yes, I should also mention that trig is extremely important as well (I'd bet my salary that you'll encounter it numerous times in any engineering curriculum), but like calculus, trig becomes much easier to learn if you have a good grasp of algebra. I figure a good sense of trig is something you can kind of pick up along the way. You'll most certainly use it in intro physics classes.

TL;DR: Don't give up on math just yet!

Also: I used to tutor students in algebra and calculus. If you have any questions feel free to respond or PM me!

Open loop = the gain of the opamp component all by itself, with all other components removed. In particular, with the feedback components removed.

Closed loop = the gain of the (amplifier circuit as a whole), from circuit-input to circuit-output, with all components intact. In particular, with the feedback components in place.

In general, you cannot calculate the open loop gain from the closed loop gain.

In general, you cannot calculate the closed loop gain from the open loop gain without also knowing the details of the rest of the circuit. You also need to know the topology of the feedback circuit and its component values: they set the closed loop gain .... and that's the entire point! Open loop gain is highly variable and undependable; for example, it varies with supply voltage and also with temperature. But closed loop gain is stable and predictable, because it is set by resistor ratios. And resistor ratios do not vary with supply voltage or temperature.

These two books, although not new, are very helpful: ONE , TWO .

> I signed up for an amateur radio licensing course

That's actually very relevant. This is the best way to learn a few EE junior-level fundamentals before you even take classes on them, and a majority of EEs and RF engineers are hams. It's an excellent way to network in the industry.

RFwise, the default answer around here is Pozar's Microwave Engineering book for some excellent theory, as well as Experimental Methods in RF Design for practical examples and projects.

I would also find a way to get HFSS/CST/FEKO through your university, either by taking courses and look for opportunities for research or independent study. Practically, build some ham radio antennas, get an RTLSDR (see /r/RTLSDR) and play around, build some cheap transmitter and receiver kits like the Pixie, and get involved with a ham club.

The indistury is strongly moving towards SDR and FPGA-based radio designs, so it might be wise to learn a bit VHDL/Verilog/FPGA programming, which is something I need to do. The industry uses a ton of MATLAB too.

If you are looking for a good RF internship/coop, I would look at Radio Observatories like the Very Large Array. If you meet Paul Harden (ham call NA5N) and mention you want to learn about RF design, he will blow your mind.

Usual hierarchy of what comes after what is simply artificial. They like to teach Linear Algebra before Abstract Algebra, but it doesn't mean that it is all there's to Linear Algebra especially because Linear Algebra is a part of Abstract Algebra.

Example,

Linear Algebra for freshmen: some books that talk about manipulating matrices at length.

Linear Algebra for 2nd/3rd year undergrads: Linear Algebra Done Right by Axler

Linear Algebra for grad students(aka overkill): Advanced Linear Algebra by Roman

Basically, math is all interconnected and it doesn't matter where exactly you enter it.

Coming in cold might be a bit of a shocker, so studying up on foundational stuff before plunging into modern math is probably great.

Books you might like:

Discrete Mathematics with Applications by Susanna Epp

Learning to Reason: An Introduction to Logic, Sets, and Relations by Nancy Rodgers

Building Proofs: A Practical Guide by Oliveira/Stewart

Book Of Proof by Hammack

Mathematical Proofs: A Transition to Advanced Mathematics by Chartrand et al

How to Prove It: A Structured Approach by Velleman

The Nuts and Bolts of Proofs by Antonella Cupillary

How To Think About Analysis by Alcock

Principles and Techniques in Combinatorics by Khee-Meng Koh , Chuan Chong Chen

The Probability Tutoring Book: An Intuitive Course for Engineers and Scientists (and Everyone Else!) by Carol Ash

Problems and Proofs in Numbers and Algebra by Millman et al

Theorems, Corollaries, Lemmas, and Methods of Proof by Rossi

Mathematical Concepts by Jost - can't wait to start reading this

Proof Patterns by Joshi

...and about a billion other books like that I can't remember right now.

Good Luck.

Pozar's Microwave Engineering is a great book.

Microwaves 101 is a great website. It has information on how to self-educate on the subject as well (book suggestions, etc.)

Intro to Airbourne RADAR is another nice book with a RADAR focus.

The Agilent Impedance Measurement Handbook is required reading IMHO.

There are quite a bit of great papers published by the big companies, for example Rhode & Schwartz, Agilent, Analog Devices, and so on. Once you learn about what the names of the subfields of focus are you can look for papers on a particular technology or simulation/testing/analysis method.

I found Microstrip Lines and Slotlines by Gupta, Garg and Bahl to be an excellent reference and for learning about microstrip, and I trust the author's subsequent works.

The same authors wrote Microstrip Antenna Design Handbook although I haven't read it.

It looks like Pozar wrote a book on Microstrip Antennas which is worth a look (I haven't read this one either). His Microwave Engineering is an excellent textbook.

The book I was thinking of was a more general study of quantum mechanical effects on biological molecules than I remembered, not quite relevant to what you are interested in. You might enjoy "Quantum mechanics for thinkers", it is a bit more gentle on the calculus than some quantum mechanics books without skimping on proper content and a thorough understanding of the theory and the most relevant mathematics! (I also believe it is possible to find a free copy online without too much difficulty... Not that I approve, piracy is a crime etc etc.) I hope you enjoy the references and I do recommend looking into the pilot-wave theory stuff. I was a bit dubious about the many worlds interpretation as it just seemed very inefficient, Bohmian mechanics just feels more elegant to me but I do like the idea that anything that can happen does!

Not sure what else you'd like to know, but here are some links:

1. An old but colorful Wired travelogue by Neal Stephenson
   
   
2. A digital exhibition from the Smithsonian, a little hokey but lots of rich descriptions
   
   It is certainly one of the more thrilling stories of 19th-century Victorian engineering, full of ups, downs, and repeated failures; it even features Lord Kelvin (as plain old William Thomson) in a starring role. Arthur C. Clarke tells the tale fairly well in How the World Was One.

>The only God I advocated was the idea of the universe being God. And as we can both agree the universe exists, Id say thats your proof. Is the universe sentient? Benevolent? Honestly? I really dont give a shit.'

Let's break that down one more time. We are in agreement about the part where the universe exists. Good. Here is where we need to break it down and think logically.

>The universe exists. The universe is God. Therefore God exists.

This is my entire problem with your premise. You have to be trolling me but I'm bored anyway so I will continue to feed.

Simply assuming a claim is true does not serve as evidence for that claim. Asserting that, "The universe is God" does not make it a fact. Whereas, those 'pictures' are the basis of astronomical spectroscopy. Any idiot with a digital camera and $28 can go and confirm the conclusions drawn from the data himself.

Can you recommend any references for a solid background in this subfield? I'm assuming theory/design on antennas and radar are a place to start but would appreciate any suggestions.

I've found this book on radars. I've also heard about books by Balanis and Kraus on antenna design.

edit: id assume this list of references to be helpful, but theres likely a lot of extraneous info

Any edition of the ARRL handbook from this decade is a good start. I personally like to have one from about every 15 years.

Going way back, my favorite classic on the subject is the Terman Electrical and Electronic Engineering book.

• Neil Degrasse Tyson - He makes science fun
  
• John Hopfield - He made the Hopfield Neural Network, which is potent for remote sensing.
  
• Bernard Sklar - He wrote this astounding book. I've been able to apply many of the topics in the book to my spinning lasers.
  
  There's more, but I do have to get back to writing a paper.
  edit: Used amazing twice, got rid of both instances, it's a milquetoast adjective.

Happy birthday!

I want an early present! I want this book because I'm about to get my HAM and I want to learn more about communications!

It's publishers, not so much bookstores. Especially easy to see with advanced books/courses - not the intro calculus level ones, but specialized topics. For instance, as an electrical engineer, IEEE is a professional society that also helps publish a large number of the texts. Directly from Wiley-IEEE (again, the publisher) most of the books are still in the $150 range...often even after a 20-25% discount if you're an IEEE member.

And again, these are not the intro/100 level classes. Example. At least with the intro/100 level classes you can sometimes get a well-used, old edition, or international edition that's a lot cheaper...but this is a publisher thing to a decently large extent.

If you can find it, Pozar is a pretty good foundation to work from.

There's an online textbook for Essential Radio Astronomy, by Jim Condon and Scott Ransom, at http://www.cv.nrao.edu/course/astr534/ERA.shtml

It gives a general overview of the functioning of radio telescopes, with a lot of examples of the various design challenges that are faced by telescope builders, and a special focus of course on the GBT.

They also recommend Tools of Radio Astronomy as additional reading.

I'm not a scientist either so it's an area I don't totally understand. This presentation (associated video) contains examples, it's one of the sessions from a summer school put on by the US's National Radio Astronomy Observatory (who run the Very Large Array in New Mexico and are a partner in ALMA).

The sessions are definitely worth watching if it's something you're interested in, though I will note that it is easy to get lost VERY quickly if you don't have a background in higher mathematics, physics, and science. The fundamentals ones by Rick Perley (one, two, three) are a nice "soft" intro to how interferometry works, he starts very simply and builds up by adding complexity along the way.

Literature-wise, Thompson/Moran/Swenson is the interferometry bible. There are probably other books or articles that cover error recognition specifically, but it's all built on the fundamentals of how deconvolution works.

If you know nothing about the physics of radar I would recommend getting http://www.amazon.com/Stimsons-Introduction-Airborne-Radar-Electromagnetics/dp/1613530226 as well.

If you are interested in doing anything in the microwave spectrum (which includes most modern communication standards), then Pozar is the book which everyone seems to have for the basics. The first couple chapters are super math heavy in deriving stuff from electromagnetics, but if simply learn the basics of transmission lines either from there or from another source, the following chapters mostly contain algebra, if I recall correctly.

This is a good introduction to high frequency stuff:

https://www.amazon.com/Microwave-Engineering-David-M-Pozar/dp/0470631554

Ok...

Mean while might I suggest you give something like this a read.

https://www.amazon.ca/Microwave-Engineering-David-M-Pozar/dp/0470631554

I think I found what I was looking for.

AAA and Network Security for Mobile Access: Radius, Diameter, EAP, PKI and IP Mobility

As well as the above book I used Burke & Smith as my introduction to RA, then used Interferometry and Synthesis a lot later on

You may want to read this.

D'oh! Picked up a different ARRL handbook.. I grabbed one of the beginner Ham ones.

The full ARRL handbook is $37, found Here! =)

I only had 2 days to study so unfortunately cramming was kind of my only choice.

Which one should I get?
http://www.amazon.com/2014-Handbook-Radio-Communications-Softcover/dp/1625950012/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1411084493&sr=8-2&keywords=arrl

http://www.amazon.com/Ham-Radio-License-Manual-arrl/dp/1625950136/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411084493&sr=8-1&keywords=arrl

Ah, the probability/statistics/stochastics math book most people use is Popoulis . I wouldn't assume being Greek means incompetence. (Amazon says it's a graduate level text - funny; I had sophomore undergrad 30 years ago - whatever).

For me I was doing bad in the calculus part of a chemistry degree and so I looked for a degree that didn't require calculus, and geography was the one I settled on. Then after taking a remote sensing class I realized the connection infrared spectrometry had to multi- and hyperspectral imagery, and I had used infrared spectrometry a lot at the research chemistry lab I worked for previously. My dad is also an electrical engineer and works on RF and communications stuff, and he's shown me a lot of stuff RF, and there's a good theory book he gave me that helped me understand radar and lidar.

Pozar for passives: http://www.amazon.com/Microwave-Engineering-David-M-Pozar/dp/0470631554/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324903362&sr=8-1

Gray and Meyer for actives: http://www.amazon.com/Microwave-Engineering-David-M-Pozar/dp/0470631554/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324903362&sr=8-1

http://www.microwaves101.com if you are poor.