Yes. But if you really want to get into it you need to do it. You could make some cheap PCBs and measure them with a cheap network analyzer. RF design has never been more accessible. The books will get you started and you will start to think about things like de-embedding circuit elements which is very important and not covered in books. You will also start to see why people consider RF design challenging; e.g. curves in the books will depict a "trend" in the circuit and in real-life, everything is a capacitor and/or inductor which causes the real life measurements to deviate substantially from the ideal for reasons that are not always obvious.
An even more cheaper accessible intro to RF is just plain old analog electronics. Building amplifiers ,etc.
I had the good fortune of being exposed to both Pozar, an excellent lecturer and a wizard of an RF lab postdoc when studying RF engineering, and the utility of simply spending lots and lots of time in the lab, trying all sorts of implementations of filters, transmission lines, antennas and whatever caught our fancy, prototyping with wild abandon, verifying (or getting stymied by) the results, refining our measurement skills along the way...
Priceless.
Then all RF design jobs disappeared overnight and I ended up doing PLC coding instead of working with radio - but, hey, University was great fun, and RF design definitely is one of the fields where there's still room for intuition and a bit of artistry in addition to just knowing the hard theory of the subject.
I'd love some lab space to really get into this. All the old high performance stuff used to be designed basically by hand — that takes money and true craft.
I spend most of my time in theoretical work of some kind, but get a real urge to build...
mwbajor|2 years ago
An even more cheaper accessible intro to RF is just plain old analog electronics. Building amplifiers ,etc.
lb1lf|2 years ago
I had the good fortune of being exposed to both Pozar, an excellent lecturer and a wizard of an RF lab postdoc when studying RF engineering, and the utility of simply spending lots and lots of time in the lab, trying all sorts of implementations of filters, transmission lines, antennas and whatever caught our fancy, prototyping with wild abandon, verifying (or getting stymied by) the results, refining our measurement skills along the way...
Priceless.
Then all RF design jobs disappeared overnight and I ended up doing PLC coding instead of working with radio - but, hey, University was great fun, and RF design definitely is one of the fields where there's still room for intuition and a bit of artistry in addition to just knowing the hard theory of the subject.
mhh__|2 years ago
I spend most of my time in theoretical work of some kind, but get a real urge to build...
felipemnoa|2 years ago