(Part 2) Top products from r/rfelectronics

That is a FANTASTIC reference book. Keep it forever because it will always be useful. IMHO, he doesn't even make an attempt to teach anything with that book, but it has earned a place on my bookshelf next to Paul, and Rhode&Schwartz's book on VNAs.

I'm loathed to recommend Balanis because I had so much trouble with that book, but it did cover waveguides reasonably well. Or at least, I think he covered waveguides better than he did boundary conditions and incident reflections.

In the end I wound up reading about 4 textbooks to get a good understanding during my first graduate EM course. I don't recall which they were anymore but I'm pretty sure all but Balanis were openly published and could be found again. I believe that I found one of the ones that I used under MIT's open courseware.

I second Pozar and also recommend an oldie: "Design of Amplifiers and Oscillators by the S-parameter Method," which is a good complement to Pozar. (It doesn't hurt that you can pick it up for ~$10 used on Amazon)

Also, [Gonzalez](Microwave Transistor Amplifiers: Analysis and Design ) is a good book for microwaves/RF.

You may also like Microwaves 101, a truly great website.

Usually you can worry primarily about thermal noise in RF and subsume other noise sources into component specs as "noise figure".

Thermal noise dominates non-semiconductor noise at RF frequencies.

Semiconductors are all these other noise sources but in practice you subsume them into NF. NF is empirically measured for a given amplifier or component. So you pull it off of a data sheet most often.

There are some issues with that because many of these other noise sources are current or voltage dependent in magnitude so it's important to define/use a constant bias on the semiconductor when you measure NF.

The last issue, which does bite you in RF perversely is 1/f noise. 1/f noise only occurs in semiconductor devices at frequencies below 1 MHz and often only below 1 KHz. The characteristic on a Lin-Log spectrum is a straight line with -1 slope or f(^-1) or 1/f. There are other types of noise that have other exponents as well but 1/f is one of the dominant ones.

So how does a low frequency noise phenomena become an RF problem? Oscillators. Both fixed oscillators and especially VCOs as used in PLLs. Because 1/f is "low frequency DC", things like semiconductor bias point and VCO offset always have a 1/f noise component and that cause the RF frequency out of the oscillator to have a "skirt" that is known as "phase noise". Phase noise typically defines numerous RF design spec limitations from carrier accuracy to channel spacing to data rate.

Programs like SPICE do solve noise (using the .NOISE command) as primarily thermal noise (newer semiconductor models do shot and other noise types). SPICE does this for every resistor in the circuit, both user defined and linearized component defined (semiconductors) had a series a noise voltage source (making every resistor a Thevenin).

This done by solving the large signal bias point, solving the parameters of the hybrid pi models of all semiconductors and then setting user defined signal inputs to zero and only having voltage noise sources in the circuit and solving for noise voltages and currents through out.

This is NOT hand-calculation viable but only computer-only viable as circuit analysis. Your transistor SPICE models must support noise parameters as does your SPICE simulator (all do thermal noise but not all do other types - remember the voltage/current dependencies of many of these - it's a bookkeeping mess only a computer does well).

Usually you get SPICE models with noise parameters from the transistor vendor. The transistor vendor measures the noise empirically to generate the SPICE parameters. They do that by buying test systems like my company makes. It's not cheap - typically $100K-$500K worth of capital investment.

For hand solution you usually do NOT do transistor-level solutions but instead do a system flow diagram level of noise-by-stage in the signal path using Noise Figure which has all those kinds of noise bundled in.

If you are crazy like I am and want to dig deeper into the various types of noise seen in semiconductor:

http://www.eng.auburn.edu/~wilambm/pap/2011/K10147_C011.pdf

The general rule of thumb: noise comes from material boundaries and their imperfections. The specific physics due to that cause each type (or don't - it becomes semiconductor device design specific).

I don't have this book but it looks relevant to your question ($$$$$):

https://www.amazon.com/Noise-Theory-Linear-Nonlinear-Circuits/dp/047194825X

Hi. There's a couple things you can do to reduce RFI. Like you said, you can use a shielded cable. It would help if you can connect both ends to ground -- but make sure your electrical mains entrance ground is correct and up to code. You should have a ground rod right below the entrance, and it should be connected to your panel. All lines should be grounded lines, and you should have 3-prong outlets for all circuits. Get an outlet tester to be sure all sockets are wired correctly.

Another thing you can do is add ferrites on all wires going into and out of the HVAC units (power, data, everything). These act as RF filters.

Now bluetooth and microwave ovens use the same frequency band (2.4 GHz). Its not unusual for some low level RF energy to leak out of microwave ovens, and overpower a low-power data connection like bluetooth. But if its more than a low-power leak it may indicate a faulty oven, or a bad ground.

Its possible you have a nearby intermittent transmitter that is affecting things. It could be an airport thing, or maybe a two-way radio like for police or fire, or maybe a neighbor with a CB radio or ham radio. If this is a licensed user and they have a correctly engineered installation, its up to your devices to accept interference. Proper grounding and filtering will help though.

I hope this gives you someplace to start. Good luck.

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.

RF Microelectronics by Razavi is very, very good. It was recommended in my RF IC seminar and I found it very helpful.

https://www.amazon.com/Microelectronics-Communications-Engineering-Technologies-Rappaport/dp/0137134738/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1493106379&sr=1-1&keywords=rf+microelectronics+razavi

Ditto this.

The second edition is also available and cheaper.

Bowick has the best treatment of smith charts that I have ever read, even better than Pozar or Ludwig.

I like the lichee tang for inexpensive capability and a vibrant user base. 37 bucks on Amazon and a lot of capability in a small package.

[Amazon link] (https://www.amazon.com/Electric-Magic-Development-Microcontroller-Processor/dp/B07K9GV1LF/ref=pd_aw_sbs_147_1/141-6457622-8037064?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07K9GV1LF&pd_rd_r=fbf21290-9c16-11e9-a673-fb6a8bc87493&pd_rd_w=Jv0UY&pd_rd_wg=tM6Vb&pf_rd_p=aae79475-6dc9-4a12-80e8-27b63108fa72&pf_rd_r=X3Q72QTQ4JJNTC7B436R&psc=1&refRID=X3Q72QTQ4JJNTC7B436R)

Looks like he released the 4th ed recently

He also has Modern Antenna Handbook

And several others, thank you for bringing my attention to him!

Noise Reduction Techniques in Electronic Systems, 2nd Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/0471850683/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_GhV1Cb4EFNT1Z

This is a good book. The book deals with understanding and mitigating unintended RF emissions (or noise) generates due to operating electronic systems. In short, currents and voltages in the board caused due to field propagation, if not handled correctly, ends up radiating out.

For PA design:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B003YFJ70C/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1474655427&sr=8-6&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=S+cripps&dpPl=1&dpID=41iND%2BF4toL&ref=plSrch

https://www.amazon.com/Communication-Receivers-Synchronization-Estimation-Processing/dp/0471502758

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0306457253/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1944687622&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0471502758&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=V61QAW1JNPABPC551M8E

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

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

If you're looking for more resources on RFID design I'd check this book out