The free wireless circuit design and simulation software that comes with this book have proven extremely valuable to me, unlike many such programs that come with other electronics books. I am able to build a complete amplifier, filter, or oscillator and simulate it with one of the enclosed programs, Puff. This ups my confidence level that the design will function in real life. The other program, AppCad, will actually automatically design FET and bipolar amplifier bias circuits, detectors, microstrip, systems design calcs, etc. I hav'nt tried the EasyPLL phased locked loop design program or the Sonnet microwave simulation software.
Mr. Sayre's book has become one of the more popular ones on rf circuit design for a very good reason: It presents its material in such a way that even a software engineer such as myself can design many of the various bit and pieces of a voice or data radio by just using this one book. As far as I am concerned this is really an achievement, and is valuable to all who are interested in radio design from the low MHz to the high GHz regions. It covers a very large range of information needed on RF engineering, and not only discrete level circuit design, but also systems design, digital and analog modulation, testing and troubleshooting, PCB layout, propagation, EMI, prototyping, etc. It is a great rf book with a large variety of indispensable designs and formulas.
