Part 1 Fundamentals 1 Basic Concepts 3 Introduction 4 Vocabulary S Prefixes 6 Basic Electronics Terminology 6 RF Basics 7 Transmitters and Receivers 7 Signals 8 2 RF Behavior 15 Loss and Gain 1 6 Devices 16 Attenuation 1 7 Insertion Loss 18 Decibels 19 Definition 19 Decibel Math 19 Bandwidth 22 Definition 22 Wideband and Narrowband 24 RF in the Environment 24 Signal Behavior 24 Match 28 What Is Match? 28 Consequences of an Imperfect Match 30 2 RF Hardware 3 Basic System Components 35 Block Diagrams 36 Receiver 37 Transmitter 37 Antennas 38 Block Diagram 38 Antenna Characteristics 39 How Antennas Work 42 Antenna Performance 43 Polarization 45 Antenna Dimensions 46 Smart Antennas 48 Amplifiers 49 Block Diagram 49 Fundamental Properties of Amplifiers 49 How Amplifiers Work 54 Special Amplifiers 55 Filters 57 Block Diagram 57 The Filter's Function 58 Filter Types 59 Filter Performance 59 Special Filters 6 l Mixers 63 Block Diagram 63 The Mixer's Function 64 How Mixers Work 65 Mixer Configurations 67 Sources 68 Block Diagram 68 How Oscillators Work 69 Different Kinds of Oscillators 70 A Special Oscillator--The VCO 71 Synthesizers 72 A Quick Review 73 Transmitter Block Diagram 74 Receiver Block Diagram 74 Review 75