5 comments about GROL Plus: General Radiotelephone Operator License Plus Radar Endorsement.

1. I like all Gordo material. I used his manuals to pass my amateur radio exams from Tech to Advanced operator. I look forward to passing the GROL exams.



2. This book rather than teaching the principles, teaches the question pool. It goes through question by question, just giving the answer and an extremely brief explanation, if any explanation at all. All of the material is covered, however, the book seems best suited for someone with previous radio and/or electronics experience.



3. I used it to pass the GROL and the Radar endorsement, since the excellent Milton Kauffman book is out of circulation and the last (11th?) edition is not up to date. Get it and pass!



4. Read the book over a two week period and passed element 1,3,and 8. Enough said



5. This is simply the best GROL study guide on the market. It covers every question in the pool with a brief explanation of each answer. It is perfect for a person with electronics knowledge wanting to get a GROL
   
   I did read one review complaining that only taught the questions. This book is NOT designed to teach you electronics. The FCC GROL exam is a very difficult test that covers a wide range of subjects in the electronics field. Many experienced and educated professionals take, AND FAIL the GROL exam.
   
   This book allows the experienced technician to learn where to focus the knowledge in order to pass the exam. The brief answers provide just enough understanding to jog your memory and bring out what you already learned.

5 comments about The RVer's Bible: Everything You Need to Know About Choosing, Using, & Enjoying Your RV.

1. 
   We have been thinking of going the Rv route, but are still undecided. This book gave me much to think about, and will be helpful in making the final yes or no decision as to buy, or not buy. There are some aspects of rv ownership that I had not yet considered. The book certainly served it's purpose for me. Very insightful.



2. Generally okay for a newbie like me, but I was hoping for more.
   
   I found the writing style a bit annoying...seemed to say the same things over and over, with lots of "noise" words and little substance. Almost like they had contracted to write a 20,000 word book - but when they were done, there were only 12,000 so they went back and added some "fluff".



3. Boy, was this book a disappointment. I've been crisscrossing this beautiful country of ours now for over fifty years in pick-up trucks, travel trailers, and motorhomes. We'll be taking off in April in our Fleetwood Flair for six months and there was not one word in this book that will make the trip more enjoyable or safer. I'll admit that a person who has never camped or owned an RV might possibly find something of interest on one of the 380 pages of "The RVer's Bible".
   
   Several weeks have now passed since I posted this review and I feel badly about giving this author one star. It's just that the book was so very, very disappointing. Another reviewer expressed exactly how I felt while reading it, "Almost like they had contracted to write a 20,000 word book - but when they were done, there were only 12,000 so they went back and added some 'fluff'".



4. We should have bought this book BEFORE we started shopping for a used motorhome. Lots of good info on how to shop, questions to ask, what to look for, etc. It did not, however, give us enough of what we were looking for in terms of how to use our new (to us) motor home. Since it was published in 1997, more current information is needed.



5. I am getting ready to purchase my first RV, and I love this book! It starts with the basics like A-class vs c-class vs trailer, etc. Then it continues on to describe each system that you might encounter and how to tell if it is operating correctly. It doesn't give nitty-gritty schematics -- that is for owner manuals. It is laid out such that if you are getting ready to purchase a used (or even new) model, you can go step-by-step over the systems and have a real good idea of what you are getting yourself into.
   
   As an example - I never would have thought to ask the dealer if they would sterilize the water tank before we purchase the used unit. I am not a mechanic, so I never would have checked under the hood or chassis. After reading this book, not only did I feel I SHOULD do these things, but I had a good idea what to look for that might constitute trouble! Even looking for things like crazing and bubbles on the exterior....
   
   Plus, this book is written with a good sense of humor and lots of real-life examples from the authors' experience. So, even when parts of it get dry (like the electrical wiring), you can bet they will add in a blurb that will make you giggle at the end of it!
   
   I am SOOOOO glad I purchased this book, and I plan to hang onto it and re-read it before trading up for a better model in a few years!

3 comments about Environmental Engineering Science.

1. Ms. Cohen and Mr. Nazaroff make environmental science spring to life in this comprehensive, fascinating work which will undoubtedly become the standard text for serious students of the environment worldwide.

   3 cheers! When is volume 2 coming???

   J. Cahn MSEE Stanford




2. Nazaroff and Cohen-Alvarez: Where were you when I got interested in this field a long time ago? I used to buy several texts to cover the material ccvered in this great book. It combines information from various disciplines and provides a comprehensive resource that is invaluable. It covers the basics and takes the reader-user through to applications. It is obviously a valuable resource for engineering students and faculty as well as practitioners.



3. This is a recommended reading text in a 3rd yr Env. Science paper here in N.Z. I find it relevant and pertinent - highly recommended

5 comments about Noise Reduction Techniques in Electronic Systems, 2nd Edition.

1. If you take the course then you get the book too. And, since Ott is a good lecturer, you will likely learn a lot more than trying to read the book.

   For packaging engineers like myself, this book is not worth the money. You would be better off buying Blackwell's "The Electronic Packaging Handbook" which has an excellent chapter covering all important aspects of EMC. For Electrical Engineers I suspect what you have in your "High Speed Digital Design" (Johnson and Graham) will be more than adequate.

   The real issue is simply too much information. I agree with Ott that some understanding of antennas is needed to understand EMC but not nearly the amount covered in this book. I think that Ott's ham radio hobby has caused him to overdo that material in this book.

   I highly recommend taking the course but I suspect if you buy the book you won't finish reading it.




2. There is a specific topic in this book that I have not seem covered in any of the 25+ book that I have on electromagnetic phenomena. The topic is the shield cut-off frequency of a coaxial cable. Common-mode currents at low frequencies (below a few hundred hertz) cause noise problems with coaxial cables, but signals above tens of kilohertz do not. This is vital data which is apparently not explained in many text books. For me, this topic justifies the cost of the text. Having said that, I am annoyed because the book is quite expensive relative to other books of its size and age. The point is that you have to buy it, but it is expensive to do so.

   Even an advanced designer will benefit from this book, although you, like me, won't necessarily want to read all of it. It is sufficient to pick and choose areas of particular interest. The less advanced designer would clearly benefit more and the book would therefore represent better value for them. Given a choice between this one and Morrison's Grounding and Shielding Techniques in Instrumentation, pick this one. This one is more technically accurate and useful.




3. I greatly appreciate the practicality of this book. If you can't attend one of his seminars, my recommendation is to buy this book, it will help. It's one of those that I plan to keep in the EMC lab and not just on the shelf. -doug



4. I build EEG sensors, and I started reading this book, expecting something like The Art of Electronics, except more detailed and covering only noise techniques. Instead, I got much, much more. The diagrams made *much* more sense than Horowitz and Hill's AOE, and the explanations were clear and consise. I was able to read it cover to cover in a weekend without getting bored from too much detail, and it had many many real measurements of noise in systems that made the information much more quantitative.
   
   For instance, instead of saying "in order to get the most noise reduction, you need to use a shielded cable only grounded on one end", he says "a shielded cable grounded on one end has 84dB of attenuation to magnetic noise and much more for electric, while if the shield is grounded at both ends the attenuation is more like 36dB".
   
   Those numbers are critical if you're trying to balance signal quality with cost.
   
   One of the best textbooks I've ever purchased.



5. Depite this book has a lot of years, the basic principles have not changed and I find this book very instructive to learn things as types of noise, crosstalk, radiation, grounding and shielding techniques or cabling. Henry W. Ott and his book, are a reference in the world about noise control and EMC concepts.
   
   Written in easy way to understand, with very little equations, I suggest that if you want to have a copy of one of the most famous books on this science, buy it

3 comments about Advanced Engineering Mathematics with MATLAB (Bookware Companion).

1. This is an excellent reference book not only for matlab, also an excellent reference book for the basic concepts such as Fourier Analysis. I think any engineers who work in electric design filed must have a copy.



2. If you are not already a superuser of MATLAB or a mathematician and want to choose one single book on MATLAB that also brings a solid math base, this is the one. The authors have chosen the subjects very well, with emphasys on the use of mathematical principles coupled with the use of the computing power offered by MATLAB.

   In addition to a sound presentation of concepts - without however being extensive (or boring) on theoretical details that probably would not be relevant - this book addresses most areas of University Math (Physical Sciences undergraduate curriculum) with a wealth of good practical programming examples. I specially liked the chapters on Eigenvectors and Eigenvalues, those on Differential equations, Fourier analysis and the simple but very clear and didatic one on Discrete sytems.

   In summary, although not a complete text, the subjects addressed in this book are so well presented that it can be forgiven for not covering some areas (like complex variables and calculus of variations, to name only two). There is no waste of pages in this book, but as a suggestion for future enhancement I would mention the inclusion of a chapter dedicated to exploring the graphing power available in MATLAB.

   Also as a reference, for most needs you'll probably be able to start doing something productive right away after reading. Well worth its price!




3. This is an excellent book for studying advanced math. Important concepts clearly explained with good matlab examples. But I was surprised to find this book titled "Engineering Math" with the miss out of some thing like probability and random variables which are of the critical importance for Electronics/Communications students.

5 comments about Schaum's Outline of Digital Principles.

1. Would it have been too difficult to segregate the questions and answers from each other? The answers are right next to each sample question, so you often end up looking at the answer before you've even had a chance to read the question! This is really annoying.

   However, the content is pretty good and clear. It makes for a decent way to review material you haven't touched in years. I just wish they had made it easier to not see the answers.




2. I had to get back to digital principles years after I took the course during my under-grad. The book served a real good purpose for this. For it's price, I think it's the best in the category and yet simple enough for beginners to understand. The examples are really helpful.



3. This Schaum's outline is great for electrical engineering undergraduate students who are taking a first course in digital logic and digital circuit design. It starts out with the binary number system and the various binary codes and then moves on to logic gates. The theory that allows the simplifying of circuits and the substitution of one set of logic gates for another is also covered. The last 60% of the book involves an introduction to the various base devices used in logic design: flip-flops, counters, shift registers, memory devices, and adders among others. Each section shows how more sophisticated devices can be described in terms of the simpler devices already introduced. For students who want a more in-depth treatment of the synthesis and simplification of switching and logic circuits and more advanced Boolean algebra theory than this book provides, I suggest "Schaum's Outline of Boolean Algebra and Switching Circuits".
   The only negative thing I have to say is that most of the problems in the outline involve analysis of circuits rather than circuit design, which is usually the main point of any digital electronics class, even a beginning one. However, I would still recommend it as a supplement.



4. This book was very helpful durning my Digital Logic and Design course. It dosen't cover VHDL and I bought that seperate from Wiley but this book could replace most texts.



5. The book is fine for what it covers, but there are a number of similar books from Schaum's in this space. This makes it difficult to identify that book that covers the material I am most interested in.
   
   This book seemed to be the most appropriate for my needs, but the majority of the book was not relevant to me while the book lack coverage of much of what I was hoping to be covered in the book.

5 comments about Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators (FAA Handbooks).

1. Way too many pilots are making it through "professional" flight schools, a few years of instructing, into the commuters and finally into the cockpit of large jets with very little rigorous study of aerodynamics. With the emphasis on conservative training, electronic gadgets and such something is shortchanged and that is fundamentals of aerodynamics. This book is the answer as a text, instructor's aide and desk reference.
   
   The product review infers that this is an FAA publication. Thankfully it is not. Rather it is the text that has lead generations of young Naval Aviation officers from diverse backgrounds into the cockpits of jet fighters operating off of carriers and many other forms of aviation. The preface and title page clearly indicate that it was written by Hugh Hurt (University of Southern California); Hurt notes "The purpose of this textbook is to present the elements of applied aerodynamics and aeronautical engineering which relate directly to the problem of flying operations." In this case the client was the Naval Air Systems Command and the book's mission was to provide the aeronautical knowledge required to transition from a liberal arts major to the deck of a carrier.
   
   When I first bought this book I had been flying for several decades. My regret was that I had not read it earlier. Students who use the book in aviation courses will have a significant advantage in their training. It is a great resource book on all things having to do with how airplanes ( and helos) fly and sometimes do not fly.
   
   Considering that the feedstock of Navy aviation is a diverse group with backgrounds from aero to poly sci and that the demands placed on the graduates are huge, it is not surprising that this book was produced. It does a fantastic job of discussing concepts and then providing the math (most of it far beyond my ability) and graphs. However, the lack of a background in calculus does not prevent the reader from gaining priceless insights into the physics and practice of flying.
   
   Yes the photographs are dated and of planes long sent to the boneyard but the physics of flying have not changed since the earth cooled. In fact, with the current crop of flight instructors so affixed to their digital displays, most civilian students will need to study aerodynamics on their own. Want to understand why Mooney aircraft have so many bent props on the 231/252 series, just spend a few minutes wiht the applied problems in aero and some of the basics.
   
   For me the goal was not to understand every topic covered, but to add to my knowledge base, especially as it relates to the type of flying I normally do, and to have an excellent reference. With that goal this book is great. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
   
   The author's success is evident in many ways but perhaps most in the fact that after more than four decades it is still the text of choice in many rigorous academic and professional training programs. If I had to pick two books to give a student pilot it would be Richard Bach's Stranger To The Ground and this book. I have also recommended this book to several of my instructor friends as an aid to understanding what they are teaching.



2. This is an excellent manual for those interested in all aspects of aerodynamics. Originally printed for U.S. naval aviators, it covers aerodynamics from pistons to jets, fixed wing and rotary wing. The manual includes information on Basic Aerodynamics, Airplane Performance, High Speed Aerodynamics, Stability and Control, Operating Strength Limitations, and Application of Aerodynamics to Specific Problems of Flying.
   
   The manual is written at the university level and has graphs and formulae liberally sprinkled throughout the book. However, this is not an impediment and I have used this manual for many years and find it excellent for basic information.



3. Here's my very simple take on this book: if you operate (fly) airplanes of any kind, you need to have this book in your easy-to-get-to library. Period.
   
   My only negative comment is that the current "FAA reprint version" (How did they get involved? This is not a typical "How to" FAA kind of publications!)of the original NAVOPS manual is of very poor reproduction quality. The photos and artwork look "muddy" compared to an original copy of the manual. The text is not crisp, while some of the photographs of wind tunnel demonstrations are simply not understandable unless you know already what you're looking at.
   
   Although it was written in 1959 by Hugh Hurt of USC under contract to the U. S. Navy (and thus its copyright came into the public domain), it remains as relavant and informative today as it was when the ink was drying on the first press run! Incidentally, this same book also had a brief life as an Air Force manual, ATCM 51-3, Aerodynamics for Pilots, used by Air Training Command as a reference text in the pilot training program during the 1960s. The USAF version simply replaced the motivational photos of Navy aircraft with USAF models, but the manual was otherwise identical. It was eventually replaced by a much less rigorous edition, about one third the size and scope, that was, by comparison, almost useless. Seems that people found it too challenging, especially all that math -- a point I'll address below.
   
   Some of the material will shed "AH-HAH!" kind of light on day-to-day routine things; other topics will inform how you ought to approach the extraordinary, whether it's a sudden weather change, or an in-flight emergency.
   
   Not every pilot will find all chapters equally interesting. Also, experience has shown that the majority of pilots who are interested in the details of aerodynamics seem to gravitate towards the performance aspects of aircraft flight: Performance is generally easier to understand, but the real details of how the aircraft's inherent properties as seen by the pilot are only revealed in the sections on stability and control. Don't slight those chapters.
   
   A suggestion about approach: even though you may have never flow a jet-powered aircraft and have little prospect of doing so, don't think that it's a waste of time to learn about the details of jet aircraft aerodynamics (as distinct from propeller aircraft). Why? Because it's easier to learn first about how a jet-thrust aircraft behaves without the complications such as torque, brake horsepower, etc., introduced by getting thrust from an "air screw." Once you're clear about these basics, then you will be able to understand a little easier how various performance and stability and control issues are affected by the propeller/recip combination.
   
   Thus, the book is clearly oriented toward the operator/pilot and the things he has direct control over, or things that will affect his decisions or decision-making process, or choices of technique of how to operate his airplane. (You might be surprised to discover that a lot of techniques that are around were developed as easy-to-use compromises, needed simply because people didn't know the underlying details -- not because they're naturally the best way to do something.)
   
   The only persistent objection to this text over the years has concerned its routine use of math, consisting basically of simple algebraic expressions, with some trig thrown in occasionally when trying to analyze things going on at some angle, such as bank or climb angles. There is also frequent use of simple graphs that show important relationships between two variables, say, angle of attack and the wing's lift coefficient.
   
   Well, it's an accurate observation, but it's not a fair criticism -- and it's certainly not a valid reason to not use and study the text.
   
   The book presents the derived equations, the results, obtained from other texts, whereby the pilot can see the physical terms that affect some aerodynamic terms (e.g., lift). In doing so, you also see two essential things: first, how the terms are related to one another; secondly, how changing each of them, alone or in groups, affects the airplane's overall behavior. You see, for instance, what's really going on when you operate from a high elevation airport in the summer vs. winter, how the change in density altitude affects lift, drag, engine performance, etc. Without the results-based math that this book uses, you're really guessing or relying on what other people pass along as rules of thumb.
   
   Can you fly an airplane without knowing how to interpret the meaning of an equation? Of course. People do it every day. But: can you fully understand what you're doing without knowing the full scope of information that the equations are conveying? No, not really. Besides, it's a real kick to be able to visualize an equation, say of maneuvering flight, and translate that mental picture into a series of control inputs that make the aircraft do exactly what you want it to do, as you bring that mental picture into reality.
   
   For example, once you learn to think, to visualize, in terms of knowing that an airplane's turn radius is proportional to the square of its true airspeed, you know a great deal more than the person who simply knows that as the speed increases, the turn gets bigger. If you understand the relationship between the wing's lift coefficient vs. angle of attack, you'll also have a deeper understanding of the most effective techniques for flying final approach at a given airspeed and how you might safely modify your approach for unusual conditions, such as weather or being confronted with a shorter-than-expected runway.
   
   If you don't learn the language that conveys the details of Why the airplane behaves as it does, you're always going to feel a little uncomfortable, uneasy perhaps, just as you would if you were at a party and everyone was speaking some foreign language. This is especially true when you encounter a situation that the normal procedures -- the How of it -- were not intended to address. If you don't have this underlying understanding, you'll find yourself in a position of having to play "test pilot" -- without the benefit of the training and experience that usually goes with that title!
   
   The last point to make concerns the book's age: it is more than 40 years old now. The short answer is that airplanes still only talk Newton and Bernoulli, etc., and those guys never get too old. The advent of the "electric airplane" hasn't changed the basic aerodynamic issues the pilot must understand. Rather, electronics largely just alters the economics of flying and has also enhanced safety considerably. Technologies such as anti-skid brakes or 3-axis autopilots have been around for over 50 years, working exactly according to the same principles then as they do today. What has changed is how much it costs to get the capability. In 1950, anti-skid braking on a military aircraft might add $50,000 to the cost of the aircraft. Today, the same system functionality is installed in cars, no less, for under $25.00! The variables (the equations) that describe stopping distance have not changed, however. For private pilots especially, e.g., the single-engine Cessna variety, the airplanes generally available to that market are much older than the book is. Even if they do have an expensive Glass Cockpit, from a performance and handling qualities standpoint a 172 is still a 60-year old airplane, no matter what the instrument panel looks like or its date of assembly.
   
   A final comment: In my opinion, anyone who aspires to a high level of aeronautical proficiency that ultimately has safety as a major objective, anyone who wants to truly master his or her craft, needs to be able to study and learn at the level of detail and rigor presented in Hurt's technical masterpiece. It's a true classic.



4. Currently we are using this book as a textbook for my Aerodynamics class. Unfortunately for me, the book itself is difficult to understand unless you have a great imagination, piloting experience, several tools at your disposal (visual aids), or a great teacher. While our teacher is knowledgeable, he doesn't have the kind of skill required to break it down. I, unfortunately, have only five hours in the air and am not a piloting major. I had to go online several times and to a dictionary several times to learn what the terms "flare", "yoke", "attitude", and so on meant. I am not conditioned in any way, shape, or form for this material and so I have a hard time understanding it. Needless to say, the piloting students in my class have a harder time understanding the equations, but they understand the text since they "go up" all the time. I, however, need to draw on my five hours and on several textbooks, online aids, plotting tools, and online wind tunnels. I also found need to buy a simplified version of this book as a guide. While the integrity of the book itself is there, it requires that some experience be had on the reader's side in order to understand it to its full extent. I also think that perhaps the manual itself should also include a glossary, but it's rather old and was created ages ago at the behest of the government. I recommend it, once again, if you have some experience or if you have time to read and re-read some portions (assuming you have little to no experience in flight) since it will help you in grasping some of the material better. Also, chapters two and chapters three should be switched around. To make any sense of two, you have to read three first.



5. It's a perfect book for those who wants to maximize their knowledges in Aerodynamics, and enter in an Airline.

5 comments about Race Car Vehicle Dynamics (R146).

1. A very informative book on the engineering fundementals, it would be good if a second edition with more mordern race vehicles was in the works.



2. Milliken lays down the fundamentals and advanced topic of vehicle dynamics as applied to racecars. The text is not for beginning or nontechnical readers in the slightest manner. Milliken points out many subtle and difficult areas to understand, which take hours of studying to fully grasp. For those seriously considering a career in this field or to the extremely interested reader, this text is the source of information.



3. I think i've bought this book a bit too early in my learning curve!
   This is a book intended for the Professional Race Engineer, or an extremely motivated amateur.
   It contains a wealth of mathematics for vehicle dynamics.
   Very exciting, i expect to have years of fun with the various chapters in this book.



4. Good luck finding this much information about vehicle dynamics in any other book, that is as well put together and easy to comprehend as this one. Well suited to those with engineering/math/science related backgrounds but not all of the information is beyond grasp of most people.



5. Absolutely outstanding and well structured. Gives a proper understanding of the fundamental theories and equation formulations, which are the building blocks for any concept to start with. Highly recommendable!

5 comments about Semiconductor Device Fundamentals.

1. While I maybe be biased in saying this is the best text I've had at a certain school (where the author teaches), I feel this book makes a solid effort at covering the material. The book is organized nicely and the end of chapter questions always relate to the chapter material.
   
   The section right before the questions also helps direct the student to the chapter section pertaining most to the question. It has helped me save time in looking up information! The only thing I would like would be a few more examples. Overall, a well balanced book with adequate conceptual explanation and a fair amount of examples. With this textbook, a good professor (or some determination on your part) and some work, you will do well in a basic semiconductors course.



2. I'm looking for a good reference book, for my PE exam. I bought this, kind of at Random. When I got it I was very dissapointed to see that it was written in 1996... This was written a year after I graduated from high school... Simiconductor devices have changed so much sense then... I hope it is a good book, but I wish I would have got a more recent book.



3. Reads like a novel. This book teaches semiconductor theory very well. It would be nice if it had some practical realizations of the theory it teaches, but it is overall the best book you will find in introductory semiconductors.



4. We use it as our textbook for an undergraduate course at Carnegie Mellon University.
   This book is fundamental enough. Once you are patient enough to read it, you will get a lot.
   It teaches concepts step by step, very good for beginners!



5. This Books provides a good idea in Semiconductor material for Physics Major students and Engineering students. This explains about solid state physics.
   
   Kiran Shrestha
   Univ of Massachusetts Boston

5 comments about Network Security with OpenSSL.

1. If you have little or no experience with SSL, or OpenSSL, get this book. It explains the principles behind SSL, and then goes on to cover OpenSSL. The companion website opensslbook.com contains the latest examples.
   
   The only drawbacks to the book are the way that the authors cover random number generators for windows, (totally excludes the MS crypto function cryptgenrand(), in favor of the Author's own entropy collection system), and the creation of certificates could have been covered a little better. I also kept having to consult the Openssl API documentation for clarification on certain things, but overall this is a great book.



2. I worked on a LAMP project with 'C' switching application behind it. This book clearly described what I needed and how to do it. Very good resource.



3. This book was a valuable resource in implementing Secure Sockets, it would have been difficult to finish my product without it.



4. Contents: intro, openssl command line, PKI, then programming: support infrastructure, ssl, symmetric keys, hashes, public keys, and openSSL for Perl, Python, and PHP.
   
   As others have noted, this is a great book for programming. It's not as detailed if you are looking to set up your own PKI. Basically it is about 30 pages of the openssl command (using symmetric keys, generating private keys, making certificates, signing them) and ~270 pages or so of programming.



5. Everything I needed to know to write code supporting certificates, multi-threading and error reporting was explained in the first five chapters. Without this book to tie together disparate facts, I probably would still be scrounging through Google hits, forums and the OpenSSL source code. At least a week of research and experimentation (non-billable hours) were saved. Highly recommended.