Crash Course in Electronics Technology, Second Edition (CRASH COURSE)

Book Description

Combined with the two other Crash Course books, Digital Technology and Microprocessor Technology, this book forms a complete course in electronics and microcomputer technology appropriate for technical schools, industrial training, and hobbyists.

Crash Course in Electronics Technology teaches the basics of electronics, components, and circuits in an easy-to-understand format. Each chapter includes learning objectives, clear explanations and examples, and an end-of-chapter self-quiz. The drill-and-review software included with the book allows the learners to test themselves on the contents of each chapter, providing a second way to reinforce the material. A final chapter teaches the basics of troubleshooting circuits.
Louis Frenzel is an experienced electronics engineer and educator, as well as the author of many magazine articles and texts. He is currently based in Texas.

Drill-and-review software included.

Clear, easy format.

Self-paced introduction to electronics theory.

Average customer rating:

Wonder world of telecommunication around you
good, but may be overkill for some
Everything's here...you just have to find it!
Excellent Introduction, in the opinion of a Telecom newcomer
Excellent Telecom Overview

Telecom Crash Course
Steven Shepard
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0071382135

Book Description

Get a sound fix on the expanding universe of telecom

Explore the vast telecom landscape -- from standards and protocols to premise, access and transport technologies. Far more than an acronym-studded quick fix, Telecom Crash Course is a true tutorial that offers you context, connections, and the wisdom to quickly grasp key technologies, including wireless Internet, optical networking, 3G, IP, protocol layer, PSTN, ATM, spread spectrum, GPRS, and SIP. Author Steven Shepard includes lively stories that deliver important points about the markets that drive the technologies. You get rigorous technical accuracy, with explanations of each technology's economic importance. Here’s your chance to decipher the alphabet soup of telecom acronyms -- not just what they stand for, but what they mean and how they can generate profits.

Customer Reviews:

Wonder world of telecommunication around you.......2005-08-12

The book, in my opinion, will be useful to the people not having a technical education and working in sphere of telecommunications and allied industries; for the beginners, wishing to expand the knowledge; for the employees responsible for administration of telecommunication services of the organizations; for managers on sales, marketing, management of projects, and also telecommunication managers and managers of a high level.

good, but may be overkill for some.......2005-07-13

I really enjoyed this book, especially the anecdotes in the introduction, but I can't realy see alot of applications for a "crash-course" that is this long. There are many situations I can envision where someone would need to learn about telecom networks quickly, but they probably wouldn't need to know many of the intricacies that Shepard deals with and they almost certainly wouldn't be interested in his anecdotes and discussion of undersea cable laying.

However, I don't know of any other comprehensive book like this so it may be your only option. Either way I certainly enjoyed reading it and intend to buy his other books, but to read at my leisure.

Everything's here...you just have to find it!.......2004-10-12

Telecom's Crash Course is an excellent compilation of all major facets of the Telecommunications industry. As someone who monitors foreign investments into the US technology sector, I've found this both an excellent primer for newbies as well as a very helpful resource to those who have been doing this for a while.

The PROS: The book is comprehensive and walks through the very tactical level, detailed explanation of specific technologies and the many ways that a given portion of data can move across the planet. If you're new to the field, reading this book is the cheapest and fastest method to be armed with a semi-comprehensive knowledge spanning the industry.

The CONS: I can see how people could say that this book gets lost in the weeds because the explanations are sometimes extensive, detailed, and probably don't fit the bill if you're looking for a book covering the overall trends present in the telecoms market. If you're looking for a "big concepts" book only, this isn't for you. Reviewers commenting on the book's lack of focus were probably hoping primarily for a "here are the major trends in the industry" and not an industry technology primer, a "crash course" in the industry.

Buy the paperback. It's a bit of a painful read in places, but hey, this is Telecoms, and it doesn't get too many people hyper excited--if you're buying a book called "Telecoms Crash Course" and expecting a nail-biting thriller, you probably have some misplaced expectations! Enjoy.

Excellent Introduction, in the opinion of a Telecom newcomer.......2004-07-16

This is a fantastic book if you want an overview that focuses on technical and some business aspects of telecommunications, and are someone that enjoys reading more techie-oriented material. (For the record, I am an MechE by training who is now working for one of the companies mentioned in the book, so this really was my entire Intro course to Telecom, and I plan to continue my learning. This book was an excellent guide for future, more in-depth subjects to pursue.)

The book does an excellent job of being ubiquitous and covering all the aspects of the telecom field that you've ever heard about. At the same, I found it easy to skip around in reading chapters, based on my own priorities in buying the book. The chapters are divided very logically into sections on the Telephone network, Access technologies, Transport options, Protocols, etc. (if you have no idea what I'm talking about, you will after reading this book :).
One of my favorite aspects of the books is that the author is very good at using diagrams to supplement his text, which can be rare in more engineering/technical books. The whole picture-worth-a-thousand-words idea, especially if you take the time to go through the diagrams.
Yes, the text can require a few read-throughs - but telecommunications itself is a dense field that really requires one to be patience in reading and gain understanding of the technology. There *is* a lot of detail stuffed through out the chapters, and perhaps not everyone will care to know everything -- but that is alright, there is no harm in skipping the nitty-gritty of sections that do not interest you.

Please, please, please do not let the bad reviews of this book discourage you from checking it out. I just finished reading the entire book, and wanted to log on to share my high opinion of it.

Excellent Telecom Overview.......2004-01-25

As an industry outsider with limited technical experience, I found this book informative, easy-to-follow, and entertaining. My compliments to the author for a job well done.

Average customer rating:

Too basic for engineers, but an excellent general reference.
clear prose, without drowning you in maths
Best book on the wireless industry
Good books for engineers wanting to understand current wireless technologies
Crashed Course

Wireless Crash Course
Paul Bedell
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0071372105

Book Description

Crash course in wireless telecom

Need a jargon-free explanation of how wireless telecommunications work, with an emphasis on the design and management of systems? You’ll find it in Paul Bedell’s Wireless Crash Course. This guide provides everything you need to understand the basic working of wireless, its technology and markets. You get a crystal-clear introduction to basic concepts like radio frequency (RF), cell sites, and switching, and insight into issues such as site acquisition, tower selection and construction, design of the fixed network (a.k.a the "backhaul"), and interconnection to the Public Switched Telephone Network. The expert author carefully delineates the complex regulatory processes that affect all wireless service providers. This A to Z treatment of every major feature of wireless explains both coming wireless internet access (WAP, Bluetooth, wireless data, etc.) and wireless broadband access (LMDS, MMDS) and their prospects in the marketplace.

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A clearly written, jargon-free explanation of how wireless telecommunications work, with an emphasis on the design and management of systems.

Customer Reviews:

Too basic for engineers, but an excellent general reference........2007-01-05

I used this book as a supplemental reference for teaching an undergrad course in Wireless Communications. Although it is too basic for students with communications engineering backgrounds, it is terrific as a basic intro to multiple wireless technologies and related business applications and services. Technologies grow and industries change quickly, but this book's 2005 edition seemed reasonably up to date as of the end of 2006. Even I used it as a quick refresher on specific topics like WiMax, GPRS, 3G, UTMS, cdma2000. The author writes clearly, and this book is a great reference for general telecom audiences.

clear prose, without drowning you in maths.......2006-06-11

This second edition has prose that clearly explains the concepts in wireless engineering. Without diving deeply into the underlying physics or maths. Bedell explicitly states that he directs the book at a wide audience, including possibly those in the financial industry, who want to make some sense of the various wireless networks.

He covers all the important types of networks. From those that have been around for decades, to the latest WiFi and WiMax. The latter is especially speculative, but offers great potential for connecting up a wide area.

Best book on the wireless industry.......2006-05-11

This is by far the best book I've ever read on the wireless industry. I'm starting my career in this field and found the book very informative and easy to understand. I e-mailed Mr. Bedell with a question and he returned my e-mail in less than 12 hours!! If your new to wireless or your an old pro, this is the last book you'll ever need. TRY IT!! You won't be disapointed.

Good books for engineers wanting to understand current wireless technologies.......2005-08-19

For technical professionals and engineers, this book is a great way to understand past and existing wireless technologies. It gives an overview on the many aspects of wireless communication and explains the technologies to some amount of depth. The areas that explain how the wireless encoding works would have to be read more than once to grasp it. Every chapter starts with a good overview. The nice thing about this book is that it also contains information about the companies behind these technologies, their evolution (or demise) based on how technologies were selected over others and the evolution of the technologies themselves.

Crashed Course.......2004-04-22

This is a very disappointing book. Technical stuff needn't be turgid or boring although I suspect this is less the author's fault than the publisher's, the latter perhaps worriedly taking the view that any hint of personality, lightness, humour or the like equates with lack of gravitas and must be ruthlessly excised and a few diddy questions stuck at the end of chapters for the book to be taken seriously; absolute rubbish of course.

In fact Bedell often makes good use of analogies and models to explain particular concepts and implementations (for instance on CDMA on p259) and even makes the occasional jokey aside. The book would have been greatly improved by more of this.

There are, however, too many factual and other errors as in the following examples.

In 22.5.7 Bedell says, "There is currently a newer version of CDMA under development. Known as wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), sometimes known as `CDMA 2000'". Really? Well, that solves at a stroke the problems of the two leading South Korean operators wondering which route to emphasise. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), GSM operators looking to upgrade, and others, may be surprised as well.

Page 268 has, "... any SIM card works with any GSM handset ... [then] the owner must enter their four-digit PIN number. The SIM card cannot be activated without this PIN number ..." PIN stands for "Personal Identification Number" so it's just "PIN", incidentally, not "PIN number" but, more importantly, the statement is wrong as anyone who happily swaps SIMs between GSM handsets and hasn't enabled an optional PIN will confirm.

24.10.2.4 has "Bluetooth[`s range is] much lower than the 3.5 mi of 802.11b." Well, yes. And so actually is the ordinary open-air range of 802.11b itself, at some three hundred feet or around only 1.5% of the distance claimed.

Page 234 offers, "With the world shrinking at the rate it is in lieu of the globalization of the world economy ...."; "in lieu of" means "in place of" - presumably Bedell actually means "because of". And later in the paragraph he uses half a dozen words when a couple would suffice, one of many instances where the book would have benefited greatly by better editing and a reduction of maybe 15% to 20% overall.

"ie" is not a synonym for "eg". The former stands for "id est" and means "that is", the latter for "exempli gratia" and means "for example". Eg, from page 364, "...locations will range from large enterprises (i.e. office buildings, hospitals, campuses)..", ie apparently will not include the likes of industrial complexes, airports or anything other than those three groups cited.

So is this just being picky over things that ultimately don't matter?

No, because factual errors (although, as every writer knows, they creep in) have no place in such a text book and this is sloppy editing. And the problem with grammatical or stylistic errors is that, firstly, they obfuscate rather than clarify meaning and so risk confusing the reader and, secondly, their presence raises the suspicion that if the writer or editor has been cavalier with language how cavalier has been the treatment of information which must be taken on trust. It matters greatly in programming whether a coder uses "OR" or "AND" and it's as important that a writer uses writing tools correctly to convey meaning accurately.

More generally, the text is far too US-centric for something offering a fast-track route to grasping the essentials of a particular technology area.

South Korea in particular and Asia in general is well ahead of the rest of the planet in wireless yet there's no mention of the exciting and innovative developments in those areas. Page 205, for instance, makes some bizarre claims about GPS yet location based systems (LBS) are big in South Korea and Japan and have been for some time.

In 2001 the gap between Europe and the US in wireless was huge (although it's certainly narrowing) yet the technology used by 75% of the world, GSM, is barely considered.

Who, some earnest US factoid collectors perhaps excepted, gives a toss about the dreary recitations of US cellular regulations or the arcane minutae distinguishing PCS and cellular? Far better to have skated briskly over all that and used the space to look in more detail at GSM, at CDMA-IS95 and the future developments of each, at the whole WiFi and WiMAN developments which, granted, were nascent in 2001 but which could still have been covered.

The book has no glossary and the indexing is poor. Initialisms are fine to use but a reader needs easily to be able to recheck what, for instance, ESN, GSM, CTIA, AMPS, EIR, HLR and so on and so on stand for when he meets them later. This is entirely the publisher's fault, of course, but such a slapdash contempt for the reader simply isn't acceptable, particularly in a book for relative beginners.

Book Description

Crash Course in Digital Technology teaches the basics of digital electronics theory and circuits in an easy-to-understand format. Each chapter includes learning objectives, clear explanations and examples, and an end-of-chapter self-quiz. The drill-and-review software included with the book allows learners to test themselves on the contents of each chapter, providing a second reinforcement of the material. A final chapter teaches the basics of troubleshooting digital circuits.

With the two other Crash Course books, Electronics Technology and Microprocessor Technology, this book forms a complete course in electronics and microcomputer technology appropriate for technical schools, industrial training, and hobbyists.

Louis Frenzel is an experienced electronics engineer and educator, as well as the author of many magazine articles and texts. He is currently an instructor at Austin Community College in Austin, Texas.

Drill-and-review software included
Clear, easy format
Self-paced introduction to digital electronics

Customer Reviews:

Easy to Understand and learn from !.......2001-07-21

I bought this book and knew very little about digital technology (it was covered briefly in a course I took on computer organization). This book helped make the information very clear. I liked the fact that it continually tests you throughout the book and contains learning objectives at the beginning of each and every chapter. Excellent layout and very well done!

Crash Course in PC and Microcontroller Technology (CRASH COURSE)

Average customer rating:

Crash Course in PC and Microcontroller Technology (CRASH COURSE)
Louis Frenzel
Manufacturer: Newnes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

PCs | Hardware | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

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Crash Course in Digital Technology, Second Edition (CRASH COURSE)

ASIN: 0750697083

Book Description

Crash Course in PC and Microcontroller Technology teaches the basics of microprocessor architecture and applications in an easy-to-understand format. Each chapter includes learning objectives, clear explanations and examples, and an end-of-chapter self-quiz. The drill-and-review software included with the book allows learners to test themselves on the contents of each chapter, providing a second reinforcement of the material.

With the two other Crash Course books, Electronics Technology and Digital Technology, this book forms a complete course in electronics and microcomputer technology appropriate for technical schools, industrial training, and hobbyists.

Programmed instruction format for efficient and effective self study
Accompanying disk with self-test exams
Up-to-date coverage of PCs and embedded micros

Average customer rating:

BROADBAND ARMCHAIR READING
Informative and Educational Look at Fiber and Wireless
Broadband Meets the Business World
Another homerun by Mr. Louis!
Best overview of the Broadband arena I've seen

Broadband Crash Course
P. J. Louis , and P.J. Louis
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0071380604

Book Description

Survival Guide to Understanding -- and Profiting From -- Broadband!

Get the right answers for smart broadband decision making-- from financial, management and marketing to equipment, applications, and protocols. Broadband Crash Course examines broadband delivery in terms of markets and business opportunities. Writing with the surety and thoroughness of a telecom insider and business executive, P.J. Louis clearly and painlessly demonstrates how broadband services are delivered over today's complex telecommunications infrastructure, minus the heavy-duty math. This one-of-a-kind guide is your chance to learn about:

* Service bundling (voice, Internet access, e-mail, etc.) across all major network types (wireless, IP, cable, satellite, LANs, etc.)
* Benefits of wireline and wireless broadband technologies
* Service bundling and provisioning across the wireline and wireless broadband networks
* The Local Loop and its future
* Coaxing more applications from the technologies you've got
* Business models that have proven themselves in the real world
* 3G wireless, the wireless Internet, softswitching, M-commerce: how will they affect your business?

Download Description

Customer Reviews:

BROADBAND ARMCHAIR READING.......2002-07-17

The continuously expanding need to economically move large volumes of data at faster speeds presents formidable challenges to both engineering and business professionals. Understanding Broadband technology and deciphering its complex technical principles is an arduous task in a dynamic and evolving environment. Mr. Louis has once again put together a technical guide that provides an excellent roadmap to better understanding of the Broadband arena. Since the superhighway of projected Broadband ventures is lettered with failure, this most recent "Crash Course" is an important tool for the arsenal of any remaining entrepreneur attempting to succeed in Broadband deployment. ....and once again, all in easy to read/understand presentation.

Informative and Educational Look at Fiber and Wireless.......2002-03-01

This book provides valuable insight into the Broadband arena. P.J. Louis has clearly articulated his vision of the future of fiber and wireless. Whether or not one agrees, he earns respect for taking a strong position and defending it with plentiful detail. Louis is clearly a teacher whose aim is to inform and educate with this book. Business leaders would do well to read this before leaping into investments in this area. The book provides a significant level of knowledge to assist in making informed business decisions.

Broadband Meets the Business World.......2001-10-09

This book is an excellent and unbiased technology assessment for the broadband market, without all of the technical hype and marketing rhetoric. Moreover, the timely interjection of business considerations throughout, reminds the reader that technology and business are not mutually exclusive - only a technically sound and financially prudent solution will be successful. Mr. Louis breaks down the attributes and capabilities for each of the available and emerging broadband technologies in such a way, as to provide the non-technical reader with sufficient understanding to make sound business and investment decisions about the plethora of broadband technology options.

This book will prove invaluable in bridging the communications gap between the "technologists" and the "financier" - a communications gap that, in today's telecom world, has left many bankrupt entities wonder why?

Another homerun by Mr. Louis!.......2001-09-22

Once again Mr. Louis is right on target both with the emerging Broadband technology subject & the manner in which he describes it. As a telecom industry principal consultant with CommFlow Resources Inc.,this book is a welcome addition to my library. The book is an extremely easy read & speaks with the language & insight of the people working within the industry. This book will be referenced often as a foundation on Broadband knowledge as well as a marketplace development guide. I eagerly await a next publication from Mr. Louis who has his finger on the pulse of technology.

Best overview of the Broadband arena I've seen.......2001-09-21

The book provides the business professional with an understanding of the entire spectrum of Broadband technology. This is not an engineering textbook, but a book designed to provide the business reader with a foundation for understanding a very complex technology. Mr. Louis de-mystifies the subject and is able to describe both the technological and business aspects of a very complex topic.

Book Description

The past, present, and future of wireless telecom technology -- explained in one volume

The convergence of current cellular and PC voice networks with the new wireless networks means anyone working in the telecommunications industry (or interested in investing) needs the inside scoop on the next generation of telecommunications. You'll find it in M-Commerce. Expert P.J. Louis' one-of-a-kind guide lets you understand the merging of 3rd generation, or 3G, wireless technologies with the Internet, a convergence that's transforming the economics of the telecommunications industry and driving massive growth in wireless usage. Focusing on how network management and customer care must evolve with the technologies, the book provides you with business models and an understanding of service provisioning as well as technology. You'll learn about:
The telecom network
Wireless networks
Next Generation Networks
Interconnection
Differentiation
Global Services
Types of next generation service providers
Next generation network signaling
SS7/ATM/B-ISDN
Billing in next generation networks
Next generation network management
Next generation economics

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This book de-mystifies wireline and mobile Internet by discussing the fundamentals and the direction of the technology and business of the Internet.

Customer Reviews:

a disappointing book.......2002-10-07

I bought this book based on other reviewers' comments. After reading the book, I am totally disappointed for the following reasons:
1. it does not fit to the description of other reviewers. I am not sure we are reading the same book.
2. it is a fast-food book with a lot of junk pictures that explain nothing the author try to explain.
3. only 30% about M-commerce, and others about Business strategic stuff. I can read that from other expert on strategy.
4. no clue what is the framework.
5. you can get 5 times more good stuff from "informit.com" if you check the wireless link.

Lots of fluff and lousy pictures.......2002-05-07

I had to put this book down. I found the content fairly obvious or at times questionsable in accuracy. The most annoying part was the illustrations which seemed to a collection of random clip art with connecting arrows. While the table of contents is impressive, I was very dissapointed in the content.

I returned this book.

Highly recommended for today's business manager.......2001-09-24

M-Commerce Crash Course is a well written book, the author clearly understands the subject and is able to convey this understanding to the reader. P.J. Louis is able to parallel the evolution of m-commerce to the evolution of telecommunications and e-commerce. Yet, the book is not so technically in-depth to loose the average business person.
This is an excellent book for any business manager to read and understand the world of M-Commerce. It will provide an solid foundation to the understanding of M-Commerce without wasting time trying to research the information yourself. In addition, you are provided with the author's expertise in the field. He provides very descriptive examples of the subject matter, which helps to clarify the information.
In business today, it is necessary to make rapid decisions based upon your knowledge and experience. This book provides you with the necessary information to help to build a solid understanding of M-Commerce. In turn, this will help you to make good business decisions.
There is only one issue that isn't touched on in this book, but it isn't talked about in other business books either. This is the issue of software quality. This is an issue that has been overlooked by both big and small businesses. If Mr. Louis were to address this issue of the importance of software quality, then this book would be very thorough in its coverage of M-Commerce. Despite this, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in expanding their knowledgebase. This is an exceptional book for any non-technical manager to read and understand what M-Commerce is about, before making any decisions. I look forward to reading Mr. Louis's other books.

M-Commerce Crash Course.......2001-06-07

This is great! I teach software testing including E-Comm and for the past few years have been collecting information from magazines, newspapers and such. These are all filed away in a big binder that I have never had time to organize, now I don't need to as this book covers it all. It even includes information on understanding the market, which is something that is difficult for software testers to understand. We have no control over what the market demands are, or the sales department sells, and have to be willing to change at a moments notice, and if we don't understand the business we cannot provide the right technology. How nice to see this in print!! Also, this will book is useful as a reference when I am preparing presentations and working in the Telecom industry!

Finally - A Really Useful Crash Course for Non-experts.......2001-04-26

Kudos on a book that provides a sweeping view of a new and technically demanding subject in a easy to understand format.

Book Description

* The wireless Internet is unpacked and explained. * Compares and contrasts the strengths and weaknesses of i-mode, WAP, SMS, and Bluetooth. * Existing and potential wireless Internet market are analyzed and compared.* Covers interoperability issues* and Mobile applications development languages.

Download Description

An indispensable companion for wireless telecom managers, developers, network managers, engineers, technicians, sales and marketing personnel, and savvy investors, and required reading for any industry executive competing in the mobile applications arena, Wireless Internet Crash Course is your best guide through the confusing maze of wireless internet technologies.

Customer Reviews:

effective, useful resource.......2002-05-26

An effective and useful reference book on the "wireless internet." It covers the technologies, markets, products and services, citing many real applications in a easily readable format. I think this book would satisfactorily serve the student and industry professional as a useful single source of information.

simple to understand!.......2002-05-14

i was surprised that this book was such a pleasure to read and how it made everything so simple -- i highly recommend this wireless crash course!

Wireless Internet Crash Course.......2002-02-14

This is a wonderful and informative manual for the TC community. The authors clearly have command of current and emerging trends. I look forward the online updates and tools.

A.R.

good overview.......2001-12-21

Good overview on subject-- like a Cliff Notes, covers the key points but if you need details you'll have to buy books and visit the websites which are listed in the appendix. The book is easy to read (I read the book from cover to cover on flight from San Jose to Chicago last week with time to spare).

Compelling insights into the world of the wireless internet.......2001-12-16

Provides compelling insight into the world of the Wireless Internet! This is both a technology and business book covering the background and evolution of wireless technology, portable devices, market opportunities. Spellbinding, humorous in parts, it reads at times like a magazine article or a novel, for instance when describing Japan's successful i-mode services or taking the reader through many of the entertaining and imaginative applications. Definitely a reference book for anyone seeking to understand the wireless past and future.

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