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RF Design has received a few inquiries from people questioning the upcoming changes to the magazine starting in the September issue. Some readers are worried that the magazine will drastically change, especially the tutorial, practical articles and content for which RF Design is known.

When you receive your September issue, you will instantly see the style and organization changes described in the July “Editor's Notes.” The look of the magazine, inside and out, will have drastically changed.

The messages we received asked how the changes will affect the content and familiarity of the publication.

To answer those questions requires contemplating what makes a great magazine. How does one distinguish between similar publications in the same market?

Great magazines have the following attributes:

• Great content.
• Clean and simple design.
• Great content.
• Easy navigation.
• Great content.

The changes to RF Design will retain the features that match those criteria, and change those that don't.

RF Design's focus will not change. If anything, the articles and sections will be better, more practical, more informative and even more technical in the coming year.

This renovation is about simplicity and ease of use. The cover will better reflect the content of the magazine, and the table of contents', features' and departments' new designs will make information easier to find and absorb. When the dust settles, RF Design will have a cleaner look and improved content.

Our magazine makeover has three goals: to make the content easier to find and use; to update the magazine design to reflect modern style; and to fashion a design that better reflects RF Design's coverage of all radio frequencies.

While the first two goals are self explanatory and easily understood, the third goal, to craft a design that will better demonstrate and showcase RF Design's coverage of the entire radio frequency, may be surprising to loyal readers.

Too many times I hear from industry colleagues that their perceptions of RF Design are that it only covers low frequencies. To those that regularly read the magazine, this notion is absurd. First of all, RF Design would not have survived for 25 years if it only covered low frequency technologies.

Second, one look at the content of any relatively recent issue would find many articles covering microwave frequency applications.

Take this month, for example. One of the feature articles, “Microwave chirp radar design: combining virtual and physical hardware performance analysis,” by David Leiss, is dedicated to microwave applications.

The Military Electronics feature and cover story, “High-temperature superconducting filter technology breaks new ground,” by Randy Simon, describes HTS technology's importance in cellular frequencies, with some specific application to wideband CDMA. The Time and Frequency article, “Why oscillators are the best frequency sources for wireless designs,” by Roger Burns, cites 802.11 applications for its arguments.

Our intent is to change the industry mindset that RF Design is strictly a lower-frequency publication.

So, the changes we will unveil in September will make the magazine easier to use, information easier to find, and better represent our coverage areas.

We hope you will like the new design. And, as always, please send me your comments, ideas and denigrations.