On Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:23:27 -0500, wrote:

How much new is there in HF; VHF and UHF antennas anyway?

New antenna design is now expressed in µm and nm wavelengths (EEEEHF).

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

On Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:23:27 -0500, wrote:

Things aren't what they used to be: The 'Quantum' on technical books is
now $100 +/-, so I think twice before buying.

I charge $75/hr for my work. If a $100 book will generate 1.33 hrs of
billable labor, or save me about 3 hours in wasted time, it's break
even. Anything over that is profitable. The only problem is that I'm
not a professional antenna designer and don't generate much revenue
from antenna projects. Still it's a good way to justify splurging on
books. Incidentally, I make sure I have a least one consulting job
per year so that I can justify deducting the book costs on my taxes.

How much new is there in HF; VHF and UHF antennas anyway?

Ummm.... UWB, Fractal Antennas, MIMO, direction finding, disguise
antennas, telematics antennas, sectored systems (WiMax), etc. It may
not be new to those in the industry, but they're new to me. Instead
of looking at what's new in antennas, look at what problems need to be
solved that involve antennas. Low visual impact, cram multiple
interfering radios inside a cell phone, limited tower space
(combiners), 4x4 MIMO in a USB dongle?, etc.

If it is new; it's not going to be in a book but rather in a journal
like the IEEE Antenna and Propagation.

Most of the articles in Antennas and Propagation are mathematical and
don't reduce easily to hardware implementations unless one has the
inclination; time and an available machine shop.

True, but the math offers a great clue on how they work. At this
time, an IEEE membership, plus Ant and Prop subscription will burn
about $200/year. I covered the costs in a previous rant at:
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.radio.amateur.antenna/msg/ba3e3273c2f1b5d6
I'm still trying to find a cheaper alternative buy joining the friends
of the local university library.

I tend to buy used from amazon.com but generally if I know in advance
what I want. Their "What's Inside" can be helpful though.

Yep. Also Google Books.

I have a couple of favorite antenna books and go to those when in need
but generally rely on the basic equations relating wavelength and
frequency and then cut-and-try.

Try antenna modeling with any of an assortment of programs.
http://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Software/Antenna_analysis/
Cut and try works ok for low frequency antennas, where large errors
are easily tolerated. Don't try that at microwave frequencies, where
the tweaks are in fractions of a millimeter.


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

In article ,
Jeff Liebermann wrote:

What's left are the big chains, online vendors, and some specialty
stores. I've never been to Portland, but if I find an excuse, I'll
certainly give Powell's a visit.

Powell's does mail-order, and in my experience they do it well (fast
shipping at a fair price, and they've never spammed the email address
I gave them).

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

In article
, ams
wrote:

Here's one person's opinion:

Amazon.com: http://xrl.us/BestAntennaBooks

The most comprehensive treatise on antennas, IMHO, is "Antenna Theory",
Parts I & II, by Collin and Zucker, McGraw-Hill. This two-book set is not
really intended for the hobbyist, however. The other great antenna books
in my office bookcase:

1. J.D. Kraus, "Antennas", McGraw-Hill

2. H. Jasik, "Antenna Engineering Handbook", MxGraw-Hill

3. E. Jordan & H. Balmain, "Electromagnetic Waves and Radiating Systems",
Prentice-Hall

4. R.W.P. King & C. Harrison, "Antennas and Waves: A Modern Approach",
The M.I.T. Press

5. W. L. Weeks, "Antenna Engineering", McGraw-Hill

6. S. Schelkunoff & H.T. Friis, "Antennas Theory and Practice", J. W.
Wiley & Sons

7. V. Rumsey, "Frequency Independent Antennas", Academic Press

8. P.E. Law Jr., "Shipboard Antennas", Artech House (this book deals with
antennas used by the USN)

9. Various ARRL handbooks and compendia on antennas.


Many of these references go back a number of decades and I don't know if
they're still in print. Sincerely, and 73s from N4GGO,

John Wood (Code 5550) e-mail:
Naval Research Laboratory
4555 Overlook Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20375-5337

Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:22:56 -0700, Roy Lewallen
wrote:

Jeff Liebermann wrote:
. . .
I wish you hadn't done that. I just ordered a copy of Kraus (2nd
edition) for $25 and a 2nd copy of the ARRL Antenna Book for $19
(because it always seems to be out on loan). Sigh. I need to
practice resisting temptation. Internet shopping is far too easy.

Hah, be glad you don't live close to Powell's, which has a separate
technical bookstore. My wallet is always a lot thinner when I walk out
of there than when I walked in.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

Many years ago, I used to make the pilgrimage to the Sunnyvale Fry's,
Ham Radio Outlet, various nearby surplus stores, and then Computer
Literacy Bookstore. After spending far too much money on books, I
started to avoid the bookstore. They solved the problem for me by
moving locations and finally closing in 2001.

WTF? That was one of my favorite stores to hang out and spend $$$ when I
lived down there. What happened? They always seemed to be thriving and
had books on other subjects. Fry's simply never had the books to compete.


A visit to San Francisco was not complete without dropping into
Stacey's bookstore on Market and Powell (after the one in Palo Alto
closed). However, the SF store closed earlier this year.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/07/BAFN154UV2.DTL

What's left are the big chains, online vendors, and some specialty
stores. I've never been to Portland, but if I find an excuse, I'll
certainly give Powell's a visit.

Is there anything in the Sacramento area or even the Silicon Valley area
anymore?

Bill Baka, heavy reader.

In article ,
Bill Baka wrote:

WTF? That was one of my favorite stores to hang out and spend $$$ when I
lived down there. What happened? They always seemed to be thriving and
had books on other subjects. Fry's simply never had the books to compete.

If I recall correctly, they were bought up by another company (or, at
least, changed names) and then finally closed.

I don't know what the economics of their close-down were. I suspect a
combination of factors: rising rents (things were getting a big crazy
during the dot-com bubble), competition from online book-sellers such
as Amazon, increasing cost of purchasing inventory, and increasing
cost of maintaining stock (business taxes on unsold inventory).

Is there anything in the Sacramento area or even the Silicon Valley area
anymore?

There's another technical bookstore called Digital Guru, located in
the next strip-mall section northwards from where Computer Literacy
used to be. They don't carry as broad a stock as CL did, but they
aren't bad.

These days, I tend to look on-line first.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

Dave Platt wrote:
In article ,
Bill Baka wrote:

WTF? That was one of my favorite stores to hang out and spend $$$ when I
lived down there. What happened? They always seemed to be thriving and
had books on other subjects. Fry's simply never had the books to compete.

If I recall correctly, they were bought up by another company (or, at
least, changed names) and then finally closed.

Damn. That was the best technical book store I have ever been in. The
last time was 1998 when I was working down there and they seemed healthy.

I don't know what the economics of their close-down were. I suspect a
combination of factors: rising rents (things were getting a big crazy
during the dot-com bubble), competition from online book-sellers such
as Amazon, increasing cost of purchasing inventory, and increasing
cost of maintaining stock (business taxes on unsold inventory).

Rents I believe. Even in this depression people are trying to raise the
rents. I know from experience owning a TV/electronics repair shop. At
exactly 1 year the girl representing the landlord told me that since we
were a success and made it a full year they were going to raise my rent.
My answer, "Sorry, greed doesn't get it, I'm closing.".
That was easy because business sucked except for the truckers and my CB
tuning skills at 5:00 A.M.

Is there anything in the Sacramento area or even the Silicon Valley area
anymore?

There's another technical bookstore called Digital Guru, located in
the next strip-mall section northwards from where Computer Literacy
used to be. They don't carry as broad a stock as CL did, but they
aren't bad.

Maybe, just maybe.

These days, I tend to look on-line first.

Me too.
sigh
Bill Baka

On Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:11:53 -0800, Bill Baka
wrote:

Many years ago, I used to make the pilgrimage to the Sunnyvale Fry's,
Ham Radio Outlet, various nearby surplus stores, and then Computer
Literacy Bookstore. After spending far too much money on books, I
started to avoid the bookstore. They solved the problem for me by
moving locations and finally closing in 2001.

WTF? That was one of my favorite stores to hang out and spend $$$ when I
lived down there. What happened? They always seemed to be thriving and
had books on other subjects. Fry's simply never had the books to compete.

I found out the hard way. I prepared an expedition to Computer
Literacy and discovered they were closed. I was seriously bummed as
Stacy's in SF was too far away to drive.

I don't know exactly why they failed, but I think online shopping for
books might have killed them off.

This may help:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Literacy_Bookstore

Is there anything in the Sacramento area or even the Silicon Valley area
anymore?

Dunno. I've been doing most of my book shopping via Alibris and
Amazon.

--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558
# http://802.11junk.com
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS

Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:11:53 -0800, Bill Baka
wrote:

Many years ago, I used to make the pilgrimage to the Sunnyvale Fry's,
Ham Radio Outlet, various nearby surplus stores, and then Computer
Literacy Bookstore. After spending far too much money on books, I
started to avoid the bookstore. They solved the problem for me by
moving locations and finally closing in 2001.
WTF? That was one of my favorite stores to hang out and spend $$$ when I
lived down there. What happened? They always seemed to be thriving and
had books on other subjects. Fry's simply never had the books to compete.

I found out the hard way. I prepared an expedition to Computer
Literacy and discovered they were closed. I was seriously bummed as
Stacy's in SF was too far away to drive.

I don't know exactly why they failed, but I think online shopping for
books might have killed them off.

This may help:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Literacy_Bookstore

Is there anything in the Sacramento area or even the Silicon Valley area
anymore?

Dunno. I've been doing most of my book shopping via Alibris and
Amazon.

Total bummer, since I used to be able to flip through a $110 book and
see if it was what I needed. Buying it, shipping it, finding out it was
the wrong one or written like a student paper, and then having to return
it are all a bit too much bother. I used to buy books on sight, having
never even knew the book existed and it was a hot topic to me.

The kinds of super specialized books I buy are in the $200 range and are
out of date sometimes before I get them. Science books mainly.

Bill Baka