My interest was heightened but Experimental Methods cost $50 on the ARRL
web
site! More than the handbook.
A copy of Solid State design went on ebay for $10.50 recently
Bob
kb8tl

And both worth it at twice the price.

W4ZCB

Dave,

I great book. Check hamfests. I got a copy for $1.

Mike N2MS

Dave,

I great book. Check hamfests. I got a copy for $1.

Mike N2MS

"Michael St. Angelo" ) writes:
Dave,

I great book. Check hamfests. I got a copy for $1.

Mike N2MS


I haven't seen the new book, but I can't quite imagine that buying it
would negate the old one completely. I have a selection of handbooks
going back 40 years, and even the incremental changes between years when
I did buy them every year (much of the seventies) is enough for me
to keep them. I don't think much of the 1979 edition, but it has
the chapter on NBVM, "Narrow Band Voice Modulation", that made such
a splash that year and then completely faded out, with no later mention
of it.

I love Solid State Design, there's a very good mix of construction to
theory, and obviously it did cover territory that the Handbook didn't
at the time. My copy, bought when it first came out, has stood up
better than some books I have from the same time period, but I'd be
disappointed if it fell apart and I couldn't get a replacement.

Old books often do have value, even if later books are more up to
date. The early ARRL SSB manuals, and the CQ SSB Handbook for tht
matter, tend to be more in depth about the basics than material written
years later, because by then "everyone knows all the details".

And sometimes even the historical perspective is of value. If a low
frequency crystal and a string of multipliers was the norm for years,
as seen in the ARRL VHF Manual (which hasn't been published in at least
thirty years), then sometimes it still can be the proper choice. But
if people don't see those "historical documents" they may be puzzling over
how to do something except with the latest whizband schemes.

Besides, the old books are what I grew up with. Some of them were new
at the time, some of them were bought used and were already old at
the time. But I read them, and reread them, and if nothing else,
they are a remder of that past. When I got interested in them, I
got rid of my comic books and my Tom Corbette and Tom Swift books,
and years later I regretted not being able to reread them. I did
not make the mistake with radio and electronic books.

Michael VE2BVW

"Michael St. Angelo" ) writes:
Dave,

I great book. Check hamfests. I got a copy for $1.

Mike N2MS


I haven't seen the new book, but I can't quite imagine that buying it
would negate the old one completely. I have a selection of handbooks
going back 40 years, and even the incremental changes between years when
I did buy them every year (much of the seventies) is enough for me
to keep them. I don't think much of the 1979 edition, but it has
the chapter on NBVM, "Narrow Band Voice Modulation", that made such
a splash that year and then completely faded out, with no later mention
of it.

I love Solid State Design, there's a very good mix of construction to
theory, and obviously it did cover territory that the Handbook didn't
at the time. My copy, bought when it first came out, has stood up
better than some books I have from the same time period, but I'd be
disappointed if it fell apart and I couldn't get a replacement.

Old books often do have value, even if later books are more up to
date. The early ARRL SSB manuals, and the CQ SSB Handbook for tht
matter, tend to be more in depth about the basics than material written
years later, because by then "everyone knows all the details".

And sometimes even the historical perspective is of value. If a low
frequency crystal and a string of multipliers was the norm for years,
as seen in the ARRL VHF Manual (which hasn't been published in at least
thirty years), then sometimes it still can be the proper choice. But
if people don't see those "historical documents" they may be puzzling over
how to do something except with the latest whizband schemes.

Besides, the old books are what I grew up with. Some of them were new
at the time, some of them were bought used and were already old at
the time. But I read them, and reread them, and if nothing else,
they are a remder of that past. When I got interested in them, I
got rid of my comic books and my Tom Corbette and Tom Swift books,
and years later I regretted not being able to reread them. I did
not make the mistake with radio and electronic books.

Michael VE2BVW

"Michael Black" wrote in message
...

I haven't seen the new book, but I can't quite imagine that buying it
would negate the old one completely. I have a selection of handbooks
going back 40 years, and even the incremental changes between years when
I did buy them every year (much of the seventies) is enough for me
to keep them. I don't think much of the 1979 edition, but it has
the chapter on NBVM, "Narrow Band Voice Modulation", that made such
a splash that year and then completely faded out, with no later mention
of it.

There's some history behind NBVM. I guess it must have been in 1978, but
whenever, then-ARRL General Manager Dick Baldwin, W1RU, wrote an editorial
for QST with the theme of "We need a technical breakthrough," like the ones
hams were famous for in the past. Weeks later, NBVM popped up out of the
noise, and Baldwin ordered an article about it published in QST, with a
cover photo to match. AFAIK, no one else at Hq had ever heard of NBVM or the
inventors, and I wouldn't say the idea caught fire among the staff. But
there it was. The hardware was commercially produced by a publicly-held
company, but I never saw evidence that anyone officially connected with ARRL
owned any. If they did, it was their loss.

At that time, ARRL, as Headquarters society of the IARU, was preparing for a
World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC). This was one of the big WARCs
and there was some concern that we would lose HF spectrum. The official
story, of course, is that we gained the WARC bands, but in terms of net
spectrum it was a loss, due to incursions on the microwave bands. My
recollection is that we took a major whack on 13 cm, and also on several
other uw bands.

So that's the backscatter on NBVM.

73,

"PM"

"Michael Black" wrote in message
...

I haven't seen the new book, but I can't quite imagine that buying it
would negate the old one completely. I have a selection of handbooks
going back 40 years, and even the incremental changes between years when
I did buy them every year (much of the seventies) is enough for me
to keep them. I don't think much of the 1979 edition, but it has
the chapter on NBVM, "Narrow Band Voice Modulation", that made such
a splash that year and then completely faded out, with no later mention
of it.

There's some history behind NBVM. I guess it must have been in 1978, but
whenever, then-ARRL General Manager Dick Baldwin, W1RU, wrote an editorial
for QST with the theme of "We need a technical breakthrough," like the ones
hams were famous for in the past. Weeks later, NBVM popped up out of the
noise, and Baldwin ordered an article about it published in QST, with a
cover photo to match. AFAIK, no one else at Hq had ever heard of NBVM or the
inventors, and I wouldn't say the idea caught fire among the staff. But
there it was. The hardware was commercially produced by a publicly-held
company, but I never saw evidence that anyone officially connected with ARRL
owned any. If they did, it was their loss.

At that time, ARRL, as Headquarters society of the IARU, was preparing for a
World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC). This was one of the big WARCs
and there was some concern that we would lose HF spectrum. The official
story, of course, is that we gained the WARC bands, but in terms of net
spectrum it was a loss, due to incursions on the microwave bands. My
recollection is that we took a major whack on 13 cm, and also on several
other uw bands.

So that's the backscatter on NBVM.

73,

"PM"

My interest was heightened but Experimental Methods cost $50 on the ARRL
web
site! More than the handbook.
A copy of Solid State design went on ebay for $10.50 recently
===========================================
There is no comparison between the 2.
Having both books myself , 'Experimental Methods' is a much more up to date
and elaborate book.
I can recommend it to any RF engineering minded ham .

Frank GM0CSZ / KN6WH

My interest was heightened but Experimental Methods cost $50 on the ARRL
web
site! More than the handbook.
A copy of Solid State design went on ebay for $10.50 recently
===========================================
There is no comparison between the 2.
Having both books myself , 'Experimental Methods' is a much more up to date
and elaborate book.
I can recommend it to any RF engineering minded ham .

Frank GM0CSZ / KN6WH