Learning about radios?

[KE0GXN]

I am interested in learning about more radios and how they work. Could any of you guys recommend a good book/reading source?

I have been thinking about getting ARRL's Ham Radio License Manual.

Although, I am not wanting to be a HAM at this stage, I would not mind learning more about it so I figured a beginners HAM manual would be a good starting point....

My main objective at this stage though would be to gain knowledge on how radio and radio signals operate, including related equipment, such as different antennas, coax, etc...

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

 

[K7MEM]

IMHO, there are two book I can highly recommend. The ARRL Handbook and the ARRL Antenna Book. The ARRL Handbook includes a lot of information on antennas but the ARRL Antenna Book goes into greater detail.

If you buy them brand new, together they will set you back $100 ! However, I see older copies for sale at every ham fest that I go to for about $5 - $10 each. Very little changed in these books, from year to year, so a copy that is 10-15 years will provide you with what you are seeking. You might even try ebay or amazon.

At one ham fest I picked up a two volume service manual for my Jeep for $15. The original owner had purchased the wrong manuals and just wanted to get rid of them. The original cost for the manuals was $155.

The ARRL Handbook has an entire chapter dedicated to basic components, receivers, transmitters, antenna, test equipment, etc.. Lots of good reading.

Of course, I would recommend getting the ARRL's Ham Radio License Manual and getting your license, but that is your choice. Without a license you can't easily explore all the information from the other manuals.

Martin - K7MEM

 

[KE0GXN]

I will definitely check out the handbooks you mentioned.

Thanks!

 

[GrumpyGuard]

Check with your local library, as they may have a recent copy of the ARRL Handbook as well as the ARRL Antenna Book. Check them out and see if they meet your needs, before you buy them.

 

[KE0GXN]

Yeah, I didn't think about my local library. That would be the most inexpensive way to try first. Just reading the preview on Amazon, the ARRL Handbook seems to be exactly what I am looking for though.

Thanks for the advice, we will be heading over the library sometime this week.

 

[TLF82]

You could also get to know a local ham and have them help/show you what you are wanting to know.
If you like me I learn more by being hands on rather than just reading.

 

[KE0GXN]

Yep, already identified a local HAM contact from a local newspaper article this year, in which he was informing folks of a technician license class he was offering to interested individuals.

Will be contacting him when I am ready, to see when the next class may be. Been lurking in you guy's forum a lot lately trying to see if it would be something I would enjoy doing.

Right now, I just want to learn about basic radio communications as I do find it interesting how radios work, etc.

 

[WA8ZTZ]

Try to find U.S.Navy Rate Training Manual "Basic Electronics" Volumes 1&2 Navpers 10087-C.

Also check out the library and used book stores for any old Sams or Audel books on radio, TV, electronics.

 

[KE0GXN]

Well guys its a no go on ARRL books at my local library. Only thing they had of interest (radio specific) was Gordon West's Techician Class FCC Element 2 Amateur Radio License Preparation book. Has a CD "On The Air" with Gordon West included with it....I went ahead and borrowed it. Its brand new and seems like I am the first one to ever check it out...its the eighth edition, copyrighted in 2014.

I figure at least it help me learn about HAM radio.

 

[blackbelt76]

One of the difficulties you may run into is this;

Radio communications can be taught and learned on several levels.

One can get by with the bare essentials or delve deeper into fourier transforms in studying AC circuit theory.

A question you should ask yourself is what do I know now and what do I WANT to learn?

Personally, I would tell you to start with basic AC-DC theory and then move forward to simple circuits, amplification of DC to RF modulation etc etc...

W/o a basic understanding of AC-DC, one will find material down the road difficult to comprehend.

With the internet as it is, I see no reason to purchase books when starting out as there is a plethora of FREE info easily accessible to anyone with a internet connection.

As a simple example:
http://www.virhistory.com/navy/manuals/ctts4/ctts4-03.pdf

The ARRL Handbooks while excellent, are geared to hams that leave many gaps in understanding radio theory.

 

[PrimeNumber]

For an easy overview of the topic, check out "Ham Radio for Dummies." Helped me out immensely in getting started.

 

[KE0GXN]

One of the difficulties you may run into is this;

Radio communications can be taught and learned on several levels.

One can get by with the bare essentials or delve deeper into fourier transforms in studying AC circuit theory.

A question you should ask yourself is what do I know now and what do I WANT to learn?

Personally, I would tell you to start with basic AC-DC theory and then move forward to simple circuits, amplification of DC to RF modulation etc etc...

W/o a basic understanding of AC-DC, one will find material down the road difficult to comprehend.

With the internet as it is, I see no reason to purchase books when starting out as there is a plethora of FREE info easily accessible to anyone with a internet connection.

As a simple example:
http://www.virhistory.com/navy/manuals/ctts4/ctts4-03.pdf

The ARRL Handbooks while excellent, are geared to hams that leave many gaps in understanding radio theory.

I have been "googling" the heck out of the Internet, but aside from short concise reading material, I hate reading from computer screens. I have to have physical printed material in front of my eyes in order to be able to totally digest/learn information. Which leads me to have to print everything and quite frankly some of the material I found can number in the hundreds of pages....and ink is expensive these days.

The link you posted is spot on with what I want to learn about though and is short enough that I will be printing it. Thanks for posting!

Unfortunately, books and or printed documents is how I best digest and comprehend knowledge based materials, it has to be on paper and in black and white. Hence the reason for me asking about books.

Kind of sucks for me, but it is what is.....

 

[KE0GXN]

For an easy overview of the topic, check out "Ham Radio for Dummies." Helped me out immensely in getting started.

I saw that on Amazon when I was researching the ARRL books..this book I am reading now though seems pretty good, I like how Gordon explains things and the book seems geared to maximizing success in passing the exam.

I am up to chapter 4 of the book which delves into the 426 pool questions....finding it to be very interesting so far, starting to wonder about just taking the first available Technician exam once I am done with the book....what would I have to lose?

I can think of no better time to do it then right after reading and studying this book, while the material is still fresh in my mind.

 

[Blindguy]

Lots of good books, including all of those mentioned above at http://bookshare.org but hands on experience is worth a million words.

 

[AC2OY]

I saw that on Amazon when I was researching the ARRL books..this book I am reading now though seems pretty good, I like how Gordon explains things and the book seems geared to maximizing success in passing the exam.

I am up to chapter 4 of the book which delves into the 426 pool questions....finding it to be very interesting so far, starting to wonder about just taking the first available Technician exam once I am done with the book....what would I have to lose?

I can think of no better time to do it then right after reading and studying this book, while the material is still fresh in my mind.

You my friend now have the itch!!!!!😀 You have nothing to loose only much to gain!!! Good luck I hope you pass and get your first ticket! The more the merrier. Find a local radio club you will find people there who will teach you so much about radio. One of the best moves I ever made was joining my radio club and actually participating in events like Field Day...that's where the elmering(teaching) truely begins.😀

 

[N0IU]

For an easy overview of the topic, check out "Ham Radio for Dummies." Helped me out immensely in getting started.

This!

While I have several copies of the ARRL Handbook, I agree that something like "Ham Radio for Dummies" is a much better starting place, especially for someone with little or no technical background. The Handbooks are very thorough and VERY detailed but IMHO, waaaaaaay over the heads of most beginners.

I know this may be an unpopular answer, but I also agree that your objective should be to pass the test and get on the air. You don't need to be an electrical engineer to pass the test and no one expects you to be!

There are several good study guides out there and the only word of caution about these study guides is to make sure you get one that says something like, "...for use through June 30, 2018." The test pools change every 4 years and you want to be sure to get one that covers the current test pool.

Good luck!

 

[kennyloatman]

I was in your exact place about 8 years ago. I went out and bought the thick ARRL handbook and most of it was over my head. I then brought the technician and general class license manuals and had much better results learning from them. After I learned the material I figured , What the heck I might as well take the test. I have a General class license now but I am still a scanner listener at heart. The knowledge learned was well worth it.

 

[BrotherStare]

The Beginner's Handbook of Amateur Radio is a excellent, comprehensive book. plus it's free and at 2.69mb you can download it even on dialup

http://www.qsl.net/sp9hzx/img/The Beginner's Handbook of Amateur Radio.pdf

 

[jk77]

I've always been interested in radio and in the physics of radio. A good book for someone who is interested in AM radio but not necessarily interested specifically in ham radio (but it's good for hams too) is THE SCIENCE OF RADIO by Paul J. Nahin. It's somewhat mathematical in places, but it teaches you the math you need in the appendix.

 

[KE0GXN]

I am starting to get into the T2 section of the pool questions and things are starting to get a little over my head.....going to take some of you guy's advice and try to a procure a copy of "Ham Radio for Dummies" as well now.

Still going to go ahead and finish out Gordons' book though, since it is all I got right now.

Kenny, same here, I'll probably be a scanner listener at heart as well.

Brother, I found that book a couple of days ago, but its 529 pages long, otherwise I would have printed out already. I got it saved to my PC as a PDF, so I will try and refer to it from time to time.

jk77, unfortunately math is not my strongest subject, but I 'll take a look at it.

Thanks for the feedback guys! Now back to reading for me