Customer Reviews

Radio Handbook, Twenty Third Edition

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The late Bill Orr, W6SAI, was a legend to many of us old timer hams. His books were always practical and helpful. Radio Handbook is no exception. This is a reprint of an older edition of Radio Handbook so its technology looks like 80's vintage. (Get the ARRL Handbook for recent stuff.) This book's strength is tube-type linear amplifiers. That's why I bought it and I'm happy with it. Very practical help and ideas. His general radio theory sections are quite clear as well. For other circuits and devices, I found the material rather dated. But for amps, it's my book!

I've owned 3 of these "Radio Handbook's." I consider the 23rd edition to be as good and as essential to the library of the active and advanced, technically minded, radio amateur, as previous editions. If i could only have 2 books in my library, this would be one of them.

But they are not mutually exclusive. Every ham needs this book. Especially if you ever want to build (or dream) a "real" RF amplifier. Buy this book before they go out of print

This book is a must have for any library. If you are interested in homebrewing then you need this book. Its filled with lots of schematics and details.

I own several hard cover texts of Bill Orr. He documented and wrote many fine articles for QST, CQ Magzine, and 73, over the years. Bill had a way of going into depth when explaining technical concepts and construction methodology that many have found refreshing and enlightening.

Being "construction minded," I often repair older radio equipment or tackle a "scratch build" project and use Bill's handbooks as references. Over the years I have acquired several of his hard bound publications. This one, in particular, I needed for tube specifications I could not find elsewhere for a tube amplifier project.

While the 22nd and 23rd edition are very similar in content, if one wanted to own just a single copy, the 23rd should be the one of choice.

...PrimeParts.net says they still have a few in stock; I just ordered one earlier today. Web link: http://www.primeparts.net/Books/books.shtml

Update: The book arrived and I've been perusing the contents. It's an absolutely beautiful book -- the pictures are crisp and clear. The technical content is quite good, although I would caution that the technical details are closer to what you find in something like the ARRL Handbook or perhaps Experimental Methods in RF Design than, say, Bowick's or Hayward's RF Design (text) books.

It is true that some of the content is dated: most of the amplifiers are tube-based and while some designs are perfectly workable as presented, today there are much more straightforward approaches using, e.g., microcontrollers and a bit of analog 'glue.' (Particularly amusing: He catalogs the 'typical home computer' as having 64KB. :-) ) Still, there's a lot that can be learned from a classic book such as this, and even if the implementations have changed over time, the fundamentals are timeless; people who downgrade books such as this for being 'obsolete' are typically those who are only seeking a cursory understanding of the subject matter.

One of the very greats of Radio literature ..... Sadly the AUTHOR now no longer with us. These books now priceless.

If you missed out on the technology prior to 1970s because you were born after that, this book really helps you catch up.

There are quite a no. of errors in the formula and schematics, by and large can be ignored if you are looking for a general understanding on the subject and not an indepth product design / engineering knowledge.

Especially, the High Power RF amplifier design & construction and the Antenna chapters are very interesting and useful, I consider these are truely Bill Orr's home turf.

I have almost all the editions of this book and I find the last edition to be a real good value for money compared to most of the ARRL Handbooks
published after 1994.

I have with me, a huge collection of Technical Books on the topics of Wireless and Radio Communications on both professional as well as Amateur Radio Fronts. On the Ham Radio side, I found the ARRL and RSGB books especially the Handbooks have been retaining the same old contents with the cover page modified every year. I realized,I was wasting my precious money and efforts buying these year after year, till I started buying the Radio Handbooks written by Bill Orr. Though most of the stuff in Bill's Handbook seem a bit out dated from the Professional point of view, for most of the Hobbyists and Hams who do not care about the state of the art, or for beginers and budding engineers who want to get their basics right, I must say it is really the best. In every edition, I find the construction projects and the Antenna projects not only comprehensive but also exciting to read and build. Lastly, having worked with Eimac for so long, Bill's command over the subject is well demonstrated in the chapters pertaining to Vacuum Tube basics and High Power Tube Amplifier Construction.

The author gives too much emphasis in the power amplification, with very good circuits, but it is very shallow in the modulation/detection part.