A reader writes
I’m a Technician Class licensee, though I haven’t been on the air for years. What I’m looking for is instructional materials for basic electronics, radio operation, etc… I’m not an engineer, not a math whiz, and whenever I read QST, I think that I must not be too bright either :)
I’ve tried the Dummies books and other how-tos about electronics, but they all seem to assume that the reader already has some knowledge of electronics. So, after swallowing my pride I guess I settled on searching for resources that would be suitable for young kids. Would you have any suggestions (other than maybe I should just grow Chia Pets as a hobby).
I replied:
You don’t have to be an engineer to enjoy amateur radio. It’s just a hobby after all, but like any pursuit, getting started can be difficult. Actually, you’ve hit on something, I think. There aren’t really any good training materials for adults taking up the hobby. And, on top of that, many people learn better in a class setting, not by just reading books.
You don’t say what books you’ve already purchased, but one book that you might want to take a look at is The Manga Guide to Electricity. It’s not a text book, per se, but uses a story to teach about electrical and electronic principles. It’s written for kids, but even so, you probably will get something out of it.
Another book I’d recommend is Elements of Radio. It’s a book that was written to teach high-school level classes back in the 50s and 60s. It’s long been out of print, but I see that you can buy a used copy on Amazon. This is a book my father used when he was in high school.
Another thing that you might do is to get one of those kits that come with parts that you snap together to make circuits. Don’t just put the circuits together, though. In addition, get a digital multimeter (DMM), if you don’t already have one, and measure voltages and currents once you put a circuit together.
Do any of you have recommendations for this fellow? Please add them below, so that we can get this guy into the hobby.
RickB KA8BMA says
What about David Casler’s series on YouTube?
Walter Underwood says
Elements of Radio is available at the Internet Archive.
https://archive.org/details/elementsofradio00marc
Walter Underwood says
Well, “available” might be overstating things. I couldn’t download a useable copy.
But I can also recommend the Radio merit badge book from the Boy Scouts. It is a nice start and only $5.
https://www.scoutstuff.org/bsa/literature-media/merit-badge-pamphelts/radio.html
K6WRU
Dan KB6NU says
Thanks for the link, Walt! What you have to do to download the book is to set up an account on archive.org and log in first.
Walter Underwood says
I figured it out. I can borrow it for 14 days in the Adobe reader.
Also, here are some copies on AbeBooks.
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=marcus%20abraham&tn=elements%20radio&cm_sp=mbc-_-ats-_-all
K6WRU
Pete Babacheck says
My library can get it on inter-loan. Another option.
Bill - N3JIX says
Not electronics, per say, but I do recommend Peter Parker’s VK3YE books:
99 things you can do with Amateur Radio
http://home.alphalink.com.au/~parkerp/99things.htm
and
Getting back into Amateur Radio
http://home.alphalink.com.au/~parkerp/gettingback.htm
I typically advise these for newer people who want to read a good book.
Nate says
The best way to learn is by building kits. I went to school for electronics but only got limited exposure to radios and RF. Most of what I learned was from building simple kits like the Rockmite to the K2.
Another good resource is a free book written by K0IYE called crystal sets to sideband.
David says
I use a combo of “Understanding Basic Electronics” from the ARRL and the ARRL handbooks to help me along. I am no EE and tend to call myself a hack more than anything.
I would also suggest some basic kits like a PCO (code oscillator) or other simple kits to get started. If he learns by doing like I do it will be a great help to starting down the path.
I went from building small kits to working on radios and amps in a few years. It takes time to learn it on your own, all I would say is one step at a time and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
Bob K0NR says
Chia Pets are ruining amateur radio.
Jeff, KE9V says
Yes, they are. But what on earth does electronics have to do with amateur radio?
Dave, N8SBE says
I always thought the ARRL Hands On Radio series was a great basic set of lessons in electronics. Each lesson asks you to build something, measure it, and come to some conclusions. The series was a monthly column done by H. Ward Silver, N0AX, for many years.
Ward just completed the last installment #179 for the December 2017 issue of QST.
ARRL put out two printed volumes which together cover 121 experiments. Maybe they will release a third volume with experiments through #179, now. The nice thing about the printed volumes are that the order of the experiments in the table of contents are re-arranged roughly in increasing difficulty, and grouped by topic. Also, each volume has a complete parts list at the end, for one-stop shopping for all the experiments.
All the Hands On Radio columns are found in the QST issue archive, available online to ARRL members, and all of the columns are gathered together for ARRL members at:
http://www.arrl.org/hands-on-radio (login required)
The Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 table of contents are downloadable there as well, which will give you the ‘grouped-by-topic’ progressive listing of the experiments. The “HOR Resources” tab includes a parts list spreadsheet updated through #179, as well as entries marked to correspond to the two printed volumes.
There was even a kit of all the parts needed for Vol. 1 and 2 from Kanga US, but it is now sold out:
http://www.kangaus.com/content/hands-radio-parts-kit
I have an early kit from Kanga US, which covered up through experiment #55.
The Kanga US web site description of the parts kit now indicates that it covered both volumes. Bill had mentioned that if there was enough interest, he might do one more run of parts kits, but it doesn’t look like he got a lot of takers at the time. Since then, Bill has announced that he is going out of business, due to lingering issues from his recent stroke.
ARRL has the Kanga US parts kit in their online shop:
https://www.arrl.org/shop/Hands-On-Radio-Parts-Kit
Don’t know if they have any left, but it appears they might. Kanga US was selling them direct for $75, but ARRL wants $99.95. That might be why they might have some left in
ARRL stock.
Dave, N8SBE says
I also thought that the web site All About Circuits was done well, and included lots of basic textbook lessons on electrical and electronic topics:
http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/
Dave, N8SBE says
Sorry, meant to post a link direct to the textbooks:
https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/
Bob, KG6AF says
You might want to take a look at the Navy Electricity and Electronics Series, which seems to be aimed at those who have no background in either:
http://www.hnsa.org/resources/manuals-documents/2575-2/
But going it alone can be rough. You might also want to find a mentor, someone who can answer the inevitable questions you’ll have.