Amateur Radio Related Books & Magazine Resources

Index:  SMU Radio Club | SMU Library | Dallas Public Library | Notes: | Books ordered by Topics

SMU Amateur Radio Club Library










Books on Extended Loan from Robert Monaghan (W5VC) - New for Summer 2004

SMU Library Resources:



  • Recommended New Book

    Arthur Collins, Radio Wizard by Ben W. Stearns. (2002 AD) SMU's Fondren Library
    [See Contents and Visit Collins Radio Club History Archives for more...]


    Exerpt from Arthur Collins, Radio Wizard by Ben Stearns
    "We derive a lot of pleasure from our work, mainly because we are dyed-in-the-wool hams ourselves! And there is great satisfaction in receiving countless letters from users in all parts of the earth telling us they never knew what real hamming was until they installed Collins equipment. Such response gives us a genuine thrill and we feel amply compensated for the labor put forth in developing Collins equipment to it's present and high state of efficiency and dependability"


    Dallas Public Library


    Notes:

    1927-2002 - 75 Years of QST & Amateur Radio at SMU

    The SMU Fondren and Science Library collections have some holdings which will be of particular interest to members of the QCWA (Quarter Century Wireless Assoc.), such as club trustee Luther Pully and others. These resources include issues of QST dating back to 1927 to 1982. After 1982, the club's own set of donated QST magazines has many holdings through to the present. This SMU Library holding of QST from 1927 is also very interesting in that it helps to date the origins of the SMU amateur radio club to 1927. We presume that first you had to have a radio club, then they would lobby the library to get the magazine ordered. So this evidence suggests the club origins go back to 1927 (perhaps even before that), suggesting 2002-3 is our 75th year!

    One of our lucky coincidences is that the SMU campus library stopped subscribing to QST magazine in 1982, which is about when we start to have issues of QST in our club library. We have about six feet of QST magazine, including some duplicates but also missing some issues, running from the 1982 time frame through 2003 (current).

    We were recently able to pull the equipment reviews for all our station equipment from QST magazine from our club library. This example illustrates how handy such holdings are for amateur radio research, including possible equipment purchases by individual members. But we also have the many technical and operating articles published in QST available too. So this is a major resource we would like to complete (i.e., missing issues) and maintain in the future. For this reason, we are going to be requesting Student Senate funding for these ARRL related resources in future budgets.


    So we can get access to ARRL handbooks from 1936 on through the current edition in the SMU library and Dallas Public Library. Still, I have to admit that I admire the Lockheed Martin Ft. Worth Club Station's library, with its huge year by year collection of ARRL handbooks and other publications and resources.

    Construction and Projects Books

    We are accumulating various electronics experimenters and project and antenna construction books which have circuits and ideas for projects. Ham Notebook Volume 1 (Ham Radio Magazine) and the RSGB Technical Topics Scrapbook (1985-89) are examples of the kinds of construction oriented books we want to continue to acquire.

    It can be a lot of fun and very enlightening to review the past issues of Radio-Electronics, the often quirky guide to electronics from the 1950s and 1970s. Lots of deja-vu on the future of Television, and FM, and projects you can construct or build. For a similarly quirky and opinionated view of amateur radio, check out Wayne Green's 73 Magazine holdings in the Dallas Public Library. Lots of good construction projects here too. The Master handbook of ham radio circuits by 73 Magazine staff (also at Dallas Public Library) compiles a number of articles and circuits in one place, though many of the projects are now dated (e.g., modifying surplus rigs).

    Anyone interested in construction projects and modern theory will also find Electronics and Wireless World very interesting, with projects ranging from test equipment and audio to computers and transmitters. The closest USA publication is probably EDN, which includes a set of simple circuits and projects along with great columns by noted analog specialist Pease Porridge.

    While we have a few years of CQ-VHF and Ham Radio magazine from the late 1980s, we would like to eventually get more of these publications, along with 73 magazine holdings in depth. Many useful construction projects, from the most basic antennas to the most complicated digital television transmitter, are to be found in these publications. Again, sets of these magazines on paper are hard to find, and expensive and clumsy to access if on microfilm. So we would be happy to take any donations of such magazines!

    Why It Is Hard Maintaining an Up-to-Date Club Library

    The SMU Amateur Radio Club, as an ARRL affiliated club, purchased a set of ARRL publications in a discounted package in 2001, using funds from equipment sales and some SMU senate matching funding. We purchased a similar package back in the 1992 time frame, with the intention for Rick Albury and Robert Monaghan to teach some ham licensing courses. But these club package buys only provide a modest core of ham radio publications. With the rapid changes in technology and amateur radio licensing exams, we simply can't wait ten years between updates to our club library!

    Similarly, a number of our instructional and licensing publications are dated, due to on-going updates and changes in the various amateur radio exams. Some exams have changed three or four times since the ten year old licensing manuals we used to have available - at least, before buying the latest series for our current licensing class programs. So we have a frequent need to buy new study and instructional resources for training classes and individual training. Everytime the exams change (every few years), we need new training guides and resources that match the new and updated exams and question pools.

    There are over fifty ARRL publications (and 17 Royal Society of Great Britain RSGB amateur radio publications) which we don't have in our club library. We hope to get on-going student senate funding for adding new titles to support proper use of our licensed radio station and our instructional and licensing classes.

    The Dallas Public Library has only a few dozen titles dealing with amateur radio in all its branches, and many of these books are outdated books from the 1960s and 1970s (see listings above). SMU's library has only a few related books too, other than the ARRL handbooks.

    With only a hundred+ books, SMU's amateur radio club library has more current amateur radio book titles than the local Dallas Public Library and SMU campus libraries combined. The Dallas Public Library has dropped most electronics magazine subscriptions, while purchasing few books other than the ARRL handbook since the mid-1980s. The SMU University Libraries dropped QST magazine in 1982. Nor have the SMU libraries purchased an ARRL handbook since 1963! This highlights the need and importance of building our amateur radio club library in enough depth to fill these needs and demands. We simply can't rely on our local campus or public library to supply needed technical and training books and resources.

    Donating Needed Books

    Got some publications you want to make a tax deductible donation to the club???

    Our biggest need is for introductory books that new hams and those studying for their licenses can use to get started. Unfortunately, we only have a single copy of such books as "Understanding Amateur Radio" and "Now You're Talking", and they tend to stay out on loan. Books on operating an amateur radio station and ARRL Antenna Handbooks and the like would be useful as well.

    We would also be happy to fill holes in our holdings, or expand resources on construction and new areas of technology such as packet radio and satellite operations. These book resources get retained for decades, so your donation(s) will be making an impact for many years to come!

    Simply EMAIL us for more information. Thanks very much!