Radio Handbook Collection

[w5hro]

See video below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6BnBXKiY8c

[W9GT]

I agree completely that these handbooks are a treasure trove of information!  I have a complete set, including the hard -to-find 1st 1935 edition, which is a paper-back.  Also, The early Frank Jones pamphlets from the 30's are really good info sources.

73,  Jack, W9GT

[W3RSW]

Bill Orr is shown as Editor in my 15th edition.
Neat manual.

"The Standard of the Field -
       for advanced amateurs
       practical radiomen
       practical engineers
       practical technicians"

[w1vtp]

Yup

A great resource.  I have one year that was bigger in size length and height.  Just one year.  It is LOADED.  I'll have to get a list of my collection.  There is invaluable information in those books

Al

[KM1H]

I also have most of them including the first and reference them much more than the ARRL HB.  Orr took over for the 14th Edition.

Carl
KM1H

[Opcom]

The oldest one I have is the 7th edition. Have them thru maybe 16th, so that covers AM pretty much except the very earliest designs. I would like to read the older ones. Maybe some day they will be scanned in as the paper gets bad enough and those who have them must do it. The 11th BTW is also a must-have as it is a special larger format and has info not covered in the 10th or 12th.

[Ralph W3GL]

Please....  Bills call was W6SAI  !!!  

I have the 2nd, 1936 edition (Pacific Radio Publishing Co., Pacific Building, San Francisco),...

My 11th edition is getting to be in poor condition, most of the pages have turned brown
and are getting brittle... This is the odd one that's 8.75" X 11.5" published in 1947.

[W1RKW]

I have a 14th edition.  One of the previous owners signed it as: A. Prose Walker, W4CXA.  Wondering if anyone is familiar with that call sign?

[k4kyv]

When he was with the FCC, he was reportedly adamantly opposed to AM and wanted to outlaw it from the ham bands.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

I have a 14th edition.  One of the previous owners signed it as: A. Prose Walker, W4CXA.  Wondering if anyone is familiar with that call sign?

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2002/09/26/4/?nc=1

[KB2WIG]

 "I did not know that. Kinda makes you want to burn the books, but they are too good and useful. "


I dunno... Consider the books as trophies... AM is still here, and your using the books.


klc

[Opcom]

Scanning a 1000 page book is not too bad - I have a $300 xerox brand scanner with a 50-sheet feeder. Beware the included software application is English and very funky and bass ackwards. Visioneer brand. Avoid Visioneer products like the plague - never again! But it will do 50 sheets, then you flip them, and does the backsides, and it does not take too long, maybe an evening, to do a large book. Saves to various enumerated images or to a big PDF.

I do not have a giullotene. That is a cutter to remove the spine from the book in one cut. I have to break the binding apart and then cut each little stack of pages with a paper cutter.

I would scan that 11th edition if it is disintegrating. Pete Millett would do it - he always is asking for more books to scan and post for free on his website. He has the 7th and 15th editions already. he's a great guy at www.pmillett.com

Flatbed is a totally different story, very labor intensive.

[k4kyv]

If the pages of a book are not totally brittle and turning to dust, after it is disassembled for scanning I'm pretty sure there are commercial binders that can reassemble it. If the individual pages are cut at the spine, there is a binding process that uses some kind of flexible glue to hold the pages together.  Many modern paperbacks are assembled using this process.

Older books that are stitched using thread are divided into folded sections of a few pages each, and these individual "booklets" are then stitched together.  It should be possible to separate the booklet sections from each other, then carefully remove the stitching from each section.  That way,  the pages could be folded and individually scanned on both sides of the paper without further damage.  Then the whole thing could be reassembled and re-stitched by a professional, as good as or better than the original. Professional re-binding would not be cheap, but depending on the book, may be worth the expense. With the proper materials and a little practice it might even be possible to DIY this at home.

One of the great tragedies of the 20th century was the near-universal adoption of low-cost acid paper made from wood pulp for bookmaking.  The stuff self-destructs over time just like old newspapers.  Much of the human knowledge accumulated over the past 100 years is destined to be lost within the next few decades. Despite to-day's scanning technology, this loss will be comparable to the loss that occurred with the destruction of the Alexandria library.

[w1vtp]

<snip>

...One of the great tragedies of the 20th century was the near-universal adoption of low-cost acid paper made from wood pulp for bookmaking.  The stuff self-destructs over time just like old newspapers.  Much of the human knowledge accumulated over the past 100 years is destined to be lost within the next few decades. Despite to-day's scanning technology, this loss will be comparable to the loss that occurred with the destruction of the Alexandria library.

Absolutely agree.  Witness the ARRL handbooks during WW2 and the 1970s.  I have some that are literally falling apart in my hands.  I've stopped using them unless absolutely necessary (well, at least the 40s -- the 70s are mostly devoid of interesting content).

Al

[w1vtp]

<snip>

...With the proper materials and a little practice it might even be possible to DIY this at home. <snip>>

Yes, I have done this.  With the right flexible adhesive the process goes something like this:  first, the cover is carefully removed and set aside.  Next, clean up the binding as carefully as possible.  Then clamp the book between a couple of boards using wax paper between the boards and the book -- leave enough wax paper showing so that the adhesive wont stick to the boards.  This whole assembly is clamped in a vise so that the binding is horizontal so the adhesive wont migrate.  Apply the adhesive using a solder brush to spread it.  The adhesive I used back in the 70s was  black and really perfect for the job.  Those jobs are still holding up perfectly.  Unfortunately, I have lost that old tube of adhesive and cannot remember what it was.  Too bad.  

I am currently using E6000 adhesive  It seems to be holding up.  It's tough and flexible.  While allowing the binding to cure, apply the E6000 to the inside of the cover where it faces the binding allowing that to cure and then attaching it to the binding  using some more E6000.  I've rescued about 4 ARRL handbooks so far.  The California handbooks do not need repair no matter how old they are in my experience but then they are hard covered books

I always hold the old books squeezing next to the binding gently so that the binding wont be compromised when I turn the pages.  It is really asking for it to lay one of these old books flat on a surface while looking at it.

Al

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Don, are you trying to make us all feel guilty? How many books do you have in your library? Are you willing cut off the spine on yours for scanning?

I do see your point though. I wonder how many of us have considered what would happen to our books if and when we die. Would our children or grand children just throw them in the garbage? I guess scanning them would preserve that history for many more years to come electronically.

I still wont take mine apart though. I just can’t do it.

Whenever I replicate a manual, it's always cut up. Whatever binding is used to hold it together (staples, glue, staples and glue, or other types of adhesives  is removed completely, and the entire manual is separated into individual sheets.

When you chop an entire binding off a book, you generally reduce the left (front) margin and the right (back) margin. Likewise, when you "reassemble" the book and binding by whatever method, you generally lose even more of those same two margins.

Only you know the real reason for collecting whatever books you have; when you die, whoever steps in to clean up will have to decide, "keep it", "sell it", "toss it". Even web sites don't last forever, (although the Wayback Machine can bring back some), so when you die, and you want your web site(s) to remain active, some arrangements need to be made to keep them running.

[k4kyv]

I won't disassemble an old book if it is still in good condition, but if it is beginning to fall apart it would be a good candidate for scanning before it becomes unreadable.  I might consider allowing some of my  choice books to be disassembled for scanning if I knew they would be re-bound to better condition than original.  Otherwise, I would prefer to wait until they began to deteriorate, which inevitably will happen in a few years if not already.

If a book is carefully disassembled, there is no reason that the left-hand or right-hand margin of the pages has to be significantly trimmed unless the edges are damaged.

Another great loss is due to people passing on without leaving instructions to how their possessions are to be disposed of. Family members or the people taking care of the estate may not  have a clue of the value of old books or old equipment, and thinking it is junk, throw it away even though it may be of high historical value and could have fetched a substantial sum of money on the market.

A friend of mine died a few years ago.  He worked at a local museum and had repeatedly commented on how much stuff was needlessly destroyed when estates are cleared out and was adamant about  leaving instructions for one's survivors. Yet, when he became ill, he never followed through, and his large telegraph key collection was just barely rescued before being entirely consumed by rust in a damp cellar.  He had acquired a one-of-a-kind photo album of pre-1930 ham stations that originated at ARRL headquarters, probably the original prints of many of the photos of early stations that were published in QST, even though none of the photos had any identifying documentation attached.  After his death, that photo album had disappeared into thin air, and no-one remembered seeing anything resembling it.  Probably thrown in the trash during the chaos and confusion as his house was cleaned out in preparation for disposal of his belongings.

[K5UJ]

I recently went looking for the Orr handbook and went to ABEbooks.com where I picked the oldest one available at the time, the 17th ed. and bought it.  It came in hardcover in great shape.  I feel fortunate to have it.

[N2DTS]

I have the 11th, 14th, and 15th editions, I like the 15th edition best, more modern design stuff in it, but the 14th edition has a hifi section....
Really good rf and power supply info in those books!
 


Brett

[N0WEK]

I've got the Frank Jones Radio Handbooks for 1936 and 1938. great stuff in them.

The 1938 edition has JC Cook W6LFW inside and on the cover; anybody know him? I may have bought it from him on Epay, I just don't remember, he's still in the database.

I've only got the 1975/20th Ed. of Orr's book in hardcover, good too. I think I'll look for some of the older one's too.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Whomever W2JNY was he must have died a very long time ago. His name was Frank Westervelt from Englewood N.J.

The only thing I can find when I search online is a civil war record from 1865

NO FREAKING WAY!

He was born August 20, 1914, if still alive, he would be 95. He was a General class.
His last known street address in Englewood, NJ was 84 Brook Ave. There doesn't seem to be any Westervelt's still living in Englewood, but many in the surrounding towns and in the rest of NJ.

[W7TFO]

Treat that 11th edition with care, as they were mostly printed on high-acid (read cheap) paper and will disintegrate with use.

dg

[w1vtp]

Ok, received the first 11th edition and it is quite different from the other editions.

The pages are pretty yellow and depending on how good the 2nd one I have coming
is this may be the one that I take apart for scanning.

<snip>

I too have a copy of the 11th edition.  At 73, I'm not going to worry too much about the pages aging.  They are doing better than I am -- bet the book will outlive me by a long shot.  I think it's the best of the pre W6SAI editions

Al