"Ham Radio for Dummies" - Released!

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (KL7FZ @ April 13 2004,14:59)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Not long ago, some of the locals here discussed doing that very same publication.
Good job, and it's is great to see someone took the initiative to get it done.

Now... about the sequel.
"Ham Radio for Bubbas"

 But all this does beg the question..."Do we really need more Dummies in Amateur Radio?"

 I thought that was the purpose of the new licensing proposals.  

  I hope it has real large easy to read print, 3rd grade reading level language, colorful illustrations with little animals, and neat popups between the pages.

 And all this time I thought Amateurs Handbook was ham radio for dummies. Silly me.  

 Whoops! I forgot about "Now You're Talking". Wasn't that for dummies also?

  Anyhow, I am glad some one is going to make something off the idea. Get the profit now, reinvest, and then you can go on to something that will have some technical merit after Amateur Radio has degenerated into dummydom.

Maybe that should be the name for the new entry level license class "Dummy".

 Watch for my new publication "Tying Shoelaces for Dummies"  

 KL7FZ[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Or how about "Upgrading For the Unmotivated"...the pages are all blank!

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (KG4ZQZ @ April 13 2004,18:08)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">- hmm... now if all the good reference info is in one book the ARRL might get a run for its money?[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Heck, I'll settle for band plans with calling frequencies in a useful spot in the book so I don't have to dig for them. I notice ARRL puts a schematic symbols reference in their book where ISTM that the bandplan/frequency chart should be.

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (K3ESE @ April 15 2004,11:53)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">These books are nothing more or less than clearly written, user-friendly guides to beginners at anything. Nothing "dumb" about them at all.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Actually, they are more; they make excellent training materials. When I was a Macintosh clone phone tech, I often found that the best way to communicate a solution to a user was to grab the 'MacOS for Dummies,' 'Complete Idiot's Guide to MacOS' or 'Macintosh Computers for Dummies' book and quote it.


Of course, a lot of users already had one or more of those books, so I could just give them a page number and finish the call right then with a happy customer.

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (KL7FZ @ April 13 2004,14:59)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Maybe that should be the name for the new entry level license class "Dummy".

 Watch for my new publication "Tying Shoelaces for Dummies"  

 KL7FZ[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
With the inability to use the radio until after we pass the test , this is a great idea. Some are good at code but not packet. some are great on the repeaters during weathernets but don't do code. some of us would like to learn the basics of atv. However for you they need to write abook on the subject of having your errogant ass removed for dummies LOL! why don't you go back to the Alpha Tango group on 11 meters where you fit in better .

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (n0ax @ April 15 2004,22:50)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Just to set the record straight, I am not a salaried employee of the ARRL.  If I am an ARRL "insider", it is because I chose to show up and contribute items of value and participate in the organization's activities.  Anyone can be an "insider" by doing just that.  If one chooses to view that as somehow wrong, then I think it reflects more on the holder of the view than on those who volunteer or the organization.

Anyone that wants to make ham radio better has no shortage of opportunities to make the effort.  In fact, the very forum in which our views are exchanged is made possible by individuals that are making a conscious decision to forego more financially-rewarding activities in favor of maintaining QRZ.com.  One can choose to take advantage of those opportunities by contributing signal or by raising the noise level.  It's easy to tell the difference and I'm confident that I've made the right decision.

73, Ward N0AX[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
And in this case, Ward, you chose to make them better outside of the ARRL process.  Good for you!  IMHO, the League does some important work, but all good things in amateur radio do NOT come from Newington, CT. This very forum is yet another example

In this case, you have done something that ARRL could not do directly -- got a book into the great mass marketing program that the "For Dummies" publications represent. In this case, ARRL is playing its role well by giving that accomplishment publicity and adding the title to its catalog.

Thanks, Ward, as always, you done good!

73,
Ed Hare, W1RFI

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (KB9VSB @ April 22 2004,23:51)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (KL7FZ @ April 13 2004,14:59)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Maybe that should be the name for the new entry level license class "Dummy".

 Watch for my new publication "Tying Shoelaces for Dummies"  

 KL7FZ[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
With the inability to use the radio until after we pass the test , this is a great idea. Some are good at code but not packet. some are great on the repeaters during weathernets but don't do code. some of us would like to learn the basics of atv. However for you they need to write abook on the subject of having your errogant ass removed for dummies LOL! why don't you go back to the Alpha Tango group on 11 meters where you fit in better .[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Well, if you are calling me arrogant, (arrogant is spelled with an "A") you are mistaken. Nor have I ever operated on 11 meters, or started in radio there. I have been licensed for 40 years as an amateur. Started building radios and listening to my dad's ham station from a much earlier age.
My attitude about the state of amateur radio comes from nearly a half century of experience and observation.
I keep hearing some justifying the lessening of requirements for an amateur operator as a product of the changing times/technology.
But the last I checked, they had not changed the laws of physics and basic electronic theory due to new technology.
And it is quite apparent that the average new amateur of today knows less electronics and radio than his predecessors. And learns less after licensing.
 So there you go. It is only my humble opinion based on 50 years of contact/involvement with ham radio.
 BTW: So why don't you inform us of the "Alpha Tango" group? I have never heard of them and am not familiar with what goes on there. Sounds like you know all about them. Maybe you have some experience there?


 So please help out this poor commerical radio tech, former metrologist (not meteorologist&#33, and long time ham with the path to radio salvation. Help me to understand why in the past, being called a dummy was a derogatory, and now it appears to be a term accepted by so many with such ease.
 Thanks so much for your input. Over.....

 bee..booop......

 KL7FZ

 

Speaking from the position of an "outsider" here, I must say that I am very suprised and a little discouraged at the attitude some of you seem to have regarding new Hams and their abilitys or lack there of. I have been studying for my Technicians class license, and plan on taking the test this Saturday.

After reading some of the replies, or should I say "flames" to the original posters message, it is quite an eye opener to see the attitude which some of you have towards new Hams, and your opinions regarding what you believe their intelligence level and technical abilities should or shouldn't be.

You know, I was rather exited to see the title "Ham Radio for Dummies", because quite honestly, I have no idea where to start after (hopefully) passing my Technicians exam and thought this might be the right book for me. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to old fashioned hard work and research, I'm just looking for something to point me in the right direction and say "Hey, this is where you should start".

I am by no means a "dummy" and am a very accomplished network administrator and pretty good with electronics in general....I just don't have much understanding of this particular technology. What is so wrong with one more helpful resource being available to me?

Some of you need to step off your high horse, plain and simple. Everyone has to start somewhere....lay off.

I'll be doing my best to memorize a few call signs I've seen posted in this thread, because with the attitude some of you have, I'll make it a point never to converse with you over the airwaves when I get my license.

Newbie out. Flame on.

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (KD7WHQ @ April 13 2004,16:11)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">It's a marketing title, and that's all guys.. C'mon.

If it is a real resource, as are other in the series, for people that don't know, fine in my book.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
I wonder how many of these naysayers remember that the first "for dummies" book to diverge from computer geek subjects was written by Dr. Ruth Westheimer?

 

8--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (jmc80 @ April 28 2004,088)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I'll be doing my best to memorize a few call signs I've seen posted in this thread, because with the attitude some of you have, I'll make it a point never to converse with you over the airwaves when I get my license.

Newbie out. Flame on.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Well, if you are truly of the new age and high tech generation you won't have to memorize all those callsigns.... you just enter them into your PDA. And while you are at it, why don't you throw a few CW characters in it as well? Ah heck, why not the whole question pool? Remember, you don't need the book for dummies, they already gave you all the test questions AND ANSWERS! Now that is truly for dummies. When quite a few people, having been given the answers, still can't pass the test! DOH!

 

KL7FZ, I wish that you would work on the blank QSLs that we sent to you in order to confirm our Six Meter QSO instead of wasting your time here.  You might want to send a card to W4UDH as well who has sent you multiple QSLs and SASE.  All of the commentaries that you posted could have better served by filling out the QSLs that you owe.

 

Read the book...

Good for a beginner that is interested in getting started...

not for reference at all....

 

Hello, folks- This is my first post on the QRZ boards. The ink is barely dry on my ticket- I just got my callsign on Friday! (KE5BGS)

I was very surprised that there hadn't been a 'Dummies' book for Amateur Radio enthusiasts published yet- but the timing couldn't be better for a newbie like me. I came into the hobby 'sideways'- I am a USAF veteran and former wideband tech- so the electronics on the tech test was a snooze for me. It wasn't difficult to learn the FCC rules stuff- and most of it was common sense (for a former HF operator like me) so passing the test was easy.

Now comes the tough part- assimilating the culture, and trying to be a well-mannered newcomer to the hobby. Reading the various websites and boards has been helpful, but it's hard to curl up on the couch with the Internet. (I'm working on it, but a DLP HDTV is a ways down the list...)

I do not yet have any radio gear yet (my wind-up Grundig shortwave really doesn't count, does it?), but I made my first hobby purchase today: that Dummies book, which, by the way, was the last copy at the local BAM bookstore.

As a PC Support tech, I have several dozen of the Dummies books for my profession, plus several more for my other hobbies- sewing, my microscopic business, my desktop publishing and website building hobbies. Every one of them has been quite useful. Sure, they might look rather garish on the bookshelves next to my O'Reilly manuals and even more garish site design books, but it's the contents that count!

Heck- the book is worth the 'cheat sheet' of frequency references and emergency channels and offsets alone! I'm going to laminate that thing and peg it to the wall in my future 'shack'.

My only gripe about the book (so far) is that it didn't include a CD to learn Morse Code, which I want to do. I think that it should be preserved as an artform, as well as an excellent communications tool that gets through almost any noise. (Any suggestions for training tools? I no longer own a cassette deck, so it needs to be on CD&#33

But since I am such a wet-inked newbie, I'll be happy to serve as the measuring stick and reviewer for this book. Fair 'nuff?

Lorie (AKA "Sunfell" everywhere else)
KE5BGS

 

Send a copy to all people who say ( Call sign ) for ID etc.

 

DARN! THAT'S IT!!!!!!!
 "Morse Code for Dummies"!!!

Or maybe.... a new speak and spell type toy by Fisher-Price.   "A"  Dit-Dah.   "A" is for Apple. Dit-Dah. Can you say "Dit-Dah?". See Dick jump up for the Aaaaapple. Dit-Dah.
 Kindergarten level code.

 For the new amateur radio entry-level license.

 Wonder if I can get it to the publishers/manufacturers before someone else?

KL7FZ

 

Some of you might want to read another of Ward's writtings. I'm sure the some of the people posting here prompted him to write GOTW

73 DE N6DHZ