An amazing radio history book - FREE!

Robert, WP4PQV, sent us some links to a treasure trove of U.S. Navy electronics publications that have been placed on-line. My initial perusal of the collection took me to History of Communications in the U.S. Navy by Capt. Howeth. Here is one gem from this amazing book:

Emperor Tiberius ruled Rome from the island of Capri for 10 years, around 37 A.D., transmitting his orders by means of the heliograph.³ This indicates that the Romans, at this time, used some form of telegraphic code in the transmission of information.

Here is the link:
http://earlyradiohistory.us/1963hw.htm

The 1946 Navy Manual "Introduction to Radio Equipment" (and links to other books) can be found here:
http://hnsa.org/doc/radio/index.htm

"From Atoms to Amperes" by F.A. Wilson

From Atoms to Amperes by F. A. Wilson
Published in 1989, Bernard Babani Publishing LTD (London, The Grampians, Shepherds Bush Road, London, W6 7NF)

I love this book. Mine is now held together by duct tape and crazy glue. Doug, WB5TKI, reports spotting a copy on sale on Amazon for $50 (go for it!). Here is a question for our British readers: Who is F.A. Wilson? There is almost nothing about him on the web, other than references to this and other similarly brilliant technical books. He was writing in the 1980s and 90s. What a great knack he has for explaining this stuff.
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First sentence: We are not physicists whose mission in life is to dig deeply into the mysteries of the universe but people wishing to know something about what makes electricity tick.

Explains in crystal clear terms the absolute fundamentals behind electricity and electronics. Really helps you to discover and understand the subject, perhaps for the first time ever.

Have you ever:

• Wondered about the true link between electricity and magnetism? • Felt you could never understand the work of Einstein, Newton, Boltzmann, Planck and other early scientists? • Just accepted that an electron is like a little black ball? • Got mixed up with e.m.f. and p.d. ? • Thought the idea of holes in semiconductors is a bit much?

Then Help is at hand with this inexpensive book, in as simple a way as possible and without too much complex mathmematics and formulae.

Now THAT'S a SHACK! W9EVT

You can barely see George, W9EVT, down there in the back! And this is only one portion of his shack. Jeff, KO7M, alerted us to this masterpiece of radio architecture. Many more pictures here:
http://www.qrz.com/db/w9evt

VK3AJG's DSB RIG

John, VK3AJG, sent us info on his new portable 80 meter DSB transceiver. Very nice. A welcome change from the usual NE602-based rigs. Double-A battery power and the use of a ceramic resonator are other nice features of this rig. GO DSB!
Details here: http://members.ozemail.com.au/~jgprice/80M-DSB.html

SolderSmoke Podcast #118

http://www.soldersmoke.com

In SolderSmoke 118:

15 November 2009

Trip to the North of Italy -- All the way to Trieste!
SSSSS SSSSSSolution?
Playing with PSK-31 -- Shortwave Watching
I0/N2CQR wins CQ WW DX! (QRP, HB, DSB category)
New England Code Talker
Monitoring Apollo 11
Adventures in Surface Mount Soldering with Softrock 40
MAILBAG

Weekend Sale: Save 15% on "SolderSmoke -- The Book"

Just enter XMAS15 when asked for a promotion code. Valid through November 15. Save 15%

For shipping from a printer in the U.S. (probably better for N. American buyers) Click here: SolderSmoke USA Version

For shipping from a printer in the UK, Spain, or the USA (probably better for UK and other European buyers)
Click here: SolderSmoke EU Version

Final Report from the Maine Code Talker/160 QRP Rexpedition

Rex, W1REX, has a really nice article on this week's historic QRP expedition to the Maine coast. As you have read in this space, Michael, AA1TJ, challenged the mighty Atlantic with nothing more than the 15 milliwatts generated by his own voice. No joy this time, but we are sure that Michael will soon experience the same thrill felt by Marconi when that first, faint S was heard on the other side. Seab, AA1MY, overcame serious kite problems and fulfilled a long-held QRP ambition by working across the pond on 160 meters with less than 5 Watts. Congrats Seab! Congratulations to all the Rexpedition team members. It has been really fun to follow your adventure.

Read all about it here: (The link to the Rexpedition article is near the top of the page, but don't miss the wonderful kits that Rex is offering further below!)

http://www.qrpme.com/