A Nice Box of Amateur Radio Books

by MD0MDI
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Drakes Radio Clypedia 1931 Amateur Radio Books

Some Amateur Radio Books that I have just been sent

I have just been given a really nice box of Amateur Radio Books by an amateur over here, there are over 20 books in the box all ranging from this old book here to quite modern ones, but I thought that this one deserves a mention for being so old and nice to look at!

This book is called ‘Drakes Radio Clypedia’ and was printed in 1931 and for a book that old it’s in surprisingly good condition. Though not a first edition, this one being a forth edition, it means that there are possibly older copies out there, not complaining though, this is such a lovely book for the shelf.

Drakes Radio Clypedia 1931 Amateur Radio Books

It is basically an A-Z of radio but what I found really interesting is that, when you look up say Coils and Traps, not only does it explain how they work in very easy to understand english, it also explains how to make them, and then test them with very simple test equipment, I also read up about Balun’s and just the way that the book explains how to make a 4:1 Balun and then test it is really great, and ever so easy to follow.

The whole book is covered in lovely drawings, there are apparently over 1000 plates in this book and I can believe it, the book is over 2″ deep and every page has either some sort of drawing, schematic, or table upon it, but even in the few pages that I have read, it’s the way that everything is explained that is really refreshing, anyone with a slight interest in electronics would really find this great to read, there is no getting you lost with formulas and jargon that is just thrown in because they are trying to confuse the reader, and when formulas are seen in the book, they explain them in a very layman’s way.

Drakes Radio Clypedia 1931
Drakes Radio Clypedia 1931

The book is of course from the days of Valves and for anyone like me that loves to restore this old stuff, some of the articles in this book are really interesting, such as explaining why clamp valves are a necessary upgrade to some receivers, the workings of Valve Oscillators and what happens to its characteristic if you substitute a normal valve required for a newer model that is superior to the original. And all of this is explained in a really easy way.

Drakes Radio Clypedia 1931

I would well recommend this book to anyone interested in old radio equipment.

That said, I have only covered this one book that I found in the box, there are loads more, and there are two really great books about the same thickness, but a lot more modern on Wire Antenna and Yagi antenna design, I will post on these later once I have read the best bits….

Thanks to the Amateur that gave me the box, they will be cherished and as promised, I will not let the people that you mentioned ever have them.

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