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Average Customer Rating:

It just teaches to the test

Customer Rating:

I really don't know whether to review this just as a test prep or as actual learning material, so I'll discuss it from both angles. As far as preparation for the Ham Tech test, it is easily 5 stars. I used only this book and missed just one question, and was surprised to have missed even that. It's well written and it contains the full pool of 300+ questions, which the 35 questions you take on the actual test will be drawn from. That latter fact alone would make it crazy not to study this book before taking the test. The downside to knowing all the possible questions in advance is that some of them are obscure far beyond the point of what a beginning ham is likely to know or have any interest in regardless of how much they'd studied. As actual learning material, the subject matter is so broadly chosen and much of it so shallowly presented that large sections of it won't be of any practical use to anyone. The problem is that it could easily take 800 pages to adequately cover all the topics on the test, even at a beginner's level. For instance, it talks about electrons, Ohm's law, circuits and electronic components but none of these things are discussed to an extent or tied in together in such a way that you could ever make any practical use of the knowledge. Pages are devoted to what seem to me strange, Rube Goldberg modes of communication, such as email through the radio (it seems that you still need a computer..), bouncing signals off the moon and so on, which are way beyond what I could afford in terms of equipment anyway. I had a question on my actual test about communicating through satellite but none about Morse code (the form of radio communication that's saved more lives than any other and the reason that I was taking the test in the first place. ) On the plus side, the chapters on station operating, repeaters and FCC regulations were fairly good and probably very useful to most beginning hams, though the book could have used more of such information. So, while the book does a good job of giving at least a glancing, cursory knowledge of seemingly every aspect of amateur radio, I don't really think that if fully prepared me in and of itself to use the privileges that I got with my technician's license. So, the book gets 4 stars, since my problem is basically with the test itself and not the book. In my opinion, they should really just save all the electronic stuff and less common methods of communication for later class tests and work on hammering home equipment and antenna setup, operations, rules and emergency procedures. They could even split it up into something like the older novice/tech class tests so as to be able to fully concentrate on the differences in equipment and operation between the HF and the UHF/VHF bands. Anyway, all of that said, there can't be any doubt though that the book is a must have for anyone wanting to take the test.

Great preparation materials

Customer Rating:

I hike/camp a good bit and there are times when it would be good to have a way to communicate but cell service won't work. I had a HAM license when I was in high school as part of an electronics class. In short, it had been better than 30 years since I had messed with anything radio. I bought the book and worked my way through it over the course of a couple of weeks in addition to using some internet resources as well. I found the book to be well organized, clear and concise, and included the whole question pool as well as a very thorough glossary, which is helpful with the language. All in all, I would recommend this as an excellent way to prepare for the Technician Exam.

Excellent Book For Passing the Technician Test

Customer Rating:

I just passed the Technician test with 100% using this book. I also used some on-line test exams from various websites. The book is well laid out. The main material is in the front of the book and the test questions are at the back. As you read through the book, after each section there are related practice test questions to take. After I had worked through all the sections in the book, I just kept going through the practice test questions over and over until I got them right. The questions in the back of the book have indicators refering back to the related section in case you want to study more. There are certain portions of the book that you just need to memorize such as the radio band plans, some electrical relation calculations, and signal and wavelenth relationships. The book makes that pretty easy to understand. This book was very interesting and taught me quite a bit. Even though my test is finished, I still refer to this book quite often as it has alot of useful information in it. There is also a glossary of terms in the back that I refer to quite often. The bottom line is if you want to pass the Technician test and have a useful book for afterwards, this is the book to get.

Does what it says... but not enough for ground-floor beginners.

Customer Rating:

I purchased this book after inheriting radio equipment from a relative. While I had some basic knowledge of amateur radio, it was confined to sitting next to someone who turned the dials. Now that I'm studying for my license, I find it all a bit overwhelming. This book does what it says to get you ready for the test, but there's some even more basics that are not covered at all. That's fine, for I feel well prepared to tackle the test next month, but I know I'll continue to learn more and more about amateur radio for years and years. But isn't that the point of ham, anyway?

Solid, though dry	Customer Rating:
This is almost a necessity if you're new to Ham, and there's a lot of good information in here. I would like it to be a bit more entertaining, but that's not what it's there for....