Radio Books

I am becoming a big fan of the Colonial Radio Theater. They are really good at making historic events exciting and fun. This particular tape really is exciting and tells the story of a relatively little known event. I won't spoil your fun by giving the ending away, but it really is cool.

I really got a different perspective of the hardships that the crew had to undergo to acheive the success that they did on the Constitution. Capt Hull was an excellent captain and his example was certainly an archetype of leadership. I enjoyed the wrap up at the end of the story to let the listener know what happened after this particular incident to the various parties involved. Great story and an excellent narrative. Again you are there!

This is really cool. I really feel like I'm standing on the Constitution next to Captain Hull. The naval battle is so exciting but you'll have to listen to see how it turns out. Get it. It's great fun!

This was indeed a drama in real life. The sound effects again make the difference in listening to this fine narrative. After listening and understanding Commander Preble's leadership challenges, you come away (after listening to it and to "Old Ironsides: Escape to the Winds" previously)feeling that the Consitution was commanded by a lot of really able leaders and the crew was certainly professional and dedicated. The challenges they faced in this time period must have seemed overwhelming and that is brought to life in this narrative. Add to the collection of excellent tapes by Jerry Robbins.

Wooden ships and iron men are the subject of this very enjoyable tape. I really got into the radio drama format. From what I read on the package, this story is true, almost too exciting to believe that it actually happened that way.

You really should listen to it. Its a great tape. Jerry Robbins does a great job as Captain Preble. Its fun, has battles, and is really exciting. I learned something that I did not know about the Constitution.

Jack Broady's book is absolutely the most informative, clear-cut book for gaining employment into the highly competative field of radio personality/broadcasting. His 17 years of obvious experience shows in this step-by-step process on how to gain access into this very exclusive field of becoming an on-air personality. This invaluable advice is a MUST BUY for anyone even considering breaking into the field. I mastered in telecommunications and film, and learned more in the introductory paragraph of Jack Broady's book, than in the last three years of college. This book has given me the inside scoop and most importantly, a foot in the door of an otherwise unattainable industry. Melinda Stone.

Written by 17-year veteran of radio broadcasting Jack Broady, On Air: The Guidebook to Starting a Career as a Radio Personality lives up to its title, succinctly covering everything an aspiring radio personality needs to know. From four straightforward, realistic methods for landing one's first job at a radio station, to the most valuable rules of radio, industry lingo explained, tips for performing one's best, and much more, On Air is an absolute "must-read" for any and every would-be radio professional. "Here is the secret that has started countless careers for on air personalities and is the first lesson in 'paying your dues.' YOU MUST BE WILLING TO WORK FOR FREE. This is the only sure way to gain instant employment with no experience. It is very difficult to get your first job at a radio station if you are not willing to make this sacrifice." Highly recommended.

Jack Broady's book On-Air is a wealth of information. He tells the inside scoop regarding the in's and out's of how to land a job in radio. I followed his advice (Method 2) and got a job offer in a week. I am thrilled to say the least. This book is worth every penny and I highly recommend it to anyone considering an "on-air" career.

Have you ever wanted to live with another family? Have you ever been so exasperated with the parental units that you wanted to trade them in for new ones?! Well, that is the premise of PARENT SWAP by Terence Blacker.

Danny Bell is very tired of his family. His mum has left and his dad sits in front of the TV everyday writing terrible songs and remembering his glory days as a rock musician. His sister is argumentative, has a boyfriend, and is never home, while his little brother is suffering from not having enough attention. The apartment is a mess and Danny is the only one who is making an effort to try to keep the family together.

Then Danny gets a flyer which is advertising an organization called Parentswap. Danny decides to check it out. He goes and finds a business which will allow him to pick new parents. After a few weeks of contemplation, Danny decides to go through with the swap.

After he swaps, he gets the feeling that something is not right and decides, with the help of his friend and later his family, to find out what is going on.

I enjoyed this book because I know many kids who think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, but when they get there they find that their own life may be a challenge but it is their challenge. All families have problems, and even when Danny thinks that others have the perfect family, problems still arise. I liked the story but I wish I would have found out what happened with all of the main characters in the future. It kind of left things better but not complete.

So check out PARENT SWAP when you are mad at your parents -- it may change your mind!

Reviewed by: Marta Morrison

Five Key Facts About Danny Bell:

1) He wants to be Artemis Fowl. Well, not Artemis specifically, but he wants money, power and intrigue, and when he fantasizes about the life he wants, Danny refers to himself as Jay Daniel Bellingham.

2) He has a very dysfunctional family. His sister Kirsty has zero sense of humor. His little brother Robbie spends all his time playing computer games. Dad hasn't left the house in years, and Mum never comes home.

3) If he disappeared tomorrow, the only two people who would care are his friends Maddy and Rick.

4) One of his favorite hobbies is bird-watching.

5) He has decided to take on a new family via Parent Swap.

Four Oddities About Parent Swap:

1) Every family Danny visits has hidden cameras all over.

2) He tries a few different families, but none of them quite work out.

3) Parent Swap has an honor system that they never bothered to tell Danny about. Kids who make the "wrong choices" are sent back to their original parents after a warning.

4) His liaison at Parent Swap, Rafiq, seems to be affiliated with a company called KeepItReal TV Productions, Ltd.

Three Things That Danny Figures Out:

1) Parent Swap is filming his experience.

2) His life is now a reality TV show, but it's more Truman Show than "American Idol."

3) He's supposed to be the key to fixing some bad publicity that his new family got.

Two People Danny Enlists in his Quest to Uncover the Truth About Parent Swap:

1) Rick

2) Maddy

One Thing the Staff at Parent Swap Doesn't Know:

Danny is on to them, and he's going to spin things his way.

--- Reviewed by Carlie Webber

I really loved this book. It was a mix between two main genres: mystery and comedy. Blacker writes well about a boy, 13-year-old Danny Bell, whose mom left his older sister, younger brother, and ex-famous rockstar dad in a small house. He finds an advertisement for something called ParentSwap, where teenaged kids (who already have switched parents) pick new parents for kids who can't handle them. After a bad experience with his first new family, he feels there is something suspicious going on with ParentSwap. So, he switched families again, only to a rich, famous woman, Flavia de Sanchez's home. Then, everything gets better for him as he gets his friend to help him. This book is a great read for teens. I loved it so much, I couldn't put it down!

This is a very good RF & Microwave engineering book.
It combines a clear explanation of the basics with a
series of new different kinds of devices (in chapters
4, 7-13). This makes this book equally useful for
students and for experienced engineers.
This book also integrates the basic analysis of wide
range of passive devices (reciprocal and
nonreciprocal) with essential reference information in
the main text and in the Appendixes. In addition, a
series of important real applications with practical
details are included.
I do give these book 5 stars because it does help you
understand passive RF and microwave devices much better.

This book treats RF and microwave passive components and control devices and accomplish

the ascention from microwave fundamental transmission lines and simplest elements to move

complicated devices and subassemlies. The most interesting materials are analysis of different

print transmission lines, the distributed and lumped elements of integrated circuits, including novel

termination and planar inductors, analysis and synthesis of print directional couplers, dividers,

combiners, filters. Different modern miniature filters including the novel wiggly coupled lines BPF

and irregular lines LPF are discussed. Also, the diode control devices (switches, attenuators, limiters,

phase shifters) are described in the book. New conceptions of design of isolators and circulators

are considered. Several examples of microwave integrated subassemlies using passive components

and control devices are described. The final chapter represents principal concepts of design and

fabrication technology of RF and microwave integrated circuits.

I do give this book 5 stars because it does help engineers and students understand passive RF and

microwave integrated circuits better. This book is only one of a few books on this topic.

I strongly recommend this book as it offers thorough, clear and practical guidelines for the development of passive RF and microwave circuits. It starts from consideration of basic types and characteristics of planar transmission lines followed by detailed description of design procedures leading to the realization of passive RF and microwave components and IC's, including ferrite devices. The last Chapter discusses the fabrication aspects of multylayer IC's. Thorough theoretical analysis is supported by numerous practical examples. This book conveniently includes many theoretical expressions and data tables, which are very useful for RF engineers.

Dedicated to his grandfather and the community of international radio operators, the book begins in International Morse Code with "May it fall to science to march many steps toward the goal of complete knowledge." Mr. Wilford likely copies CW solid and reveals his belief in structured and objective analysis.

Mr. Wilford's book (and recent peer reviewed journal articles), should be recognized as one of the latest to weigh into the final gasps of the Pearl Harbor debate where clear and bipolar lines are now zealously drawn. It makes extensive use of a broad range of cited documents, some old and many new; primary and secondary materials, American and Allied, and even includes a sworn affidavit. Inconsistencies, even within what are thought to be "primary source documents," are importantly discussed. As a note to the reader, this book presupposes a very detailed appreciation of the many things Pearl Harbor and is not recommended, therefore, for the novice to this subject.

The text derives from Mr. Wilford's award-winning and highly regarded masters thesis (MA in History, University of Ottawa, under the supervision of Professor Brian Loring Villa). Some reference materials within the thesis are not shown in this book.

This is indeed an effort of discipline and sophisticated focus which provides a comparative review of prior Pearl Harbor writings and their respective positions. These are then commented upon applying the now publicly available newer information, notably that gained only after several FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests pried them out into the bright sunlight.

Mr. Wilford offers two conclusions, each logically supported by the combined weight of the evidence supplied (numerous citations are given). They are that: (a) it can be shown that the STRIKING FORCE broke radio silence many times on their voyage to Pearl Harbor and that the USN RDF network and others captured those transmissions, and (b) it can be demonstarted that segments of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Operations Code (variously known as JN25, AN-1, five-numeral, 5Num, JN25B, JN25B7, five figure, five digit ...) were read at some level providing intelligence prior to the Pearl Harbor attack.

Discovered during his research, and mentioned several times via examples in the text, Mr. Wilford points to specific and purposeful gaps in archival materials, continued denial of US Navy RDF documents (e.g., RIP-45 and RIP-213), intercept station chronologies being lost or truncated, ..., etc. This is commented upon at some length as a "pattern" shown now for many decades - a pattern even extending to instances in the Joint Congressional Hearings on Pearl Harbor.

The ending: "The men on Battleship Row deserved a fighting chance." should us give pause and should stir our collective conscience.

This academic study of naval signals intelligence collected before the Pearl Harbor attack provides new answers to an old historical controversy. Combining technical knowledge with historical appreciation, Wilford puts all the evidence on trial and concludes that the Americans, along with their allies, must have had enough signals intelligence to predict a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. However, he refrains from committing himself to an exclusively revisionist view of the controversy. For Wilford, negligence or confusion may have prevented relevant intelligence from being shared with Admiral Kimmel and General Short, although Wilford considers (at length) the conspiracy theory about the Roosevelt administration. Wilford's selection of evidence suggests that he favours the view that Roosevelt let the attack proceed without providing enough advance warning. But Wilford, for academic reasons, seems reluctant to reject the view that relevant signals intelligence was badly mishandled. The reader would find it more satisfying to have a conclusive answer to the controversy, but Wilford approaches his work in an academic way and carefully weighs the evidence.

The book combines archival evidence with secondary accounts to develop new views. Wilford definitely shows that the American Navy was partially reading Japanese naval messages by late 1941, although he cannot show how much was read. He reviews the content of the intercepted messages and discusses possibilities. In a more conclusive section, Wilford shows that American direction finding and radio signals analysis was quite advanced, and argues that the Japanese strike force (Kido Butai) was tracked, owing to its use of inter-ship communications during the voyage to Hawaii. In a section on intelligence reporting, Wilford expands his theme of American "foreknowledge" to Allied "foreknowledge". Wilford quotes from postwar testimonials to build a case showing that the British produced an accurate estimate of Japan's most likely move in the Pacific - an attack on Pearl Harbor. This book will appeal to specialists because of its methodical study of signals intelligence collected before the Pearl Harbor attack, and its appreciation of the historical significance of such intelligence operations.

"Pearl Harbor Redefined" is a scholarly monograph that combines original research, based on new archival sources, with a thoughtful historiographical critique of the topic: pre-Pearl Harbor radio intelligence. In each chapter, the author, Timothy Wilford, contrasts his research with the views of other historians and redefines the Pearl Harbor controversy.

Firstly, Wilford places the Pearl Harbor attack in a broad historical perspective, offering readers a survey of the events that led to a political crisis between the United States and Japan. Secondly, he examines the state of U.S. Navy "cryptanalysis" (code-breaking) in 1941, using contemporaneous primary evidence, concluding that the U.S. had partial reading ability of the principal Japanese Navy Code, and that important information concerning the existence of a Strike Force and some of its plans may have been accessible to American intelligence. Thirdly, Wilford assesses U.S. Navy "traffic analysis", or direction-finding and signals analysis, as a means of providing foreknowledge of Japan's actions in the North Pacific. In this section, Wilford develops a case against the claim of Japanese radio silence and reconstructs the Strike Force communications plan. He also reconstructs the Dec. 3/41 report of Leslie Grogan, based on Grogan's written accounts and Grogan's interviews with historian Ladislas Farago. Fourthly, Wilford looks at U.S. Navy intelligence reporting and Allied intelligence support, producing even more original research concerning British foreknowledge of the Pearl Harbor attack, based upon Canadian sources. Finally, he concludes that sufficient radio intelligence existed to predict the Pearl Harbor attack - complete surprise at Pearl Harbor could only have resulted from an enormous failure in intelligence reporting ("gross neglect") or a Washington plan to sacrifice Pearl Harbor to enter WWII ("careful design", Wilford's euphemism for a secret plan or conspiracy).

Wilford's research and interpretation is strikingly original and will appeal to those interested in Intelligence History, Pearl Harbor Historiography, or the Pacific War in general. The general reader should note that this is quite a technical book, dealing at length with the principles of radio communications and intelligence (there are 449 footnotes, and 10 pages of bibliographic sources, many representing newly-released archival material). However, in the book's conclusion, Wilford succeeds at placing his research in a broader perspective, and reflects on the meaning of the "traditionalist" and "revisionist" views, asking some rather poignant questions. "Pearl Harbor Redefined" will likely compel some historians to re-appraise the events that led to the Pacific War.

As the follow-up edition to Ron's earlier book on PHILCO, this continues to be the definitive reference for antique radio collectors and mass media historians. PHILCO (short for "Philadelphia Storage Battery Company") was the name synonymous with affordable radios for nearly three decades...along with the well-known "cathedral" style radio of the 1930s and 1940s.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the family radio was the last household item to be sold for rent and food money.

I recommend picking up your copy before this edition goes out of print.

Ron Ramirez (Mr. Philco to radio collectors) has compiled one of the finest books of its type. Focusing solely on Philco radios, he traces the evolution of the Philadelphia Storage Battery Co. from its roots to PHILCO, one of America's leading manufacturers of home radios. The book is organized chronologically by model year and includes a photograph and text explanation for virtually every Philco radio ever manufactured. Each chapter begins with a detailed description of the key features of the new models, how Philco responded to the fierce competion of the day, and the company's marketing strategies for the new year. The photography is outstanding with the vast majority of the pictures representing the best available examples of original or restored radios. The author wraps up the book with a listing by year of all Philco models, their tube configurations, and a "rarity" scale. While an excellent technical reference and history book, it also presents an interesting insight into how the Art Deco school of design influenced even radio cabinetry of the period. Highly recommended!

This is one of my favorite reference books. The pictures are great and especially helpful when you are trying to restore an old disgarded Philco to it's former beauty. Packed with interesting history and trivia. Values listed in the book tend to be on the conservative side, but then again most reference books tend to do this. If you love old radios and their history, this is a "Must Have" for your book shelf. (PS. His website is pretty neat too)

This book is a must read for anyone willing to remain updated in the microwave field . It is very clearly written and has a very good balance between theoretical aspects and practical examples for today's modern times.

These books were written by two well-known lectures in the RF/MW field with many years of teaching experience. Their goal was to provide a practical exposition of circuit design in the RF/MW field that appealed to students, academicians, and design engineers. They certainly succeeded. The reader will find that fundamental and advanced principles are properly explained with emphasis in CAD techniques. While the mathematical manipulations are kept to a minimum, the associated results are well referenced and extensively discussed.

Volume I:
This volume focuses mainly on passive circuits and systems. The first two chapters provide a review of RF/MW circuit fundamentals. The emphasis is placed on topics related to RF/MW circuits, such a resonance, series and parallel conversions, quality factor, power transfer, transmission lines, reflection coefficients, and mismatch loss. Chapter 3 describes several radio systems and illustrates how the system's specifications relate to the various individual components. Receiver's characteristics are discussed, such as receiver noise and sensitivity, nonlinearities and dynamic range, and automatic control. The chapter includes the analysis of a CDMA handset from a system point of view. Chapters 4 and 5 describe the use of S parameters, the Smith chart, impedance matching networks, and bandwidth considerations. Many impedance matching design examples are provided with their associated frequency responses. Both lumped and microstrip matching circuits are considered. Chapter 6 shows the use of CAD programs for RF/MW circuit design. This chapter underlines the major key areas in CAD, such as linear circuit analysis, electromagnetic simulation, tuning, synthesis, optimization, non-linear simulations, and statistical techniques. Passive component models are discussed in Chapter 7, which include RLC components, distributed components, transformers, crystals, dielectric resonators, and surface acoustic wave resonators. The authors show how actual parts affect the behavior of a design, and how to account for them in the final product. Chapter 8 gives an overview of passive filters and the techniques used for their design in the RF/MW area. Such topics as the Richards' transformation, Norton transformations, and Kuroda identities are discussed. Chapter 9 is an overview of the major differences and similarities between RF and high-speed digital systems.

Volume II:
This volume focuses mainly on active circuits and systems. The volume begins with a discussion of linear RF/MW amplifier design techniques. The first two chapters deal with stability conditions, stability circles and the various design techniques for transducer gain, operating power gain, and associated gain. Material in low-noise amplifier design and broadband techniques is included, as well as dc considerations. Chapter 3 discusses the modeling of the actual devices (such as BJT, GaAs, HETM, etc). Chapter 4 deals with nonlinear CAD simulations techniques, and their uses. Time and frequency domain methods are discussed and compared. A good discussion of the harmonic balance method is given, including a section on harmonic balance simulation of oscillators. Chapter 5 considers the topic of power transistor amplifiers. The categories of amplifiers are presented and the topics of bias considerations, distortion reduction and predistortion are included. The chapter includes a detailed power amplifier design. Oscillators are discussed in Chapter 6, with emphasis on the negative resistance design approach and CAD simulations. A section is devoted to the description of phase noise. Several design examples are included. An interesting example uses a ceramic resonator, another example involves a crystal resonator, and one example deals with a Colpitts VCO using a varactor diode. Chapter 7 deals with mixers and frequency multipliers. The authors discuss diodes and transistor mixers and their effect on the overall system. The final chapter gives an overview of several wireless systems.

The material covered in these two volumes extends from the basic to the advance. The texts are suitable for short courses in RF/MW circuits, since they provide a comprehensive description of the RF/MW circuit design field. They are also suitable for a course (or courses) at the senior/graduate level in the RF/MW field. The books strongly emphasize design and the use of CAD techniques. Enough information is provided in their CAD examples that the simulations can easily be implemented with one of the major CAD programs available for RF/MW circuits.

These texts contain a tremendous amount of information for RF/MW circuit designers. Especially, for those working in wireless communications. Discrete design is covered in detail-from the individual component specification to the overall system performance. The presentation is clear and well organized. It certainly makes for a good addition to the designer's library.

There is so much information for a practicing engineer;it will take six months to absorb the techniques described. I finally understand what causes oscillation and how I can prevent it when it shows up unexpectedly.
I also appreciate that the math is minimized to the necessary level, without lots of proofs and derivations (I had enough of that in college). What I expected--and got--are techniques I can use in my work immediately.

If you design RF systems in the real world you really need this book! I'm an RF systems engineer with 27 year of experience. And I can say that this book is worth 2 years of on-the-job experience. Egan explains the nut and bolts of how to make an RF system work. He tackles the immensely important details of noise budgets, compression points, intermods, dynamic range and a dozen other vital topics. He not only explains these issues he gives you the actual tools you need to carry out the design techniques. The spreadsheets that he uses in the book are available from the publisher website! These aren't academic subjects he's talking about they are real design techniques ready to use! This book is destined to be one of the classics, a must for every engineer's bookshelf. RF engineers do yourself a favor and get this book!

An excellent source for the design of RF system level. As far as I've seen, Mr Egan collects and refines all usefull data from several important sources, makes some of them more usefull by some practical adaptations and combines them his experience about the subject. The spreadsheets provided at the Wiley's ftp site are very usefull to understand problems. It also provides necessary hints to reader for adapting them into specific problems. It is impossible to forget something about the system level design of RF after reading this book.

This book is not for beginners. It assumes that you have experience in RF hardware design. The book shows how to calculate the second order effects in systems using simple spread sheet methods. The spread sheets are available for download at the Wiley FTP site given in the book.

There must be as many as a million people with fiond memories of their first experiences with a TRS-80 computer, for there were more than a score of magazines devoted to the TRS-80, and book stores had a shelf of books on the Model I-IV, the 100, the PC-1 and the PC-2. "P" stood for ("pocket",not "personal"). We didn't call TRS-80 the "operating system" but we loaded it slowly with an audio cassette, or in a few seconds from a floppy, and it had "hooks" to allow attachment of our own code. This work concerns a single individual, not a team of specialists, who coded and sold a word processor. The official histories of computing make no mention of the TRS-80. but the device that intrigued so many for so long deserves books, and more books.

Radio Shack and the very cool TRS-80 line and later PCs that followed from Tandy are never given credit for the true impact that they had on the PC revolution and simply getting people to use PCs.... A TRS-80 Model one was my first PC and it rocked! At the time, it was amazing - I still have it! This is a very interesting book for those who want to know the real story of Tandy and their very cool computers!

As one of the co-creators, I know the history of the TRS-80. This is the most accurate history of this "Industry Creating Machine" out there. Even knowing the history, it was enjoyable to fill in the holes related to some of the other players.

Many people give Apple the credit for creating the personal computer industry, but it really took Radio Shack with their stores and presence in the market to bring the awareness of personal computers to the masses. Then IBM made the market take off.

A fun read for those that lived the revolution and those who want to know why we have personal computers today.

Another good book for additional history on the personal computer revolution is Fire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer. This gives an account of the other player in the infancy of the industry.