Now, saying that I have associated with academia for 32 years, I was chief
engineer in
an electronics company before that, Engineered Devices Company. I have to say
that I would not give up my career in
the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Kentucky for
anything. Came
out a little poorer at retirement but the experience of working with Physicist
has given me
a better perspective and understanding of electronics than if I had continued
in industry. These guys realized that they needed
an engineer and that they did not know every thing. Too often a professor who
understands
things down to the subatomic level assumes that he knows what he needs or that
he can even
design it, all he then needs is a tech to build it. I have run into a few of
those but in the end proved
them wrong.
I don't know the answer. Perhaps there is a way to get the ARRL back on
track.
It takes someone in the upper ranks there who can see the Handbook for what it
is
and get seek out the authors that can contribute to it and also start serious
peer
review rather than mutual pats on each others backs.
73
Bill wa4lav
________________________________________
From: Amps [amps-bounces@contesting.com] on behalf of qrv@kd4e.com
[qrv@kd4e.com]
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2015 8:47 PM
To: amps@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [Amps] The genius of ham radio
As seen in academia, business, and politics an absence of
challenging alternatives/competition can lead to arrogance
and/or an absence of accountability.
I'd like to see an effort to assemble a peer-reviewed
alternative to the Handbook that includes, where appropriate,
alternative methods and philosophies - let the reader decide.
In an electronic format it would be easy to update and cheap
to maintain and distribute.
> It is interesting that the sales of the ARRL Handbook are as good as
> they are. It is referred to as an engineering reference. However, I
> have never purchased a new edition of an engineering reference book
> each year. In fact new editions are usually published every 5 or
> even more years. At some point the hams are going to catch on that
> 99% of the book is identical to the last edition. I appreciate the
> ARRL and I use their License Manuals in my classes but they just have
> gone the wrong direction. One way to change things is to get
> involved. However, the editors do not accept criticism very well.
> When their first edition of Understanding Radio came out I thought it
> may be a good text for a class I was teaching. However, I found a
> number of errors and managed to contact the author. I emailed the
> errors to him and in some cases he had to try the circuits out to
> confirm that there were problems which he admitted were issues. At
> the next Hamvention, I noticed that they had some loose pages that
> came with the book that had the corrections. Oddly enough, the next
> printing, which was corrected was not a second edition but was
> called the first edition. I told him that I would be happy to review
> his material next time. He seemed very offended and that was that.
>
> 73 Bill wa4lav
--
*David*
~KD4E~
Nevils, Georgia USA
Safe & Secure Search Engine: duckduckgo.com
Android for Hams: groups.yahoo.com/group/hamdroid
Creative Tech: groups.yahoo.com/group/ham-macguyver
Raspi Alternative: groups.yahoo.com/group/beagleboneblack/
Restored to design-spec at Heaven's gate 1Cor15:22
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