[AMPS] Care and Feeding etc.

[John Nelson]

Message text written by "John Fielding"

> and I could supply power supply information along with John Nelson
GW4FRX.  So what say you? <

As one who writes and edits full-time to eat and pay the mortgage, I'd
guess that the project would be great fun but not, alas, very
cost-effective. I recently had an enquiry from a very large professional
publisher as to whether I'd be prepared to write a book for them on an
electronics-related subject. They seemed rather surprised when I said that
I thought a total income of about $3000 for what would have been six
months' hard (and almost full-time) work was rather less than persuasive.
And as Ian will no doubt confirm, the 'VHF/UHF DX Book' didn't exactly make
millionaires out of its contributors! 

Publishers in this field often tend to think that authors shouldn't mind
donating their creativity to the sacred cause of shareholder value.
National radio societies seem to have something of the same attitude. In
the case of 'Care and Feeding', which IMO isn't half the book it might have
been and is only peripherally useful to amateur amplifier builders -- the
old Collins publication 'Amateur Single Sideband' (reprinted by Ham Radio,
1977) is much more useful -- it's hard to imagine a rewrite being
commercially viable. But if someone made me an offer I couldn't refuse...


John Nelson
GW4FRX

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