You’ve finally earned your ham radio license, and you’re ready to dive into building your own radio, or you’re looking for some projects to start. Perhaps you’re ready to dip your toes into ham radios as a new hobby. Maybe you are a veteran enthusiast, but you are interested in moving on to more complex projects. What are the best ham radio books for you?
The top six ham radio books include ARRL Ham Radio License Manual, ARRL Handbook For Radio Communications, Ham Radio for the New Ham, Grounding and Bonding for the Radio Amateur, The ARRL Antenna Book for Radio Communications, and Experimental Methods in Rf Design.
We’ll go through the best radio ham books available on the market, pointing the newest hams in the right direction, and giving the most experienced experimenters new ideas to improve their ham radio stations.
ARRL Ham Radio License Manual 5th Edition – Complete Study Guide with Question Pool to Pass the Technician Class Amateur Radio Exam
We can’t start the list of the best ham radio books without the latest edition of the license study guide. Before you can even start getting on the air, you’ll need to earn your ham radio license. This manual doesn’t only give you all of the information you need to get started with your ham radio experience, it provides practical information once you’ve passed the test.
The best part about the newer manual, too, is that it comes with sample questions and quizzes with answers. This is the best tool for you to pass the test.
ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications
Now in its 100th edition, the ARRL Handbook has been revised, expanded, and reviewed over the years to produce useful and engaging content. Written by radio amateurs for amateurs, this book was created to share experiences, projects, and discoveries.
Some of the key topics this book provides include:
- Circuit design and equipment
- Construction practices and troubleshooting
- Antennas and transmission lines
- Basics of radio electronics (theory and principles)
- Signal transmission and propagation
The only downside of this book, however, would be its sheer size and scale. Some newer Hams may be a bit overwhelmed when they get their hands on the six-volume set. Additionally, the price, $69.95, is a bit steep for paperback, and some customers have complained about the poor quality of the paper and cover material.
Ham Radio for the New Ham: What to Do the Minute You Get Your Amateur Radio License
Once you’ve earned your ham radio license, you’ll want to get started on some fun projects. This book, as the name suggests, is perfect for that exact moment. This includes 34 fun and easy projects to help grow your ham radio experience and knowledge.
A quick warning, though, that the book is geared towards Boafeng radios, though you can apply most of the material to any ham radio available.
Grounding and Bonding for the Radio Amateur
If you’ve gotten some extensive experience under your belt and want to build your own ham radio station, this book gives the complex nature of building a radio in layman’s terms. This provides step-by-step instructions to create portable, home, and other types of stations.
Some of the information provided includes:
- Basic safety instruction for bonding and grounding
- Lightning protection
- RF current and voltage management
- Lists of additional resources for specific builds
- Vendors to purchase materials
- Techniques for builds
The ARRL Antenna Book for Radio Communications
This book covers everything you ended to know about choosing, designing, building, and testing an antenna for your ham radio workshop. Major topics covered in this book include:
- Fundamentals of antenna
- Building systems and transmission lines
- Antennas built for LF/MF/HF
- Antennas built for VHF
Geared towards more advanced ham radio enthusiasts, much of the information this book provides is technical and theory-based. For new hams, the information may be overwhelming.
Experimental Methods in Rf Design (Radio Amateur’s Library)
If you are interested in RF design, you need to add this book to your library. This practical handbook has a crisp, conversational writing style that slowly educated you on the circuit-building process, starting from the simple explanation of receivers and transmitters all the way to the practical step-by-step process of building your own receiver.
Though priced at $99.99, this book comes with models, illustrated schematics and parts lists, and a smooth narrative that walks you through building the circuit. The best part of the book is that each tiny piece of a circuit, where it is placed, and how the value is chosen are explained in specific and easily-digestible details.
Conclusion
From building your own ham radio shacks to simply passing the ham radio license, there’s an excellent book that you can add to your library. Ham radio books are constantly releasing updated versions, with new technology, techniques, and activities that keep this one of the most engaging hobbies out there.
