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Ward Silver's "Dummies" book is terrific for beginners and experienced hams alike. It's not about the technical details of the hobby, really, but about how to get into ham radio and most of operating basics. I was licensed many years ago, but after a few years of operating, went into "hibernation" for about 20 years before rediscovering ham radio. This book has helped me catch up on all of the advances made in the last two decades. What's really helpful are all the references to other sources (such as websites) that take you deeper into the hobby. An outstanding addition to my "ham shack"!

I am often asked why I am still interested in ham radio when it is so easy for people to communicate by e-mail and cellular phone. The answer, as is so forcefully brought home in this excellent book, is that ham radio is fun, challenging, rewarding, and provides opportunities for personal growth.

While the major objective of the book is to provide information to get newcomers into the hobby and to help get them productive and successful, there is something here that can be useful to even the most experienced operators. There are many ways people have found to enjoy the various technical, recreational, educational, and social aspects of ham radio. They are covered in this well-written book.

Ward is an operator of the first caliber. His advice is based upon personal experience, not based upon interpreting what some others person has told him. He is also a very funny person and he has a unique ability to find whatever humor exists in a situation. Therefore the tone of his book is light and eminently readable. More particularly, it does not suffer from the dry style that I found in similar books.

People who are interested in developing new skills, expanding their minds, and building relationships will find ham radio a great hobby. I recommend this book as a means of becoming successful quickly. Experienced hams will find hints that are more valuable than the modest cost of the book. Finally, those like me who were away from the hobby for a while will find a good summary of what they have missed while they were away.

A terrific read.

Have you ever wondered about those "amateur radio" license plates you see on cars? Do you see disproportionally large antennas on tall towers at some homes? Wouldn't it be really neat to be able to set up an antenna, radio, and antenna and communicate from literally anywhere, to just about anywhere, in any kind of weather, without having to be tethered to some electrical outlet? If you think I'm kidding about this, I'm not--people do this very thing everyday, from houses, hotels, boats, bikes, International Space Station, while hiking, running errands, or just seeing how many countries they can contact! Yes, you read right--different countries, from bicycles! Please stop me before I type another exclamation point!

Well, this is an excellent book to start with, in the familiar "for Dummies" format that flies you over the forest that is ham radio, and gives an overview of: signal formats, operating tips and advice, public and emergency service, radio contesting, station setup, and a number of other concerns of the hobby.

Mr. Silver has done a fine job of blending amateur radio with the Dummies editorial style, to present ham radio in plain-language, for those who have always wondered, but didn't know where to start. Like all of the Dummies books, it includes the list of Tens.

It won't help you to prepare for the test specifically--there are different question-pool books that explain the technical, and highly applicable to the real-world, nitty-gritty that's needed to pass the (U.S. FCC) Technician exam.

This book is also good for the already-licensed hams who want to quickly get up to speed on different operating aspects. Non hams, by the time they finish looking over the book, should have a good idea if they want to hike into the forest to explore further and possibly take the steps towards getting licensed. There are numerous links and resources for those who wish to continue learning about this hobby.

As a fairly new ham myself, and having entered the hobby knowing nothing about it, I'm sensitive to the fact that people I talk to also might not know much about the hobby. It's hard to know where to start, when trying to explain it. Rather than launch into techno-speak and cause people's eyes to glaze over, I can now hand them this book. It's a very easy way to introduce folks to the hobby.

Perhaps I might sound very over-the-top about all this--and you're probably right--but since getting into this hobby, I have learned so many things that I might not have been exposed to otherwise.