KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

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New book aims to help you get more out of amateur radio

Posted: 03 Mar 2017 11:31 AM PST
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Ham Radio Boost: Lessons Learned in Amateur Radio

Lucien Koch, DH7LM

Kindle version $2.99, paperback $6.99
There are lots of books on the market about how to get on PSK 31, work the
satellites, and even make CW contacts. While these books cover the
technical side of amateur radio, none of them really discuss the human side
of our hobby. One of the reasons for this, I think, is that amateurÂ*radio
attracts technical people, and technical people are not all that touchy
feely. In fact, in some circles, thats considered to be a negative trait.
Even so, hams are people, too. Ive made an effort to write about some of
these things here on KB6NU.Com, but my attempts have been kind of scatter
shot. In the book,Â*Ham Radio Boost: Lessons Learned in Amateur
Radio,Â*Lucien Koch, DH7LM takes a more comprehensive approach to this side
of our hobby. By reflecting on his motivations and activities, he attempts
to teach us some of the human lessons hes learned, with a view to helping
hams get more out of amateur radio.
Most of the book flows from the first chapter Â*10 Things Ive Learned. They
a

Avoid being obsessed with amateur radio.
Limit your radio budget.
Challenge yourself.
Break bad radio habits.
Experiment.
Dont waste time on the internet.
Dont be ashamed of being a ham.
Avoid perfectionism.
Dont engage in pointless discussion.
Start sharing online.


Some of the advice may seem contradictory. For example, lesson #1 is to
avoid being obsessed with amateur radio, yet one of the chapters is titled,
Commitment is king. Life is like that, though, isnt it? The trick is being
able to resolve those conflicting ideas in our lives. In this case that
means not being obsessed with the hobby while at the same time being
committed to it. Without commitment you wont get as much out of amateur
radio as you might expect, but you still do need to be able to step away
when you need to as well.

One of the chapters that really resonated with me is Finishing Projects (or
Not). I have numerous half-completed projects on my workbench, and when I
think about them, I feel bad that I havent finished them. DH7LM offers
several bits of advice here, including choosing projects wisely, and to
trick yourself into finishing them by postponing other ham radio purchases
until you do complete a particular project.

New hams (and old hams) will find lots of practical advice in this book. It
wont help you operate the latest digital mode, or help you work more DX,
but it will help you get more out of amateur radio.

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