Book: "Radio Servicing theory and practice" by Abraham Marcus. - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

G6Tanuki · 18th Nov 2016, 8:27 pm

A while back I put the word out round the local charity-shops that I was interested in any 'radio-related' books that may come their way. This recently yielded me a 1946 ARRL handbook, and today I got this new one [see photo].

Published by George Allen and Unwin, there's 770 pages of useful stuff; mine's the second edition (1958) and it cost 50 Shillings new. I got it for 50p. It's a US book so goes extensively into AC/DC supplies running off 117V, line-cords and suchlike. it also uses some quaint terms like "micromicrofarads" when referring to capacitor values.

There's a passing mention of transistors! Indeed, a reference to a "lab development" audio transistor that can handle 20 Watts.

Overall it gives some rather handy tips on servicing and use of test-gear for fault finding. You'll find quite a bit of familiar stuff here - like using a neon in series with a capacitor to test for leakage. if you come across a copy of this book then spring 50p and enjoy!

Bazz4CQJ · 18th Nov 2016, 9:30 pm

On a similar vein, and 50p cheaper, I've just stumbled upon a book called "Probes" which is mid-1950's USA, over 200 pages and all about the use of diode probes in servicing, probably of most interest to relative beginners. It's a 43MB download from http://www.tubebooks.org/books/zucconi_probes.pdf.

The term "vtvm" is used throughout but never defined; it refers to "vacuum tube voltmeter", but if you don't have one, modern digital multimeters will probably have a sufficiently high impedance to do the same job.

B

18th Nov 2016, 8:27 pm	#1
G6Tanuki Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Wiltshire, UK. Posts: 14,007	Book: "Radio Servicing theory and practice" by Abraham Marcus. A while back I put the word out round the local charity-shops that I was interested in any 'radio-related' books that may come their way. This recently yielded me a 1946 ARRL handbook, and today I got this new one [see photo]. Published by George Allen and Unwin, there's 770 pages of useful stuff; mine's the second edition (1958) and it cost 50 Shillings new. I got it for 50p. It's a US book so goes extensively into AC/DC supplies running off 117V, line-cords and suchlike. it also uses some quaint terms like "micromicrofarads" when referring to capacitor values. There's a passing mention of transistors! Indeed, a reference to a "lab development" audio transistor that can handle 20 Watts. Overall it gives some rather handy tips on servicing and use of test-gear for fault finding. You'll find quite a bit of familiar stuff here - like using a neon in series with a capacitor to test for leakage. if you come across a copy of this book then spring 50p and enjoy! Attached Thumbnails

18th Nov 2016, 9:30 pm	#2
Bazz4CQJ Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Oxfordshire, UK. Posts: 4,935	Re: Book: "Radio Servicing theory and practice" by Abraham Marcus. On a similar vein, and 50p cheaper, I've just stumbled upon a book called "Probes" which is mid-1950's USA, over 200 pages and all about the use of diode probes in servicing, probably of most interest to relative beginners. It's a 43MB download from http://www.tubebooks.org/books/zucconi_probes.pdf. The term "vtvm" is used throughout but never defined; it refers to "vacuum tube voltmeter", but if you don't have one, modern digital multimeters will probably have a sufficiently high impedance to do the same job. B