EUonline Product Review:
The ARRL Handbook CD-ROM

By Mark Jovanovic

I have been using the ARRL Handbook since 1973, when it was a medium-sized softbound book.Over the years, it has evolved into a huge hardbound reference manual. It has always been a wealth of information, and is always my first book of choice when I needed to look up anything regarding electronics, basic theory, advanced electronics formulas, or any type of electronics data..The recent Handbooks have become so large and packed full of data it has become a bit physically hard to handle! I've expected it to come out on CD-ROM for several years now, Well, finally, it’s here! And it has become one of my favorite CD-ROMs (and I have a lot of CD-ROMs).

I’ve been waiting to see a review of it, but have yet to see one. The kind of review I wanted to see would describe what the CD-ROM contained and how to use it. So, I decided to review it myself.

Contents and Features

It has 30 Chapters consisting of hundreds of images,diagrams and color photos (1500+ in .TIF format) and a few powerful search engines (I have found the "search" function works the best to navigate around the CD-ROM).

For example, clicking on "search" brings up a dialog box where you can type in any keywords,let’s say for this example we want to learn about WWV.

It then prompts you to start the search by clicking on the search button. While it searches the entire disk, the familiar Hourglass icon comes up. We see a list of related topics with the subsctegory "Basic Units & Frequencies" highlighted. Another click on the "Go To" button pops up a description of WWV and CHU, and also two media player icons labelled WWV and CHU. When you click on the play button for either one a sound byte of actual WWV or CHU transmissions starts playing through your sound card.

Similarly,if you look up weather Satellites the topic describes how they work and displays the player so you are able to hear how the WeFax information sounds as it’s being transmitted to earth.

At any time you can click on the "Print" icon and your printer will print the entire topic with any graphics.You can also highlight an area of text and send it to the Windows Clipboard by clicking on "copy".When you are viewing a topic, you navigate around by clicking on "back" "prev" "or "next" buttons. You are able to save and print any text or image to the Clipboard. I have printed many pages that I keep in my "hardcopy" Engineering Binder.

There is a GREAT help feature that goes into much more detail than I have presented here. Since the CD-ROM does not come with any printed Users Guide, I have had to print the complete Help contents for reference, as I prefer reading a paper manual, instead of spending lots of time in front of the computer screen.

You can also save any image in any common graphics format by using "save as" command when in image viewer.The image can be manipulated in numerous ways.

There is another handy companion software package that comes on the CD-ROM, a database that has a complete listing of vendors that supply equipment and supplies related to Amateur Radio, and a database listing which issues of QST have Equipment reviews.

I recently bought a Kenwood TS-430 HF Transceiver, and decided to look up when it was reviewed in QST. A quick search told me it was reviewed in the March 1984 issue of QST by WB2TBN. (Many years of back issues of QST magazine are also on CD ROMs, available separately from ARRL).

Also on the CD-ROM are 130 ARRL Text files (in the .TXT format) and 15 DOS programs. The companion Software Help describes these programs in detail, but here is a highlight of the contents.
The text files are related to Amateur Radio but can be a wealth of information to any Engineering person. They are grouped into the following two categories:
1.BIBILOG (QST Article Bibliographies) (110 files/664K), and
2.TIS (Technical Information Service) (25 files/469K),
Numerous files are related to solving problems with radio Frequency Interference (RFI) as applied to CATV, VCRs, audio, telephone, PCs, lamps, automotive and so forth. Also,there are files describing how to go about finding manuals, Electronic Kits, Ham Radio repairs and Packet Radio.
Most of the DOS programs are written in BASIC. Programs include an Active Low & High Pass Filter calculator, a single-layer aircore coil spacing calculator for use with loaded dipole antennas, a single-layer aircore coil inductance calculator, and a PiNet calculator and coax line loss calculator, among others.

Pros and Cons

The search engines are very effective,the contents are well organized and the images, diagrams, formulas and photos are outstanding. I really enjoy hearing the various sound bytes. The printing works very well, as a matter of fact; I’ve been able to print numerous pages of data to add to my Engineering Binder.

There needs to be a greater bookmark capacity, as I was able to fill it up with no problem. There are a lot of topics that I want to be able to refer back to, but can't, because the program couldn't hold any more bookmarks.

As far as the Vendor Database Software, I had wanted a way to add my personal Rolodex of Engineering Vendors/suppliers to the Database. This feature would come in very handy when you'd like to consolidate your existing vendor lists with those on the ARRL CD-ROM

I was disappointed that there was no printed Guide/Booklet included with the CD-ROM. I enjoy reading an instruction manual in my easy chair, as opposed to reading it from my computer screen. I would have been willing to pay a bit more if it included a printed manual.

Conclusion

Version 1.0 has been a great first effort in bringing the Handbook to CD-ROM. It is my hope that ARRL will read this review and incorporate these ideas in version 2.0.

I'd give ARRL's first effort an "A minus"

Ordering Information

To order the ARRL Handbook CD-ROM, contact:
ARRL American Radio Relay League
225 Main St.Newington CT 06111-1494
1-888-277-5289

catalog #1751
PRICE: $49.95, plus $4.00 shipping and handling

The ARRL Web site is at http://www.arrl.org

Mark Jovanovic, formerly an Electronics Engineer for National Public Radio ,was an Engineering Technician for Weinschel Engineering, a Quality Control Technician for Vitro Labs, and a Final Test Technician for Broadcast Electronics. He has done Technical design/installation for numerous Recording Studios in the Washington, DC area, Specializing in equipment design, modification, prototyping "One of a Kind" products,Test & Measurement,CAD work and Engineering Documentation. He's a Home Audio/Video enthusiast, Amateur Radio Operator,(N3KBN) and can be reached at: 75103.3100@compuserve.com

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