ARRL Handbook
| ARRL Handbook | |
|---|---|
| Full title | The ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications |
| Original title | The Radio Amateur's Handbook |
| First edition | 1926, written by F. E. Handy, W1BDI |
| Publisher | ARRL, Newington, Connecticut |
| Latest edition | |
| Edition | 102nd, "Handbook 102", 2026 |
| Editor | Gregory D. Lapin, N9GL |
| Length | 1,280 pages (softcover) |
| Formats | Softcover, six-volume set, e-book |
| Companion volume | |
| Antenna Book | The ARRL Antenna Book, published since 1939; 25th edition 2023 |
The ARRL Handbook, in full The ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications, is the ARRL's comprehensive reference on radio electronics, and for a century it has been the best-known technical book in amateur radio. It explains the theory behind circuits, receivers, transmitters, antennas and propagation, and it pairs that theory with practical designs and construction projects. First published in 1926 as The Radio Amateur's Handbook, it has been revised so often that the 2023 edition was the 100th.[1] The ARRL presents the 102nd edition, dated 2026, as marking 100 years of continuous publication since 1926.[2] Engineers and electronics hobbyists use it as well as hams, and many shacks keep a copy, new or decades old, within arm's reach.
History
The first edition was written by F. E. Handy, W1BDI, at a time when nearly every amateur station was built by hand from parts and magazine articles.[3] The ARRL's own edition announcements give 1926 as the year of the first edition.[4][3] One ARRL reference page says the book has been a reference "since 1929", but that cannot be the starting date, because the sixth edition was already in print in 1929.[5][6] New editions came quickly in the early years, and the thirteenth, labeled the 1936 edition, was first printed in October 1935.[7]
For decades the Handbook was revised almost every year and labeled by year, so that a "2018 Handbook" or "2020 Handbook" identified the edition; the 2018 book was the 95th edition and the 2020 book the 97th.[4][3] Old editions are prized in their own right as a record of how the hobby's technology changed, from tubes and spark-era practice to transistors, integrated circuits and software-defined radio. Many early editions are now freely available as scans from online radio history archives.
The 101st edition, released in October 2024, was branded by its edition number, Handbook 101, rather than by year.[8] It was the first under a new editor, Gregory D. Lapin, N9GL, who leads a team of subject experts.[8] The 102nd edition, Handbook 102, has a 2026 first printing and is again edited by Lapin; the ARRL Store lists it in softcover, as a six-volume set and as a digital edition.[2][9][10]
Contents
The Handbook is also sold as a set of six paperback volumes. The six-volume 2020 edition shows how its material is arranged:[3]
- Introduction and fundamental theory
- Practical design and principles, part 1
- Practical design and principles, part 2
- Antenna systems and radio propagation
- Equipment construction and station accessories
- Test equipment, troubleshooting, RFI and index
Each edition revises chapters and adds material. Handbook 101 reworked the chapters on radio fundamentals, transmission lines, safety and station assembly, and added or expanded coverage of electromagnetic modeling with low-cost software, preparing a station for emergency operation, radio astronomy receivers and antennas, batteries and battery safety, SWR meters, and RF exposure compliance with FCC rules.[8] It runs to more than 1,200 pages.[8][11] A downloadable e-book comes with the printed book and includes a searchable copy of the text plus supplemental articles, software and printed circuit board templates for the projects.[8] The ARRL posts corrections and supporting files for each edition on its website.[12]
The ARRL Antenna Book
The Handbook's companion, The ARRL Antenna Book for Radio Communications, has been published since 1939.[13] It covers antenna theory, design and construction, transmission lines and propagation, with hundreds of designs ranging from simple wire antennas and verticals to portable, mobile and VHF and UHF Yagis.[13] The current 25th edition, first printed in 2023, fills 1,104 pages in its four-volume form: antenna fundamentals; basic antenna types and MF and HF antennas; VHF, UHF and microwave antennas and specialty applications; and transmission lines, building and maintaining antenna systems, and the index.[14]
Buyers also get a searchable digital edition, nearly 350 supplemental articles and projects, and software.[14] Earlier editions included a version of the EZNEC antenna modeling program, EZNEC-ARRL, which has been replaced by EZNEC 7.0, a full-featured but unsupported version available from the EZNEC website; older Windows utilities supplied with the book, such as HFTA for terrain analysis, are no longer being updated.[15]
See also
References
- ↑ ARRL Handbook 2023, ARRL.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Handbook 102: Softcover, ARRL Store.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 New ARRL Handbook and ARRL Antenna Book Editions Available in Your Favorite Format, ARRL, October 2019.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Major New Edition of The ARRL Handbook is Now Available!, ARRL, November 2017.
- ↑ ARRL References, ARRL.
- ↑ The Radio Amateur's Handbook, sixth edition (1929), scan at World Radio History.
- ↑ The Radio Amateur's Handbook, 1936 edition, scan at World Radio History.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Handbook 101: A New Generation of Amateur Radio, ARRL, October 2024.
- ↑ Handbook 102: 6-Volume Set, ARRL Store.
- ↑ Handbook 102: Digital Edition, ARRL Store.
- ↑ Handbook 101: Softcover, ARRL Store.
- ↑ ARRL Handbook Reference, ARRL.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 New ARRL Handbook, Antenna Book Editions Now Shipping, ARRL, October 2015.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Antenna Book 25th Edition: 4-Volume Set, ARRL Store.
- ↑ ARRL Antenna Book Reference, ARRL.