About the book Shri D.P. Dey,
VU2DPD (fondly I call him Dipu Da) wrote-".... The book describes the basic
radio theory and also contains a few pages of questions and answers for the Amateur Radio
Operator's Certificate Examination, which is pre-requisite for establishing and operating
his own ham radio station. Some circuits of transmitters including the addresses from
where PCB can be obtained are also included in the book for the benefit of new licencees.
The 60 odd clear photographs and sketches enhance the beauty and quality of the book.
Sandeep has written the book in a simple way which is readily intelligible even to a
non-technical reader.
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I got fascinated with this technical hobby (ham radio) since my schooldays. "Scanning the World with Amateur Radio" was compiled in 1992 when I had ample of time after doing my graduation in "Agriculture"(1992) and virtually living an unemployed life (of course I used to earn my pocket money by writing articles in the newspapers during those days). In fact I was faded up doing a graduation course of as long as 4 years duration and dropped out (after completing it!) deciding not to do an M.Sc. (which I later on persued in 1994-95 albeit reluctantly and completed with "good marks". I emphasis on "good marks" because I felt that I didn't have the inherent skill to be called a 'gardener' or a 'farmer' or their modern version-'the agricultural scientists'! Probably there was somewhere a broken link that despite being from a farmer's family, my father became a 'Civil Engineer' and then I tried to join that broken link "by".....in the language of Cap'n Fatty Goodlander :"Turning into a fuck'n gardener" ;-)!!) I was fortunate enough to have a supporting family though. I thought of putting my father's old manual typewriter ('Brother' from Japan) to some good work and at the same time wanted to share whatever I learned (in fact I re-wrote the entire Late Saad Ali's, VU2ST book with a pen instead of xeroxing it from a xeroxed version received from my good old friend Deepak Sharma) while trying to become a ham radio operator (I applied for a licence in 1986 but could finally get my licence in 1989). So I started typing the book by collecting matters from various sources. At the same time, I also had a dream to import a sophisticated commercial ham radio equipment (at that time perhaps available for around Rs. 25,000/-) because I was not a very confident homebrewer (I made a VU2VWN QRP CW TX for 40m which was performing somewhat erratically. I even tried putting audio into it for AM and succeeded communicating to a distance of 150 km with my friend Ranjit Da, VU2RCH and Baruah Da, VU2NKB. I got a somewhat better QRP CW TX from Ranjit Da, VU2RCH later on). So, I had to make a choice between investing the money (I was sure to get it from my father who has always been a source of inspiration for me) in buying a commercial equipment or getting my book on ham radio published! As there was no 'creativity' involved in purchasing a ready made equipment (and I was already successfully doing communication using the Morse Code), I thought of becoming myself creative to produce some thing which would be beneficial to the others in the long run! So, my choice is now sitting pretty in front of you! I felt exalted as if I have completed a great project with my father as the sponsor (how many fathers would sponsor such ventures which have no commercial outcome!!)...Now that I have completed a big (!!) project, I jumped into another new project. This is entirely personal and for my own recreation and satisfaction. Then Dipu Da (VU2DPD-who is also a national ham radio net controller of the AIR Net), Baruah Da (VU2NKB) and Ranjit Da (VU2RCH) thought that let this CW operator gets a chance to talk also (I mean SSB). So Dipu Da sent me the layout of the NR-60 through Baruah Da and I made two PCBs of the NR-60 out of the copper clad boards (available at Guwahati!). I assembled the entire thing except the 'coils'! Oh Yeah! I had to come to Delhi for the components which were not available in Guwahati. Mainly the 'crystals' (10 MHz) were not available. It was a week long project. Ranjit Da always loved the company of hams and I felt that he was sincerely inviting me to stay in his house for a week. I shall never forget the hospitality of Ranjit Da (VU2RCH) and his YL (Bijoya baidew), VU3BCH during my stay in their house. My heartliest gratitude to them always. It was because of Ranjit Da's physical and intellectual effort that I could come home with a dual bander (40m and 20m) NR-60 and made thousands of SSB contact with that till 1998. A word of gratitude to Baruah Da, VU2NKB who helped me practicing the Morse Code before the exam. A word of gratitude to my maternal uncle (Shri Kiran Baruah-who is an electrical engineer and renowned in the family for his eccentricity) who presented me the copies of Marvin Tapper's 'Basic Radio'. He purchased each volume for Rs. 1.50/- during his youth at Banaras when he was a student of Banaras Hindu University. They came very handy for me to prepare and learn the ham radio things. This uncle once purchased an entire range of Medical books when my mother had to undergo two operations consecutively! Fortunately those costly volumes were later on utilised by my cousin for her medical study
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Matters of the Book review
are collected from
"On The Air-Bulletin of the Calcutta VHF Amateur Radio Club" and
"Smile Worldwide-Bulletin of DX Network Club"