HAM RADIO FOR DUMMIES
                         A Book Review By
              Bob Mauro, Amateur Radio Operator KZ2G

     Feel isolated because of your disability?  Maybe you'd just
like to make some new friends?  If so, you'll love amateur radio. 
I've been a ham radio operator with a disability since 1964. A
great book that will introduce you to Amateur Radio is Ham Radio
for Dummies.  Written by amateur radio operator Ward Silver,
N0AX, this 360-page guide is another in Wiley Publishing's
informative series of easy-to-understand how-to books.  And this
one will give you a nice overview of Amateur Radio.
     Like all the other Dummie guides, Ham Radio for Dummies
employs helpful icons beside certain paragraphs.  These little
graphic symbols alert the reader to which parts of the book he or
she should pay closer attention to.
     One great thing you'll discover in Ham Radio for Dummies is
that you no longer need to learn Morse Code to become a
Technician-class amateur radio operator.  You just need to pass a
35-question, multiple-choice written test on rules, regulations,
radio theory, safety, and operating procedures.  
     As a Technician operator, you'll be able to talk on VHF and
UHF frequencies above 50 megahertz, such as those used by local
amateur radio repeaters.  If you do pass the written Federal
Communications Commission's Technician-class test and their
5-word-per-minute code test, you can use Morse code on certain
frequencies below 30 megahertz and contact hams all over the
world.  However, as the book says, you must pass both a more
difficult FCC written test and an FCC 5-word-per-minute Morse
code test to become a General-class or an Extra-class operator
and, thereby, obtain greater on-air privileges.
     Ham Radio for Dummies will explain everything you'll need to
know about the FCC exams, transceivers, antennas, basic radio
theory, the amateur radio emergency service, safety, ham
satellites, the ham spectrum, listening, ham jargon, setting up
your own station, and where to get study materials to prepare for
your FCC tests.  The book also discusses the Volunteer Examiner
program.  No longer are you required to travel miles to a federal
office building to take your ham radio exam.  Now there are local
VE's, or Volunteer Examiners, located in most areas, including
yours.
     Although Ham Radio for Dummies is not a training manual for
prospective ham operators, it'll introduce you to the many and
varied wonders of ham radio.  Amateur radio is called a hobby. 
But once you get on the air, you'll find out that ham radio is a
close-knit fraternity of men, women and children.  Together,
regardless of age or disability, hams have helped their
communities in times of disaster, like 9/11, and have become life
long friends.
     For more information about ham radio and becoming a amateur
radio operator, check out the American Radio Relay League's
website at www.arrl.org and the
Long Island Mobile Amateur Radio Club's website at www.limarc.org.
And, if you're disabled, check out HandiHams.  
     Finally, as TV's Charles Osgood often says, I hope to "See
you on the air!"