RSGB Books - Tired Old Reprints?

The RSGB has been latching-on more and more of late to the fact that its book sales are doing a lot towards its financial health.

This is a good thing, and most of us enjoy soaking-up as many ham radio texts as we can.

This year, there's been a big push, together with a £5 blanket book token for all members, to sell - yes - more RSGB books.

A good book, though the material is often very old.  Image: RSGB

I duly bought the 2015 Radio Communications book - a big, fat 'bible' of radio facts and tips.  It's not, by any means, a worthless book.  But, if you've been a ham for a while, the vast majority of the text will be sadly very familiar to you.  Simply other books and RadCom articles rolled into one compendium, albeit with a handy CDROM of the contents.

OK, in this, the RSGB book is a plain analogue, right down to the CDROM, of the ARRL Antenna Book, which never fails to sell in large numbers.  Perhaps it's easier simply to buy these large compendiums than fork-out for a large number of smaller books.

Personally, I think the RSGB books need a huge revamp and update in general.  The section on planning and the ham operator is very old - I've not seen any updates to it over the past four years, at best.  In places, it is misleading. 

For example, it states that 'legal action can quickly follow' in the event of a planning breach.  That's sometimes true, but it fails to point to the government's own guidance that planning breaches are firstly not a breach of the law in themselves and, secondly, that any breach is more often than not brought to a resolution through cheap and easily-achieved negotiation, not wildly expensive and time-consuming litigation.  In many cases, antennas are not major breaches, and often of minimal objective impact of any sort.

Another book I bought this Christmas was the RSGB 2015 Yearbook.  This is a total joke!  Basically, it's a few pages of ham radio stuff and then a printed directory of members.  Why on earth does the RSGB produce this tat when that data - and much more - is freely available on QRZ.com and other sites, and could also be available - maybe it is already - off the RSGB web site?

Earlier in the year, I bought a book about Radio Propagation, also by the RSGB.  It's OK, but very thin on detail, hardly any references to scientific research, and clearly out of step with latest findings and modes - there's nothing at all about the WSPR beacon revolution, for example. 

Come on, RSGB!  There is hardly a lack of new stuff to write - and write lively and well - about.  Let's hope 2015 sees the tired, repeat-published stuff start to fade away, and fresh stuff make an appearance.