What's in your service library?

I just got my copy of Elements of Radio Servicing by Marcus. I thought it would be nice to see what you have in your library. Not only a chance to share, but advice for newbies.

I'll start-
"Radio Troubleshooters Handbook" by Ghirardi. This is a fascinating book. It has a lot of general information, plus hundreds of symptoms and suggested cures.
"Complete TV Servicing Handbook". Just in case.
"The 3rd Element". This is one of Alfred Corbin's books. Not technical, but an interesting overview of the development of radio from it's beginnings up to the transistor.
"Radio For the Millions". Just a fun book from Popular Science with a bunch of early radio projects.
"FM Simplified". Actually not as simplified as you'd expect.
"Elementary Radio Servicing" by Wellman.
"Everybody's Radio Manual". Nice old book.
"Audel's Radioman's Guide". Everyone should have a copy of this.
"A Modern Look at Antique Radio Repair-Third edition". This is the Alfred Corbin book that I'm constantly recommending to newbies. Even though it keeps things simple, it still conveys a lot of information. Plus the binding lets it lay flat, which is a nice touch.
"Audel's Book of Practical Electricity". This sometimes comes in handy to settle questions about AC distribution and grounding. Although not always.
And of course two editions of the RCA tube manual. The first one didn't cover a lot of the old tubes, so I got another.

A side note. Everyone should also have a copy of an ARRL handbook. I keep intending to get one.

Okay, I've shown you mine, now you show me yours.
This should be interesting.
Terry

No books.Just the content of the TRF and ARF.

Nick

Boy thats somthing I need to do, is start a Library list.
I will post what I have soon

Well some anyway.

Small library here:
Radio Service Encyclopedia - Mallory / Yaxley 1937
Radio Troubleshooter's Handbook - Alfred Ghirardi 1943
Electronics the Easy Way - Baron's (New)
Elements of Radio Servicing - Marcus and Levy
Vintage Radio - McMahon
One Rider manual and lots of Collectors Guides to help identify radios I see.
Also have a complete set of National Radio Institute - Practical Radio Course from the 40's

Yeah, I forgot about the collector's guide.
Isn't the Ghirardi book amazing? I mean, Automobile wiring diagrams? I love all of the troubleshooting suggestions too.
I also have the "Bret's Antique Radio Restoration DVD's volume 1 and 2'. It's fun watching him start out "Live" troubleshooting a real radio. He also presents some technical stuff in a format even a dummy like me can understand.
Terry

I have a whole bookcase of books...Ghirardi 3 of them about 7 tube manuals, most often need got 7 of them starting 1928 to 1955,Ryders vol,13,14,...Arrl 8 of them diffrent years 1962 to 1990 most in the 60s to 70s..All kinds of tube data books and what not..New books on radios i bought from 1989 to today..7 books on radio parts starting from 1952 they are thick as a phone book..RCA tube manuals complete set,a bunch of small pocket troubleshooting guides. Got many other radio books some were my dads..Military 213 handbook on tubes several catalogs on caps,resistors,tubes ect... Sprman : )

I like homebrewing tube gear so my list is a bit different. One thing for sure, my RCA RC-14 Receiving Tube Manual (1940) gets the most workout by far.

Next in line would the the older ARRL Handbooks and the 'West Coast' Radio Handbooks. It helps to have an edition from every several years because much of the info changes. Leutz's Modern Radio Reception is another good one that's chock full of good info from the 'modern' era of the late 1920s - hihi!

Several handbooks, ARRL, RSGB, Bill Orr, ITT's Ref data for engineers.

Various tube manuals from '27 up, including an RC-14 , Cunningham, Eimac, Taylor, Sylvania, TungSol, GE, and RCA's HB3 on Disc. A couple Mil TM's on tube theory. Beitman's and Riders complete sets on disc.

Sams AR series, up to SS radios, and service manuals for all the gear in the shop. Enough info to forget what I was lookin for in the first place.

Hi just printed out Mil handbook 213 on electron tubes 1964 ,and printed out a lot of other service charts on resistors caps,inductors ect..You find the links for it in here and in ARF.. Sprman : )

Here's at least a partial list of "old" Servicing books/manuals off the top of my head:

Rider Manuals (hard copy 1-17, PDF's 1-23)
Beitman's (some on hard copy, all on PDF)
Zenith Service Manual (hard copy Vol. 1, PDF's 1-3)
Crosley Service Manual (1943 and earlier)
Modern Radio Servicing by Ghirardi
Radio Troubleshooter's Handbook by Ghirardi (hard copy and PDF)
Mallory Radio Service Encyclopedia (hard copy and PDF)
Elements of Radio Servicing by Marcus and Levy (hard copy and PDF)
Fixing Up Nice Old Radios by Ed Romney (bought from a friends estate)
Various Tube and Substitution Manuals

When possible I like having both hard copy and good quality PDF's. Hard copy because nothing beats looking at the original paper. PDF's because they are so handy; I can keep a copy on my computer, enlarge parts if needed, and copy sections to post on forums. Renovated Radios has some PDF's I haven't found anywhere else. My favorites are his 175 Radio Retailing Magazines Spanning 17 Years (1929-1945), they're a wonderful resource for ads and even service hints.

http://www.renovatedradios.com/index.html

Elements of Radio Servicing by Marcus and Levy is available as a free six part download (PDF) here:

http://antiqueradios.com/archive.shtml

John

In real books:

"Elements of Radio Servicing" by Marcus and Levy
Riders volumes 1 thru 22
Bietman's 1926-1938
Bietman's 1940
RCA Receiving Tube Manual
"The All-American Five Radio" by Richard McWhorter
"Electronics" (McGraw-Hill) by Millman & Seely
"Fundamentals of Vacuum Tubes" (McGraw-Hill) by Eastman
"Tube Testers and Classic Electronics Test Gear" by Alan Douglas
Numerous tube substitution manuals

Plus approx 200 books/manuals/instructionals in PDF format (Too many to list).

Larry

I'm a 'hard copy' kind of guy. I hate trying to read a book on a computer screen. I like to hold it in my hand and use a real "bookmark" to mark my place. I also like to read some tech books like a novel.
That said-
As far as schematics go I bought one of those "50,000 schematics" on a DVD. It includes Beitman and all of the Riders plus a complete index. I also downloaded the Universal Schematic Locator and have it on my desktop. I used to have a bunch of Sam's Photofacts, but gave them away when I closed my repair business. Big mistake. Any schematics I don't have on the disk I can usually find at Nostalgia Air.
I didn't know that Alan Douglas had a book. He never mentioned it in our communications. I'm going to find a copy right now. I've also been meaning to buy a copy of "The All American Five Radio".

It's interesting to see what people own on pdf and what they have on hard copy.
Terry

terrydec wrote:......I didn't know that Alan Douglas had a book. He never mentioned it in our communications. I'm going to find a copy right now...........

It was out of print for a while and some asking prices went sky high. The publisher reprinted a batch a while back so the prices dropped back down to a normal range:

http://www.amazon.com/Tube-Testers-Classic-Electronic-Test/dp/1886606145

I have so many I don't remember them all. I have most of the sams from beginning up until about 1991. Ryder,gernsback stuff,et/d schematics,books,etc. I have a bookshelf about 7 feet by 14 full of books, that doesn't include the sams. I got most of them years ago when a lot of the shops were closing. I am like terrydec,I am a hard copy guy. I don't even have internet in my shop and do not want it.

Wow! It's a long time since I've been here. Of course since my concussion it's a long time since I've been anywhere. It's good, though, to know there's still some interest in these topics.
I got a new book by Alan Douglas, "Tube Testers and Classic Electronic Test Gear". It's pretty interesting, but it's more for collectors, which I'm not. But I try and get books by forum members, like Alfred Corbin's Antique Radio repair, (which I have an autographed copy).
Thanks for the post.

Sorry I haven't come around more Bill!
Terry