REVIEW: CD-ROM - RADIOTRON DESIGNER'S HANDBOOK F Langford Smith The release of the 4th (and last) Edition of the Radiotron Designer's Handbook on CD-ROM should certainly prove to all that vacuum technology is not necessarily a thing of the past. Many audio enthusiasts and radio amateurs whose keen interest in this older technology is certainly added testimony to this fact. For those who are not familiar with the Radiotron Designer's Handbook, it is THE standard reference work on using vacuum tubes in radio receivers and audio amplifier applications. Original copies are highly prized by enthusiasts and collectors, particularly the 4th edition which came out towards the end of the "hollow state" era in the 1950s. F Langford Smith was an Australian engineer and his books were distributed in the USA by RCA who were a major player in vacuum tube production and marketing. The scope of the RADIOTRON DESIGNER'S HANDBOOK is focused on the design of the above and other areas such as television, test equipment, radio transmission, radar and industrial electronics have been excluded in the interest of brevity. Here we are in the computer age of microprocessors and the information superhighway and along comes a searchable cd of the ultimate representative of "obsolete" electronic technology - isn't it wonderful! The CD-ROM is accessed through Adobe Acrobat (included) and allows the reader to go from area to area with the click of a button! You'll need a 386 and MS Windows 3.1 to use this. There are 50 pages of indexing covering over 7,000 items. Everything is hyperlinked and navigation through the material is effortless. Since I am working on a problem with hum in an older piece of equipment (a common problem) I found this a suitable subject for research using the CD-ROM. I was not disappointed with the results of my search and I found myself scrolling through several pages on the subject of hum, linking through the index to areas on power supplies, rectification and filtering. Whoever did the hyperlinking did a superb job! Langford Smith would love it as did I. I guess the main reason the CD-ROM was created is because the original bound version of the book is so scarce. But the great thinn about the CD version is that it is very easy to search for things of interest. Pages may be easily printed on a 24-pin, inkjet or laser printer. This is a serious work for people who are serious about vacuum tube technology! Its just packed with information, diagrams, charts and tables. If you are truly interested in audio and radio circuits here is the ultimate reference source and guide. I expect to refer to it frequently. %T RADIOTRON'S DESIGNER HANDBOOK %A F Langford Smith %I Audio Amateur Publications Inc. %C Peterborough NH 03458-0576 Tel: 603-924-6371 %D 1996 %O CD-ROM $69.95 (C) 1996 Michael Crestohl Nahant Massachusetts USA mc@shore.net DISCLAIMER: I have no interest, financial or otherwise, in the success or failure of the book or materials reviewed herewith, nor have I received any compensation (other than a review copy requested by me) from anyone who has. All opinions expressed are strictly my own. Other Internet and Aviation book/software reviews by me can be obtained by anonymous FTP from: x2ftp.oulu.fi in the /pub/books/crestohl directory.