I divide books into seven categories - basic instruction, advanced instruction, service information, technical reference, test equipment reference, radio manufacturing history and books for collectors.  Histories of broadcasting are fascinating but outside the scope of this web site.  All of the books described here are in my personal library and, like everything else on this site, are not for sale.

Only books are listed below, but I'd like to mention some of the other publications of interest to collectors.  They include old magazines for the radio design engineer (Radio Engineering, Electronics), for the serviceman and experimenter (Service, Radio-Craft, early Radio News), and for the general public (later Radio News).  There were also house publications from manufacturers of equipment (GR Experimenter) and parts (CD Capacitor, Solar System).  Also of interest are catalogs, fliers and sales brochures, and magazine and newspaper ads from radio and test equipment manufacturers, parts manufacturers and distributors.  There are also vintage parts substitution guides from many parts manufacturers.  Finally, there are current magazine columns for restorers (in Popular Electronics and Popular Communications), as well as current magazines for collectors, including Antique Radio Classified (visit their web site).

Beginners usually need books that teach the basics of electronic theory as well as servicing theory and practice.  Books that are currently (or recently) in print that I suggest for beginners are:

• Old Time Radios! Restoration and Repair.  By Joseph J. Carr.  Published by TAB Books, Blue Ridge Summit, PA, 1991.  An excellent introduction to radio history and electronics, radio circuits, troubleshooting and repair.  It contains a nice balance of theory and practical information.

• Antique Radios: Restoration and Price Guide.  By David and Betty Johnson.  Published by Wallace-Homestead Book Company, Radnor, PA, 1982.  Another excellent how-to book for the novice repairman including sources of parts and information.

• Antique Radio Restoration Guide.  By David Johnson.  Published by Wallace-Homestead Book Company, Radnor, PA, 1992.  This is actually the second edition of the preceding work, but without the price guide and with expanded and rewritten instructions for the novice repairman.

Some excellent older books in my collection that the beginner may find very instructional are:

• Radio Servicing: Theory and Practice.  By Abraham Marcus.  Published by Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York, 1948.  This is the introduction that I suggest.  It is intended for beginners but is useful for even experienced restorers.

• Elements of Radio.  By Abraham Marcus and William Marcus.  Published by Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York (later Englewood, NJ), 1943, 1948, 1953, 1959.  This volume covers electronic theory and its application in radio receivers and transmitters.  I own the first and fourth editions.

• Radio Physics Course: An Elementary Text Book on Electricity and Radio.  By Alfred A. Ghirardi.  Published by Radio & Technical Publishing Co., New York, 1930, 1933.  A thorough course in electronic theory and radio circuits.  The information does not reflect the advances in radio circuitry of the '30s and '40s but it remains a classic.  It can be difficult to find and rather expensive.

• Principles of Radio Communication.  By James H. Morecroft.  Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1921, 1927, 1933.  This was one of the early great works on radio theory, and may be overly technical for most beginners and rather dated but is included here for the ambitious.

• Audels Radiomans Guide: Covering Theory, Construction and Servicing Including Television Receivers.  By Edwin P. Anderson.  Published by Theo. Audel & Co., New York, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1944.  This fairly simple book covers a wide variety of electronic equipment including aircraft and industrial electronics and test equipment.  It is not as heavy on theory as the above volumes but can still be a useful introduction.

A collector with advanced knowledge of radio theory will find these useful as references.  Someone with basic knowledge who wants to move up to the advanced level will find these texts invaluable.  A word of warning - some of these were college textbooks for Electrical Engineering majors and a prerequisite for understanding them is a mastery of higher mathematics.

• Fundamentals of Vacuum Tubes.  By Austin V. Eastman.  Published by McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, 1937, 1941.  For many years this was the standard college text on tube theory and applications.  It covers all types of tubes and their applications in control, audio and radio circuits.

• Radio Engineering.  By Frederick Emmons Terman.  Published by McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, 1932, 1937.  This college text focuses on all types of radio circuits, both transmitting and receiving, and the uses of tubes therein.  It also includes chapters on antennas, radio navigation, television and sound systems.

• Electron Tubes in Industry.  By Keith Henney.  Published by McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, 1934, 1937.  While not, strictly speaking, a radio text, this volume nonetheless covers some apllications of tubes in radio and test equipment, as well as in a fascinating variety of other applications.

• Vacuum Tubes in Wireless Communications.  By Elmer F. Bucher.  Published by Wireless Press, Inc., New York, 1918, 1919.  An outstanding work detailing the state of the art in radio circuits on the eve of broadcasting.  This is not a college text, but was aimed at the advanced radio operators and experimenters of the day.

• Getting the Most Out of Vacuum Tubes.  By Robert B. Tomer.  Published by Howard W. Sams & Co., Inc., Indianapolis, 1960.  This somewhat rare title is concerned primarily with how and why tubes fail.  It also includes valuable information on tube characteristics and performance, tube testers and lengthening tube life.

Schematics and other service info are a must! You don't have to run out and buy huge multi-volume sets of schematics to get started, though.  If you ask nicely in the Antique Radio Newsgroup or subscribe to the Vintage Radio Mailing List (put the command "subscribe vintage-radio" without quotes in the body of your message and nothing else) and ask there you may find someone who will make copies for you for if you compensate them for the costs of copying and postage.  There are sites that have service info for old sets, and individuals and companies online who will provide service info for a fee.  Here are the most common collections of service info:

• Perpetual Troubleshooter's Manual.  Compiled by John F. Rider.  Published by John F. Rider, New York.  These 23 volumes are the standard collection of service info for sets from the '20s to the early '50s.  Although they have been out of print for decades individual volumes frequently appear at meets and on the net, but a complete set is quite expensive.  Some large libraries have them.  They were originally published in the blue Rider bindings, and also published in green National Union bindings and other bindings.  The earliest volumes and volume XXIII are the most expensive.  On occasion you may find the Complete Radiotron Manual, also published as the Complete Perpetual Troubleshooter's Manual, containing the first three volumes in one binding.  An alternative to the expensive early volumes is the Abridged Volumes I-V, covering just the most popular sets from those volumes.  A reasonable alternative is to purchase CD-ROMS containing the information from the 23 volumes.  The CDs, in sets covering 3 or 4 volumes per disk, are sold by AES and by others and are often available at meets.

• Most-Often-Needed Radio Diagrams and Servicing Information.  Compiled by M. N. Beitman.  Published by Supreme Publications, Chicago.  These are less complete than Rider and less expensive, but no easier to find.  The first volume covered sets from 1926 to 1938.  Individual annual volumes were published beginning in 1939.

• Sams Photofact Folder Sets.  Published by Howard W. Sams & Co., Indianapolis.  Beginning in the late '40s these sets covered virtually every post-WWII radio and television receiver.  Each set contained several folders, with each folder covering one or more sets (using the same or similar chassis) from a single manufacturer.  Sets and folders can be expensive.  Some libraries have them and many sources of copies are available.

• Scott Harvey has created a program that owners of any of the above-listed service information should download. It is a Universal Schematic Locator for Rider, Beitman and Sams. Scott's program makes it easy to search for a schematic with even partial information, such a partial model number or partial chassis number.

• Manufacturers' Publications - the annual RCA Service Notes ("Red Books"), Philco RMS Year Books and other manufacturers' publications are the most definitive sources of info, and were used in compiling the collections above.  These books can be very difficult to find and quite expensive, but are valued by collectors who specialize in a particular manufacturer.

I can list only a few of the many references that the collector and restorer might own.  Tube manuals can be invaluable in troubleshooting a set when you have little more than a schematic to work from.  They are often the first technical references that a restorer acquires.  The MYE books are extremely valuable collections of information.  The Radiotron Handbooks are best suited for more experienced restorers.

• RCA Electron Tube Handbook HB-3.  Published by Radio Corporation of America, Harrison, NJ, 1957, with later update pages.  I include this for completeness because it is my primary tube reference.  It is not for the beginner or those with a slim wallet - a fully-updated set could cost $200.00 or more.  These ten volumes in six binders were issued by RCA as a subscription service for engineers who designed tube equipment.  As new tube types were released data sheets for them were mailed to subscribers for inclusion in their binders.  They provide the most complete technical information available for the entire RCA line - receiving, transmitting, industrial and special-purpose tubes.

• RCA Receiving Tube Manual.  Published by Radio Corporation of America, Harrison (later Camden), NJ.  Thirty editions were published, the last in 1975.  Each covers specifications and applications for a large number of receiving tubes with special emphasis (and most of the information) on tube types that were currently available from RCA when each edition was published.  This was the most often used (and most often updated) receiving tube data book from the largest tube manufacturer in the world.  Pre-WWII editions are hard to find and rather pricey, post-war editions are more common.  I own several from RC-14 (1940) to RC-30 (1975).  You can find an online copy of RC-10 at (of all places!) Harvard University.

• Technical Manual: Sylvania Radio Tubes.  Published by Sylvania Electric Products, Inc., Emporia, PA (later New York).  I have the 7th (1949), 8th (1951) and 10th (1955) editions.  It is an excellent resource because it covers tubes from all manufacturers, not just Sylvania, and provides data for tubes as far back as the '01A.

• General Electric Essential Characteristics - Receiving Types.  Published by General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY.  My copy is from about 1950, and like the Sylvania volume is an excellent resource which covers tubes from all manufacturers beginning in the '20s.

• The Mallory-Yaxley Radio Service Encyclopedia.  Published by P. R. Mallory & Co., Inc., Indianapolis.  This work, known as MYE, was first published in 1937.  It brought together a variety of information from earlier manuals.  It provided parts replacement data for almost all American made receivers up to that time, including tube complement, volume and tone controls, filter condensers, vibrators and IF frequencies.  The second edition of 1938 added many more technical articles about receiver design and circuits and parts replacement.  The third edition of 1939 added for each model a reference to the service info for that model in Rider.  The third grew so large that the technical articles were dropped and replaced by a series of MYE Monthly Technical Service booklets.  The fourth edition of 1940 was twice as large as the third, and the fifth edition of 1946 larger still.  The fifth remains one of the most important references for the restorer, covering almost all of the pre-WWII American receivers.

• Radio Industry Red Book Replacement Parts Buyer's Guide.  Published by Howard W. Sams, Indianapolis.  This is essentially the successor to the MYE, with the first edition published in 1948.  It differs from the MYE in many respects.  Multiple replacement parts manufacturers are listed - the MYE listed only Mallory brands.  It covers sets from 1938 to 1948.  Like the MYE it gives replacement filter capacitors, controls and vibrators.  Unlike the MYE it also includes replacement power and audio transformers, IF coils, phono cartridges and speakers.

• MYE Technical Manual.  Published by P. R. Mallory & Co., Inc., Indianapolis.  This 1942 volume took up where the technical articles from MYE and the Monthly Technical Service left off.  It remains one of the finest single volumes for the serviceman.  It includes sections on speakers, superheterodyne circuits, power supplies, phono-radio service, automatic and pushbutton tuning, FM, TV, a large section on capacitors and much more.

• The Radiotron Designer's Handbook.  Edited by F. Langford-Smith.  Published by The Wireless Press for Amalgamated Wireless Valve Company Pty., Ltd., Sydney, Australia.  Reproduced and distributed in the USA by Radio Corporation of America, Harrison, NJ.  This is the standard reference work for the designer of audio and radio vacuum tube circuits and equipment, but is also a superb reference for those who repair and experiment with tube equipment.  The immense fourth edition (1953) is highly prized by tube audio enthusiasts (and highly priced), and has recently been reprinted.  Don't overlook the smaller (and more modestly priced) third edition (1945) which is just as useful for the vast majority of experienced restorers.

Here are some of the volumes in my library that provide instruction in the theory and use of various categories of test equipment.  The first two are quite technical, the third somewhat less so, and the rest are intended for a general electronic audience.

• Basic Electronic Instrument Handbook.  Edited by Clyde F. Coombs, Jr.  Published by McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, 1972.  The 40 chapters, written by experts in industry and higher education, constitute one of the finest reference works on a broad range of test equipment.

• Electrical Measurements in Theory and Application.  By Arthur Whitmore Smith.  Published by McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, 1914, 1924, 1924.  A text for students who have had one year of college physics.  It describes and illustrates various methods of measuring electrical quantities.  Of special interest are the chapters on galvanometers, the Wheatstone bridge, and potentiometer and standard cell methods.

• Handbook of Practical Electronic Tests and Measurements.  By John D. Lenk.  Published by Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1969.  A fine survey of methods of electronic measurement with an emphasis on practical applications.

• Practical Oscilloscope Handbook.  By Rufus P. Turner.  Two volumes, published by John F. Rider Publisher, Inc., New York, 1964, later printings published by Hayden Book Company, Inc., New York.  Volume 1 contains an introduction to the oscilloscope concerned mainly with service-grade scopes, as well as basic tests and measurements including radio receiver tests and adjustments.  Volume 2 covers the features of lab-grade scopes and includes industrial and laboratory tests and measurements.

• Probes.  By Bruno Zucconi and Martin Cliford.  Published by Gernsback Library, Inc., New York, 1955.  You name the probe and this books shows you how it works and is used.

• How to Use Test Probes.  By Alfred A. Ghirardi and Robert G. Middleton.  Published by John F. Rider Publisher, Inc., New York, 1954.  Not as comprehensive as the previous work, but somewhat more detailed and technical.

• Know Your Sweep Generators.  By Robert G. Middleton.  Published by Howard W. Sams & Co., Inc., Indianapolis, 1967.  My favorite book on sweep generators covers all types of sweep circuits and includes an appendix with experiments.

• How to Use Signal Generators in Radio/TV/Hi-Fi Servicing.  By John D. Lenk.  Published by John F. Rider Publisher, Inc., New York, 1967.  Included are chapters on generator operating principles and procedures, testing and calibrating service-type generators, and their use in servicing radios, TVs and audio amplifiers.

• How to Use Grid-Dip Oscillators.  By Rufus P. Turner.  Published by John F. Rider Publisher, Inc., New York, 1960, second edition published by Hayden Book Company, Inc., New York, 1969.  The last word on the subject, covering theory, applications and descriptions of the leading models of GDOs.

I can list only a few items here.  Some cover single manufacturers, others are broader in scope.

• Radio Manufacturers of the 1920s.  By Alan Douglas.  Three volumes, published by The Vestal Press, Ltd., Vestal, NY, 1988, 1989 and 1991.  This is the definitive guide to '20s radios and their manufacturers for both collectors and historians.  The scholarship is superb, the extensive listings of models are profusely illustrated and many photographs of factories and founders are included.  All of the major manufacturers and many of the minor ones are covered.

• Zenith Radio, The Early Years: 1919-1935.  By Harold N. Cones and John H. Bryant.  Published by Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Atglen, PA, 1997.  The definitive work on early Zeniths up to the introduction of the first black-dial set, the legendary Stratosphere.  It includes an extensive company history with numerous photographs.  All of the models of the period are listed with, when possible, pictures or illustrations, many in color.  Other information including rarity and current value complete this valuable resource.

• Philco Radio 1928-1942.  By Ron Ramirez.  Published by Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Atglen, PA, 1993.  This volume covers the history of the company and the evolution of its product year-by-year up to World War II.  Almost all of the models are pictured, about half with color photographs.  Additional information including rarity and socket layouts for every model complete this fine work.

These are recent works aimed at the growing community of antique radio collectors.  This is only a partial listing of what is available.

• The Collector's Guide to Antique Radios.  1st through 4th editions by Marty & Sue Bunis, 5th edition by John Slusser, Marty Bunis and Kathy Slusser.  Published by Collector Books, Paducah, KY, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2001.  This is the most widely used price guide for collectors.  The color photographs are different in each edition.  The first two editions covered crystal, tube and transistor radios.  Beginning with the third edition the transistor sets were spun off into a separate volume (see below).  The dates for some sets are incorrect and prices vary widely around the country (not to mention the sums I've seen sets go for in online auctions).  This is the only book that I've found so necessary that I keep a copy in the car.  A combined edition was published on CD-ROM (now out of print), containing the photos from the first four editions plus prices from the fourth edition, as well as corrected Zenith dates and special Zenith reference information by George Kaczowka that is not in the books.

• Collector's Guide to Transistor Radios.  By Marty and Sue Bunis.  Published by Collector Books, Paducah, KY, 1994, 1996.  The most widely used price guide for transistor sets.

• Machine Age to Jet Age: Radiomania's Guide to Tabletop Radios 1933-1959; Machine Age to Jet Age II: Radiomania's Guide to Tabletop Radios 1930-1959; Machine Age to Jet Age III: Radiomania's Guide to Tabletop Radios (1930-1962).  By Mark V. Stein.  Published by Radiomania Publishing, Baltimore.  Volume 1 published 1994 (2nd printing w/ revised prices 1998), volume 2 published 1997, volume 3 published 1999.  The three volumes contain several thousand black and white photographs and illustrations of table sets including cathedrals and tombstones.  Volume 2 also contains 16 pages of color photographs.

• Evolution of the Radio.  Edited by Scott Wood.  Published by L-W Book Sales, Gas City, IN.  Volume 1 published 1991 (2nd printing w/ revised prices 1994), volume 2 published 1993.  Each volume begins with a large selection of catalog pages and advertisements, each dated by year and most in black and white.  The bulk of each volume consists of color photographs of hundreds of old radios from the '20s to the '60s.

• Guide to Old Radios: Pointers, Pictures and Prices.  By David and Betty Johnson.  Published by Wallace-Homestead Book Company, Radnor, PA, 1989, 1995.  An overview of broadcast history and the evolution of radio receiver technology with an emphasis on how to determine the approximate age of radios that you find, as well as how to evaluate the condition of a set and what to beware of when shopping for old radios.