The Services Text Book Of Radio

[Andrewausfa]

I've recently snapped up volumes 1, 3, 5 and 7 of this encompassing HMSO series but oddly can't seem to find vols. 2, 4, and 6. Has anyone got these or were they never actually published?

Thanks - Andrew

[Skywave]

I too have the same volumes that you have and have never seen nor heard of the even numbered ones. But - a long time ago - I do vaguely recall being informed by a reliable source that they were never published. I can only surmise that they do not exist.
Same with the book "The Handbook of Line Communication, volume 1", Royal Signals, 1947: volume 2 does not seem to exist.

Al.

[Andrewausfa]

Thanks Al. There's a publishers slip in vol.3 saying that volume was the first to be published, with vol.1 next (understandable as vol.1 is substantial!) but no mention of anything else. It would be interesting to find out why the evens weren't published and if the manuscripts were actually completed, especially given they had quite a long period to write them.

Andrew

[emeritus]

Your public library may be able to make enquiries. I had found volume 1 of a book on railways carriage construction that had been been published in 1914, and their records showed that vol 2 hadn't been issued, no doubt due to the war.

[Skywave]

If you read the contents list of each of the volumes, to me it is clear that there is a lot of ground that was intended to be covered by the 'missing' volumes. It is also worth noting that vol. 3 - 'Electronics' - is not what we understand that word to refer to today: and I think that is the clue. The existent volumes seem to cover those areas which at the time of writing were relatively stable: only relatively small advances in technology would have made what was written therein out of date. So, perhaps it was felt that the missing volumes - with their listed contents - would soon become out-dated. Hence, a delay was introduced in their publication until matters did become stable - which never did!

OTOH, I do believe that I read somewhere that a decision was made not to publish those missing volumes since non-government publications were in such an abundance at the time that the printing of the missing volumes would have been superfluous: the need had already been met.

Finally - being acquainted with the attitude of government and military departments - perhaps the non-publication of the missing volumes was motivated by security considerations.

Al. / June 13 //

[ionburn]

I am glad I came across this thread as it perhaps saves me time in trying to find the missing volumes.

I recently bought volume 5 on transmission and propagation and looking inside saw a list of contents of the other volumes. Volumes 4 and 6 would have been interesting!

It is irritating to be given an indication of content of a non existent book!

Just to add - I've just noticed on the back sleeve it says volumes available are 1, 3 and 7 which with 5 which is the book are as mentioned previously. There is no mention of any even numbers available.

[Andrewausfa]

Volume 5 is requisite bedtime reading!

I'm pretty sure the copy for at least vol.2 was written as in vol.5 the author refers to it, at least once, writing 'as discussed in vol.2......'

Andrew

[russell_w_b]

Modern copies of these volumes (not the hitherto unpublished ones!) are available in paperback, printed in India.

[M0FYA Andy]

This is interesting - I bought the odd-numbered volumes a few months ago and have been searching for the even-numbered ones to no avail ever since!
Andy

[pmmunro]

I first met this series of textbooks when they were still available from HMSO, around 1965/6.

Having found Volume 1 very informative, and reasonably priced (£1-10s for Volume 1), I wanted the whole series. I asked about the availability of the even numbered volumes at the counters of HMSO in Birmingham and Edinburgh and got much the same answer; that there had been the intention to publish them but that this had not happened and was not likely to happen.

Possibly the reason was that volumes 2, 4 and 6 covered specific topics which were rapidly changing at the time and that they had been partly superseded before they came to be issued.

The even volumes cover theory and are still useful even today. It's interesting to note that Volume 1 has the dual title "The Services Textbook of Radio/The Services Textbook of Electrical Engineering". The Services Textbook of Electrical Engineering was to have been a separate series, but it too was as far as I know, never completed either.

I found Vol. 1 very useful as a background to college courses and suggested its use to more than one lecturer. There was very little enthusiasm, possibly because it originated from outside the academic world, from which I think it greatly benefited. The series was edited by the staff of "Wireless World" (W T Cocking is specifically mentioned in one forward) and the contributions by equipment manufacturers, especially Evershed and Vignoles, Muirhead & Co. and ACWEECO(AVO) is acknowledged. There is also a contribution by the late G W A Dummer of the RRE, Malvern on component reliability. One very useful feature is the 'dual level' coverage of many topics. The basic theory is presented first and then a more detailed and demanding analysis follows, set between black triangular markers.

At the time Vol 1. was published, 1956, National Service was still in effect and I have heard several stories of lecturers being corrected on points of technical principles by their students who turned out to be the designers of the equipment being discussed. Such injections of reality are extremely healthy; anyone who has ever presented a course several times will know that it is very easy to be lulled into a false belief in universal competence by becoming closely familiar with the limited scope of the course material, sometimes with a lamentably poor understanding.

PMM