Ham Radio: Ham Radio License, Equipment, Antennas, and Activities; The Ultimate Guide to Amateur Radio

I've already got my ham radio and a technician's license, but the one big thing I wanted to know - the reason I bought Bosworth's book is this: how do I decide what exact frequency to use? Such a simple question, and so utterly frustrating. Yeah yeah I get the that I can use 70 cm or 2 meters or even 6 or 10 meters; but there are THOUSANDS of possibilities within those bands. Where do I begin? I've tried listening and all I hear is silence. How about a CLUE? What specific frequencies do I start with? (BTW I know 2 other new hams with the same exact question - and yeah we've talked to each other on the radio BUT WHERE IS ALL THE ACTION? And why did Bosworth LEAVE OUT this key information? (Oh yes, I DID go to a local ham meeting to look for a mentor - two kinds of people at the meeting: either electronic engineers - interested in incomprehensible esoterica or ignoramouses like me who won't be back - not a single potential mentor in sight.

very informative

For someone with no background in radios I found this a helpful introduction that covered the basics clearly. Good historical section. This is a very short book so you probably will consider it more worthwhile if you buy the digital version.

This is a short and sweet,clearly written book ideal for people starting out with no technical skills or experience.More relevant to USA residents as this outlines their licencing system however it cuts through the usual jargon and gives practical tips on most aspects of the hobby.

This is a self authored & published book, which doesn't immediately mean bad. I'll come back to this later though. But firstly, the "book" itself is more of a booklet. It's only 77 pages. I did not check this before buying, and honestly regret it. I've read it cover to cover. "Ultimate guide" makes you think it will go in depth. In 77 pages, this is impossible... It was like reading a slightly more in depth Wikipedia page. But at least Wikipedia usually does not have typos or formatting and grammatical errors. And Wikipedia is free...Each section gives you a very, very surface level look into different aspects of ham radio. The author also inexplicably decides to elaborate on some acronyms and not others. For instance, for some bizarre reason every single time "in" or "cm" appears, the author elaborates that these stand for inches or centimetres. Yet, does not elaborate on what "DX" means, among other radio-related acronyms (LotW, Lord of the Wings?) within the booklet. Being nitpicky, for whatever reason the author has also decided to add spaces between some of the acronyms and not others, and sometimes even between numbers.It is easy to read (beyond the weird formatting), and it did introduce me to some concepts I'd not yet heard of. But this is not by any stretch of the imagination an "Ultimate Guide". You won't be able to get started with this booklet. Likewise, I don't understand the author's intended audience.The first practical exercise assumes you already have a license and thus the knowledge required to participate in the exercise... But if you have that already, what do you even need this booklet for?Overall I don't think I can really recommend this to anyone. I'm suspecting the positive reviews are from the author's friends rather than people actually interested in starting the hobby...