THE NEW WRTH HAS LANDEDWorld Radio TV Handbook 2023A Pre-Review
Late this afternoon (Tuesday, Feb 14), my copy of the 2023 WRTH arrived in just five days from placing the online order. This copy appears to have been shipped from England via DHL and couriered locally by Australia Post. Not bad delivery time from England to Australia!
NOTE #1: This pre-review does not attempt to check the veracity (accuracy) of the information compiled in the book. That will come with further time to study its contents. For now, I am purely looking at the book's physical characteristics and comparing it with the 2022 copy. And there are some differences to comment on here.
NOTE #2: For some years now, as my old eyes have aged along with the rest of me, I have found it a struggle to read the small font size of the handbook easily (....yes, even with my reading glasses). If the new owners of the Handbook ever get around to releasing an online version or an app version, I will probably be amongst the first in line to purchase that, too!!
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| The 2023 WRTH is definitely thicker than previous editions! |
INITIAL OBSERVATIONS:
- The book has more pages than last year's handbook. The binding looks to be the same, so even with the pages increase, I think the book should stay together i.e. not fall apart, except maybe under extreme or very rigorous use.
- The font type and size used in the National and International Radio sections is different. It seems clearer and slightly easier to read.
- Strangely, the Clandestine Broadcasts section has a different, even bigger font size. Very clear and easy to read. I have no idea why they decided to do that...but I'm not complaining!!
- The font type and size in the articles section at the front of the book are different again. Characters are small and thin. I am finding it difficult to read the text easily, especially as it is printed on glossy paper. This is something the publisher should reformat for the next edition. Although, if you are anything like me, once I've read the articles once, I rarely revisit that front section of the book again.
- Although I haven't read them yet, the articles all look interesting. The receiver reviews have a similar format to past editions and the HF Receiver Guide chart remains.
- The maps section appears to have had a little refresh. The colours are a little stronger, although I preferred the map colours of the previous edition. But, interestingly, they have identified more transmitter sites on each map, which is a good thing!
- The back end of the book has the usual sections. However, it is noticeable that there are less advertisers this time around. This may well be because until last September, we all assumed that the WRTH was finished. Now that it has been rescued from oblivion, advertisers may well return to the handbook pages.
- It is great to see that most of the regular contributors to the book remain and a significant number of new contributors have joined them. This is a good thing! As a way of recognising their contributions, there is an entire page titled Hall of Fame. A nice touch.
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| National Radio section - 2022 edition on the left, 2023 edition on the right |
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| International Radio section - 2022 edition on the left, 2023 edition on the right |
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| Clandestine Broadcast section - 2022 edition on the left, 2023 edition on the right |
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| Frequency Lists (back of the book) - 2022 edition on the left, 2023 edition on the right |
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| Articles section (front of the book) - 2022 edition on the left, 2023 edition on the right |
SUMMARY:
In my opening remarks, I noted that the contents have not been checked for correctness, but that will come in time. On the surface, the 2023 WRTH looks very good. Importantly, all that wonderful work undertaken by previous owners and publishers over many decades has been largely preserved for us radio listeners and DXers to enjoy. For this, we should be grateful and the 2023 publication deserves our support.
The new owners should to be applauded for their initiative to pick up this enormous project and run with it. Indeed, this is no small undertaking. I expect that the usual suspects will grumble about this-or-that thing not being to their liking, or perhaps there are some data errors here-or-there. But in my opinion, the first edition under the new publisher is a resounding success.
You can order your copy from:
https://shop.radiodatacenter.net/product/wrth-2023-book/
73 and good DX to you all,
Rob Wagner VK3BVW
CLICK HERE for VK3BVW Live Stream (Clublog)
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© Rob Wagner, Mount Evelyn DX Report, and contributors 2012-2023
A helpful review Rob, which I've just read today (3/3) after finding the link in ARDXC News. I received my copy direct from the UK via the publishers. I placed my order (AUD$86 inc. p&p via Paypal) on 20/2 so that went well.
ReplyDeleteI've barely turned a page yet so looking forward to that this w/e.
Agree it's a massive undertaking for the SWL community must be grateful.
Hi Nigel. Thanks for your comments. Yes, the delivery aspects of the book were good and quick. Some of the material is different but most of it is there. The boffins are going through it with a fine tooth comb and picking out things they do not like about the collected data, but that is to be expected. ;-) However, I'm just pleased to see that it survived the change of ownership without too many scrapes. Rob
DeleteP.S. I have had to moderate comments on the blog because of junk, spam and scams. So you won't see your comments published immediately until I've checked. Unfortunately, the way of the world these days. Cheers, mate.