Dear Spanish Radio Amateur,
I never imagined this book would be read by anyone outside the United States. This Spanish edition of Crystal Sets to Sideband happened because Juan Carlos Reig Cucarella, EA5EXK, found it on the web and he believed that it would be helpful for Spanish hams. Unfortunately for Juan, my book was written in informal American English, not Spanish. Undiscouraged, Juan recruited his friends to help him translate the book, chapter by chapter. Simply retyping this book would be a huge effort. Translating it accurately was a gigantic project. I am in awe of these talented fellows and greatly in their debt.
I began writing this book when I realized that my homebuilt station was almost unique on the air. For me, the education and fun of building radios is more than half of the benefit of the radio hobby. It seemed to me that the best part of ham radio was disappearing, so I wrote articles on homebuilding for my local ham radio club newsletter. My ham friends liked the articles, but they rarely built anything. I realized that most modern hams lack the basic skills and knowledge to build radios. My articles were too brief to help them, but perhaps a detailed book on building radios might help revive homebuilding.
In my heart I knew that rejuvenating homebuilding was probably unrealistic, but I enjoy writing so I pressed on. I thought of myself as Don Quixote battling the windmills of modern apathy toward science and technology. It seemed to be a hopeless quest. However, even if no one else cared, I found it satisfying and extremely educational. Since the book has been available on the Internet, many hams in several countries have written me to praise and criticize the book. The response has been wonderful! We homebuilders are rare, but we are not extinct. Even if we don't change the world, we enjoy learning radio technology and making our own equipment.

Someday I hope to meet you on the air.73s, Frank Harris, KØIYE Frwharris@aol.com