This book includes performance checks that you can do at home without investing a lot of your hard-earned cash in expensive test equipment. Using new products from the Internet and free software in place of expensive test equipment. Later sections deal with more advanced testing methods which require a more serious investment in test instruments. Even if you don't want to invest money in buying a lot of equipment that you will seldom use. You can read the 'lab testing' chapters to get an appreciation of how the tests are carried out and the 'real world' situations they emulate.

Are the bands dead? Or has your receiver developed a fault? Maybe your antenna system has a problem? How do you check? Why do any tests at all? Many people have been involved with the radio hobby for years and have never tested anything. But what happens when something does go wrong? Will you even know there is a problem? And if you do, how will you identify the cause and fix it?