VOLUME 15               JANUARY 1998                NUMBER  1

EDITOR'S COMMENTS

From Antique Radio Classified for January 1998
(Copyright 1996-7 by John V. Terrey - For personal use only.)

Welcome to 1998! As our staff prepared this January issue, we were, like everyone else, in the throes of the holiday spirit a mixture of nostalgia and anticipation. Both apply also to our view of the New Year.

A magazine dedicated to the preservation of old radios is, of course, steeped in nostalgia. A.R.C. articles frequently refer to the technological advances of past decades the discovery of radio waves by Hertz over 110 years ago, the application of these waves to communication by Marconi over 100 years ago, the invention of the transistor 50 years ago, and even the appearance of the home computer just over 20 years ago.

Today, electronic technology is again reinventing communication with the exponential growth of the internet. A scan through A.R.C.'s classifieds shows that over 20 percent of our advertisers now choose the electronic mail avenue as an option. And so, we must anticipate the future technologies and move with them.

A.R.C. in 1998 has a dual challenge. The first we have been meeting for over 13 years to continue producing a quality monthly publication. The second, however, is to decide how to embrace the new communications technologies and apply them to the nostalgic and historical technologies we all love. Readers what are your thoughts?

Our lead article this month, contributed by Paul Seidel, covers the Sears Silvertone Commentator. Paul details his search for the radio he listened to as a kid, as well as his success in finding and restoring it.

Joseph Woychowski shares a simple technique on how to operate early tuners without their matching detector/amplifier unit. All that he uses to get his Adams Morgan RA-10 receiver operating is a crystal detector (or modern diode) and headphones.

For many years, the 300B, a very desirable triode, has been remanufactured by several firms. Howard Stone has obtained samples from Richardson Electronics, Svetlana and Westrex. This month he describes in detail the 300B tube and the interest in it as an audio amplifier. He concludes with the results of listening tests comparing the reissued tubes to the vintage originals.

As a follow-up on the Ken-Rad tube article of a few years ago, George Munsch decodes the tube date codes and logos on recent GE and Ken-Rad tubes.

For the restoration enthusiast, Bob Murray describes how to make replica brass nameplates. Bob utilizes new technologies the photocopier, the computer and printed circuit techniques to restore his old sets.

George Potter and Ron Ramirez report on the Vintage Radio & Phonograph Society's (VRPS) 1997 Convention and on Eric's Eighth Annual Antique Radio Auction. More than $50,000 was bid at these two auctions on over 1,000 items.

The VRPS meet is one where everyone has an equal chance at the major items, plus you don't have to be at the flea market at dawn to come away happy. You can sleep late in Texas because the "good stuff" is sold during two days of auctions. Only the "leftovers" show up at the modest Sunday morning flea market.

Perhaps television collecting is heating up since two of the higher priced sales were a Predicta TV for $700 and a General Electric TV for $425. Over 400 attended this meet which also included seminars, a banquet, and an old equipment contest.

Although attendance at Eric's auction was only about one-tenth of the VRPS event, many nice items were sold. Highlights were an Emerson Catalin selling for $575 and Coca-Cola Cooler radios for $430 and $510.

Photo Review shows an unusual Arkay horn speaker, a keg radio, and other interesting items. In Radio Miscellanea, we chose to print several of the kudos letters, all of which we appreciate. It's a pleasure to know that so many of you enjoy A.R.C. each month.

Eric Wrobbel's two new offerings Toy Crystal Radios and American Shirt-Pocket Transistor Radios are reviewed by Dave Pope and John DeLoria, respectively. Ludwell Sibley's Tube Lore gets double action in reviews by Alan Douglas and Ray Bintliff, who continues on with comments on Åke Holm's TubeData computer disk.

Coming Radio Events. The new year is off to a brisk start with over 40 events offered in January, and most clubs have finalized dates for their major 1998 events. I hope that you will transfer the dates from our "Mark Your Calendar" to your own 1998 calendar and block out some events for your 1998 vacation plans.

Two events coming soon that involve A.R.C. are Radio XXIX on February 22 in Westford, Mass. (attendance last year was over 800!), and the small, casual and fun 3rd annual ski/radio meet at Crested Butte, Colorado, on February 8. (If you are interested in this one, notify us ASAP to help in our planning.)

Again, I hope that one of your New Year's resolutions is to add at least one meet to your plans for 1998. Attending a meet is one of the best ways to learn more about old radios and their values, and to meet those collectors whom you know only by telephone and mail.

Happy collecting in the New Year!

John V. Terrey, Editor

ON THE COVER

Our New Year's cover shows an illustration from an advertisement for Hobrecht's Distributors, Sacramento, California, which appeared in the September 1922 issue of Radio. The dancing party-goers are tripping the light fantastic to music piped through a Magnavox R-Type horn speaker what better way to spend New Year's Eve!

OOPS!

The A.R.C. "Radio Boys" are hanging their heads in shame. They failed to catch an obvious error in two places in our December 1997 issue. But Claude Pennington helped them out. He said he admits that, "There are numerous amateurs (page 5) and quite a few antiques (page 12) in the ARRL, but the organization is the American Radio Relay League."