VOLUME 14               OCTOBER  1997                NUMBER  10

EDITOR'S COMMENTS

From Antique Radio Classified for October 1997
(Copyright 1996-7 by John V. Terrey - For personal use only.)

Perhaps when this issue popped out of your mailbox you did a double take. Tragedy and comedy among radio collectors? Well, maybe a little of the former and certainly a lot of the latter. Still, the alarm bells may have sounded! Has the managing editor confused her heretofore unannounced community theatre activities with her A.R.C. work, or even worse, has A.R.C. completely lost its focus?

None of the above, you'll be relieved to know. The fact is that our cover is an excellent illustration of how an A.R.C. issue evolves. In this case, only a few days before our deadline, the unsolicited "masked speaker" photos from Bernard Payne arrived. We were immediately taken by the excellent quality of the photos and the unusual subject.

In short, A.R.C. is quite literally our readers' magazine. It is made up of your contributions, and what gets into print depends on the quality of both your research and your photos. Occasionally, we may make article suggestions to a collector known to be interested in a particular topic, but we rarely solicit actual material.

We encourage you to request our writer's guidelines, if you have an interesting topic in mind. And we can't emphasize enough the need for good quality photos. Who knows you may have an A.R.C. article in your head or a cover in your camera right now.

One writer who plugs away at his particular radio interests and frequently shares his experience with A.R.C. readers is Wally Worth. This month, Wally reminds us of an area of collecting often overlooked vintage home-brew sets. His report is an insightful look into the construction and technical expertise that existed in early home workshops. The attraction then as now is that home brews cost considerably less than similar factory-built sets.

This month, Richard Arnold presents another General Electric set manufactured during the days when GE and RCA were allied the Model K-43. A small 4-tube set, the K-43 also has an unusual tube complement and power supply circuitry.

In Part 8 of his series on tube testers, Alan Douglas describes the Hickok I-177. Alan says that this World War II vintage, military tester was obsolete almost as soon as it was made, but it is still a useful tester.

Four large events are reported this month from Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky east to Maryland. First, Larry Babcock and Jim Clark report on the 12th Extravaganza held in Lansing, Michigan. Nearly 1,000 attended this event where the auction brought a total of over $30,000. Top selling items in the auction were blue mirrored and Catalin sets. Rounding out the event were programs, a contest, a 3-hour social, and a flea market spanning about 250 parking spaces.

Ray Chase reports on the Mid-Atlantic Antique Radio Club's Radioactivity '97 in Laurel, Maryland. Rain plagued much of the outside activity, but an auction of nearly 300 lots saved the day. A Predicta television selling for $280 was the top item in the auction.

Two Ohio clubs teamed up to hold their annual RadioRama in nearby Florence, Kentucky. Reported by Bob Sands, this growing event featured an extensive Crosley display, including the original ball from atop the antenna tower of WLW.

An annual event that Larry Babcock doesn't want to miss is the IHRS/AWA Spring Fling held in Indianapolis. Larry reports that this event features a flea market, seminars, a banquet and an auction. Informality is key at the banquet where food is available cafeteria-style.

Eugene Rippen's Ham Price Guide is reviewed by Ray Bintliff. Over 7,000 raw price references are given in this first price guide for amateur radio equipment.

For radio quiz fans out there, the answers to Gus Stellwag's quiz in our February issue appear this month. Gus really stumped everyone, as only one response came anywhere close to the correct answers. And, Robert Wheaton presents a novel solution to those frozen clock motors in your clock radios.

More comments on club events appear in Radio Miscellanea, along with feedback on articles from past issues. And Photo Review shows an early 2-tube receiver using a crystal detector, as well as a much later Silvertone radio/phonograph/wire recorder.

Coming Radio Events. Now that Radiofest XVI and the 36th AWA Conference are history, hundreds of collectors must be drooling over their purchases and looking for display space on their shelves. Some may even be trying to rationalize their purchases to their spouses, or perhaps to themselves. So collectors, put your new prizes on the shelves and move on the events don't stop here. On to the next one(s)!

In October, there are dozens of events for collectors. For A.R.C., it will be the NEARC meet in New Hampshire and the 3-day VRPS Convention near Dallas. This latter show presents a non-typical format, which begins with five! auctions and ends with a flea market on the last morning. Also included are the usual banquet and contest. I hope to see many of you in New Hampshire and/or Texas in October.

Happy Collecting!

John V. Terrey, Editor

ON THE COVER

The unusual "masked" speakers on our cover were recently found by Canadian subscriber Bernard Payne. The masks of comedy and tragedy have been symbols of drama through the ages, and so the history of these speakers is certainly appropriate. Written on the back of one of them is the inscription "Used in the lobby of Canadian Famous Players Theatres" a well known chain of theatres in the '30s and '40s. The speakers are black, measure 13 1/2" long x 9 1/4" wide, x 6" deep, and appear to be made of a composition of wood and/or papier mâché. Bernard is hoping that readers out there will provide A.R.C. with more information about these theatrical remnants of days gone by.