VOLUME 17            JANUARY 2000                NUMBER  1

RADIO MISCELLANEA -- JANUARY 2000

From Antique Radio Classified for January 2000
(Copyright 1996-2000 by John V. Terrey - For personal use only.)

"Antique Radio Classified" invites its readers to contribute letters and information for inclusion in "Radio Miscellanea" and elsewhere in the magazine. "In The Marketplace" is based on information submitted by the businesses themselves. All topics should be of general interest and sent to A.R.C., P.O. Box 2, Carlisle, MA 01741. All material submitted should be verified for accuracy and may be edited for publication, which is not guaranteed. See the masthead for more details.

QSL Collection Finds a Home
Dear Editor:

The Committee to Preserve Radio Verifications (CPRV) has announced that its collection of approximately 30,000 QSLs has a new home. It is the Library of American Broadcasting (LAB) on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland. The LAB, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1997, is a wide-ranging collection devoted exclusively to the history of broadcasting. It operates in conjunction with its sister project -- the National Public Broadcasting Archives.

For the uninitiated, QSLs are cards and letters sent to listeners by radio stations, and by amateur radio operators to each other, to confirm the listeners' reception of their stations. "Q-S-L" is Morse code for "I acknowledge receipt." These cards are still issued by stations today, but their history may be traced to the earliest days of radio.

The CPRV QSL collection spans the globe and extends from the early 1920s to the present. It includes regular AM stations and shortwave broadcasting stations, ships, planes, and other "utility" stations, as well as some amateur radio QSLs. The files and database have been set up so that particular QSLs can be quickly located and examined.

For more information, contact LAB Curator Chuck Howell at the library or write CPRV Chair Jerry Berg, 38 Eastern Ave., Lexington, MA 02421.

You might also check the book review on Jerry Berg's new book, "On the Short Waves -- 1923 - 1945," reviewed in the September 1999 issue. (Editor)

Oops! Philco Book Errors
Dear Editor:

Regarding my new book Philco Condensers and More, I have found some errors in the Bakelite Block part number listings. To correct this problem, I will replace all copies of the edition dated August 1999, at no cost. If purchasers will mail their copies to me at the address below, I will mail corrected copies. New purchasers can be assured that suppliers have the corrected edition.

Apologies for the inconvenience, and I hope that this solution is acceptable to all.

--Ray Bintliff, 2 Powder Horn Ln., Acton, MA 01720

Web Site Congrats
Dear Editor:

Your Web site is crisp and clear, which is good for my old eyes. Everything is interesting. Both the A.R.C Web site and the publication are of great use to me. Thanks.

--Greg Sheppard, Rockville, MD

Dear Editor:

Congrats on finally getting the A.R.C. classified ads online. I know how much sleep and hair you've lost in the process!

--Chuck Schwark, Chicago, IL

A.R.C. Web Site "Great" & "A Bomb"
Dear Editor:

I just wanted to say your online ads are great! Especially the search feature. The only bad part about it is that you can read the lead article before the magazine comes. It spoils the surprise!

--Chris Props, Mt. Solon, VA

Dear Editor:

I have been an A.R.C. subscriber for many years and found the magazine to be useful until eBay came along. I have just tried the A.R.C. Web site, and I have to say it is a bomb.

You have too few ads per page, and you have to slide the page over to get all the info because of the junk on the left of the page. Also you need to allow advertisers to display pictures and to delete ads if the item is sold.

Unless you get a lot better, I would say your future is very limited. I wait to see how you are going to come out, but the present Web site is a total loss.

--Richard E. Igou, Garden Ridge, TX

These two letters make obvious a simple truth -- you can't please everybody. Many of you will recall the past debate on this page -- pro and con -- about going on the Net at all. Now that we've gone ahead with our expanded site, some of those who were for making the ads available on the Net are not satisfied with the effort. We assure them that we are listening to their suggestions and working toward improvements to the site. However, some stylistic choices may remain. (Editor)

Radio Row -- NYC and Chicago
Dear Editor:

A.R.C. is a joy to receive. I found the September 1998 cover story on New York's "Radio Row" especially interesting.

--Edward Kulavick, Lakewood, OH

This note, received June 7, 1999, is a nice tribute to the lasting impressions of A.R.C. articles. We're glad to know that a reader still thinks about an issue published several months ago. (Editor)

Dear Editor:

Perhaps someone can write an article on Radio Row, located on State St. in Downtown Chicago. I was born in East Chicago in 1913, but my family left there in 1916, and there was no radio in the house untiI I returned "home" in 1927. It did not take me very long to find Radio Row in Chicago. My interest was primed by my neighbor's RCA 18 with nice reception from Knox, St. Louis. By 1933, I was working in a steel mill, and, in 1934, became a ham with call W9TOX, which I still hold today. Radio Row in Chicago was still on DC power in 1927.

I've enjoyed your publication for years and look forward to every issue. When it arrives in the late afternoon, my dear wife has a hard time getting me to dinner!

--Jackson N. Meade, Hudson, FL