VOLUME 16            SEPTEMBER 1999                NUMBER   9

RADIO MISCELLANEA -- SEPTEMBER 1999

From Antique Radio Classified for September 1999
(Copyright 1996-9 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.

Always Verify Event Schedules
Dear Editor:

The full-page ad that appeared in the May, June, and July issues of A.R.C. for the Michigan Antique Radio Club Extravaganza '99 said that the event would take place July 8-11 (an "expanded 4-day event").

We traveled 600 miles round trip, as we have for the past several years, to attend the first day of the meet. Upon arrival, we discovered that the flea market lot was completely devoid of vendors. In checking with the hotel, we were informed that many other attendees were also alarmed to find that the flea market did not begin until Friday, July 9, the same as last year.

This gross misrepresentation [by the advertiser] is totally inexcusable and has caused undue hardship and expense for out-of-town and out-of-state attendees.

--Joe Esdale, Highland Park, IL

There are two issues here -- (1) when the meet starts and (2) when the flea market starts. This meet started Thursday with a museum visit and registration. However, one could argue that the notation "Huge Open Air Flea Market" should have made clear that the flea market did not start on Thursday, but on Friday. No doubt, MARC will make that clear in next year's ad. On the other hand, A.R.C.'s club events box lists what occurs on each of the four days. And note also that our "Coming Radio Events" pages always contain a box warning participants to check dates, places, and times of events, since cancellations and errors do occur.

In regard to club scheduling, one more point is worth making: when a meet moves its opening day forward, attendance and activity dwindle on the last day -- the day that new and potential collectors usually show up. (Editor)

Don't Burn Out Your WebTV
Dear Editor:

I just read Part 4 of Dick Desjarlais' very good series on WebTV. I just wish the article had been published before I bought my first unit back in October 1998. It was a Samsung, and I had a lot of trouble with the unit. I sold this unit and got a Philips Magnavox.

I found out the hard way about how to connect a camcorder to the unit. Neither the Samsung nor the Philips manual mentions that the WebTV unit must be unplugged or you will damage the unit components and destroy your ability to send photos. This happened to me before I received a brochure warning of this hazard several weeks later in the mail.

--Greg Sheppard, Rockville, MD

More on Handling Radios
Dear Editor:

Never lay a radio down on its back with the top towards the driver's seat in a vehicle. When the radio is slid out, the veneer on the rear edge of the top can be damaged or delaminated, and pieces can break off.

--Stan Lopes, Concord, CA

The Radio Collecting Family
Dear Editor:

It has been two years since I advertised in A.R.C. I should have sent the enclosed ad a year ago, but I have been just too busy. That may seem strange, as I have recently passed my 91st birthday, and in October 2000, I will have been in this electronic business 75 years. How time flies!

My experience with ads in A.R.C. has been very great. I have sold a lot of items, and now I am trying to clean up odds and ends. The guys who call me are great. I receive calls and letters from some of them, not just on business, but also just to talk. I have even received a few birthday cards. I really appreciate these cards. They make me feel that we are all part of a great big family.

I have an electronic exhibit in conjunction with the Old Stone Fort Museum here in Schoharie. I am waiting for more shelves to exhibit a lot more -- all old stuff of bygone days. This is a permanent exhibit, as I have donated all of the items to the museum.

--Edward Scribner, Schoharie, NY

TV Land and WebTV
Dear Editor:

Just a note to say how much I enjoyed Ray Bintliff's article on "RCA TV Land" in the June issue. I also remember the year 1946 when I purchased a Transvision 7" TV from Sun Radio, Washington, D.C., in kit form for $150. There was one TV station -- WTTG, Channel 5. No one on my block had a TV, and everyone wanted to see it in operation. I added a 10" magnifier, and my mother, who was convinced she had a genius on her hands, invited as many people as our living room would hold to watch the Louis Conn fight, June 19, 1946. That did it -- everyone there could not wait to buy a TV set.

Later, I built a 10" Transvision that my daughter was still using in the 1970s (converted to a 17"). Both sets worked very well.

The June issue also had other interests for me -- I just purchased a WebTV to get me on the Internet (see Dick Desjarlais' article on Page 30), and my collection is the one featured in the auction report on page 26.

--Charles Mooney, Bowie, MD

Kudos to RCA TV Land Article
Dear Editor:

I am writing to tell you how much I enjoyed the June 1999 issue titled, "Adventures in RCA TV Land" by Ray Bintliff. As one of those engineers too young to have experienced the birth of television, Ray's article does a great job of telling us "how it was" back in the 1940s. This article was informative and entertaining. Please pass along my thanks to him.

I always find A.R.C.'s retrospective and tutorials fascinating, and Ray's articles are among the best.

--Pat Martone, Melrose, MA