VOLUME 14            JUNE 1997                NUMBER  6

RADIO MISCELLANEA -- June 1997

From Antique Radio Classified for June 1997
(Copyright 1996-7 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.

Arvin "Rhythm" Mystery
Dear Editor:

I have a 1936 Arvin Model 467 called "Rhythm Belle," shown on page 58 of Flick of the Switch. The set has a dial on the left and three knobs spread out uniformly across the lower part of the set. The catch is that the right-hand knob is phony! It is attached to a shaft which is attached only to a washer-like thingy on the inside. The chassis is only a bit wider than the two operational knobs. The question is why the dummy knob on a big cabinet containing a small chassis?

Other Arvin radios shown on page 58 are called "Rhythm: Senior, Master, Queen, King," etc., and knobs vary from 2 to 5 in number. Might these sets using "Rhythm" in their names have dummy knobs too?

Perhaps there is someone out there in Radioland knowledgeable enough to comment on this subject.

--Stan Lopes, Concord, CA

Kudos for A.R.C.
Rapid Overseas Shipping
Dear Editor:

Thanks for your rapid shipping of the books I ordered last Thursday via your web site. They arrived at the post office Monday, and I fetched them on Tuesday. Everything is OK -- nothing damaged!

--Kjell-Ingvar Karlsson, Upplands-Vaesby, Sweden

Thanks for the compliment. All orders received by noon are shipped that afternoon! (Editor)

Enjoyable Contacts Through A.R.C.
Dear Editor:

I've been enjoying my subscription to A.R.C. a great deal. Even more enjoyable are the contacts I've made with other old radio hobbyists. I look forward to your next issue.

--Jim Stoneback, Alexandria, VA

Check Small Caps in AC/DC Sets
Dear Editor:

For those who collect and fire-up old AC/DC small radios, my experience of some years ago may be a good one to share. I had an old 5-tube AC/DC Packard Bell in a plastic cabinet that got a great deal of use sitting on a kitchen shelf. The set was quite old, and one day it gave a loud bang and released a cloud of smoke! I pulled the line cord and rushed it out to the shop.

When it had cooled down, I removed the chassis and found that a small .001 mfd. capacitor had been soldered directly across the line cord terminals -- not after the on/off switch! Thus, the capacitor had sat across 115 volts for many hours and finally gave up. Luckily, it had blown itself apart so that the terminals did not short across the power line.

It is a good thing to check all sets, even standard AC types, to be sure that no small capacitor is waiting for its fate across the power line.

--Frederick G. Suffield, Sequim, WA

Bryant and Cones' Zenith Book
Dear Editor:

Here's another heap of praise for that superb publication on Zenith Trans-Oceanics by Bryant and Cones. However, I do have a minor correction concerning their criticism of the lack of advertising for the Royal 7000, in that they mention the introductory ads in the Nov. and Dec. 1969 National Geographic and in the 1970 World Radio and TV Handbook as the only mass media print advertising. Actually, Zenith ran half-page "last word in radio" ads for the Royal 7000Y or 7000D in the National Geographic of Dec. '70, Mar. '71, Oct. '71, and Mar. '72. "Round the world tour" ads for the model D7000Y appeared in the issues of Apr. '73, Nov. '73, and May '74. The last National Geographic ad for the Royal 7000 Trans-Oceanic came a year and a half later in the Nov. '75 issue.

--Phil MacArthur, Summerland Key, FL

Phil's letter stems from page 113 of "The Zenith Trans-Oceanic, the Royalty of Radios," where the authors refer to advertising for the Royal 7000 as "scant" and only appearing in 1969 and 1970. They go on to say, ..."one wonders at the logic of investing corporate research and development funds in creating an entirely new Trans-Oceanic and then, seemingly, condemning it to a lingering death through almost a total lack of advertising." (Editor)

Mail Preferable to Phone
Dear Editor:

I like your requirement for ads to have postal addresses, unlike some classified publications, but notice some of the large display ads only have telephone numbers or 800 numbers.

Recent experience with these wondrous new answering machines is that most are designed to totally prevent human, or any, conversation. Many serve only to add charges to your phone bill. Messages never get answered. Time zones are uncertain to those who have not memorized all the constantly changing area codes.

Phone numbers are much better for hustlers and con men and much harder to trace than the P.O. box number. I would never subscribe to a rag that won't disclose its location. I really wish you would not accept these "homeless" display ads.

--Donald Bisbee, Columbus, OH

Regarding addresses, A.R.C. goes much further than most publications in that we accept only classified ads with addresses. We hope that this requirement helps our readers to deal among themselves, and resolve their problems without A.R.C.'s help.

However, display advertisers pay more and can choose the details of their ad. If readers have any problems with a display advertiser (or a classified advertiser as well,) we can assist you in contacting the advertiser.

Display advertisers note: some readers prefer to do business through the mail than by telephone. (Editor)