Subject: [removed] Digest V2009 #232
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 12/4/2009 4:18 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to: [removed]@[removed]

    ------------------------------

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2009 : Issue 232
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Time Travelling [removed]              [ jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns) ]
      TO be sure, to be un-sure             [ Philip Chavin <pchavin@[removed]; ]
      Time Travel OTR shows                 [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
      mp3 flash player                      [ [removed]@[removed] ]
      12-4 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      AM transmission standards (was: Sibi  [ Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]
      Radio out of the past, Christmas mar  [ "Bob Acosta" <boacosta@[removed]; ]

    ------------------------------

    Date: Thu, 3 Dec 2009 15:07:57 -0500
    From: jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns)
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Time Travelling [removed]

    There was a BRICK BRADFORD radio series, was there not?

    (Based on the popular comic strip, created by William Ritt and Clarence
    Gray, and later continued by Paul [removed])

    I am still looking for my Time-Top.

    ;-)

    Jim Burns

    ------------------------------

    Date: Thu, 3 Dec 2009 15:08:16 -0500
    From: Philip Chavin <pchavin@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  TO be sure, to be un-sure

    Thanks to Kathy Grams and Dan Hughes for responding to my query about who
    regularly said "TO be sure, TO be sure" on OTR.

    As for "Vic and Sade":  I never listened to that program.

    I suggested Charlie McCarthy as a possibility so maybe I should start
    listening/re-listening to all available Bergen-McCarthy recordings to see if
    Charlie uttered those words.

    To be sure or not to be sure: that is the question.

    -- Phil C.

    ------------------------------

    Date: Thu, 3 Dec 2009 15:09:54 -0500
    From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Time Travel OTR shows
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           I believe that [removed] Well's "The Time Machine" might have been
    broadcast
    on something like "Mercury Theatre on the Air", but wasn't a series.  It
    might
    be a stretch, but I think "Buck Rogers In The 25th Century" might come close.
    Hear me out:Buck was placed in suspended animation and brought out of it many
    years later, so technically it was more "time suspension" than "time travel".
    The
    world around him went on its merry way while he remained in this suspended
    state.

           Still, it MIGHT qualify because (a) it was a series and (b) it started
    in one
    century and ended up in another. No actual time traveling took place as far as
    I
    know.

           PLEASE note that I didn't say it was a "time travel" series and did
    mention
    it was a stretch, etc.

    As always,

    Kenneth Clarke

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    Date: Thu, 3 Dec 2009 23:34:05 -0500
    From: [removed]@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  mp3 flash player
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     Gil:

    My son taught me about Ebay, where I can buy old IPOD Mini's Generation 1
    and
    2 (circa 2000-2002)in 2GB and 4GB capacities.

    I installed the freeware software entitled "Rockbox" into these devices
    for
    two main reasons:

    1. It has multiple autoresume features if your are listening to more than
    one
       book, podcast, etc. at a time.

    2. The clickwheel "speaks" the command ([removed], "louder", "back", etc.) that
    you
        have requested.  Great feature for the sight impaired or if you are in
    the gym
        and don't want to pause your workout to see what you are doing.

    You can, if you want, replace the battery and microdrive with a greater
    capacity flash drive.  I just replaced the battery with a new one I bought
    on
    Ebay for $[removed] and replaced the 2GB micro harddrive with a 8GB compact
    flashcard
    I bought at Staples for $[removed] on Black Friday.

    Instructions on how to do this are all over the internet and YouTube.

    BTW, I'm 58, clumsy, and did this for the thrill of it all!

    I would like to say thank you to George (who passed away this week) for
    his
    devotion to the OTR group. Although I never met him, his selfishness  in
    guiding the group over the years meant a lot to all of us.

    Gary

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    [ADMINISTRIVIA: Again, let's take the MP3 player discussion over to the blog,
    and get back to discussing OTR here.  --cfs3]

    ------------------------------

    Date: Thu, 3 Dec 2009 23:34:12 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  12-4 births/deaths

    December 4th births

    12-04-1887 - Louise Ballman - d. 2-25-1970
    violinist on experimental station 5ACW Fort Smith, Arkansas
    12-04-1889 - Buck Jones - Vincennes, IN - d. 11-30-1942
    actor: "Hoofbeats"
    12-04-1889 - Isabel Randolph - Chicago, IL - d. 1-11-1973
    actor: Rhoda Harding "Dan Harding's Wife"; Mrs. Abigail Uppington
    "Fibber McGee and Molly"
    12-04-1897 - Doc Whipple - d. 2-28-1963
    orchestra leader: "Ma Perkins"; "The Mysterious Traveler"
    12-04-1903 - Cornell Woolrich - NYC - d. 9-25-1968
    writer: "Radio City Playhouse"; "Starring Boris Karloff"
    12-04-1910 - Mary Hunter - Bakersfield, CA - d. 11-16-2000
    actor: Marge "Easy Aces"; "Against the Storm"
    12-04-1915 - Allan Jackson - Hot Springs, AR - d. 4-26-1976
    newscaster for the CBS network for 32 years
    12-04-1921 - Deanna Durbin - Winnipeg, Canada
    singer: "Eddie Cantor Show"
    12-04-1930 - Harvey Kuenn - West Allis, WI - d. 2-28-1988
    baseball great: "Tops in Sports"
    12-04-1931 - Wally George - Oakland, CA - d. 10-5-2003
    producer, host: "The Sam Yorty Show"; "The Wally George Show

    December 4th deaths

    01-13-1910 - Jack Mercer - d. 12-4-1984
    actor: Popeye "Popeye the Sailor"
    03-07-1925 - Richard Vernon - Reading, England - d. 12-4-1997
    actor: Slartibartfast "Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
    04-12-1911 - Joseph Blazak - d. 12-4-1993
    newscaster: KGFJ Los Angeles, California
    06-14-1902 - Carl Esmond - Vienna, Austria-Hungary - d. 12-4-2004
    actor: "Mayor of the Town"
    06-19-1917 - Robert Karnes - Kentucky - d. 12-4-1979
    announcer: Started his career in his native Kentucky
    06-20-1897 - Bob Howard - W. Newton, MA - d. 12-4-1986
    pianist-singer: "Calsodent Presents Bob Howard"; "Sing It Again"
    07-02-1910 - Jeff Alexander - Whidbey Island, WA - d. 12-4-1989
    conductor: "Amos 'n' Andy"; "Light Up Time"; "Tums Hollywood Theatre"
    08-04-1909 - Alan Kent - Chicago, IL - d. 12-4-1993
    announcer, emcee, writer: "Duffy's Tavern"; "Career of Alice Blair"
    08-13-1895 - Bert Lahr - NYC - d. 12-4-1967
    comedian: "Hildegarde's Raleigh Room"; "Manhattan at Midnight"; "Royal
    Vagabonds"
    08-31-1922 - John Hanson - Ontario, Canada - d. 12-4-1998
    singer, actor: "Children's Hour"; "Songs from the Shows"; "Variety
    Bandbox"
    09-01-1887 - William Daly - Cincinnati, OH - d. 12-4-1936
    condctor: "Raleigh Review"; "Voice of Firestone"
    09-07-1903 - Margaret Landon - Somers, WI - d. 12-4-1993
    author: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    09-12-1916 - Ed Binns - Philadelphia, PA - d. 12-4-1990
    actor: "This Is My Story"
    10-08-1897 - Rouben Mamoulian - Tiflis, Georgia, Russia - d. 12-4-1987
    film director: "Theatre Guild On the Air"
    11-22-1913 - Benjamin Britten - Lowestoft, Suffolk, England - d.
    12-4-1976
    composer: "Columbia Workshop"; "An American in England"
    11-23-1894 - Rosetta Duncan - Los Angeles, CA - d. 12-4-1959
    singer: (Topsy and Eva) "Wireless Vaudeville"
    12-03-1916 - Rabon Delmore - Elmount, AL - d. 12-4-1952
    guitar, singer: "Grand Ole Opry"

    Ron

    ------------------------------

    Date: Thu, 3 Dec 2009 23:34:51 -0500
    From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  AM transmission standards (was: Sibilants)

    From: "Paula Keiser" <pkeiser1@[removed];

>     Now, my memory might be a bit faulty, but the FCC required an annual
>     "Proof of Performance" for all AM radio stations, and I did my share
>     back in the late 60s and early 70s.  I seem to recall the requirement
>     for a "flat" audio frequency response between ~500 Hz and 7 KHZ,
>     falling off rapidly after 7 KHz.

    It would take me a while to pull out my copies of the rules from the 60s and
    70s, but I think you will find that this is a MINIMUM standard.  In other
    words, if your transmission chain is not flat to at least 7 KHz, you fail the
    proof.

>     it seems obvious to me that no matter how good Western Electric equipment
>     was, the stations were required to roll off their response curve . . .

    No, it wasn't a requirement.  It just meant that if your transmitter cannot
    maintain flat response beyond 7 KHz you are ALLOWED to have it roll off --
    not cut off.

>     . . . before the bandwidth ran into the next channel.

    Since the band is only 5 KHz wide from the center point, it has already gone
    into the adjacent channel!  This is part of the most misunderstood aspect of
    AM radio.  Stations were not only allowed to transmit modulation beyond the 5
    KHz edge of their channel, they were allowed to go beyond 10 KHz response
    into the SECOND ADJACENT channel.  Station allocations of location and power
    took this into mind, but as the FCC started to short-space stations in the
    1970s there started to be more second adjacent interference among stations
    that were too close to each other.

    Because receiver manufacturers reacted by reducing the bandwidth of their
    radios, the National Association of Broadcasters set up a committee to try to
    get stations to reduce their bandwidth IF receiver manufacturers would
    increase the bandwidth of the radios.  Under Raegan's idiot FCC Chair Mark
    Fowler, this was voluntary, which of course means that it failed.  Finally in
    the 90s, the National Radio Systems Committee (NRSC) standards were phased
    into law.  You can read these standards at
    [removed]  and
    [removed]  .  There you will see that the
    current standards allow for a transmission bandwidth to 10 KHz., which is
    WIDER than what you thought was the maximum back in the late 60s and early
    70s.  The restriction of NRSC-1 was not in place until June 30, 1990 and
    NRSC-2 was made law on June 30, 1994. The FCC official definition of these
    are:

> >     NRSC-1 - An audio pre-emphasis standard for AM stations which was

    implemented June 30, 1990. The pre-emphasis generally is obtained by
    using special "NRSC-1-equipped" audio processing equipment or a
    special NRSC-1 audio "filter".

> >     NRSC-2 - An emission standard for AM stations aimed at attenuating

    AM sideband energy beyond 10 kHz of the assigned carrier frequency.
    This standard was implemented June 30, 1994.

>     If there were no such requirements in the 1920s - 1950s,
>     Michael's point might be valid.

    As stated, prior to NRSC there were no limitation of AM transmitter frequency
    response.  I hope that you did not unnecessarily reduce the sound quality of
    any stations you engineered for in order to meet the MINIMUM requirements if
    the transmission chain was capable of better response!

>     In those days, Bandwidth meant the assigned frequency, the frequency
>     of the audio signal width.  It still does, as far as I know.

    Yes it does.

>     Under those circumstances I can't imagine how an AM station could have
>     transmitted the high audio frequencies occupied by sibilants.
>     Paula Keiser Retired BC Engineer

    It would even with your minimum standard of 7 KHz, but stations routinely
    transmitted audio out to and beyond 13 KHz even in the 1930s, certainly into
    the 1970s and 80s.  And even now they can transmit out to 10 KHz after which
    there is a rolloff to 15K.

    By the way, the receiver manufacturers have NOT responded by making better
    radios despite the end of second-adjacent interference.  The NRSC did a
    survey of receivers in 2006 and found that most radios still have bandwidths
    less than 5 KHz, many rolling off below 3!!  I read thru this survey and took
    note of the response curve of 40 or so receivers they tested.  Only THREE
    looked good to me (and the Bose Wave Radio was NOT one of these) and I noted
    their model numbers.  When I googled them I was overjoyed to see that I
    already owned the one that looked the best, Grundig S-350, and that I have
    the equal of another of them, the GE SuperRadio III.   Back in the early days
    of AM Stereo I got the Sony receiver which could receive all five of the
    standards and which was one of the few radios given an AMax certification by
    the NAB for wideband response.  It is amazing to hear how good some AM
    stations can sound on these radios -- and radios made in the 1940s - 1960s --
    compared with most radios made since the 1970s.

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

    ------------------------------

    Date: Fri, 4 Dec 2009 11:55:37 -0500
    From: "Bob Acosta" <boacosta@[removed];
    To: "oldtime radio digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Radio out of the past, Christmas marathon
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    Hi all,
    We shall be holding our Christmas oTR marathon, December 5-6, from 12 noon to
    12 midnight EST on Saturday and Sunday.
    Go to: [removed] and enter on The Fred Bertelsen Room.  if
    this is your first time with our software, please download, run and install
    it.
    We shall be giving oTR prizes away throughout the weekend.  For more
    information, please write Robert Acosta at: boacosta@[removed].

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    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2009 Issue #232
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