Amiga Plus 1995 #2

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Archive-name: radio/old-time-faq Posting-Frequency: monthly Last-modified: Sat 02-25-1995 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) File for OTR The Old-Time Radio Newsletter (FAQ Edited by Lou Genco (lgenco@crl.com)) Last Modified Sat 02-25-1995 --------------------- Copies of this FAQ are distributed monthly to rec.answers and other newsgroups, and are on file at bloom-picayune.mit.edu in the file /pub/usenet-by-group/news.answers/radio/old-time-faq. Updates may occur more frequently than the normal distribution schedule. The most current version is available by anonymous FTP from ftp.crl.com, directory: users/ro/lgenco. See FAQ for more info on ftp and WWW access. --------------------- Table of contents: Q1. What is "OTR"? Q2. You haven't mentioned OTR music, why not? Q3. Where can I buy recordings of old radio shows? Q4. Which vendors have (lower prices) (higher quality) (faster response)? Q5. Are OTR shows rebroadcast? If so, where and when? Q6. I remember a great show called (x). When was it aired? Q7. Are there any books about OTR? Q8. Does anybody trade tapes of OTR shows? Q9. What's this stuff about Copyright? Q10. How can I get my local radio station to broadcast OTR programming? Q11. I have some old transcriptions and tapes, how can I make them sound better? Q12. Are there any OTR clubs near me? Q13. I have some OTR tapes of the same program, but their dates are different. Why? Q14. Is there anywhere I can get a complete listing of all the episodes in a serial? Q15. Is there anywhere I can get a written synopsis of the themes of OTR programs? Q16. Is there a World Wide Web page (URL) or FTP address that I can access for more info? Q17. How do I subscribe to the OTR electronic newsletter? Q18. Can I get archived copies of old issues of the OTR newsletter? Q19. What is the best way to archive OTR programs? Q20. My old reels squeak. Why does this happen, and can I fix it? Q21. Where can I find more information about antique radios? Q22. What is the best radio / antenna to get distant OTR stations? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Q1. What is "OTR"? A1. OTR is an abbreviation for "Old Time Radio", a term loosely applied to radio programs broadcast from the dawn of broadcasting to the early 1950's. Alternate names are "radio nostalgia", "golden age radio", etc. Usually this applies to radio drama, mystery stories, comedy and adventures. Q2. You haven't mentioned OTR music, why not? A2. There was a good deal of "big band" and other music broadcast during this era. For some reason, there seems to be more current interest in the dramas rather than in the music. There is no restriction to discussing OTR music in the OTR Newsletter. Q3. Where can I buy recordings of old radio shows? A3. There are several individuals and companies willing to sell tapes of OTR programs. A partial list can be obtained from the OTR WWW page or FTP address listed later. Q4. Which vendors have (lower prices) (higher quality) (faster response)? A4. Prices, quality and service differ somewhat among all vendors. Check with other subscribers to the OTR newsletter to learn of their experiences, then check with potential vendors. Audio quality is an important consideration when purchasing recorded tapes. As yet, there is no "standardized" description of sound quality. Jim Widner and other OTR collectors have suggested various metrics to describe the quality of OTR recordings. Discussion of these standardized descriptors is ongoing, and is summarized at the archive site, and my FTP / WWW sites. Q5. Are OTR shows rebroadcast? If so, where and when? A5. Yes, several AM and FM radio stations and three satellite feeds rebroadcast OTR. Check my OTR WWW page or FTP site for current info. If you learn of other sources, leave a note! Julian A. Smith (jsmith@blues.epas.utoronto.ca), Frank Passage (passage@pluto.dss.com) and Bill Pfeiffer left the following information: For AM listening, try the brand-new National Radio Club's _AM Radio Log, 15th Edition: Complete Listing of U.S. and Canada AM Radio Stations_ (Mannsville, N.Y.: NRC, 1994). All AM stations carrying things like "Old Time Radio" are listed with the format code NOS (Nostalgia), and there are lots of other codes. [Order from NRC Publications, Box 164, Mannsville NY 13661-0164 USA. Price range: $20.00] For FM listening, I'd suggest Bruce F. Elving's _FM Atlas_ (Esko, MN: FM Atlas Pub., 1993). Alongside lists, this has _maps_ of your area and its stations as well. [Order from Bruce Elving, PO Box 336, Esko MN 55733-0336. Price Range: $11.00 + approx $1.00 s/h] The M Street Radio Directory, M Street at 800-248-4242 or +1 212 473 4668 voice, or +1 212 473 4626 fax. The address is M Street Corp., 304 Park Ave S Floor 7, New York, NY 10010 USA. costs $29.95 + p/h, Those lucky listeners living near Boston can have a periodic update of local OTR programming by sending email to Noah Schaffer, at nschaff@k12.oit.umass.edu. Noah will send you monthly OTR & Radio Drama updates, including program titles and station/frequency/time data. Q6. I remember a great show called (x). When was it aired? A6. Check with subscribers to OTR newsletter, or look through the program database (WWW or FTP). Also see answer A14 below. Q7. Are there any books about OTR? A7. Yes, there are several books related to OTR. See my WWW page or FTP site for a list of some of them. Jim Widner and Everett L. Slosman left this address for a bookstore specializing in OTR books: Rainy Day Books P.O. Box 775, Rt 119 Fitzwilliam, NH 03447 (603)585-3448 Bob Crump reminded us that most good used book stores will do a nationwide search for a title, if given enough time. Henry Brugsch <henry@g0gku.demon.co.uk> related a good experience with the following on-line bookstore: Acorn Books acornbks@netcom.com Q8. Does anybody trade tapes of OTR shows? A8. Yes. Check with subscribers to the OTR newsletter. We hope to get a database of private traders as well. Leave a note in the OTR newsletter if you want to trade, or send email to me if you want your library to be listed in the on-line database. Q9. What's this stuff about Copyright? A9. The copyrights on most OTR shows have expired. A few copyrights have been renewed. Examples of the latter include The Shadow and some of Arch Oboler's productions. Q10. How can I get my local radio station to broadcast OTR programming? A10. Call the station and tell them of the many people who like to listen to OTR. Suggest this programming will increase listenership and help buy things from their advertisers. Q11. I have some old transcriptions and tapes, how can I make them sound better? A11. You might try using a good equalizer and/or digital signal processing unit (DSP) between the playback and recording devices. Some people have mentioned that the Radio Shack DSP unit does a fair job. There are also other, more expensive DSP units available from Ham radio stores and audio stores. Some subscribers have attested to the efficacy of the Timewave brand of DSP units. Randy Riddle (Rriddle@aol.com) left this information: There's a firm that sells archival quality turntables and sound processing units that can dramatically improve old recordings. Their sound processing unit runs around $300. Audio 78 Archival Supplies PO Box 187 San Anselmo, CA 94979 415-457-7878 Henry Brugsch <henry@g0gku.demon.co.uk> left this information about Digital Audio Format (DAT): The dat-heads mailing list maintain an archive of all their material at the following site: ftp.atd.ucar.edu. Log on with the usual anonymous then, your routine password. head on over to /pub/dat-heads/ You will find a wealth of info up there. All the digests to the current day, and mike faqs, as well as market postings on equipment. Highly recommendable for anyone to get their feet wet in this media. Happy taping Q12. Are there any OTR clubs near me? A12. Check the two club listings in my WWW page, and leave a note in the OTR Newsletter asking about local clubs for your area. Send me email if you want your club listed. Q13. I have some OTR tapes of the same program, but their dates are different. Why? A13. Sometimes broadcasts are dated according to their original broadcast date, and sometimes according to a date on which they have been rebroadcast. For instance, the Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast many Mutual Radio transcriptions at a later date. Your tape may be of one of these later dates. Alternately, somebody might have made a mis-typopgoof. Q14. Is there any place where I can get a complete listing of all the episodes in a particular program serial? A14. Some of the larger vendors / collectors may have this data. If you find such a publicly available source, we can make it available in the Internet OTR file repository. Some of the OTR Newsletter subscribers have contributed Program Logs for several well-known series. The logs are available at my FTP/WWW site. The "logs and publications" entry in my WWW page gives names and addresses of several vendors of these items. It can be FTP'd as sou-pub.otr. (Thanks to RadioJoe5@aol.com (Joe Coleman)) Jay Hickerson maintains several logs and lists, as well as -Hello Again-, an OTR newsletter. Jay is the author of -The Ultimate History of Network Radio Programming and Guide to All Circulating Shows- (last supplemented in Oct 94). Jay's address is: Jay Hickerson Box 4321 Hamden, CT 06514 (203) 248-2887 FAX (203) 281-1322 Q15. Is there any place where I can get a written synopsis of the themes of OTR programs? A15. Again, some vendors include this information with their catalogs. If you would like to contribute your interpretations of the themes, send them to the OTR newsletter for inclusion in one of our databases. Jim Widner has contributed some synopses / introductions to various programs. They are on file at his and my WWW/FTP sites. Q16. Is there a World Wide Web page (URL) or FTP address that I can access for more information? A16. Yes, there are four WWW sites, as well as two anonymous FTP addresses and a Gopher. The four WWW sites are independent, and contain different information. The FTP directories each contain different files & information. My FTP site holds OTR station lists, catalogs / libraries, bibliography, the most recent FAQ, etc. The Airwaves FTP site holds archived copies of the OTR digests as well as other files relating to -Airwaves- and rec.radio.broadcasting. The Bellingham page is described elsewhere in this FAQ. Jim Widner's page has text, pictures and sound clips. If you learn of any other sites, I'd appreciate your informing me via email! (1) My site: World Wide Web URL: ftp://ftp.crl.com/users/ro/lgenco/otr.html FTP: Anonymous FTP to ftp.crl.com directory: users/ro/lgenco (2) AIRWAVES E-Publishing's Site (courtesy of Bill Pfeiffer): FTP: Anonymous FTP to radio.aiss.uiuc.edu, directory: misc/rec.radio.b-cast/OTR. GOPHER: gopher radio.aiss.uiuc.edu 7070 (select "OTR") World Wide Web URL: http://radio.aiss.uiuc.edu/~rrb (3) The Bellingham Antique Radio Museum World Wide Web URL: http://www.pacificrim.net:80/~radio/ (4) Jim Widner's new homepage World Wide Web URL: http://www.infinet.com/~jwidner/otrweb.html For subscribers without normal FTP access, there is a FTP-by-mail server that will automagically send you a copy of the latest OTR FAQ. To receive a FAQ, send email in -exactly- this format (the case of the file name IS important): To: lgenco@crl.com Subject: Request otr.faq (the body of the message is ignored) Q17. How do I (un)subscribe to the OTR electronic newsletter? A17. To subscribe, send email To: old.time.radio-request@airwaves.com Subject: SUBSCRIBE To unsubscribe, send email To: old.time.radio-request@airwaves.com Subject: UNSUBSCRIBE (The body of the message is ignored in both cases) Q18. Can I get archived copies of old issues of the OTR newsletter? A18. Yes. The OTR Digests and Index are updated three times a week, and are accessible through the first two WWW pages mentioned above, or from the AIRWAVES anonymous FTP site mentioned above. Q19. What is the best way to archive OTR programs? A19. The most popular way seems to be reel-reel tapes, using each of the four tracks to record monophonically. Cassettes are generally fine for portability / ease of use / exchange, but they suffer from several problems when used as a long-term storage medium. The Hi-Fi VHS tape is gaining in popularity because of its six-hour storage capability and relatively robust mechanical construction. Some subscribers have mentioned Talking Book tape recorders as a possible archival method. These recorders operate at 15/16 ips (half the speed of a standard cassette recorder), and can operate in 4-track mode, thus giving up to 6 hours of play time on a standard 90 minute cassette. Don Coco (djc@crl.com) left the following information about sources for Talking Book type equipment: The American Printing House For The Blind 1839 Frankfort Ave. Louisville, Kentucky 40206 Tel. (502) 895-2405 Sells Braille and recorded books, 4 track recorders which record at 15/16 IPS, and other products of interested to Visually Impaired persons. Price of 4 track recorder around $175 I.R.T.I. 1411 West El Camino Real Mountainview, Ca. 94040 Tel. (415) 961-3161 or (800) 322-4784 Sells all including Radio's, TV's with SAP, Reading Machines, Computers ETC. Conrad Trautmann (CONRADTRAUT@delphi.com) left this note in response to a query about finding used reel-reel machines: You can also call Harris/Allied used equipment division at 1-800-622-0022 or call Radio World magazine at 703-998-7600 for subscription information. Radio World is an industry trade and has used equipment listings in the classifieds once a month. Q20. My old reels squeak. Why does this happen, and can I fix it? A20. There are at least two causes for "squeaky reels" on a reel-reel tape recorder. (1) The tape edge may be rubbing against the rim of a distorted take-up reel, or (2) the oxide may be sticking to your erase (or other) heads. If the former, the least frustrating alternative is probably a new take-up reel. If the latter, Fred Korb left this note: If you have any squeaky reels that you would like to recover, I will be glad to send you more information on how to do it. Just send me a stamped self addressed # 10 envelope and I will respond. Send your request to: Fred Korb, c/o Oldtime Radio Collectors and Traders Society, 725 Cardigan Court, Naperville, Illinois 60565-1202. I am willing to help you preserve the sounds of radio days gone by. [Editor's note: Fred's method consists of a kit by which a lubricating film can be automatically applied to the tape as it is played. I tried it. Although temporary, it does indeed work! I'd recommend it for those squeaky tapes that you wish to re-record onto newer reels.] Richard Fish <lodeston@bluemarble.net> also left this helpful info about an alternative method: HYRDROLYZATION is the culprit. The tape material -- the backing, or the binder compound used to stick the magnetic particles to the plastic backing -- has absorbed water from the air. The water molecules actually make the tape expand a bit, so it doesn't fit the machined tape-guides properly anymore; and they can interfere with the lubrication impregnated into the tape; and it is theorized they can even interfere with the polished smoothness of the tape surface. WHY SOME TAPES AND NOT OTHERS? It depends on the formulation of the plastic backing and binder. In the mid-70's, both 3M (Scotch) and Ampex, the two major tape manufacturers, started experimenting with their formulas. They thought they were introducing major improvements, but instead created a tape much more prone to hydrolization than anything had ever been. The problem did not show up for years, and the formulas did not get corrected until sometime in the mid-80's. Theoretically any tape could get hydrolyzed over a long period of time, especially if stored in a high-humidity situation, but in practice most squeaky tapes were made (roughly speaking) between 1975 and 1985. WHAT'S THE FIX? Tom Lopez at ZBS (the most prolific and entreprenurially successful producer of radio drama in the US today) gave me his formula and I've done it many times now and it works: Bake the tapes in a convection oven for 8 hours at 130 degrees Fahrenheit. It is entirely possible to bake a tape twice if the first time doesn't do the trick. You get about a three-week "window", sez Tom, before the tape starts to re-absorb water. So the best deal is to bake the tape and immediately make a copy. But if you forget to do it and it re-hydrolyzes, you can bake it again. Q21. Where can I find more information about antique radios? A21. An excellent place for discussions about antique radios, phonographs and accessories is the rec.antiques.radio+phono newsgroup, created by Bill Robie. His FAQ may also be found at my WWW site. The WWW site, "The Bellingham Antique Radio Museum" is also available through my WWW site, or directly via URL http://www.pacificrim.net:80/~radio/. This site contains info and GIFs on old radio hardware, as well as soundclips (.au files) of OTR show intros. Well worth visiting! (The Bellingham Antique Radio Museum is a private collection gathered over the past 20 years by Jonathan Winter. The collection is a historical journey through time; from the beginning of radio to the early 1940's there are over one thousand radios to view, and in some cases to play.) Q22. What is the best radio / antenna to get distant OTR stations? A22. Several readers have been acclaiming the GE SuperRadio III as an excellent choice for picking up distant stations that carry OTR programming. Although the tuning dial has notoriously poor calibration, the sensitivity and selectivity seem superior to other radios. A SuperRadio FAQ is available at my WWW / ftp site. -Some- readers have had good success with the Select-A-Tenna antenna advertised in several magazines, and the Grove Catalog. The S-A-T seems to be rather directional, and may eliminate off-axis interference. Ham Radio magazines sometimes carry information about small loop antennas for AM DX-ing. Dan Hughes <dhughes@prairienet.org> left this note: Several years ago one of the electronic magazines ran plans with dimensions and number of turns, etc to build one of these antennas. I have built several and I'm no mechanic. If you (or anyone else reading this) would like a copy of the article and plans, drop me a stamped, self-addressed envelope: Dan Hughes, P.O. Box 933, Urbana IL 61801.