Path: news.cs.tut.fi!news.funet.fi!sunic!pipex!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!darkstar.UCSC.EDU!news.hal.COM!olivea!decwrl!nntp.crl.com!crl7.crl.com!not-for-mail From: lgenco@crl.com (Lou Genco) Newsgroups: rec.radio.info,rec.radio.broadcasting,rec.answers,news.answers Subject: FAQ: Old Time Radio (OTR) Newsletter Followup-To: poster Date: 25 Nov 1994 10:15:13 -0800 Organization: Someplace in the Republic of Texas Lines: 363 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Distribution: world Expires: 25 Dec 1994 23:59:00 GMT Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: crl7.crl.com Summary: This posting contains a list of Frequently Asked Questions (and their answers) about nostalgic (old-time, 'golden age') radio programs. It is intended to be an adjunct to the OTR newsletter. Keywords: OTR FAQ, radio, nostalgia Xref: news.cs.tut.fi rec.radio.info:7002 rec.radio.broadcasting:9386 rec.answers:8571 news.answers:32521 Archive-name: radio/old-time-faq Posting-Frequency: monthly Last-modified: 11-25-1994 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) File for OTR The Old-Time Radio Newsletter (FAQ Edited by Lou Genco (lgenco@crl.com)) Last Modified 11-25-1994 --------------------- 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. |Changes from last version are marked by "|" in the first column. --------------------- 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? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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, ftp sites and 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 the 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, 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). Q7. Are there any books about OTR? A7. Yes, there are several books related to OTR. See the WWW page or FTP site for a list of some of them. | Jim Widner left this address for a bookstore specializing in OTR | books: | Rainy Day Books | P.O. Box 775 | Fitswilliam, 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 | 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 be listed in this 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 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 club listing in the WWW page. We will add clubs as they become known to us. 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 mistypopgoof. 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. 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 my www/ftp site. Q16. Is there a World Wide Web page (URL) or FTP address that I can access for more info? A16. Yes, there are two WWW sites, as well as two anonymous FTP addresses and a Gopher. The two WWW sites are independent, and contain different information, but each can be accessed from the other. 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. (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: 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 For subscribers without normal FTP access, there is a (presently experimental) FTP-by-mail server. For more information, send email in -exactly- this format: To: lgenco@crl.com Subject: Request otrhelp (the body of the message is ignored) Q17. How do I (un)subscribe to the OTR electronic newsletter? A17. To subscribe, send email To: otr-request@airwaves.com Subject: SUBSCRIBE To unsubscribe, send email To: otr-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 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 TalkingBook 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: I tried Fred's method. Although temporary, it | does indeed work! I'd recommend it for those squeaky tapes that | you wish to re-record onto newer reels. Much less tedious than | manually holding a cotton swab soaked in tape head lubricant | against the tape!] Q21. Where can I find more information about restoring 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.