[Mark Korda]

Hi I finally got to learn a little bit about Frank VanAlStine after many years.My first purchase was a modded Dyna SCA-80Q in the mid 80's,which I loved,my freinds the owner now,to not too long ago when he or his team rechecked my building of a Dyna-35 I was rebuilding,and so many inbetweens when he would just give away his audio secrets and knowlage(Audio Basics,and telephone calls he always answered personally).Thank you very much!Now when I read the article near the end of the first question it seemed we had the same intrest in or around high school.Then Neil Gader asked you about school and you said you went to U of M for a couple of years studying civil engineering.My question thus being,Is there a lot of electronics in volved in that study,or did you learn elsewhere?Also,for an older slower guy,like myself,is there a personal direction you could give to one trying to get a better grasp of electronics?.....Thanks much....Mark Korda

[decal]

There's already a discussion on this here......http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=85136.msg833756;topicseen#new

[turkey]

elsewhere?Also,for an older slower guy,like myself,is there a personal direction you could give to one trying to get a better grasp of electronics?.....Thanks much....Mark Korda

This might be a good place to start:

http://www.tpub.com/neets/

[bregez]

Then Neil Gader asked you about school and you said you went to U of M for a couple of years studying civil engineering.My question thus being,Is there a lot of electronics in volved in that study,or did you learn elsewhere?

Civil engineering students are exposed to basic circuits via a physics class that ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) requires.  Some civil engineering students take a basic circuits class as an elective to prepare them for the FE (Fundaments of Engineering) exam so they can get their EIT (Engineer-In-Training) certification.   Most community colleges will offer basic circuits classes to the general public.  They may wave the prerequisites if you simply audit the class.

[rcag_ils]

There's a slight problem with the interview. There's no Ward Silvertone, Ward's product line was Airlines. Silvertone was Sear's product line. I'm not sure if the author got misinformed or it was a printing error.

RadioGeek (my colleague) from whom I borrow test equipment on occasion pointed it out to me.

[avahifi]

Well, it was a Silvertone.  Speaker in the fold up cover, phono cartridge that had replacement steel needles held in by thumbscrew, and played 78 RPM and more as I remember.  Sorry for the bad memories, I was only about 10 years old then.

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine

[JLM]

My degree was in civil engineering and yes, we had to take one electrical engineering class.  I was/am as dumb as a bag of rocks when it comes to electrical but I earned my BS (not Bachelor's in Science) degree in that class by recognizing a couple of the principles that applied to speaker crossovers, which got me noticed by the professor.

When it came time to take the E.I.T. exam (I think they call it "Part 1" now and am sure it's completely different) there were 30 electrical problems that even the electrical engineering majors couldn't do.  I skipped them, did the other 150 problems, checked them again, and counted the number of A, B, C, D, and E answers I had.  As I had less B answers I filled in B for all the electrical problems.  (And that was just the first 4 hours of the test.)

Frank it's good to find another civil engineer in the crowd.   

[ricmon]

Well, it was a Silvertone.  Speaker in the fold up cover, phono cartridge that had replacement steel needles held in by thumbscrew, and played 78 RPM and more as I remember.  Sorry for the bad memories, I was only about 10 years old then.

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine

Side bar:

i was totally amazed when I got a chance to listen to a true Victrola record player.  It had a finishing nail for the "needle".  Amazing!!

Ric

[turkey]

Kid's phonographs (when I was a kid) used to have a steel needle held in by a thumbscrew. It drove a small (maybe 2") diaphragm in the end of the tonearm. The only thing that was electric was the motor to drive the platter.

They sold various replacement needles, most of which looked like the end of a large safety pin. Then they had more expensive ones with a "sapphire tip." It's was still a steel needle, but the end had something set in it that might have been a sapphire. Or it might have been a chunk of window glass.

I guess the best thing about these kid's phonographs was that they wore out the record fairly fast, so parents didn't have to sit through months of continuous play of "How much is that doggy in the window?"

I had one of these when I was about 4. It lasted a month or so, and then I took it apart, threw away the guts, and used the case as a briefcase - like Dad's!

[dlparker]

Kid's phonographs (when I was a kid) used to have a steel needle held in by a thumbscrew. It drove a small (maybe 2") diaphragm in the end of the tonearm. The only thing that was electric was the motor to drive the platter.

They sold various replacement needles, most of which looked like the end of a large safety pin. Then they had more expensive ones with a "sapphire tip." It's was still a steel needle, but the end had something set in it that might have been a sapphire. Or it might have been a chunk of window glass.

I guess the best thing about these kid's phonographs was that they wore out the record fairly fast, so parents didn't have to sit through months of continuous play of "How much is that doggy in the window?"

I had one of these when I was about 4. It lasted a month or so, and then I took it apart, threw away the guts, and used the case as a briefcase - like Dad's!

I can't remember what mine was, but it was basically the same deal.  "American Patrol" and "Under the Double Eagle" were my favorites, but there were a number of Little Golden Records that I wore out.  "How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?" was a favorite, too, but as I recall I had to wait until Friday nights and "Your Hit Parade" at my grandmother's house to hear Dorothy Collins sing it. 

[Paul K.]

Frank, I read this interview while on a plane to Utah this last Wednesday to visit relatives.   I thought the interview was quite nice and interesting.  What I really liked was the photo of you holding your best buddy, Stanley.  Stanley appears to be a very sweet "baby" and the bond you two share is very obvious.
Paul Kittinger 

Well, it was a Silvertone.  Speaker in the fold up cover, phono cartridge that had replacement steel needles held in by thumbscrew, and played 78 RPM and more as I remember.  Sorry for the bad memories, I was only about 10 years old then.

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine

[turkey]

Frank, I read this interview while on a plane to Utah this last Wednesday to visit relatives.   I thought the interview was quite nice and interesting.  What I really liked was the photo of you holding your best buddy, Stanley.  Stanley appears to be a very sweet "baby" and the bond you two share is very obvious.
Paul Kittinger

I wonder if Stanley does inspection work like Pauline the Puma did?