Sept. 2014 APS Journal

[rgordon939]

Received my copy Monday. Another great issue as always. Here is my question, does anyone know if there is a link anywhere to the presentation given by John Levin of his new CPS1 cylinder player? I was not able to make it there to see the demonstration but would love to see it.

Rich Gordon

[welshfield]

If summer is easier, that's fine...we just enter you as "PAID" in the computer

George:
I know this is just me, and I probably should not waste forum space for this, but if I paid now I would get a pile of back issues and be a member for 2014, thereby requiring yet another payment for 2015.
Would it not be easier on your membership person and treasurer to allow memberships to expire throughout the year rather than to stick him/her with the full burden of handling all the renewals all at once....not to mention the cost savings of not needing to mail out a package of back issues to anyone joining mid-calendar year?
John

[FloridaClay]

Read my copy cover-to-cover last night. George's article made me realize that I should get a nickel or aluminum horn for my Type 2 QA instead of the japanned one with it now.

Clay

[phonogfp]

I know this is just me, and I probably should not waste forum space for this, but if I paid now I would get a pile of back issues and be a member for 2014, thereby requiring yet another payment for 2015.

It's true that if you paid now, you'd get 3 back issues for 2014, UNLESS you specify that you're paying for 2015 and don't want an issue of the journal until March. Otherwise, simply pay for two years and get your 2014 issues AND your 2015 issues. A year from now pay for your 2016 membership and just pay every summer (or at your convenience) for the upcoming year. It can be done however you wish.

Would it not be easier on your membership person and treasurer to allow memberships to expire throughout the year rather than to stick him/her with the full burden of handling all the renewals all at once....not to mention the cost savings of not needing to mail out a package of back issues to anyone joining mid-calendar year?
John

No, John, keeping track of the expirations was a huge headache for the former MAPS organization, and there were multiple mistake made. Our current membership staff much prefer going by calendar year. Since we are all volunteers, my vote is to keep them happy!

George P.

[TinfoilPhono]

There's quite a back story to this issue, and it was only through the herculean efforts of Editor Rene Rondeau that the journal made it out on time. Or at all...!

I could write a book about publishing this issue. (A horror story at that.)

But the Cliff Notes version: ever since I took over as editor in 2004 I have used Pagemaker for desktop publishing. I've been working with that software since the late 80s and know it inside out, so it was a breeze to lay out a magazine.

But Pagemaker was killed off in 2004 and has not been supported by Adobe since then. I knew that someday my old XP computer would die -- I was on borrowed time the past two years. Sure enough, right after finishing the June issue that dreaded day arrived. Pagemaker went kablooie, and the software won't run on Windows 7.

So after publishing 42 (!) issues with that familiar program I was suddenly left with nothing. Well, nothing but a looming deadline.

A mad scramble for a replacement ensued. Suffice it to say many hours of research and discussions were undertaken. The 'official' replacement for Pagemaker is Adobe InDesign, but today they no longer sell the software outright; the new business model for many major programs is to offer subscriptions. Roughly $240 a year, every year, if we choose to go that route. That is a huge financial burden for a small, volunteer-operated club like ours.

Finding an older version that can be purchased outright, is not an upgrade or educational version, capable of running on Window 7, and is legal and can be registered, is not easy. And it is very expensive.

There's much, much more to that story but suffice it to say that in the end we decided to go with Micro$oft Publisher since our needs are fairly basic. We aren't designing for tablets, embedding videos, adding interactive features, or many of the other complicated things the latest top-end programs do.

But although Publisher is theoretically capable of handling the very basic sort of layout we need, dropping in text and wrapping around illustrations, the program is underpowered, incredibly buggy (even after being on the market well over a decade) and downright wonky. Here's where I could go on for hours with the bizarre and frustrating problems that occurred every 5 minutes, but I won't bore you. Suffice it to say that working with the pre-press director at our printer, we were able to work around the biggest problems. But with difficulty.

I really don't know how he did it, to be honest. The latest version of Publisher has removed some earlier features, the most important being CMYK output. Anyone who works with commercial printers will know what I'm talking about. Publisher can only output RGB. Converting the photos over to CMYK was a minor problem for the printer. The real problem is the Publisher outputs text in RGB as well -- not true black as did Pagemaker.

What that means is that to print text in black, it must be converted to CMYK along with the photos, then four separate layers of colors are laid over each other to make what amounts to a color picture of black & white. It is virtually impossible to align all four passes so perfectly that the print shows sharply, without a halo effect. And it still wouldn't look true black.

I don't know how he did it but after hours of experimenting the pre-press genius found a work-around.

So, long story short (well, not short enough I'm afraid) we ended up with an issue that surprised me. I really feared that this one would be dramatically lower in quality than past years and was literally embarrassed to put it out as it stands. Thank goodness it worked out!

But the amount of work it took to do it is not sustainable. This issue represents a couple of hundred hours of effort. Really. (All I can say is thank goodness I'm semi-retired. I could not have done this if I still worked full-time.) A better solution will have to be found. It is unlikely we can do that in time for the December issue, but by next March I hope we have software that can create a more professional finished product.

I should add that my job as editor is pretty simple. That is to say, we have such fantastic contributors (for example, George Paul and Bob Baumbach have not missed one single issue in 11 years!) that 'editing' really just means laying out the text and pictures in a manner that makes sense. I very rarely have to suggest any changes in the text (though it can be hard to decide which out of many supplied photos must be cut in order to fit the page).

So I definitely credit our contributors. Without them there would be no magazine. (This is a good point to mention that we welcome new contributors to join in. If you have ever thought about writing an article about a topic that interest you, please do! If you don't feel you can write 'professionally' I will be happy to work with you to create something we can all be happy with.)

I'll also add that the merger of CAPS and MAPS was not only a tremendous boon to the hobby overall, creating a single, much stronger organization better equipped to serve the members. It has resulted in a finer magazine as well, with an ever-growing number of contributing writers. We grew from 36 pages to 52. We also moved on to full color throughout (though that happened shortly prior to the merger). I hope everyone will agree that the new, combined magazine is the finest publication in the hobby, with a little of something for everyone.

We all appreciate your support!

[fran604g]

TinfoilPhono,

First, let me thank you and the contributors for a truly first class publication! I am very appreciative of the work involved, tho I can't even begin to fathom the desk top publication process.

Secondly, this latest edition of The Antique Phonograph, in my humble opinion, is something to be proud of. If there were any problems, I wouldn't have guessed! Being one of the newest members to the club, I'm amazed at how much I've learned from the journal just since my very first issue (December 2013) and at the quality and scope of it.

Thank you,

Fran

[phonogfp]

Received my copy Monday. Another great issue as always. Here is my question, does anyone know if there is a link anywhere to the presentation given by John Levin of his new CPS1 cylinder player? I was not able to make it there to see the demonstration but would love to see it.

Rich Gordon

I too was unable to attend this year, and was looking forward to John's presentation. There's no online link, but in short order the APS will be offering a DVD with both 2014 presentations. You'll be able to find it here:

http://www.antiquephono.org/shop/

I'm looking forward to seeing it!

George P.

[welshfield]

Pagemaker went kablooie, and the software won't run on Windows 7.

Tinfoilphono:
I experienced exactly your dilemma. Here's how I got out of it. First I went on line to Microsoft and upgraded Windows 7 to 7.1 (or something like that) Since I had my old XP hard drive saved externally, I simply dragged all my PageMaker operating files from the saved drive onto my new Windows 7.1 drive, placing it into my "Programs" subdirectory, and, viola, it works. I know this sounds impossible, but, without actually "installing" Page Maker, it simply picked up and ran and still runs on my Windows 7.1 computer. I am missing some of the more exotic fonts -- I suppose if I wanted any I could find a way to install them -- but otherwise I am back in business.
John

[TinfoilPhono]

Welshfield, I am speechless. I find the idea of simply dragging a file over into an unsupported OS, without installation, and having it work to seem utterly implausible. But with nothing to lose I went ahead and tried your trick, and I'll be damned if I don't have Pagemaker up and running. Holy crap! This simply can't be true, can it??

I have only done a tiny bit of experimenting. I need to do more before I will let myself believe this. But if it continues to work as it appear, this is the lifesaver I have been looking for.

And if so, I can't thank you enough.

I'd love to hear from a computer wizard as to how this could possibly actually work, my curiosity is overwhelming. But in the interim I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

I'm off to experiment, wish me luck.

And THANK YOU again.

[VintageTechnologies]

I'd love to hear from a computer wizard as to how this could possibly actually work, my curiosity is overwhelming. But in the interim I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

I have supported computers professionally since the MS-DOS days. I'm not sure that puts me in the wizard class, but close enough to answer your question.

Most Windows software does have to be installed from the original program disks, because the installation process often copies files to multiple locations on the hard drive, including the Windows folder itself. Not only that, an installation program often makes new additions or changes to entries in the "Windows Registry", a database that contains all the customizable characteristics of Windows and its applications. Therefore you can begin to see that copying one folder from "Program Files" isn't going to transfer everything the application needs.

Having said the above, some software companies do write applications that are completely self-contained within one folder, and no entries in the Windows Registry. I don't know why they do that, but thank goodness when they do! It appears that might be the case with PageMaker. If you can put PageMaker through its paces without any problems, then count yourself fortunate.

You should be able to use PageMaker for another ten years with some careful planning and advance preparations to handle any disaster scenario. Buy a clean used computer (eBay is full of them!) capable of running XP and PageMaker. Buy an extra hard drive. If it does not come with the original Windows restore disks, I would suggest buying a generic DELL OEM Windows XP system disk from eBay - they will install a basic copy of Windows XP on most brands and don't "call home" to Microsoft to verify the serial number. Then download and save the software drivers from the computer manufacturer for that model of computer and install those to complete the Windows installation. Keep multiple backups of PageMaker on different media to guarantee that you don't lose it. Buy a spare printer that is hardware and software compatible. Practice putting together a complete backup computer now and test it before disaster strikes and you can sleep comfortably.