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Ampzilla (was: DQ-10 What is the recommended power input?)
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On Thu, 28 Oct 2021 11:32:33 -0700, Les Noriel via groups.io wrote:
I thought I’d mention (hopefully not repeating)In July of 1974, Ziff-Davis Publishing Company hired me, a recent Electrical Engineering graduate, to be the Assistant Technical Editor of Popular Electronics magazine (PE). While I was at PE, I worked under the supervision of Leslie Solomon, who was the Technical Editor, and Art Salsberg, who was the Editorial Director. Eventually, Leslie was given the title of Technical Director, and I became the Technical Editor. While I worked at PE, I attended the night session of a Law School in New York City. I left PE in July of 1981 to begin my legal career. The seven years that I spent at PE were very rewarding. I worked on many interesting projects, including Ampzilla. Ampzilla was offered in kit form, and PE's cover story described the construction of the amplifier, provided the schematic and parts lists, and provided the results of performance measurements on the finished product. I had the opportunity to deal directly with the authors of the construction articles, including such folks as Ed Roberts of MITS (which offered the Altair 8800 micro-computer), George Meyerle (who offered calculators and other items in kit form), Forrest Mims, Don Lancaster, and many others, including James Bongiorno. It was a wonderful experience. I consider myself to have been very fortunate to have been hired and to have been able to work at PE for those seven years. My only regret in retrospect is that I did not avail myself of the opportunity to have gotten an Ampzilla or two at the time. Just before I left PE, I acquired my mirror-image DQ-10s directly from the factory, along with a pair of DQ-1W and an LP1 active crossover. The woofer surrounds have been replaced once, the crossover capacitors have been upgraded, and the grill covers have been replaced. The Dahlquists still sing. John Joseph McVeigh, Attorney At Law Butler, Maryland Practice before the Federal Communications Commission Member: NY, DC, and USPTO Bars |
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On Fri, 29 Oct 2021 14:31:17 -0700, John van Son wrote:
Very cool story about the audio history you were a part of. Thank you Yes. I had just arrived at PE as the September issue was actively being worked on. (The staff typically worked two months ahead of the mailing and publication date.) The masthead, which appears on numbered p. 4, had not yet been modified. The Ampzilla Construction Article had already been scheduled to be the cover story. (I found Construction Articles to be the most interesting of the types of editorial content on which I had the opportunity to work.) My first appearance on the PE masthead was on that of the following month's edition. <> My memory as described in my previous message was off in one respect. The first title that I held while on the PE editorial staff was that of Assistant Editor, not Assistant Technical Editor. I became Assistant Technical Editor perhaps two years later. Perhaps two years after that, my title changed to Technical Editor, after (or simultaneously with) Leslie Solomon's title change from Technical Editor to Technical Director. The changes were more matters of nomenclature and of justification for pay raises than actual substantive changes in responsibilities held and duties discharged. The period of time that I was at PE was perhaps PE's Golden Age... not because of my presence, but because of what the magazine was covering. Not too long after I left PE in June of 1981 (or was it the end of May?), PE changed its name to Computers & Electronics in an attempt to fend off competition from the likes of Byte magazine. And not all that long after that, Ziff-Davis sold PE to Gernsback Publications, which had published the competing monthly Radio Electronics during (and before) the years that I was on the editorial staff of PE. The sale occurred as part of the consequences of Bill Ziff, Jr.'s diagnosis of prostate cancer and his decision to sell a number of magazines and to focus on his personal situation. Arthur P. Salsberg, the Editorial Director of PE and then of Computers & Electronics, left and subsequently started the monthly Modern Electronics. Al Burawa, who was an Associate Editor when I started at PE, joined the staff of Modern Electronics. So did André Duzant, who had been Technical Illustrator at PE when I joined PE. I have many fond memories of the PE staff. At the risk of tooting my own horn, I can claim credit for suggesting the name Altair for the personal computer that was the subject of the cover-story Construction Article for the January 1975 issue. There is an apocryphal story that Leslie Solomon's daughter, Lauren, suggested the name, but the truth is that I did. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have worked at PE during those years. Ziff-Davis was an extremely enlightened employer. The fringe benefits were great.... a very nice pension plan, medical insurance, and a generous vacation policy. Moreover, after seven years of continuous service, in addition to four weeks of paid vacation time, one received a grant of an additional three weeks of paid Sabbatical. One had to take the Sabbatical, even if one simply stayed at home, but the recommendation was to travel and to broaden one's horizons. One final note: Bill Ziff, Jr. beat prostate cancer ,and once again got involved in publishing. He and his three sons sold the company to CBS in 1994 for a hefty sum. The sons ultimately retained a financial advisor named Bill Browder to help them invest their money. Bill Browder had started a fund called Hermitage Capital, and he specialized in investments in the Russian Federation. where formerly State-owned assets could be picked up for a song. Bill Browder retained a Russian attorney named Sergei Magnitsky to assist him in compliance with Russian law. Sergei Magnitsky was arrested on trumped-up charges by the regime of Vladimir Putin and who died as a result of his vicious treatment while in prison. The Russian government issued an arrest warrant for Bill Browder, which remains outstanding. Bill Browder championed the passage of the Magnitsky Act, <>, the repeal of which was the top item on the agenda of the Russian attorney, Natalia Veselnitskaya, during her infamous June, 2016 meeting with Donald Trump, Jr., Jared Kushner, and others at Trump Tower in New York City. Back to the original subject: Ampzilla was a beast! John Joseph McVeigh, Attorney At Law Butler, Maryland USA Practice before the Federal Communications Commission Member: NY, DC, and USPTO Bars |
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Thank you for sharing your experience. Enjoyable read for me.
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On Oct 29, 2021, at 3:52 PM, John Joseph McVeigh <kd4vs@...> wrote: |
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