Hi Guys,
Though I have the schematics for my radios thanks to members here,
I was looking to buy an original manual as a keepsake from eBay.
1935, hoping to see my Airzone in it.

If volume 1 began in 1937, where did the prior schematics come from?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/AORSM-AUSTRALIAN-OFFICAL-RADIO-SERVICE-COMPLETE-MANUAL-ON-CD-VOLUMES-VOL-1-14-/221367065555?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item338a815bd3&_uhb=1.

The AORSM was one of the many initiatives of a very remarkable fellow named Ossie Mingay:

http://www.qsl.net/vk2dym/radio/Mingay.htm.

I don't know if the AORSM was the first Australian publication to collate schematics for numerous makes and models each year.

Such publications require the active co-operation of the manufacturers and in those early days of radio there was fierce competition between them and reportedly they were pretty litigious regarding their patents, and I suppose the same would have applied regarding copyright.

A forum member here send me a schematic for my Airzone, and I'm pretty sure it's 1935 since it has the "B" serial prefix.

Where would that have been obtained then? Surely back then, the companies wanted their radios to be serviceable, or they'd get a reputation just for withholding service info one would think?

I understand that the AORSM CD on eBay is a pirate copy and Ray Pedri in WA that did the hard yards to produce the original is not a very happy person. Ray sells them direct and occasionally puts them on eBay. For the amount of work that went into making something like that, his price is more than reasonable at around $100.

"The AORSM was one of the many initiatives of a very remarkable fellow named Ossie Mingay"

I don't think this is correct. The AORSM was published by The Strand Press Pty. Ltd., 236 Elizabeth St., Brisbane.

Mingay Publishing produced the Radio Trade Annual and Service Manual. These books were around from about the mid to late 1930's The Mingay books have some schematics that are not included in the AORSM's.

The Radio Trade Annual and Service Manual(s) is quite rare and highly sought after. A lot of schematics from these books have since been copied and are floating around the traps.

Prior to these publications, service sheets were provided to radio repair serviceman on request from the manufacturer and/or distributor.

Ok thanks

I'm not thinking of buying the CD, but had it began in 1935, a real AORSM would have been a nice keepsake. There are a couple of originals on eBay right now for $25 each.

I don't think this is correct. The AORSM was published by The Strand Press Pty. Ltd., 236 Elizabeth St., Brisbane.

I can't argue, but I've been told on numerous occasions in person that Mingay was behind the AORSM.

I wonder who else would have the wherewithal to produce such a thing?

Who was Strand Press? Are we sure it wasn't one of Mingay's numerous publishing ventures?

I noticed on eBay some of the bootleg copies have sold for more than what Ray charges and he includes postage!

I understand that the AORSM CD on eBay is a pirate copy and Ray Pedri in WA that did the hard yards to produce the original is not a very happy person.

My copy came from Ray, but I guess it's hard to protect something like that once it's digitised.

I don't begrudge Ray's wanting some return on his time and effort, but there's an argument that says a low price on the genuine product makes it unattractive for others to copy and sell.

It's a hard call in this case. On one hand there is a lot of work to do in scanning the books and converting the scans to PDF. Even though modern photocopiers do this with ease we are talking about a lot of mucking around. On the other hand, the books originally had a copyright on them too to both the publisher and perhaps the radio manufacturers.

I've begun work on scanning the books with a view to storing the information here, for much the same purpose as the CDs have been published, with one slight difference. I won't charge for usage - the files will be freely available. Again, this isn't a quick and dirty job. It'll take me months to make any headway with it and complete other promised tasks. I think the important thing to do whether it be a CD, digital download or whatever is to acknowledge the source of the original work, regardless of whether a copyright is still in force or not.

As far as I have been able to ascertain, Strand Press no longer exists.

Who was Strand Press?

Well, once again, Trove has come up with the goods. The Strand Press was one Lawton Duncan Taylor and here's Mingay suing him in 1939 for reproducing stuff from his publications:

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/40841308.

So, who was Lawton Duncan Taylor when he was at home?

Well, that is one for the books, no pun intended. I was always of the belief that the radio manufacturers allowed Strand to compile these publications to help the servicemen out. This would surely have been a benefit to Strand but also the manufacturers as they would have then had a much smaller outlay for printing costs.

Whatever issue existed between Strand and Mingay, it must have been resolved as the AORSMs went well into the 1950s. I have all but the last few volumes and am hanging to complete the set.

Lawton Duncan Taylor sounds more like the name of a legal practice than a publisher.

How big is the total data on the CD if I may ask?

My understanding is It doesn't matter if the company exists or not for copyright law to apply.
It just might be that nobody is alive, or going to take legal action over it,
but in case of death, copyright ownership is with relatives for the duration.

I came into this for an iPhone App which is an emulator for
a long obsolete computer.
We still aren't supposed to distribute it's system ROMs which
were originally on a chip in the computer,
even though Commodore no longer exists.
Luckily a deal for reproduction and sub-licencing was done
by another company before Commodore went bust,
and they were able to sub-licence to me for the App.

As I alluded to in my earlier post, radio was a very competitive and litigious industry back in the 1930s and it seems that competition extended to the technical publications, too.

Although it's a long time ago, I guess we could liken it to Apple vs Samsung today.

I read a bit of history about Music Masters Brisbane.
Apparently, southern companies blocked supply of Aus parts
in attempt to force them out of business having to buy from overseas, but later, they changed their minds and started supply of parts locally again.

So for some time, those radios have foreign components.

GTC, I think you mentioned you haven't seen a signature on a chassis?
Then you don't have a Music Masters!
They have sigs for cabling, checks, etc.
and then it looks like the big boss signed every chassis under the dial face back plate which has to be removed to see it.

Anyway, they question remains, how were some radio companies able to block supply of parts to a Brisbane company,
when the southern radio companies didn't make parts?