Dictaphone Expert Helps Refine JFK Recording

[Don Roberdeau]

Dictaphone Expert Helps Refine JFK Recording

Good Day.... FYI....

http://www.democratherald.com/articles/200..._dictaphone.txt

<QUOTE>

Bill McWilliams shows a sample of blank tape used in Dictabelt recordings.

The remastermind: Dictaphone expert helps refine JFK recording

By Steve Lathrop

Albany Democrat-Herald

It has been 45 years since Bill McWilliams first became immersed in the continuing investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

“I was right in the middle of it all,” he says.

He still is, in his own way.

From his home in North Albany, McWilliams works with engineers at the Lawrence Livermore National Loboratory in California, trying to determine the exact number of shots fired in Dallas, Texas on Nov. 22, 1963.

Widely considered an expert Dictaphone technician, McWilliams was recruited by researchers who are using advanced techniques in sound reproduction to provide them with first-hand information on the machine and the assassination as they search for additional evidence.

It was McWilliams who serviced the now-famous Dictabelt #10 at the Dallas police station the day of the assassination. It is the machine that recorded events as they crackled forth from a motorcycle policeman’s open microphone.

“I heard it all as it happened,” McWilliams says.

The research, which has been going on since 2005, was authorized by Leslie Waffin of the National Archives, who released the machine to the lab to apply the latest techniques in sound reproduction.

Dr. Carl Haber and Dr. Vitaliy Fadeyev have led the research using a digital optical camera called a Smartscope to scan the grooves of the belt and create a digital image of sound patterns.

It is fed into computers programmed to clean up the sound removing excess noise, static and voices.

“The sound is reproduced without the stylus riding on the grooves,” said McWilliams. “And the computer can eliminate any unnecessary noise.”

Already involved for more than a year, McWilliams supplies equipment, specifications and mechanical data for the dictabelt recordings.

“It’s a slow process. They are still working on it,” he said. “Ultimately they are trying to find out if there were more shots fired.”

The day of the assassination, McWilliams not only heard the event, he witnessed the transfer of the mortally wounded president from the ambulance to the hospital, which was located directly behind the Dallas Police Station.

“I believe there were more shots fired,” he says. “Maybe this will answer that question.”

In addition to his work on the assassination investigation, McWilliams never is far from a Dictaphone, which were in wide use between the late 19th- and early 20th century. Dictabelts that had grooves cut into a plastic belt, rather than onto a wax cylinder, were introduced in 1947. Then the tape recorder gained popularity, and Dictaphones fell out of favor.

McWilliams may be the world’s largest provider and repairer of vintage machines. His shelves are lined with wax cylinders, vacuum tubes, cassettes and magnetic tape analog recording and dictating equipment — technological relics that predated tape recorders and cell phones.

“He’s known all over the country,” said his wife Dorothy.

Working from a large shop behind his home, McWilliams and his son Doak have created a website and also sell parts on eBay.

“I don’t deal much with the computers,” he admits. “I don’t really trust them.” He doesn’t ignore them, either; he simply prefers being able to use his hands. His entire inventory has been indexed by hand to back up the computer log.

McWilliams spent 33 years with Dictaphone after his graduation from Texas Institute of Technology. He eventually becoming a regional service director.

The Korean War veteran retired in 1989 and moved to Albany in 2000.

He now owns about 200 machines dating back to 1889, a year after Dictaphone — then Columbia Graphophone — was created.

“I’ve always collected,” he says. “Some are pretty unique.”

His largest is 6 feet tall, and 300 pounds and the smallest is a hand-held device that fits into a shirt pocket. Also included is a 1953 model that was the world’s first audio machine to announce the time.

“There are probably no more than two or three of them in the world,” he said.

The collection evolved into repair work, parts sales and consultation. It also has star quality.

“I get a lot of calls to rent or loan machines to movie prop companies,” he said.

The Kevin Costner movie “Thirteen Days” and the PBS series “Meaning of Grace” both used vintage Dictaphones from McWilliams’ inventory.

<END QUOTE>

....With respect to reporter LATHROP's, "The day of the assassination, McWilliams not only heard the

event, he witnessed the transfer of the mortally wounded president from the ambulance to the hospital,

which was located directly behind the Dallas Police Station".... President KENNEDY was transferred out

of the limo, and, PH is several miles from the DPD.

Best Regards in Research,

Don

Don Roberdeau

U.S.S. John F. Kennedy, CV-67, "Big John," Plank Walker

Sooner, or later, The Truth emerges Clearly

Discovery: ROSEMARY WILLIS Zapruder Film Documented 2nd Headsnap : Westward, Ultrafast, & Directly Towards the "Grassy Knoll"

Dealey Plaza Professionally-surveyed Map Detailing 11-22-63 Victims locations, Witnesses, Photographers, Suspected trajectories, Evidentiary artifacts, & Important information & considerations

President KENNEDY "Men of Courage: 4 Principles" speech, and a portion of fellow researchers articles and my research & discoveries, 1975 to present

T ogether

E veryone

A chieves

M ore

National Terror Alert for the United States:

"Drehm seemed to think the shots came from in FRONT OF or BESIDE the

President." (my EMPHASIS)

----CHARLES F. BREHM, a combat gunfire experienced, United States

Army Ranger, World War II, D-day veteran, & very close Dealey Plaza

attack witness, quoted only minutes after the attack, and while he

is still standing within Dealey Plaza (11-22-63 "Dallas Times Herald,"

fifth & final daily edition)

"Another eyewitness, Charles Brehm, said he was 15 feet away from the

President when he was shot.

'He was waving, then the FIRST shot hit him and that awful look

crossed his face.' " (my EMPHASIS)

CHARLES F. BREHM, a combat gunfire experienced, United States Army

Ranger, World War II, D-day veteran, & very close Dealey Plaza attack

witness (quoted to the "Associated Press," 11-22-63)

Edited July 2, 2008 by Don Roberdeau

[William Kelly]

Dictaphone Expert Helps Refine JFK Recording

Good Day.... FYI....

http://www.democratherald.com/articles/200..._dictaphone.txt

<QUOTE>

Bill McWilliams shows a sample of blank tape used in Dictabelt recordings.

The remastermind: Dictaphone expert helps refine JFK recording

By Steve Lathrop

Albany Democrat-Herald

It has been 45 years since Bill McWilliams first became immersed in the continuing investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

"I was right in the middle of it all," he says.

He still is, in his own way.

From his home in North Albany, McWilliams works with engineers at the Lawrence Livermore National Loboratory in California, trying to determine the exact number of shots fired in Dallas, Texas on Nov. 22, 1963.

Widely considered an expert Dictaphone technician, McWilliams was recruited by researchers who are using advanced techniques in sound reproduction to provide them with first-hand information on the machine and the assassination as they search for additional evidence.

It was McWilliams who serviced the now-famous Dictabelt #10 at the Dallas police station the day of the assassination. It is the machine that recorded events as they crackled forth from a motorcycle policeman's open microphone.

"I heard it all as it happened," McWilliams says.

The research, which has been going on since 2005, was authorized by Leslie Waffin of the National Archives, who released the machine to the lab to apply the latest techniques in sound reproduction.

Dr. Carl Haber and Dr. Vitaliy Fadeyev have led the research using a digital optical camera called a Smartscope to scan the grooves of the belt and create a digital image of sound patterns.

It is fed into computers programmed to clean up the sound removing excess noise, static and voices.

"The sound is reproduced without the stylus riding on the grooves," said McWilliams. "And the computer can eliminate any unnecessary noise."

Already involved for more than a year, McWilliams supplies equipment, specifications and mechanical data for the dictabelt recordings.

"It's a slow process. They are still working on it," he said. "Ultimately they are trying to find out if there were more shots fired."

The day of the assassination, McWilliams not only heard the event, he witnessed the transfer of the mortally wounded president from the ambulance to the hospital, which was located directly behind the Dallas Police Station.

"I believe there were more shots fired," he says. "Maybe this will answer that question."

In addition to his work on the assassination investigation, McWilliams never is far from a Dictaphone, which were in wide use between the late 19th- and early 20th century. Dictabelts that had grooves cut into a plastic belt, rather than onto a wax cylinder, were introduced in 1947. Then the tape recorder gained popularity, and Dictaphones fell out of favor.

McWilliams may be the world's largest provider and repairer of vintage machines. His shelves are lined with wax cylinders, vacuum tubes, cassettes and magnetic tape analog recording and dictating equipment — technological relics that predated tape recorders and cell phones.

"He's known all over the country," said his wife Dorothy.

Working from a large shop behind his home, McWilliams and his son Doak have created a website and also sell parts on eBay.

"I don't deal much with the computers," he admits. "I don't really trust them." He doesn't ignore them, either; he simply prefers being able to use his hands. His entire inventory has been indexed by hand to back up the computer log.

McWilliams spent 33 years with Dictaphone after his graduation from Texas Institute of Technology. He eventually becoming a regional service director.

The Korean War veteran retired in 1989 and moved to Albany in 2000.

He now owns about 200 machines dating back to 1889, a year after Dictaphone — then Columbia Graphophone — was created.

"I've always collected," he says. "Some are pretty unique."

His largest is 6 feet tall, and 300 pounds and the smallest is a hand-held device that fits into a shirt pocket. Also included is a 1953 model that was the world's first audio machine to announce the time.

"There are probably no more than two or three of them in the world," he said.

The collection evolved into repair work, parts sales and consultation. It also has star quality.

"I get a lot of calls to rent or loan machines to movie prop companies," he said.

The Kevin Costner movie "Thirteen Days" and the PBS series "Meaning of Grace" both used vintage Dictaphones from McWilliams' inventory.

<END QUOTE>

....With respect to reporter LATHROP's, "The day of the assassination, McWilliams not only heard the

event, he witnessed the transfer of the mortally wounded president from the ambulance to the hospital,

which was located directly behind the Dallas Police Station".... President KENNEDY was transferred out

of the limo, and, PH is several miles from the DPD.

Best Regards in Research,

Don

Don Roberdeau

U.S.S. John F. Kennedy, CV-67, "Big John," Plank Walker

Sooner, or later, The Truth emerges Clearly

Discovery: ROSEMARY WILLIS Zapruder Film Documented 2nd Headsnap : Westward, Ultrafast, & Directly Towards the "Grassy Knoll"

Dealey Plaza Professionally-surveyed Map Detailing 11-22-63 Victims locations, Witnesses, Photographers, Suspected trajectories, Evidentiary artifacts, & Important information & considerations

President KENNEDY "Men of Courage: 4 Principles" speech, and a portion of fellow researchers articles and my research & discoveries, 1975 to present

T ogether

E veryone

A chieves

M ore

National Terror Alert for the United States:

"Drehm seemed to think the shots came from in FRONT OF or BESIDE the

President." (my EMPHASIS)

----CHARLES F. BREHM, a combat gunfire experienced, United States

Army Ranger, World War II, D-day veteran, & very close Dealey Plaza

attack witness, quoted only minutes after the attack, and while he

is still standing within Dealey Plaza (11-22-63 "Dallas Times Herald,"

fifth & final daily edition)

"Another eyewitness, Charles Brehm, said he was 15 feet away from the

President when he was shot.

'He was waving, then the FIRST shot hit him and that awful look

crossed his face.' " (my EMPHASIS)

CHARLES F. BREHM, a combat gunfire experienced, United States Army

Ranger, World War II, D-day veteran, & very close Dealey Plaza attack

witness (quoted to the "Associated Press," 11-22-63)