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Thursday, August 4, 2011

RIP: Dr. Bruce Elving, FMAtlas Publisher

Dr. Bruce Elving, publisher of the FMAtlas has passed away.

His daughter Kristin Stuart posted the following message on Elving's wall Wednesday:

"We are very sad to inform all of Bruce's friends that he passed away in California on July 24, 2011. His memorial service will be on Monday, August 8, 2011, at 1:00 p.m. in Duluth, Minnesota".

According to a Wikiepedia posting, Bruce F. Elving was an author and DXer from Duluth, Minnesota. His interest in FM radio began while the technology was still in its infancy.

Elving related his memories of the early days of FM in the June, 2007 Monitoring Times.

He was twice given the DXer of the year award by The Association of North American Radio Clubs, first in 1973 and later in 1986.

He had a desire to introduce others to the world of FM DXing, and the Worldwide TV FM DX Association has included an article by him explaining the process on their website. Another introductory article which was originally published on his now offline FM Atlas site can be found on the FMedia website.

He was the author of the FM Atlas, a directory of FM radio stations and translators throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The FM Atlas has been published approximately every 18 months since 1972, and is currently in its 21st edition.

Elving also publishes FMedia, a monthly set of updates for the FM Atlas, compiled from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) data along with information contributed by subscribers.

Publishing of FMedia began in 1987, continuing until mid-2007 when Elving announced he was looking for a hobbyist who would take over the newsletter under new ownership. The publication remained out of print for some months, eventually creating a multi-month issue to catch readers up with the changes in station data.

Elving's eldest daughter, Kristine, took over FMedia in January 2008, with Bruce taking on a new role of mentor and contributing editor. In March 2010 Kristine published the last issue of the newsletter, when it again went out of print.

Elving was also noted for his mail order sales of radios modified to receive subcarrier signals emanating from FM radio stations. These little-known signals, which require special receiving equipment to hear, often consist of background music for retail establishments, newsfeeds, and reading services for the blind. Elving has advocated these services as superior to newer technology such as HD Radio.

2 comments:

  1. Bruce was a longtime friend and back in my radio DJ days we'd talk several times a month. He also spent a couple days at my and my parents home in Louisville whenever his travels took him south from his long-time home in Minnesota. He was truly a kind, gentle soul and aside from his love of and my hate of metrics we agreed on most everything....he will surely be missed at our house where we had a standing order for two FM Atlases (one fo the stereo cabinet and one for the car glove box) for as long as I can remember.

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  2. This is very sad news. I still have just about every FM Atlas up to the mid- 90s, and was a loyal subscriber to FMedia for most of the same period. Bruce often quoted from our correspondence, and I still have one of his GE SuperRadios, modified for SCA reception. We fell out of touch after the Internet displaced my long interest in DXing, and it pains me to say that, now that he's gone. I was very fond of him. For Bruce, FM was more than an interest; it was a cause. And for FM and TV DX-ers, Bruce and his work were pole stars. My warm wishes and sympathies to his family, and to all the people who knew him.

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