Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-31294034-20170530000703

This story is currently in an unfinished state and this thread is only to ask for a preliminary review, suggestions, and overall to see if I should continue to develop the plot of the story or if it would be better to dump it entirely.

Comments and suggestions are completely welcome.

Product information
The Voltrovox Radiotomic Receiver was a product developed and marketed by Voltrovox inc. in the early to mid-1960s. The aim of the product was to facilitate the setup of a global television broadcasting system that would see broadcasts switched from an analogue OTA (over the air) signal to a digital one.

The switch would allow much more audio and video detail to be encoded into the broadcast stream in such a way that the end result would be what we would call today high definition.

Voltrovox inc. developed the first commercially viable model of the Radiotomic Receiver in June of 1962 and had 20,000 units ready for sale by Christmas that year. Broadcast stations in cities like New York and Atlanta had working towers up by that autumn and began broadcasting content over the new medium before the product was released.

Due to the way in which the broadcasts were aired some pre-release media was accidentally intercepted and archived by the University of North Carolina department of radio tech. Many of these archives were lost when the basement of the university flooded in 2016 as a result of Hurricane Matthew. Other than these tapes there are no other saved recording of the content broadcast to the devices.

After numerous customer complaints and FCC backlash Voltrovox pulled their receiver from the market and subsequently went under in September of 1965.

Consumer complaints
While the bulk of complaints were about technical issues relating to the receiver; things such as programming being unavailable in their city, units dead on arrival, and some electric shocks from the shoddy production there were some that stood out but, from internal company transcripts, were ignored.

Many of the bizarre complaints originate from consumers in the heartland who mistakenly ordered the product even though the ad had not listed any content providers in those states. Many of these people reported in that their receivers were not picking up any picture or, when it did, the quality was even worse than what they had. Some even went as far as to say that the picture was crystal clear but the programming was completely acceptable.

No one was ever able to archive the recordings of the phantom signals but customer accounts left in the hands of careless tech support workers give us a rough picture of what was going on in America's bread basket.

Report: [DIRECT] Emma Kosticzek (Wapelo County, Iowa) February 11th, 1963
To whom it may concern,

I am writing to you today to lodge a complaint against your Radiotomic Receiver.

''After following the included instruction manual and setting it up with our television set my husband and I have been unable to tune the receiver to local stations. Try as we might the only thing that it seems to pick up is a poorly recorded puppet show in a foreign language.''

''After many hours spent tinkering my husband and his friend were unable to find a solution and to top it off he was given quite a shock in the process. At church one of my choir sisters told me that she too could only receive the strange puppet show and that she figured it was some communist propaganda on account of the program being recorded in Russian.''

''Now I want to tell you right now that we are a pure God fearing Christian household and we will not stand for defective products nor communist indoctrination. Please send us a telephone number that we can call to demand a refund.''

Sincerely,

Emma Kosticzek, a concerned customer

Follow up:

After receiving this complaint a letter was sent in response informing Emma that the company could not issue a refund as their ads clearly stated which areas had service and which ones did not. They also gingerly pointed out that the back of the receiver contains an electric shock warning and that tampering with the device is what caused it. Lacking in the letter was an acknowledgement of the reported program though this is speculated to be because the company assumed that it was a fabrication.

This letter is known as it was returned to the company one year later after being released from a police department evidence locker. Nothing further is known about the customer and no charges were filed against Voltrovox.

Report: [INDIRECT] John Doe (Adams County, Iowa) January 5th, 1963
An ad was run in a local paper with the author asking for someone with a working knowledge of the Russian language. The ad stated that a sum of $5 would be paid hourly for translation services and that those interested should contact them by phone for more information.

Follow up:

One man who claims to hail from St. Petersburg, Russia followed up with the ad only to be presented with a television set playing nothing but static. Having thought this was some sort of joke he attempted to leave the residence only to be confronted with the confusion and later rage of the man whom hired him.

It is alleged that after repeated attempts to get him to watch, and to subsequently translate the static broadcast, the unknown man became increasingly agitated to the point of slashing at the Russian native's chest with a knife. Having been able to flee the attack he made his way to the neighboring house and promptly phoned the authorities.

Upon arrival the police searched the house where they found a television set, a Voltrovox receiver, and the deceased body of another man in the cellar. The unnamed Russian native was able to confirm that the corpse did not belong to the assailant and an investigation was opened into the suspected murder of one and the assault of another.

It seemed that the house this incident had taken place in was foreclosed upon by the bank three years prior and were unaware of anyone living on the premise. Neighbors also testified to not having seen anyone enter or exit the home leading up to the assault.

After two years of investigation the department closed the case as cold and nothing has come of it to this day. 