A Brief Rebuttal to the Ramsey Report _____________________________________ W. Anthony Marsh A crucial aspect of the investigation into the assassination of President Kennedy which still confuses most researchers is the issue of the acoustical evidence. The studies done for the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) found that a recording made by the Dallas Police Department (DPD) of its communications channel 1 on Nov. 22, 1963 picked up the sounds of 4 gunshots in Dealey Plaza. A study done for the Justice Department (DOJ) by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) disputed that finding, stating that there was no evidence that there were any gunshot sounds on the recording. The report of its committee chaired by Prof. Norman Ramsey is an excellent example of disinformation and lying with statistics. In the following pages, I will explain why the NAS study fails to disprove the original HSCA findings. It is impossible in this brief space to document every calculation, but further details are available from the author on request. I have tried to include enough technical language to satisfy those who want to see it. It will be bracketed so that those wishing to skip it may do so more easily and those wishing to find it may likewise do so more easily. In August of 1979, the firm of Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN) made test shot recordings in Dealey Plaza and then compared those to portions of a recording made by the Dallas Police Department (DPD) of radio communications on its channel 1 on November 22, 1963. It was suspected that a motorcycle officer in the motorcade had accidentally left his 2-way radio on and recorded the sounds of the shots in Dealey Plaza at the time of the assassination. BBN were able to state with a high degree of confidence that there were probably 4 shots recorded on the DPD tape, the third of which appeared more likely to have come from the infamous grassy knoll. In an attempt to resolve the uncertainty about the third shot, which would suggest a conspiracy, the HSCA hired acoustics experts Mark Weiss and Ernest Aschkenasy (W&A) to further analyze the third shot. Using a more sophisticated method, W&A found that the pattern of echoes of that shot matched the pattern of echoes from a test shot which was fired from the grassy knoll toward the position of the President's limousine at the time of the fatal head shot. In 1982, the NAS study concluded that there were no shots recorded on the tape which they examined. The panel based that conclusion almost totally on a comparison of the timing between recordings of channel 1 and channel 2. Channel 1 was a continuous recording of routine DPD communications. Channel 2 was a voice-actuated, yet nearly continuous, recording of the motorcade. If several events could be shown to have been recorded simultaneously on channel 1 and 2, then one could compare the timing of other events based on a common timetable. [ At the back of this article is a timing chart I have prepared for easy comparison, based on simultaneous broadcasts. ] But any attempt to compare timing on two separate recordings must take into account the possibility that there are artifacts and anomalies on each which may either lengthen or shorten the real time span represented by the recording. One of the easiest to understand is repeating grooves on a record. There are several examples of this on the recording of channel 2 which was recorded on a Gray Audograph at DPD headquarters, similar to a common phonograph record. When it was rerecorded onto tape, some sections were repeated due to repeating grooves. Other sections may have been skipped due to the needle jumping over imperfections or deliberately repositioning the needle to avoid repeating a groove. In order to obtain an accurate timing, you would then have to subtract that many seconds from the tape recording to account for repeated grooves. On the other hand, if there were periods when the recording was not continuous, you would have to add seconds to account for that time. This was possible with the recording of channel 2, because the recording process would stop if there was no use of the channel for several seconds. Earlier in the motorcade route, that might have been a typical situation, as only a few messages were being transmitted to keep up to date with the progress of the motorcade. However, as the motorcade approached and went through Dealey Plaza, the communications were so numerous that the recording of channel 2 was almost continuous. The recording of channel 1 was continuous onto a Dictabelt with no apparent skips or repeats. This was the channel used for normal DPD communications that day, so they recorded everything. The only timing adjustment needed for this recording is an adjustment for the fact that the particular recorder may have been recording either faster or slower than the unit used to play back the Dictabelt for recording onto magnetic tape. Such an adjustment is usually quite small, around 5%, but the difference in elapsed time for an event would be more noticeable over a longer period of time. At approximately 12:28 P.M. on Nov. 22, 1963, some DPD officer's microphone became stuck in the transmit mode on channel 1, breaking into Unit 38's transmission to headquarters. This is the zero point on which all timings of events on channel 1 are based. This interruption lasted intermittently for over five minutes. BBN found the grassy knoll shot occurred on the tape at approximately 144.9 seconds. There was a message from Unit 190 which appears on channel 2 almost identically. On channel 1 this message begins at approximately 317.5 seconds. On channel 2, the best zero point we can agree on is when the DPD Chief of Police ly experience general protection faults.(ø×  @0 .€ñ€tîœN€‚€€‚‚ÿ1. Run ScanDisk or a similar disk utility to test your hard drive for disk errors.2. If you are using Windows 3.x, double-click on 386 Enhanced in the Windows Control Panels and set your permanent SWAP file to 12,288KB.3. Restart Windows.Æ @¥ @ÆL@, (€(€0º¬€‚€€‚ÿRelated topicsa# @­@> L€H€0º¬üë%ed#€‡"€ ‰€‚ÿContacting technical supportb1L@A1é~r‚ AïB§EWhat if I have trouble transferring cards to ACT?,­@;A) "€€0º¬‚aƒ€ ‚ÿU*AB+#&‚`KKKKKJd€€ëž°ÏÉmaincardscan.hlp€ †"€‰€‚ÿB€€È Search()€ †"€‰‚ÿ>€€ÈBack()†"€‰€‚ÿF€&€ÈPrint()€ †"€‰€‚ÿD€4€ÈPrev()€ †"€ ‰€ ‚ÿD€D€ÈNext()€ †"€ ‰€‚ÿÿÿ _4;AïB+ &€h€6º¬‚aƒ€‚ÿWhat if I have trouble transferring cards to ACT?£|B’C' €ø€0º¬€‚‚‚ÿThere is a bug in version 2.0.5 of ACT! that prevents CardScan from transferring cards successfully. Try the following:üÍïBŽD/ ,€›€tîœN€€€‚‚ÿ1. Open ACT! and select About from the Help menu to check what version you are using.2. If you are using version 2.0.5, you must contact Symantec and request version 2.0.6, which fixes the problem.xR’CE& €¤€4‚ÿYou can reach Symantec Technical Support at the following number: 541-465-8645.@ŽDFE, (€(€0º¬€‚€€‚ÿRelated topicsa#E§E> L€H€0º¬üë%ed#€‡"€ ‰€‚ÿContacting technical supportc2FE F1 8€Å… FëGÚKWhat if I have trouble using my PaperPort scanner?,§E6F) "€€0º¬‚aƒ€ ‚ÿU* F‹G+#&‚`KKKKKJd€€ëž°ÏÉmaincardscan.hlp€ †"€‰€‚ÿB€€È Search()€ †"€‰‚ÿ>€€ÈBack()†"€‰€‚ÿF€&€ÈPrint()€ †"€‰€‚ÿD€4€ÈPrev()€ †"€ ‰€ ‚ÿD€D€ÈNext()€ †"€ ‰€‚ÿÿÿ `56FëG+ &€j€6º¬‚aƒ€‚ÿWhat if I have trouble using my PaperPort scanner?#û‹GI( €÷€0º¬€‚‚‚ÿIf you get an error that the PaperPort scanner is not communicating with CardScan, or if the CardScan icon does not appear on the PaperPort desktop, you probably installed the PaperPort application after you installed CardScan. Try the following:¡iëG¯J8 >€Ó€tîœN€‚‚€€‚€€‚‚ÿ1. Make sure that the PaperPort application is installed on your computer.2. Exit CardScan and PaperPort.3. Reinstall CardScan, making sure the PaperPort Scanner option is checked in the Custom Installation dialog box.4. Check the CardScan settings in PaperPort Preferences. Make sure the Show Link Icon option is turned on.5. Restart PaperPort.pJIK& €”€4‚ÿThe CardScan icon should appear at the bottom of the PaperPort desktop.@¯J_K, (€(€0º¬€‚€€‚ÿRelated topics{(KÚKS v€R€0º¬üëUprocedurscanning.hlp€‡"€ ‰€‚ÿScanning with a PaperPort scannerb1_K€€ÈBack()†"€‰€‚ÿF€&€ÈPrint()€ †"€‰€‚ÿD€4€ÈPrev()€ †"€ ‰€ ‚ÿD€D€ÈNext()€ †"€ ‰€‚ÿÿÿ _4hLN+ &€h€6º¬‚aƒ€‚ÿWhat if I have trouble using my CardScan scanner?~W½MšN' €®€0º¬€‚‚‚ÿIf your CardScan Plus or CardScan XLP scanner does not respond, try the following:áNªO/ ,€Ã€tîœN€‚€€‚ÿ1. Check that the scanner is plugged in and that it is connected to your computer's parallel port.2. Select Preferences from the Edit menu, click on the Scan icon, and check that you have selected the correct scanner.¹ŒšNo€- (€€4€€‚ÿIf you have more than one parallel port ªOo€ÚKon your computer, click the Setup button and make sure that you have selected the correct port.⺪OQ( €u€tîœN€‚ÿ3. If the scanner is connected to a switch box that allows it to share the parallel port with another device, remove the switch box and connect the scanner directly to your computer.½–o€‚' €-€4‚ÿIf the scanner works when directly connected to your computer, replace the switch box with one wired to connect all pins on the parallel interface.oHQ}‚' €€tîœN€‚ÿ4. Make sure your parallel port is configured in bidirectional mode.Šd‚ƒ& €È€4‚ÿYou can do this by accessing your computer's BIOS through your machine's hardware setup utility. <}‚Cƒ) "€&€0º¬€‚€‚ÿRelated topicsa#ƒ¤ƒ> L€H€0º¬üë%ed#€‡"€ ‰€‚ÿContacting technical supporti8Cƒ „1ÚÅ…æ „ô…ŠWhat if I have trouble setting up my UMAX Vista scanner?,¤ƒ9„) "€€0º¬‚aƒ€ ‚ÿU* „Ž…+#&‚`KKKKKJd€€ëž°ÏÉmaincardscan.hlp€ †"€‰€‚ÿB€€È Search()€ †"€‰‚ÿ>€€ÈBack()†"€‰€‚ÿF€&€ÈPrint()€ †"€‰€‚ÿD€4€ÈPrev()€ †"€ ‰€ ‚ÿD€D€ÈNext()€ †"€ ‰€‚ÿÿÿ f;9„ô…+ &€v€6º¬‚aƒ€‚ÿWhat if I have trouble setting up my UMAX Vista scanner?ÙŽ…õ†( €³€0º¬€‚‚‚ÿIf you are using VistaScan V2.11 with an Adaptec or other ASPI-compatible interface card, you may encounter an ASPI Memory Allocation error when setting up your scanner. To solve this problem, follow these steps:¿ô…´‡/ ,€!€tîœN€‚€€‚ÿ1. Insert the VistaScan V2.11 disk into your floppy drive and start the Setup application.2. Select UMAX UDS-IS11 as the SCSI card type.O)õ†ˆ& €R€4‚ÿComplete the setup procedure normally.»Œ´‡¾ˆ/ ,€€tîœN€‚€€‚ÿ3. Exit Windows.4. Using Notepad or another application that can read text files, open the file UMAXDRV.IM in the Windows directory.ëÈ©‰( €‡€4‚‚ÿUnder the [UMAX Drivers] heading, change the line "Driver Type=vumaxd" to "Driver Type=UMAXASPI".Under the [UMAX SCSI] heading, change the line "VxDAllocateMemory=0" to "VxDAllocateMemory=1".S,¾ˆü‰' €X€tîœN€‚ÿ5. Save the changes and restart Windows.@©‰<Š, (€(€0º¬€‚€€‚ÿRelated topicsa#ü‰Š> L€H€0º¬üë%ed#€‡"€ ‰€‚ÿContacting technical supportJ<ŠçŠ1‰3€çŠ±ŒÀinsufficient memory error,Š‹) "€€0º¬‚aƒ€ ‚ÿU*çŠhŒ+#&‚`KKKKKJd€€ëž°ÏÉmaincardscan.hlp€ †"€‰€‚ÿB€€È Search()€ †"€‰‚ÿ>€€ÈBack()†"€‰€‚ÿF€&€ÈPrint()€ †"€‰€‚ÿD€4€ÈPrev()€ †"€ ‰€ ‚ÿD€D€ÈNext()€ †"€ ‰€‚ÿÿÿ I‹±Œ+ &€<€6º¬‚aƒ€‚ÿ"Insufficient memory" error{ShŒ,Ž( €§€0º¬€‚‚‚ÿIf you get the error "insufficient memory" while using CardScan, another application may be using a large amount of RAM or may not have released its memory back to Windows. This error can also occur if you have a printer connected to your parallel port while the Auto-Detect option is turned on in Scan Preferences. Try the following:ݳ±Œ * "€g€tîœN€‚‚‚ÿ1. Exit CardScan and any other open applications.2. Open the Images directory within the CardScan directory and delete any file with the extension .RLE.3. Restart Windows.H",ŽQ& €D€4‚ÿThis resets the Windows memory.W* ¨- *€T€0º¬€‚‚€€‚ÿ4. Restart CardScan.Related topicsa#QÀ> L€H€0º¬üë%ed#€‡"€ ‰€‚ÿContacting technical ¨ÀŠsupportN¨cÀ1Dæ*‚cÀ1ÂDÅCannot create directory error,ÀÀ) "€€0º¬‚aƒ€ ‚ÿU*cÀäÁ+#&‚`KKKKKJd€€ëž°ÏÉmaincardscan.hlp€ †"€‰€‚ÿB€€È Search()€ †"€‰‚ÿ>€€ÈBack()†"€‰€‚ÿF€&€ÈPrint()€ †"€‰€‚ÿD€4€ÈPrev()€ †"€ ‰€ ‚ÿD€D€ÈNext()€ †"€ ‰€‚ÿÿÿ M"À1Â+ &€D€6º¬‚aƒ€‚ÿ"Cannot create directory" error„]äÁµÂ' €º€0º¬€‚‚‚ÿTry the following if you get the error "cannot create directory" while processing cards:f1ÂBÃ' €Ì€tîœN€‚ÿ1. If you are on a network, make sure you have write access privileges for the CardScan directory.sMµÂµÃ& €š€4‚ÿIf you are not on a network, try freeing up some space on your hard drive.„]BÃ9Ä' €º€tîœN€‚ÿ2. Run a disk utility such as ScanDisk or Disk Doctor to test your hard drive for errors.@µÃyÄ, (€(€0º¬€‚€€‚ÿRelated topicsa#9ÄÚÄ> L€H€0º¬Pë%ed#€‡"€ ‰€‚ÿContacting technical supportj/yÄDÅ; F€`€0º¬ëH¯žÎ€‡"€ ‰€‚ÿWhat if I have trouble processing cards?\+ÚÄ Å1G€‡ ÅzÇÍ"Could not complete the scan command" error,DÅÌÅ) "€€0º¬‚aƒ€ ‚ÿU* Å!Ç+#&‚`KKKKKJd€€ëž°ÏÉmaincards