We all have memories of our family radios and earlier versions owned by our grandparents. Every few years, the Historical Radio Society of Australia (HRSA) assembles a multitude of vintage radios and accessories in a central location, for Australia’s largest Radio Exhibition.
The HRSA is a not-for-profit Society, dedicated to preserving Australia’s Radio history, enabling current and future generations to relive and wonder at the Golden years of Radio.
To put it in perspective, museums typically display about five radios, whereas HRSA members collectively preserve over 30,000 radios!
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After a very successful event in Melbourne during 2012, Canberra is the host city for RadioFest 2014. If you’d like an unparalleled opportunity to marvel at or purchase most radio-related items from Marconi’s early days to recent times, then the HRSA RadioFest is for you.
The venue is University House, in the ANU grounds, during the weekend of September 20th to 21st.
Huge public exhibition
Sunday’s RadioFest sale and exhibition is open to all, with displays and a huge market of every conceivable Radio, parts, books and ephemera.
Collections on display include:
• the magnificent output of Philips Radio at the height of its golden period,
• old telephones,
• early and intriguing transistor radios,
• plus much more.
Society members will have access to the main trading hall early on the Sunday, from 8.30am, with the hall then open to the public from 9am to 3pm.
$5 Entry / $10 family includes fair and workshops, plus a FREE copy of the September issue of Silicon Chip (whilst stocks last) from our sponsor, Silicon Chip Magazine.
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Becoming a member to access all events is easy.
There are members-only privileges throughout the weekend, however it’s easy to be connected, as the HRSA encourages people with an interest in vintage radio to join the Society. At just $35 a year, including the quarterly colour magazine, access to circuits and 50,000 valves plus parts and so much more, like monthly meetings and regular auctions, the HRSA has to be the best value.
Yes, that’s not a typo, the Society has over 50,000 valves available for members, in an era when valves are often considered “as scarce as hen’s teeth”.
Click on the HRSA logo (left) for Membership details.
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for a printable PDF
Auction
A highlight this year is the unique member’s-only auction of the Rare, Early and Unusual, featuring masterpieces from the dawn of broadcast radio in the early 1920s.
Superior to any previous Vintage Radio auction, there’s never been anything quite like it. Expect antique and unusual crystal sets, very early valve radios, spark gap transmitting coils, spectacular horn speakers, everything “top shelf”.
Above: For Auction at the RadioFest, an immaculate 1924 Atwater Kent Breadboard radio, complete with the original A-K horn, literature and superb craftsman-built glass display enclosure. The Auction Catalogue and Photographs of the lots offered are now available -
All activity except the HRSA AGM, is at University House.
See Maps below ...
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Above: also in the Auction, an extremely rare example of AWA's first commercial tunable radios, the 1925 Radiola 4 model C7/60 in a smoker's cabinet.
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Dinner and guest speaker with early radio enthusiasts
Saturday night’s dinner for members is an amazing opportunity to mix and chat with enthusiastic radio collectors and restorers from all around Australia and even overseas members.
Some members were in the radio business in the 50s, so stories abound. Great food and company is supported by the leading speaker, David Kilby from the ABC.
Well-known for his Rare Collections program (Sunday nights 9.30pm) on Radio National, hear him at his funniest, most informal best.
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Workshops
Workshops are very popular, demonstrating skills and techniques employed to make silent, poor condition radios resurrected to look and work like new again.
Workshops include:
• Restoration with Stan Snyders, (see Silicon Chip magazine, Feb. 2014, for a fine example of Stan’s restoration),
• Mike Osborne showing a clever fix for dud early triodes in his session titled: 1920s valves in the 21st century,
• Safe Practice in Restoring Mains Radios, with experienced technician John Carr.
Above: Stan Snyders' restored Freed Eismann receiver.
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Tour plus meet’n’greet The Saturday afternoon is free to be a tourist and the best opportunity for members, wives and families to see Canberra’s highlights on the free bus tour, or in your car. Spring in Canberra is beautiful and especially features the Floriade flower display. Other often-visited attractions include the National Film and Sound Archive and the War Memorial. The HRSA free bus will also be running on Saturday night to ferry members from the preferred accommodation venues to the Dinner and return.
Above: The Floriade flower display.
More details: Further information on the Auction, Accommodation and Bookings is on the HRSA website www.hrsa.asn.au (click on the HRSA logo above) or contact Richard Elliott, telephone 02 4846 1096 for Dinner and Seller-stall bookings. Email:
Sponsored by:
Click on the banner for the Silicon Chip Website
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