Antique radios, Old Time Radios
The website for collectors of antique
communication gear
There are thousands of
web pages done by radio collectors on the net.
Historical broadcast sets can be of great
interest, both visually and technically.
Therefore the collectors community has been
growing steadily. This large community consists
of many clubs, sometimes with more than
4000 members –
for example the Antique Wireless Association (AWA)
in the US.
What has been missing up to now is a
concentration of all collectors' efforts on the
Internet. It is the Internet that facilitates the
exchange of knowledge, experience and support
regarding technical problems, as well as going
public with one's own presentation.
After the book «Radios von gestern» (first
edition 1989) had become such a big success
that three reprints were necessary (see comments
about it on www.amazon.de) and
when «Radiokatalog
volume 1» had been finished, the author and
former businessman, Ernst Erb from Meggen,
Lucerne, Switzerland, decided to set up a web
portal to address the requests of
passionate collectors in a most comprehensive way.
Consistently built radio catalog
The portal does not compete the collectors‘
present or future home pages. Instead, its goal is
the consolidation of efforts toward one common goal.
Only in this way can less well-off collectors
also have access to the sometimes rare technical
documents for the purpose of repairing and
adjusting receivers. A written catalog cannot
show the schematics and instructions for
alignment, without
becoming too expensive. Moreover, as there are
more than 20,000 models of antique radios in
the German speaking countries alone,
the «Radiokatalog» was a real Sisyphusian work.
Therefore it would have been a pity to publish
it only as a book.
For this reason the author has uploaded
volume 1 and the yet unedited volume 2 on the
Internet, free of charge and without advertising.
Meanwhile the number of pictures has grown from
the 3000 in the catalog to more than 120,000
(over 55,000 schematics included), thanks to the
help of collectors.
The idea is realized
This on-line reference book is unequaled
in the world, both for its functionality and its
comprehensive content: more than 85,500 pages
with detailed data of antique radios that can be
viewed by anybody. The offered membership allows
one to view, enlarge and print pictures and
schematics.
In return for membership the author expects a certain
commitment - this, for example, could
be by uploading digital pictures of one`s own
sets for models without such information. Other
activities are welcome as well.
There is not only information about
broadcast sets, but also technical articles, links
to museums and home pages and the ability to
exchange ideas.
The site allows
collectors to search
for prices or information and sale offers of specific
models. There is a platform to exchange, sell
and purchase sets. You can apply for a
membership on-line. Due to the fact that you are
allowed to upload pictures as a member, it is
necessary for us to check your seriousness as a
radio collector.
Who wouldn't like to get good
advice from experienced collectors? Collecting
things is a dead end activity without mutual
exchange of ideas.
As a member of www.radiomuseum.org you
will find people who are ready to
answer your questions about a model. There are
about 200 to 300 members (of 2400 in total from 58
countries) online daily plus thousands of
guests. They open between 50,000 and 76,000
pages a day.
Lucerne, December 28, 2004 (Ernst Erb)
