When it comes to our radio heritage, the retention of records and working equipment has, until relatively recently, been rather spasmodic. Many people in the past considered old and/or obsolete equipment as only suitable for the rubbish tip.

Unfortunately, this "throw-it-away" attitude has robbed Australia of much extremely interesting information on our vintage radio heritage. As a result, some enthusiasts have now realised that this information and the equipment is worth saving and restoring.

One end of the table... a collection of sets, test instruments and publications from a recent display put on by the Vintage Radio Club of NE Victoria.

For example, on a personal basis, I wanted to know about the history and development of communications in outback Australia. Both the equipment used in the early days and any associated information was disappearing quickly, so it proved quite a challenge. Fortunately, I was able to obtain help from several people, which enabled me to trace this history with reasonable accuracy.

My efforts proved to be very timely, as two of the people who gave me considerable help have since died, while the remainder are quite elderly. The results of my research appeared in a book entitled "Outback Radio – from Flynn to Satellites", which was reviewed in the January 2005 issue of SILICON CHIP.

Unfortunately, the same attitude of "get rid of the old" has been quite evident when it comes to commercial and domestic radio equipment. However, there were a few individuals who did realise the importance of this gear and began collecting over 30 years ago – well before there were any clubs or groups formed by like-minded people. In my own case, for example, I half-heartedly began collecting WWII military equipment around 1970 and my interest in vintage radio receivers grew from there.