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Tour the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum (Video)

Posted by timothy on from the oldies-but-goodies dept.

"Welcome to the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of Connecticut," is the headline on the museum's website. The site also says, "Our volunteers are happy to give personal tours," and that's what today's two videos (and two more we'll run tomorrow or later in the week) are: personal tours of the museum conducted by volunteer Bernie Michaels, known in ham radio circles as W2LFV. (Alternate Video Link 1) (Alternate Video Link 2)

19 comments

  1. Neat! by Charliemopps · · Score: 1

    This is great!
    I literally got my first ever HAM license on Saturday. I've been kicking myself for years for not doing it and finally got around to it.
    For those interested, I got a brand new 2 Meter radio for my car for $150, so it's not as expensive as it used to be.
    They've removed the morris code requirement, so that makes it immensely simpler to pass the test.
    There are apps for the phone that make it easy to learn. It took me about 2 days to study it enough to pass the test.
    I literally started Thursday, and passed Saturday.

    1. Re:Neat! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "morris code"

      I've always thought you were an ignorant dumbass, but now I know.

    2. Re:Neat! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does "morris code" have something to do with a cat?

      Or did you mean "Morse Code"?

    3. Re:Neat! by gmagill · · Score: 1

      Well, you can find a on eBay, you "ignorant dumbass"

      http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQU...

    4. Re:Neat! by gmagill · · Score: 1

      find a "Morris" key, I meant

    5. Re:Neat! by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      This is great! I literally got my first ever HAM license on Saturday. I've been kicking myself for years for not doing it and finally got around to it.

      Congratulations, and welcome to the fold. There is enough fun stuff to do to last you your lifetime.

      The only thing to make sure of is to not let hateful, spiteful, old Hams like the asshole that posted below. Enjoy, have fun, and don't forget to upgrade, because it adds to the enjoyment.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    6. Re:Neat! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you're a programming type guy, you might be into these:
      open source rebel
      open source patriot
      I might pick up the second one after I pay off christmas..... haha

    7. Re:Neat! by Mister+Transistor · · Score: 1

      Likewise, welcome! We hams have so much to keep us busy these days, with SDR, digital voice modes, internet linking and relaying, etc. There's lots of overlap from the IT world, as computers are playing a much larger part in the ham radio world these days. There is still the antique brigades, too - they still get goose bumps working some far away land on 5 watts using CW (what real hams call the code). Then there are the VHF/UHF/Repeater types like myself that like playing with the latest $7000 government/military/public safety radios. Then, there's the weather spotters, SkyWarn, ARES and RACES services. Basically, there are so many facets to Ham radios nowadays, there is something of interest for just about everyone. Congratulations!

      --
      -- You are in a maze of little, twisty passages, all different... --
  2. Been there... by QuietLagoon · · Score: 3, Informative
    I've visited the museum a couple of times in the past three years, I even donated some old radios I had.

    .
    Very interesting place to visit, and good people running it.

  3. Ham Radio? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    We seriously need a link to explain what Ham Radio is? I thought this was news for nerds... I wonder what percentage of Slashdotters are hams. I bet its significantly higher than the percentage of hams in the general population.

    I don't expect every slashdotter to be a ham, but I would expect most of them have heard of it.
    -AE5ZG

    1. Re:Ham Radio? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I suspect many Slashdotters are. Many like me are both Hams, and nerds. I know I qualify as both -.-. --.- :)
      (Wait!, You can't send an emoji's in Morse?) Lol
      -KF5YAQ

    2. Re:Ham Radio? by jdagius · · Score: 1

      We seriously need a link to explain what Ham Radio is?

      It's about the history of audio/visual communications over the past two centuries, not Ham Radio (though I suspect most of us nerds know what HR is).

    3. Re:Ham Radio? by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      We seriously need a link to explain what Ham Radio is? I thought this was news for nerds... I wonder what percentage of Slashdotters are hams.

      I wonder what the percentage of people on slashdot give a rats ass about your demands.

      If your definition of allowable posts on slashdot include programmers, rest assured that many of us Hams, are programmers, We even write programs for modern Amateur radio,

      Now take a chill pill.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    4. Re:Ham Radio? by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      ACK! Mea Maxima culpa AC. I didn't parse your post at all correctly, and went all snarky on you. You win one free total demolition of my stupidity!!

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    5. Re:Ham Radio? by Mister+Transistor · · Score: 1

      Actually, that would be an interesting poll!

      * HINT HINT HINT *

      --
      -- You are in a maze of little, twisty passages, all different... --
    6. Re:Ham Radio? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not necessary to be a ham operator .. several people , of which i am , have been on shortwave using tube gear for 4 decades .
      Tubes were the first thing we were teached in electronics class and tube recievers like my r-390a/urr still outperform the best gear offered today.
      Hallicrafters also made very decent tube units. the r-390a has an output you can feed to a computer to decode morse rtty etc etc ..
      Find me something cooler than recieving a station on the other side of the earth .. New Zealand or stations near the south pole .
      Guam was a " grand prize " i celebrated. All that with tube technology. Those who doubt or look down on old/older technology can be in for some serious surprises. This being said .. we saw but a small part of the collection and there's a lot of " radio " museums out there.
      It's a hobby that can last a lifetime , specially if you understand electronics well and can do the necessary overhauls and maintenance these babies can require. And yes .. some slashers are nthat old ^^

  4. Vintage communications is not just old radio by magarity · · Score: 1

    If they really want to be vintage about communications a model of a semaphor tower.

  5. Love museums like this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    We have a similar museum near Minneapolis called the "Pavek museum of broadcasting" Its really cool too.

    I just freaking love old electronics and broadcasting stuff.

  6. AWA - Antique Wireless Association by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    http://www.antiquewireless.org/

    In Bloomfield, NY. Big collection, museum is being upgraded. Highly recommended.