Despite being on-call at work this weekend and also in the middle of other tasks such as repair work on this website, I decided to take a trip north to Warners Bay (NSW Central Coast) this weekend to attend the Lou Albert auction which was hosted by the Historical Radio Society of Australia. Catering was taken care of by the Warners Bay Girl Guides and they did not disappoint, with morning tea and lunch available on both days and there was no shortage of food or drink.

There were 341 lots on offer at the auction, which was spread over two days. The top lot was #162, the double detector crystal receiver, owned and used by the Royal Australian Navy during World War I. This item went for just on $5,000.00 and the successful bidder was the Australian War Memorial. There was a round of applause and most agreed that the War Memorial was the ideal place for such items. The HRSA has advised that a list of fall-of-hammer prices for all lots will be available on their website in due course and a link will be provided here once that document is online.

Today I won lot #310, a vintage lineman's telephone for $90.00. If this still operates I will probably use it for testing lines at work - only on analogue lines of course. It would most likely be cooked if connected to a digital line and such lines don't understand pulse dialling anyway.

In a general sense, there were a lot of quality radios, including many classic receivers on offer. These include a marbled white AWA R29 Radiolette from 1935, many AWA, Udisco and Philco coffin receivers from the 1920s, and an Airzone 404 cathedral, arguably the best looking cathedral radio in the world. An assortment of Amplion horn speakers were also up for bids, along with military radio, telephones and Morse keys.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

Regarding the Australian War Memorial's successful bid;

As cynical as I am these days regarding Government departments, this is wonderful news, money well spent. Good on em' and thanks for reporting this.

Seems that there is hope for us and future generations after all.

Photos uploaded.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

List of fall-of-hammer prices for the Auction are here on the HRSA website.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...