Much of the detail for this year's RadioFest are now up on the HRSA site. It is being held in Canberra this year, meaning a much shorter drive for those living in Sydney. For those who are unaware, the RadioFest is to vintage radio what WrestleMania is to wrestling, or what the NRL Grand Final is to football. It's the big one - the days that radio collectors from all over Australia look forward to every two years. Three days of events, all to do with vintage radio and it is a case of spare no expense.

One interesting thing to note is that there is a camping ground next door to the EPIC Centre, which is where most of the RadioFest events will be held, particularly the Saturday class auction and the huge Sunday sale, which is open to the general public. I am giving thought to setting up camp for the weekend though obviously I would need to consider the security of any potential purchases and may decide to stay at a motel instead.

For details, see https://hrsa.asn.au/ and follow the RadioFest link near the bottom of the page.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

Fyshwick caravan park has cabins cheap.
I often stay there ,, Its always been good.

Pete

I would offer my garage as a place to lock up your gear if you wish. Not joking, happy to offer. If my wife wouldn't grizzle I would offer accommodation as well lol.

Carl, I'd take you up on an offer though the RadioFest will be a central part of a larger event - rare holidays. My car will be jam-packed with camping gear and I will probably have a box trailer too - to shift the camping gear to, should I need to transport any radios.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

Yes Brad that's no issues.

For those keen on seeing the latest information relating to this year's RadioFest, please visit the HRSA site.

Today I noticed the catalogue for the auction and this can be seen here.

For those who are not able to make it to the auction, the Sunday sale at this event is always big - really big - and from 09:00 onwards, is open to the general public. The programme for the entire weekend is also on the linked page.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

I will be there with bells on. I have two tables there. But most of all I will be looking forward to meeting most of you guys in person for the first time. The amazing thing that I have realised is what we can actually do when a group of like minded people get together and share ideas. You will see some of those ideas at my table if you workout which table I am at. Put it to you this way I am 6 foot 3 and pretty ugly lol.

The RadioFest is over for another year and appears to have been a success, even if a tad smaller than the last one in Melbourne. That a city as small as Canberra can still put on an event as big as this for such a niche hobby is still fairly impressive.

As I may have mentioned previously, I set up camp at the EPIC Centre, which is where the RadioFest was held, on Friday in preparation for the two visits I'd make to the event but one thing I didn't bank on was the howling winds which did threaten to unseat the camp I'd set up and on Saturday afternoon I spent some time knocking down two large gazebos that were more of a want than a need and got them safely stowed in the car before the rain came back that night. Pegs and ropes from these gazebos were used to reinforce my tent and camp kitchen. These days I usually take a big of luxury on a camp when I am staying more than two nights though on a quicker holiday it'll usually be one gazebo and a swag.

I managed to break camp this morning before threatening storm clouds arrived and when I pack up a dry camp I am a much happier bloke.

As mentioned elsewhere here, I came out with a small haul this year. A couple of timber radios came back to Sydney with me. One was a complete and working Gem from around 1932, won at Saturday's auction. This radio is very similar in style to a Genelex Dapper 5, which featured in an earlier lot. The other radio, a 1934 AGE Duette, which uses the same chassis as the AWA Radiolette R27. This is a complete radio with a good speaker but is in pieces - probably due to an attempt at a restoration by a previous owner. This radio will be restored by me soon enough.

So I was happy with what I came out with but at the same time I will also give some thanks to the event organisers who were kind enough to return some lost property to me on the Sunday morning. This was much appreciated.

Camp set up, ready just in time for lunch.


A shot of the Sunday Market.


A second shot of the Sunday Market.


A photo of the two radios I picked up.


Camp broken and packed. I always leave the site as found - clean and tidy. Don't let the clear sky fool you. To the west there were big clouds looming. I am glad I missed them.

Bring on RadioFest 2021!

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

Well I have to say I had a great radiofest. I felt it could have been busier but was pleasantly surprised that I actually made a fairly healthy profit. The things that surprised me the most was the welcoming comments to me by a lot of the club notables especially about the quality of my items.
I finally got to meet a lot of people that I have come to deal with over the years and have come to the conclusion that we are all nutters but in a great and friendly way lol.

There were quite a few nice sets passed up at reasonable prices such as this old RCA Radiola I have sent Brad a photo of. The guy selling it would listen to any good offer. I spent a bit of time buying some of his NEW Old Stock and believe me there was a lot. A nice fellow to deal with as well.

Wish I'd been there, even if just as a member of the public.

Thanks for the reports and photos. Quite a few familiar faces there ... including 'the usual suspects'.

Photo uploaded to Post 10.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

Thankyou Brad. This guy had a few very nice sets that got passed up