Displaying a Working Radio Collection.

Do all these radios still work?

As a radio collector / wireless historian you have probably spent many long hours searching for, researching and restoring many rare and exotic radios from all over the world. Then you probably spent many more happy hours polishing them and arranging them on shelves to their best advantage. Deep down, you know it's all been worth the effort and don't really feel the need to justify all that time, effort and all the mess that goes with it. However, the one question you are probably asked more than any other when people see your collection for the first time is "Do all these radios still work?"
Chances are by the time you've finished explaining that...

radios 1,2 and 3 require batteries which are no longer made anywhere...

these sets need 240V mains supply not supplied here in Canada...

and that all these sets over there need aerials to produce any sound at all...
your once attentive audience has lost interest completely, and is now busy raiding the fridge for snacks.

Have all of these people somehow missed the point? Actually, I don't think so. Radios are built to be listened to... in the same way as classic cars are built to be driven and guitars made to be played. And anyway, radios, like pets and people, NEED exercise. If you don't turn a set on for at least a few minutes every month or so, you risk breakdown of the various capacitors which are used in the circuits. Breakdown of electrolytic capacitors after a long period of neglect can be quite a frightening (not to mention smelly) experience, as any set-wise enthusiast will tell you.

It may be that you have a good aerial in the garden already, your radios are all lined up on shelves ready to go, and the only problem remaining with getting all those valves glowing again, dials shining and magic eyes generally being magical is one of power and aerial distribution. Here's one inexpensive mess-free solution.

Building a working display system

My shelf units were bought from Zellers for $20CDN (about £8) each. They come with four shelves each, but to maximize on space I bought one extra unit to provide extra perches for smaller radios. I wanted to make any system I came up with modular and expandable (well, you know how it is!), safe, and wire-less (naturally), so all wiring is hidden at the rear, and the mains connections are fastened to the underside of the bottom shelf out of sight.

All aerial and earth connections are coupled by means of capacitors - I used 1.8nF capacitors because I just happened to have a lot of them. If you DON'T do this you could risk electrocution if any set develops a fault. I used one "Chocolate Block" mains connector strips cut into strips of two, with twin cables for aerial and earth distribution. It is important when wiring this up in the pattern shown to remember to twist the wire over once per link or you will end up with the top terminal being aerial on shelf one, the bottom one on shelf two, and top on shelf three and so on.

I used automotive power connections - bullets and sockets - for connecting each shelf unit together. By keeping the bullets and sockets in the configuration shown in the circuit diagram, you can avoid mixing up aerial and earth connection when linking successive shelf units.

In order to keep the mains cables leading from the sets to the mains connector beneath the bottom shelf as discrete as possible, I used bag tie wraps held in place by washer and screw, as shown in the picture.