Western Historic Radio Museum

[Carl WA1KPD]

I was in Reno/Carson City and Las Vegas on business last week.  While in Carson City I went back to Reno by way of a lesser route which purposely took me to the Western Historic Radio Museum.

 According to the town web site Virginia City is Only 23 Miles From Reno, 15 Miles from Carson City and 40 Miles from Lake Taho.  Mapquest show it as being only 4 hours from downtown San Francisco. In fact it is one day within a lot of places
http://econdev.sierrapacific.com/sppc/county/storey/images/storeymap.gif


In my opnion well worth the trip for any lover of old radios whio is in the SF area.. Virginia City was a very historic and interesting looking town and I would have liked to have some time to look around but I had the sole purpose oif visiting the Western Historic Radio Museum.http://www.radioblvd.com/Welcome.html       


I have enjoyed the museum web site many times and Henry, the owner was very helpful in my restoration of the Patterson PR-10 I had (Larry, NE1S the literature etc all came from him)

The museum is in the basement of what I presume is his house. Since the house is in town and an older Victorian it is built into the side of the hill. It is easy to find, just across from the two main churches. Maybe it is close for him to pray to the boatanchor gods?

He has an outstanding collection of all sorts very neatly restored laid out and labeled, Henry enjoys sharing his vast knowledge and is a real gentleman. I could have spent hours talking with him.

I strongly suggest any of you who are in the area stop by and see Henry and his collection. I am very glad I did so.

Thanks Harry, I had a great time

Carl
KPD ex/7

[k4kyv]

I just finished spending 5 days in Asheville, NC, on a short vacation with my family.  Our main destination was the Biltmore Estate, the largest private residence (now a museum) in the US, but before leaving I took in the Southern Appalachian Radio Museum.  It is small, but worth the visit.  The guys there are hams, and very friendly.  They even loaded me down with some stuff they were going to throw away - a nice Westinghhouse 0.1% 0-1/0-10 DC ammeter with a small crack in the bakelite case, and an ancient but defective resistor decade box that I was able to repair by resoldering an internal connection.  The museum is located near the Biltmore Estate on the campus of the A-B Technical Community College.  For details, visit
www.saradiomuseum.org

BTW, if you ever visit the Biltmore Estate, it is well worthwhile to take the "Behind the Scenes" tour after you have taken the regular self-guided tour (I highly recommend renting the headphones for the regular tour).  The Behind the Scenes tour takes you, amongst many other normally off-limits places,  into the sub-basement to see the 1895-era innerworkings of the house including the old electrical technology (much of which is still in use) and the HVAC system.  There is one marble panel, approximately 6' tall and 10' wide, full of old buzzard style meters and large knife switches.

The late Mr. Vanderbilt was a real Napoleon freak.  The collection includes a chess set that once belonged the the Emperor, as well as a couple of tapestries once owned by Cardinal Richelieu.

On the trip we also went to the top of Mt. Mitchel.  It is the highest mountain peak east of the Mississippi.  I learnt something new on that trip, since I had always thought Mt. Washington in NH was the highest.

[WD8BIL]

Yup.... Virginia City is just outside the Ponderosa !
Say hey to Ben and the boys !!

[Tom WA3KLR]

I haven't seen the map of the Ponderosa in a very long time.  Didn't realize so much of it bordered Lake Tahoe. 

I don't remember any lakeside scenes on Bonanza, does anyone else?

[WU2D]

Joanna Hartman
bonanza news service
July 9, 2006
Around Lake Tahoe the average home price is up 33 percent, from $987,683 to $1.31 million, according to the report. Averages can be skewed by big sales, said Chase International Vice President Susan Lowe, like the $16 million and $14 million homes sold in Tahoe City and Incline Village.

They obviously could not afford to shoot lakeside.

[Sam KS2AM]

I haven't seen the map of the Ponderosa in a very long time.  Didn't realize so much of it bordered Lake Tahoe. 

I don't remember any lakeside scenes on Bonanza, does anyone else?

According to this website, there were several Nevada and California lakes used in Bonanza.

http://ponderosascenery.homestead.com/locales.html


Now does anyone remember Hoss' sportscar ?     

[W1UJR]

What a cool place to visit, thanks for the posting OM.
Wish my basement looked like that! 


What do you guys think of adding a section to the board with a collection of "radio attractions" that one could visit when traveling?
Say I was heading off to Boston, would be neat to know of good surplus/electronics shops, museums, etc.
Once a topic was created one could post updates, photos, weblinks, etc.

-Bruce W1UJR

[Mike/W8BAC]

About half way between Fort Wayne and South Bend Indiana is a town named Ligonier. At 800 Lincolnway S. Ligonier, IN 46767 you will find The Indiana Historic Radio Museum. A converted gas station that houses a large collection of radios and memorabilia. It has been 6 or 7 years since my last visit and I hope it's still in business. Very much worth the drive. Below is a link (I hope)

http://our.tentativetimes.net/oldradios/

Here is a better link

http://home.att.net/~indianahistoricalradio/ihrp6mus.htm

[David, K3TUE]

What do you guys think of adding a section to the board with a collection of "radio attractions" that one could visit when traveling?

Sounds smart.  A new thread for each state or even city.

[w3jn]

Let's not forget the Pavek Museum in Minneapolis.  The best radio museum ever.  Tons of old broadcast xmitters, consoles, audio equipment, old buzzard tubes, radios, and a whole hamshack with a 6 el beam just waiting for you to operate.  What's your pleasure - a KWS-1?  A SR-2000?  A complete S-line?  A 30K?  No problem, hook 'er up and go to town.

Tell Uncle Tom, the assistant curator, I sentchya.

http://www.pavekmuseum.org/

[Pete, WA2CWA]

How's this for a WI B&B:

http://www.greengate-wibb.com/HamRadio.html