About MAARC and the Hobby
The Mid-Atlantic Antique Radio Club (MAARC) is a hobby club for those dedicated to collecting, restoring, and preserving vintage radio and television equipment. Collecting antique radio equipment is a fun and interesting past time that appeals to a variety of folks from the pure collectors who are looking for their next great find, to the technicians and tinkerers who like to restore the electronics or refinish cabinets, to the historians and preservationists interested in the history of the technology, to those who are into it as a small business. Many involved dabble in several of these areas. All enjoy the comeraderie of a shared interest. You will find radio collectors to be a friendly and honest group who does not take themselves too seriously, while recognizing they are preserving a part of our heritage.
MAARC was founded in the summer of 1984. Starting with a handful of radio collectors, the club has grown steadily. MAARC now has nearly a thousand members, making it the largest regional club of it's kind in the USA. Most are in the Washington/Baltimore area, but MAARC has members in nearly every state and even a few in other countries.
MAARC publishes a monthly newsletter called Radio Age, considered one of the premier publications in the radio collecting community. Monthly meetings are currently held in Davidsonville, MD. Each June MAARC sponsors a large convention called RadioActivity that draws many collectors from the eastern half of the country and even beyond. A one day Mini-Meet, the RadioFallFest is run in September or October. The Flea Market is the main attraction at both these events. Auctions are generally held at each meeting, during RadioActivity, and at RadioFallFest. The auctions provide members the opportunity to buy and sell old radios, tubes, parts and literature at good prices. Check the MAARC Calendar of Events page for dates and times.
You are cordially invited to join MAARC!Dues are $20 per year in the U.S., $30 per year Canada, and $45 per year elsewhere. (U.S. funds, please.) Two- and three-year memberships are available as noted on the application and renewal forms. Life memberships are also available. An application for membership can be printed from this Web site and mailed along with payment to the Membership Chair. Details are provided on the application.
Back issues of the MAARC Newsletter from Vol. 1, No. 1 (August 1984) and most issues of Radio Age from Vol. 1, No. 1 (Oct. 1975) are available for $2.50 per issue postpaid from Paul Farmer. This Back Issues link will take you to the page with complete ordering information.
Members enjoy access to an extensive library of radio and TV service literature and can purchase packets of service information at low cost. This Service Data is available from the Radio History Society Museum Library.
Frequently Asked Questions We Get Here at the MAARC Web Site
Click on the question that you have. If none apply check the answer to the second one for MAARC contacts.
I have an old tube radio and I want to know if it is safe to plug it in?
Short answer: No, we do not recommend you plug it in before it has been checked out electrically by an expert. There are possible dangers of electrocution or fire if not careful.
Longer answer: True, if it is from the 1950's or later it stands a fair chance of working as is. A bad hum usually just means that certain components called filter capacitors need to be replaced.
Beware, sets made in the 1950s and earlier were not made with such safety devices as polarized plugs. Some are even wired so that the chassis is electrically "hot".
Be careful not to touch the metal chassis inside the cabinet or the knob shafts without the knobs when these radios are plugged in, even after they have been checked by an expert.
Older radios than that often develop more extensive problems as old parts age. Most likely nothing at all will happen if they are plugged in, including no sound.
You might get static, or the aforementioned humming. Or you might get smoke, yes, there is a remote chance you could cause a fire.
In any case, you risk damaging other components of the radio, such as the power transformer, for which it may be difficult to find a replacement.
Be especially careful of the dusty and dirty old sets found in attics, basements, and sheds.
If you want to investigate getting it fixed up, click here.
I have an old radio and I want to know more about it?
We'll try to help. Use the names and email links below to ask your question. Please tell us the brand and model number, if you can find it. Look for the model number on the bottom, or back of the radio, if there is one. If there is no back, check for a lable inside the cabinet, or the model number could be stamped on the chassis. Sometimes the model number is just no longer there. The next best thing to do is email a couple small pictures of the set and there is a fairly good chance we can identify it, or at least get close. We will do our best but realize that we are volunteers and do not have time or resources to do extensive research, however, we should be able to give you some basic information.
Geoff Shearer : gshearer2@verizon.net
Paul Farmer : oldradiotime@hotmail.com
Eric Stenberg : cx301a@aol.com
Ed Lyon : lyon@fred.net
Brian Belanger : radiobelanger@comcast.net
Steve Hansman : shans01a@comcast.net
Also check two sections of our Useful Links page that have links to web sites that contain all manner of search-able information about old radios. Click here for Radio Information and Radio Picture Galleries.
I have an old radio and I want to know what it is worth?
This is sort of a subset of the second question above but we get asked it a lot. In fact, I'm going to send you back to the second question answer to use the email contacts there. But first, keep in mind that most old radios are not worth a lot. You will not be retiring to the South Pacific after selling Grandma's old Philco. Radios in antique stores are frequently over-priced, probably due to ignorance or wishful thinking on the part of the dealer. There are some radios worth in the hundreds of dollars to collectors, and many fewer in the thousands of dollars range, and a rare few in the tens of thousands of dollars. Chances are your radio is none of these, but, hey, it doesn't hurt to check. Also know that condition plays a big part in the value of a radio along with rarilty and age. That is why the prices you may see in price guides or on Ebay® may not apply to your set. By the way, if you are thinking of selling it and it has not been restored, do not plug it in!
If you are looking for a professional appraisal for insurance purposes or the like, please let us know when you contact us and we will try and find a good referral.
I have an old radio and I want to know if it can be fixed?
Yes, most likely it can be made to play again. Perhaps you have a family hierloom or a neat flea market find that would make a dandy conversation piece in your home.
It is fun to have them working again. Warning, if it has not yet been restored, do not plug it in!
Understand that restoring old radios is custom work and may cost more than the set itself is worth, especially if the cabinet requires work as well as the electronics.
We collector hobbyists do this for fun and rarely worry about that fact. But it may be an issue for you if you are paying for it.
There are professionals who hire out for such work. Check out the Services Offered section of our links page for some we know of.
Some do both electronics and cabinet refinishing. If they are not local you will likely need to ship your set to them.
If you feel you have the skills to do part or all of the restoration yourself, check our Useful Links page for help with sources of parts and getting started.
If you find out you really enjoy it, you should consider joining MAARC! You can also contact the MAARC members listed in the second question above for advice.
I should give a nod here to the historic purists. A growing subset of collectors feels that if you encounter an old radio that is fully original, another words never had repair work done or parts replaced,
it should be left as is to preserve the historic record. Such sets may not play again but can still make a fine display piece, which is usually what old radios are most of the time anyway.
Pre-WWII era sets like this are not so common anymore, but if your set is one of these you might want to take it into consideration.
I have an old radio and I want to sell it.
The club does not buy radios directly but we do offer several venues to help you sell it. Each of our monthly meetings offers a free flea market and a small auction.
There is a small commission for auction sales. Of course, there is no guarantee that items will sell in the flea market. Twice a year we offer a larger meets with bigger flea markets and auctions.
The larger auctions are more likely to garner better prices. These two events, RadioActivity and RadioFallFest, are normally in June and October respectively.
Check the Calendar Page for dates and details.
You can also put a classified ad in our monthly newsletter, Radio Age. Contact the editors, Ed Lyon or Brian Belanger for details.
Check the Services section of our Useful Links page for web sites that let you list old radios for sale.
Antique Radio Classified is another publication where you can buy a listing for a reasonable fee.
While we do not endorse them, and do not always even like them, we have to admit that online auctions such as Ebay® can be very effective places to sell old radios.
By the way, if you are thinking of selling it and it has not been restored, do not plug it in!
I have an old radio or other related stuff that I just want to get rid of.
And we appreciate you contacting us rather than just trashing it. It is true that many old radios and their parts and pieces are not worth much, especially if they are in poor condition. If it looks like junk, it probably is, but you never know when you might have "another man's treasure", and we do want the chance to check out what you have. Assuming you are in the Mid-Atlantic region (greater Washington, DC/Baltimore area) we can find a member who can visit you to take a look and let you know if it is worth us taking it off your hands. Frankly, we usually do so as a service even if it isn't worth much. And we will let you know if it is valuable enough that it would be worth your while to sell it instead. Contact one of the volunteers listed in the second question above. If you live outside the Mid-Atlantic region we will try to hook you up with a local antique radio club. You might find one yourself on our links page under Other Clubs.
I have a lot of old radio equipment from an estate to dispose of.
Perhaps you had a relative or friend who was a fellow collector or who was a radio or television repairman "back in the day". Or maybe that describes yourself and you are looking to down-size your holdings.
MAARC is honored to assist in such efforts.
We recognise that as collectors we are merely stewards of items of historic value and want to help pass them along to those who will continue to preserve them.
If you have just a few items, we will sell them at one of our regular auctions as descibed under the question on selling a radio above.
If you have a large number of items we may set up a special auction or try to feature the estate items as a special emphasis at one of our big event autions.
These two events, RadioActivity and RadioFallFest, are normally in June and October respectively. We handle pick-up, hauling, and advertising for such events.
For this effort we typically ask a 15% sellers commission on the auction sales, which we feel is very reasonable for our time and trouble which can be considerable.
Please contact one of the volunteers listed in the second question above for more information.
Another option is to donate such items. MAARC will take donations, which gets them off your hands easily, or you can donate to the Radio History Society, which you can contact through their website at www.radiohistory.org.
Donating to RHS may allow for tax deductions. You will need to check with them for details.
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