Why did we make a section of the museum dedicated to radio equipment?

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The reasons we want to point out and underline are at least three:

• Music during the 20th century was obtained in a widespread way not only with musical instruments played by virtuoso musicians, but also and increasingly with automatic equipment, such as phonographs first and then radios.

• One of our supporters, professor Adelio Colombaro has been expressing and developing the passion and adventure of collecting these radios for over half a century.

• The objects in the Colombaro Collection were found in Piedmont and therefore basically represent the radios bought and used by the Piedmontese, with particular reference to Monferrato.

 

Below, Adelio Colombaro tells firsthand some anecdotes of his story, but above all he tells where he found and how he chose the radios that he carefully cataloged, described and now generously shared with the whole world through this virtual museum.

Born in 1964, on 20 July 1969 at the age of five I followed the radio commentary of the moon landing on my grandfather's radio (Magnadyne S106) and from that moment I began to be intrigued and fascinated by these objects.

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Subsequently, when I went to visit relatives and friends with my parents, I was attracted by these radios and in some cases the owners, who now considered them obsolete equipment, seeing me particularly interested, gave me the radio itself as a gift.

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The collection began from these first homages. Having reached the age of 18 and therefore with a driving license for a car, I began to frequent the Sunday markets in Piedmont, in Monferrato and in particular on the first Sunday of the month in Moncalvo; the second in Carmagnola; the third in Nizza Monferrato and the fourth in Asti. So my collection grows.

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By carefully observing the disassembled devices I try to understand how they work and by reading electronics magazines for beginners such as "Elettronica Pratica" and "Radio Kit Elettronica" I try to intervene on the circuit to repair the faults.

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As my knowledge increases, I understand that I also need some tools for research and fine-tuning of devices and therefore I always look at the markets for valve testers, signal generators and a simple oscilloscope, in addition, of course, to the tester and soldering iron which have been part of the equipment of my small laboratory since the beginning.

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In 1993 I discovered, from an advertising blurb, that the publication of a specific magazine in the sector was starting and with the subscription to this publication "Antique Radio Magazine" my knowledge increased and my passion grew, pushing me to look for new material by also visiting the covered markets of Asti, Savigliano, Bra, etc. until reaching a number of devices exceeding 300 units.

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My interest does not stop only at radios, but extends to all devices that can record and reproduce words and music involving record players, tape recorders and cassette players.

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The selection criteria for purchasing these objects depend on various factors, including the aesthetic aspect, the technical component and childhood memories, in short, everything that can arouse curiosity and revive old memories.