International Vintage Electronics Museum

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54, Easthill Drive, Brighton (HOVE actually) BN41 2FD, UK telephone +(0)1273 701650 or 0498 692465 (mobile). Curator Enrico Tedeschi. Open daily, 335 days a year Please phone before travelling Sorry no facilities for disabled visitors

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[Highlights of the collection] [Guided tour of the collection] [Things to do] [Support the museum] [We give talks]

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THE COLLECTION

The collection consists of more than 1,000 items depicting the history of electronics.

The collection can be broken into the following main categories:

1. Crystal sets:

   from the early galena catswiskers sets used at the beginning of BBC broadcasting to the later diode receivers which work without any form of power (battery or otherwise)

2. Valve radios:

   from the early battery sets of the 20s with horn speakers to the latest sophisticated sets of the late 60s, passing through several valve radios some of which have won industrial design awards and are on show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

3. Transistor radios:

   from the first transistor radio (Regency TR-1 of 1954) to the latest integrated circuit sets.

4. History of the Valves:

   more than a hundred historical valves.

5. History of the Semiconductors:

   from one of the first commercial Western Electric transistor (1950) to the latest radio in an integrated circuit.

6. Home computers:

   from the early Apple, Tandy and Commodore home computers (1977) to the computer that changed it all, the Apple Macintosh (1984)

7. History of the Microprocessors:

   from the Intel 4004 microprocessor to the other microprocessors that made popular computers possible.

8. Home Videogames

   Videogames have often predated the design and manufacture of the early home computers. In the Museum we have several = from the very first MAGNAVOX Odyssey (1972) to the most famous of them all = the ATARI Pong.

9. Pocket calculators:

   the history of the pocket calculator, from the Bowmar 901B (the first pocket calculator) and the Hewlett Packard HP 35 (the first scientific one) to the latest printing pocket examples.

10. Guglielmo Marconi:

    from a representative selection of valve and transistor sets made by the Marconi Company to a vast collection of personal and business ephemera narrating the epic history of the invention and development of wireless telegraphy together with a library of more than a 100 books on the subject.

11. Sony:

    a collection of more than a 100 historic SONY radios sets and memorabilia from the first japanese shirt pocket radio (TR-63 of 1957) to the latest integrated circuit pocket video cameras.

12. Sinclair:

    a collection of most of the Sinclair products such as micro radios, micro TVs, instruments, pocket calculators, electric vehicles, black watch, hi-fi and computers including many factory prototypes kindly donated by Sir Clive himself. A comprehensive technical library is a valued part of the collection.

13. Television sets:

    from the early pre-war models to the latest shirt pocket television sets.

14. Novelty sets:

    these are radio receivers in "funny" shapes and sizes

15. General electronics:

    several different representation of the history of electronics from the early valves and transistors to the hearing aids and the first Sony Walkman (TPS-L2).

16. Ephemera:

    hundreds of historic leaflets, magazines, newspapers, brochures, fliers, cigarette cards, coins, exercise books, posters, catalogues etc. depicting the history of radio and related industries.

17. Library:

    One of the most complete libraries in the country with hundreds of titles concerning radio and electronics in general.

NOTE:

This is not a virtual museum. The exhibits really do exhist, the books are on our shelves etc. but, if you would like to visit, PLEASE phone beforehand. Thank you. (. . . and Yes! We have an electronic alarm in operation. Also a police station nearby . . .)
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Write to Enrico Tedeschi, enrico@Brighton-UK.com

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