RADIO WAVE WIZARDRY!
Come Explore the Magic
THE MUSEUM REOPENS ON
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 7, 2026
NEW HOURS: NOON UNTIL 3 PM
DIRECTIONS FROM YOUR LOCATION TO OUR FREE PARKING GARAGE
SEE AND HEAR ONE OF THE COUNTRY'S LARGEST COLLECTIONS OF HOME, FARM, HAM AND MILITARY RADIOS... AND SO MORE INCLUDING:
- SAMUEL MORSE'S TELEGRAPH GEAR FROM THE LATE 1800s
- ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL'S INVENTION OF THE TELEPHONE
- THOMAS EDISON'S PHONOGRAPHS FROM THE EARLY 1900s
- 1960s 33 RPM RECORDS PLAYING ON A VACUUM TUBE AMP
- EARLY 1950s BLACK & WHITE TV SETS - TINY 4 INCH SCREENS
- OLD STYLE RECORDERS USING WIRE OR MAGNETIC TAPE
- SPRING WOUND MOVIE CAMERAS LIKE GRANDPA USED!
ALL PRESENTED AND DEMONSTRATED BY HIGHLY KNOWLEDGABLE MUSEUM GUIDES WHOSE GOAL IS TO ENSURE YOU HAVE AN ENTERTAINING AND ENJOYABLE VISIT.
SEE WHY WE ARE THE ONLY ASHEVILLE MUSEUM WITH 100 PER CENT FIVE STAR REVIEWS.
FREE ADMISSION TO ALL
STEM Students and Group Tours Welcome!
Click for a Museum Flyer, PBS Video, Citizen Times Story, NPR Story, Laurel Article, Facebook Video Tour, Video by WLOS TV, or Podcast by WNCW
AND, READ ALL ABOUT WHEN RADIO CAME TO ASHEVILLE IN THE 1920s
Copyright 2026 Southern Appalachian Radio Museum Inc.
All rights reserved.
2001
Year Established
50+
Ham Radios
on Display
50+
Vintage Home Radios
Lots
Of Other
Cool Things
MUSEUM VIEWS
THE MUSEUM IS GRACIOUSLY HOSTED BY THE A - B TECH
DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED TECHNOLOGY
SELF-GUIDED MUSEUM OVERVIEW (POWERPOINT)
CRANK CYLINDER RECORD PLAYER
SOME THINGS YOU CAN DO
-
SEE the vintage equipment you love (and maybe used!).
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WATCH a live ham station.
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LEARN how hams help in emergencies.
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FIND OUT how YOU can easily become a ham!
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LEARN how Heinrich Hertz proved invisible radio waves exist.
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WATCH a spark transmitter cause a Marconi device detect a radio wave.
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SEE a 1907 Morse Code "ticker tape."
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LEARN how newly invented radio saved lives when the Titanic sank!
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SEE the first home "crystal" radios (no batteries required!).
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TUNE an early battery operated farm radio (not easy... three dials to tune in a radio station).
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LEARN how vacuum radio tubes were invented and what they do!
AND... learn about how radio waves make our modern technology work! Cell phones, GPS, wireless internet routers, Bluetooth speakers, remote car door openers, radar, photos from space... all rely on radio waves! We'll explain how.
INQUIRIES, HOURS, ADMISSION, DIRECTIONS
AND CONTACT INFO
Inquiries
For any inquiries, suggestions or special appointments, please fill out the brief Contact Us form further below. It sends us an email and we generally respond within 24 hours or sooner.
Museum Address
Room 306 Elm Building (near 283 Victoria Road)
Asheville - Buncombe Tech Community College,
Asheville, NC 28804. For detailed directions, click here.
Set your mapping app to 16 Fernihurst Drive to reach the parking garage.
Hours & Admission
We are open on Saturdays from 12 noon to 3 PM from February until the weekend before Thanksgiving, reopening again the first Saturday in February next year. Admission is free to all.
Come visit one of Asheville's great specialty museums!
Volunteering
Would you enjoy helping us maintain and restore the collection? Welcome visitors? Educate STEM student visitors? Please use the inquiry form to the left.
Directions
The museum is in Asheville in Western North Carolina, easily accessed via I-26, I-40, and Highway 19-23. It is located in Room 306 of the Elm Building at A-B Technical Community College. Elm is handicap accessible.
PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR A GOOGLE MAP AND DETAILED DIRECTIONS.
Summary of directions: If you have a mapping app, you set it to 16 Fernihurst Drive, which is the address of the free parking garage around 100 feet from the Elm Building where the museum is located (room 306). If your app does not recognize this address, set it to 283 Victoria Road which will bring you to the corner of Fernihurst Drive. Turn at the corner (there is only one way to turn), go one block to the building that says Conference Center on the front. Proceed to the back of this building to enter the parking garage. Exit the elevator lobby of the garage, walk straight ahead to Elm Building, entering it on the "short" side (straight ahead). Proceed to the Elm elevator lobby in the middle of the building and go to the 3rd floor. Look down the hallway to your right and you will see a small sign ahead that says Asheville Radio Museum.
Contact Us
Museum Address
For any inquiries, questions or suggestions, please use this contact form:
The Asheville Radio Museum is owned and operated by the Southern Appalachian Radio Museum, Inc., a 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation.
The museum is sponsored by QCWA Chapter 145.
Officers:
Ron Beaver (WB4OQL), President
Howard Hazelrigg (W4PH), Treasurer
Stuart Smolkin (WA5EYI), Secretary, Curator
Asheville - Buncombe Tech Community College
306 Elm Building (please see the above directions)
Free parking garage: 16 Fernihurst Drive
Asheville, North Carolina 28801
Group Tours
Ham clubs, student groups, church groups... all are welcome! Use the contact form (to left) to arrange a convenient time.
Become a Museum Member!
Would you enjoy helping us maintain and restore the collection? Welcoming visitors? Educating STEM students? Please use the contact form on this page. Or, stop by our monthly meeting at 10:30 AM on the first Thursday of each month (except December and January) in room 306 of the Elm Building (see directions above).
Contribute to the Collection
Do you have something interesting to expand the collection? If we are able to accept your donation, you can claim it as a tax deduction. Please use the contact form on this page.
Support the Museum
We provide free admission, made possible by our small group of volunteers. It will help tremendously if you can make a small contribution to support our work. If so, please click the Donate button (below). Thank you!
Suggestions and Comments
Members at Large:
Carl Smith (N4AA), Founder (deceased)
Clint Gorman (K4KRB), Founder (deceased) Dean Martin (WA4CNI) (deceased)
Norman Harrill (N4NH) (deceased)
Peter Abzug (N3TIP)
John Cudd
Alex Hagerty (W4JHU)
Howard Hazelrigg (W4PH)
Linc Carlisle
Tim McVey (KR4PP)
John Polstra (KJ7ZYH)
Randy Rago
Bill Ryno
Kyle Sund
We welcome your suggestions. Please use the contact form on this page to send us your ideas.