Radio Daze is our club's MAIN EVENT of the year and will be a great opportunity to find that vintage radio you've been looking for! Club membership this year has climbed to its highest since 2004 and we are expecting a great turnout for Radio Daze 2026 at the Comfort Inn Plymouth, located at 3000 Harbor Lane in Plymouth, Minnesota.
A large auction of vintage radio equipment, featuring some especially nice items this year, will be held Friday evening, and a swap meet, radio contest, and program will be on Saturday, all at the Comfort Inn.
Plus, the Pavek Museum of Electronic Communication at 3517 Raleigh Ave., St. Louis Park, MN, will be open FREE to all Radio Daze attendees from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on May 15th and 16th!
Please see the Radio Daze 2026 Brochure for the schedule of events and more details.
AUCTION
The Friday May 15th auction of vintage radio equipment in the Comfort Inn's main ballroom will be open to view at 5:30 p.m., will start at 6:30 p.m., and will run until everything is sold, probably after 10 p.m. This is a live auction and will not be online.
Along with MANY items consigned by Radio Daze attendees (244 lots were auctioned last year), this year's auction will feature some fantastic high-end rare items from
Doug Heimstead's collection, including his 1930's green-mirrored Troy radio, his white plaskon AirKing tombstone radio, two Detrola Pee-Wee radios, a pair of sterling silver Philco Predicta cufflinks, and more. Photos of some of these items are shown below.
Besides these, a Zenith chairside radio, a Philco 42-400X, a Victor of Japan 'Stereophonic Sound System', a large quantity of Scott parts including Scott Philharmonic chassis, All-Wave 23 chassis, re-chromed Scott parts, and many more items donated to the club will be sold in this auction.
If you want to sell your radio(s) at the auction, bring them to the hotel ballroom and check them in (maximum of 10 lots)
between 1:30 and 5:30 p.m. on Friday. You can download or print an
Auction Entry Form if you want to fill it out before arriving. The auction preview is 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. This auction is always well attended and is an inexpensive way to sell your vintage radios. There are no buyer or seller percentage fees. The only charge to sell is a flat $5 per item entry fee, plus $2 if you want the item to have a reserve price. More auction details are in the
Radio Daze 2026 Brochure.
SWAP MEET
The Saturday morning swap meet begins shortly after dawn in the roped off area of the hotel parking lot. Sales are not allowed prior to Saturday. Sellers generally sell out of the back of their vehicle or from tables they have brought along and set up behind their vehicle. Anyone registered for Radio Daze will be entitled to up to two FREE swap meet selling spaces in the parking lot this year, provided at least 90% of items for sale are radios or radio-related! Each space is one standard parking lot space. Please indicate how many seller spaces you want on your pre-registration form, or you can do it at the registration table in the hotel's main ballroom prior to the Friday evening auction or when the registration desk opens at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning.
HOSPITALITY ROOM
Located just inside the hotel side door nearest the swap meet, it opens at 7 a.m. with free coffee, soda, water, rolls, cookies, and snacks for those registered for Radio Daze!
CONTEST
Please enter something from your collection in the radio contest! Contest item check-in will be Saturday from 11:00 to 11:45 a.m. in the hotel ballroom. The room will be closed for judging from noon to 1 p.m., viewing is from 1 to 2 p.m., and you can pick your item up any time after 2 p.m., possibly with a ribbon or trophy!
Contest categories are described in the Radio Daze 2026 brochure.
LUNCH
Nearby options for lunch include Lucky's 13 Pub within the hotel and other restaurants nearby, including Perkins, Arby's, Burger King, Wendy's, Davanni's Pizza, Chick-fil-A, and others.
PROGRAM
The Saturday program begins at 2:00 p.m. and includes contest awards, entertainment, and door prizes! Vic Volare will be returning along with his fabulous Volare Lounge Orchestra to entertain us again with a variety of swing music and classic standards like we used to enjoy hearing on the radio. Don't miss it!
REGISTRATION
Registration is required to sell items in the swap meet, enter the Hospitality Room, or to attend the Saturday indoor events, including viewing or entering items in the contest, or attending the program. You can save $4.00 by returning a pre-registration form along with payment before May 8th. Also, it is easy to pay for your next year's NARC membership using this form rather than doing that separately at a later time (current year memberships expire on May 31st). When you arrive, please pick up your name badge and other materials at the registration table in the hotel's main ballroom.
HOTEL
The Comfort Inn is giving us a special $109 per night (plus tax) reduced room rate for either Double or King rooms Thursday through Saturday night. If you plan to stay at the hotel, make your reservation a week or more ahead of time to assure room availability and tell them that you are coming for the Radio Daze radio show.
The Comfort Inn's reservation phone number is (763) 559-1222.
What better way to find old radios and see old friends than to come to Radio Daze!
Please mark May 15 and 16, 2026 on your calendar today!
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