Every cabinet has a signal left in it.
The Central Valley Radio Club restores antique radios back to working order — tubes warmed, dials lit, cabinets refinished. If your set has gone quiet, bring it to people who still speak its language.
Founded in 2006, still turning wrenches every Wednesday night.
Welcome to the California Historical Radio Society's Central Valley Chapter. The CVC was founded in 2006 by 23 members dedicated to the preservation and restoration of antique radios, along with radio and broadcasting memorabilia from every era.
We hold radio repair workshops every Wednesday night at our clubhouse, plus a short class on a specific restoration topic once a month. As a nonprofit organization, your donation to the CVC may come with a tax benefit.
To reach us for any reason, call the number below or send us a message through our repair request page.
Press a button, just like the set on your bench.
Who to call.
Founded in 2006, still turning wrenches every Wednesday night.
Welcome to the California Historical Radio Society's Central Valley Chapter. The CVC was founded in 2006 by 23 members dedicated to the preservation and restoration of antique radios, along with radio and broadcasting memorabilia from every era.
We hold radio repair workshops every Wednesday night at our clubhouse, plus a short class on a specific restoration topic once a month — open to members and curious owners alike.
As a nonprofit organization, your donation to the CVC may come with a tax benefit. To reach us for any reason, call the number below or send us a message through our repair request page.
A few sets that have come through our shop.
Illustrated examples of the kinds of radios we see most often — cathedral, tombstone, console, and tabletop cabinets.
Arched-top cathedral set
Full re-cap, cracked speaker cone re-coned, cabinet hand-rubbed with oil finish.
Tombstone tabletop
Dead output transformer replaced, dial cord restrung, new pilot lamp fitted.
Floor-standing console
Full chassis re-cap and alignment, veneer patched and refinished on the legs.
Bakelite tabletop
Shattered case seam glued and color-matched, new line cord and rectifier tube.
Battery-set with horn speaker
Rewound field coil, horn seams re-soldered, new leather surround on the diaphragm.
Wood tabletop with round dial
Intermittent hum traced to a leaky filter cap, replaced and biased to spec.
Illustrated examples of the kinds of restorations we do — not photos of specific sets. Ask us in person for a look at current projects.
From silent cabinet to warmed-up dial.
Three steps, same as tuning in a station: find it, dial it in, let it play.
Tell us what's wrong
Fill out the repair request below with your radio's make, model, and symptoms. Photos help but aren't required.
A volunteer takes a look
A club technician reviews your request and reaches out with an honest read on what it'll take — and roughly what parts might cost.
Pick up a working set
We recap capacitors, chase down hums and hisses, and hand the radio back playing — with notes on what we did and why.
Bring us your silent set.
Tell us about the radio and what it's doing (or not doing). A volunteer will get back to you, usually within a week, to talk through next steps.
- Cost Repairs are donation-based — there's no fixed price sheet. We'll be upfront about likely parts costs before we start.
- Drop-off Most radios are dropped off at our Turlock shop. Large consoles can sometimes be picked up locally — ask us.
- Timeline Depending on parts and volunteer availability, most repairs take two to six weeks.
Repairs run on donations and volunteer hours.
Every capacitor, tube, and hour of bench time is made possible by people who care about keeping these sets alive.
CVC Weekly Radio Repair Classes & Monthly Meetings
The CVC Radio Club meets every Wednesday from 3 PM – 7 PM at our clubhouse for radio repair classes. The classes are at 5518 W. Bradbury Road in Turlock, CA 95380 (corner of Bradbury & Commons). Membership must be current to attend. The monthly meetings are held on the 3rd Wednesday each month at the clubhouse during the repair class.
Donate to the club
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, gifts to the Central Valley Radio Club go straight toward parts, tools, and shop upkeep.
Make a donationBecome a member
Meetings, swap nights, and workbench hours are open to anyone curious about antique radio and electronics.
Join the clubDonate a radio or parts
Have a set you no longer want, or a box of tubes and parts gathering dust? We put them to good use.