Orkney Wireless Museum

About the museum

The Orkney Wireless Museum grew from the collection of James MacDonald (1927 to 1988), who was born on South Ronaldsay and trained as an electrician and radio repairman. During the Second World War he worked as a civilian for the War Office at the naval base at Lyness and at RAF sites in Orkney. He began collecting old radio sets as a boy and after the war gathered as much surviving wartime equipment as he could.

In 1984 he opened his collection to the public in the family home on South Ronaldsay as An Orkney Wireless Museum. After his death in 1988 a family trust was set up in 1990 to run it. The museum joined the Museums and Galleries Commission in 1994 and in 1997 the collection moved to its present premises in Kirkwall, close to the harbour. It is now run by a charitable company staffed entirely by unpaid volunteers.

The displays follow the history of radio from the large sets of the 1930s to small transistor radios, with domestic sets by makers such as Marconi and Cossor. A wartime section shows how Scapa Flow and the Home Fleet were protected in the Second World War, with a replica radar station, bomber and Spitfire radios, spy suitcase radios and a radio from a U-boat. There is also Orkney's first jukebox and a range of novelty radios. The museum has its own amateur radio call sign, GB2OWM.

Highlights

• Domestic and military radio sets from the 1930s onwards
• Wartime displays on the defence of Scapa Flow
• Replica radar station
• Radios from bombers, Spitfires and a U-boat
• Orkney's first jukebox and novelty transistor radios

Permanent exhibition

• Radio and wartime communications collection – Domestic radio sets from the 1930s onwards and a wartime section with a replica radar station, aircraft and spy radios and equipment from a U-boat.

Founded

1984

Operated by

Orkney Wireless Museum (charitable company)

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Admission is by donation.

Accessibility

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Kids & families

• Hands-on stations

Children can play tennis on an early computer game or try the wire game, and adults can tune a 1950s valve set.

Getting there & parking

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Amenities & dining

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Events & venue rental

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