These two cards have been sent In 1929 by two early Warrnambool amateur radio persons to William (Bill) Douglas, an amateur radio person with the call sign, VK3GA. The cards are QSL cards, sent as a result of radio contacts being made between two amateur radio persons. Bill Douglas (1898-1986) was a Victorian schoolteacher who was the first licensed amateur radio person in the Otway Ranges district. He was licensed in January 1929 and these cards refer to radio contacts in the July of that year. The cards do not feature the call signs of the contacts but were standard cards used by amateur radio people who did not have personalised cards at the time,. One card was sent by J.F. Anderson (VK3WN) whose address at the time was 100 Foster Street, Warrnambool. He was possibly connected to the family of James and Jane Anderson who lived for some time in Foster Street but later went farming in the Nullawarre district. The other card was sent by W. Brown of 23 Mackay Crescent South Warrnambool (call sign unknown). No information has been found on this person.These two cards are of some importance as they are very early examples of amateur radio operations in Warrnambool. .1 A rectangular card, very faded and torn at edges. The card has a red border and red and black printing and handwritten material. On the back is a handwritten letter. .2 A rectangular card, very faded and torn at the edges. The card has a red border and black and red printing and handwritten material. On the back are a postal franking stamp, a green postage stamp and a handwritten address.1 a handwritten letter .2 Radio VK3GA Lavers Hill Victoriaamateur radio stations, w. douglas vk3ga, j.f.anderson vk3wn, w.brown warrnambool

The Wireless Institute of Victoria was established in 1910 and amateur radio operators (called hams) in Victoria were issued with licences by this institute. Cards such as this one were exchanged by operators to confirm a contact between two amateur radio operators anywhere in the world (called QSL cards). The cards contained information regarding the radio contact made, the strength of the signal, the type of transmitter etc and the words, codes and abbreviations used were known internationally. This card, which is an unused one, belonged to Ted Salamy who had the call sign A 3AJ. This licence was issued in 1924 and was the 35th amateur radio licence issued in Victoria. It is believed that this was the first amateur radio station established in Warrnambool. Ted Salamy (1903-1977) was the son of Michael Salamy who established jewellery shops in Timor Street and in Liebig Street in Warrnambool in the 20th century. Ted Salamy was later the proprietor of these stores up to the 1960s when he retiredThis card has considerable local significance as an early Warrnambool amateur radio card and as one belonging to a prominent 20th century Warrnambool businessman, Ted Salamy. This is a card with a buff-coloured background and black and red printing on one side of the card and handwritten information in blue ink on the other side. The remains of adhesive tape applied to the edges of the card are still visible. ‘Timor Street Warrnambool Vic. Australia A 3AJ, E. Salamy Op.’ amateur (ham) radio, victoria, ted salamy

Edward ( Ted) Salamy (1903-1977) succeeded his father in business in Warrnambool as a jeweller and was at 179 Liebig Street when he retired in the 1960s. On 1st December in 1924 he obtained an amateur radio licence ( Call sign A3AJ). This was the 35th licence issued in the State of Victoria and the first in Warrnambool. The original licence cost two shillings and sixpence. Amateur radio, still a popular hobby today, was particularly important in the 1920s when few people had radios of any sort and there were no provincial radio stations. People were able to access amateur radio sets to listen to such broadcast as overseas cricket matches. This amateur radio set is of considerable historical importance as it belonged to Ted Salamy, credited with being the first to operate an amateur radio station in Warrnambool.This is a rectangular box containing five valves, a radio frequency mechanism and three coils with fine copper winding. The mechanisms are connected by wires and metal screws. The box has a raised black -composite material front which has a voltage meter, three switches or knobs and a tuning dial. Philips made in Holland British Made (voltage meter)amateur ham radio warrnambool

Radio Telephone was minuted during the war. It was approved in 1944 for State Electricity Commission of Victoria use only. It was completed by the end of 1946. Used by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria at Bogong during the construction of the Kiewa Hydro Electric Scheme to connect with head office in Melbourne. It allows one conversation at a time using traffic controls in an unusual system of radio telephone providing communication. At the time it was unique in Australia and installed by the S.E.C.V. technicians. It provided an unattended shortwave radio link between two ordinary telephone switchboards, connecting any of the S.E.C.V.'s internal lines with the telephone system at Bogong and the construction camps beyond. From Bogong, radio phones connect to the outpost stations on the High Plains far above the snow-line. In operation, the service is similar to a normal telephone system but dispenses with the physical connection of wires and poles between the main terminals. Historical: This type of headphone was recommended for amateurs. It may have been used by operators on the Switchboard at Bogong or one of the construction camps on the Kiewa Hydro Electric Scheme. The S.E.C.V installed this unique system of communication to operate their branches especially at Bogong and beyond where the distance was great and often limited by the terrain and weather.Used for a transmitter radio or Radio Telephone as installed by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria 2 round ear pieces. Outside of ear piece has the brand inscribed and 3 points where wires are attached. On opposite edges of the earpieces a metal piece with handle is attached from which the 2 earpieces are connected with curved wire covered by leather to fit on top of the head. Each earpiece has a cord hanging from the middle attachment (on the outside) which joins and then continues as one to 2 metal pins that would fit into holes in the switchboard. On outside of each earpiece - 'Brunet & Co. / Paris' in oval 'Type f' underneathradio telephone. ear phones. head phones.communications.state electricity commission of victoria. kiewa hydro electric scheme. bogong. switchboards.

Black and white photographs. One of John Wilson, a teacher, operating a radio. On the wall there is a VK3BF banner and maps of Australia and of Victoria. The photo is undated but is referred to in Scott's history of Collingwood Technical School 'Coltech' and probably dates in the 1970s. The second photo is of members of the 1971 Amateur Radio Club of Collingwood Technical College Also Amateur Radio Club Membership Certificates for 1971 and 1981There is also a paragraph taken from Scott's history which records the development of the Club.collingwood technical school, radio station, vk3bf, nmit

Black and white photograph, of MMTB W5 839 at the roundabout at corner of Mt Alexander Road and Fletcher St. Essendon, Essendon Station late 1950's or early 1960's. In the background is the railway bridge over Mt. Alexander Road. All blinds drawn. Tram showing destination "CITY". On the sides of the tram are advertisements for "Bluo" and "XLO Sponge cloth". On the front of the tram is an advertisement for radio station 3AW, Amateur Hour, Terry Dear. Photograph not well focused. trams, tramways, essendon, mmtb, mt alexander road, tram 839

The 3AW portable transmitter “Wirelessing from the Golf Links. An interesting test was made by 3AW yesterday when this portable transmitting set was successfully tried out at Royal Melbourne. Mr JB Ferrier, the father of the NSW champion, who is taking part in the Men’s Australian Open Championship meeting, is seen (on the left) speaking into the microphone and announcing the scores. The transmitter will be in action today to describe the play in the final rounds for the benefit of listeners.” – The Age Melbourne-based talkback radio station 3AW began transmission in February 1932 as Melbourne’s fifth commercial station. The 1930s were a time of rapid change and significant improvement in the development of microphones, supporting the shift from the visual world of newspapers to the auditory world of radio. MCK021 Inkjet print by John Gollings on Canson Platine Fibre Rag Published: The Age 9 September 1933 Featured in "Newsworthy: Melbourne in photographs 1933-1936" exhibition at East Melbourne Library, October to December 2023. Exhibition caption by project volunteer, Louise McKenzie. Photographer notations on slide: "3AW portable transmitter at R Melb Golf Links 1933 B5" Published: 9 September 1933 The Age p15 Published title: WIRELESSING FROM THE GOLF LINKS. Published caption: An interesting test was by 3AW yesterday when this portable transmitting set was successfully tried out at Royal Melbourne. Mr. J. B. Ferrier, the father of the New South Wales champion, who is, taking part in the Australian open championship meeting, is seen (on the left) speaking into the microphone and announcing the scores. The transmitter will be in action today to describe the play in the final rounds of the open championship for the benefit of listeners. Trove article identifier: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205106453 Note: Interestingly, the published image is a composite of the two images in our collection. See related material, MCK077. Description: Group of men conducting outdoor radio broadcast at golf course. The 3AW sign is visible on a pole above the group. Research by project volunteer, Louise McKenzie: In this photo a group of men cluster around a tall bamboo pole with a 3AW sign. The male radio interviewer holds a pole topped with a square shaped microphone held in front of the face of another man. It is a bleak day and the men are wearing suits, coats and hats, or plus fours and caps. There is one schoolboy in the group. This was 3AW's first outside broadcast, undertaken at Royal Melbourne golf course on the occasion of the Australian Open. The 1933 Australian Open was held at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club (West Course), 8-9 September, and won by M L Kelly, from Goulburn, aged 20; J Ferrier (aged 19 from Sydney) came third equal with A W Jackson. The man being interviewed was Mr J B Ferrier, father of James (Jim) Ferrier, a professional golfer from Sydney. Encouraged by his father (who had a golfing background in Scotland) Jim Ferrier commenced playing at age four and a half, and was playing off scratch by his mid-teens. He was the NSW Amateur Champion in 1931, and was runner up in the Australian Open in 1931 and 1933. He won many Australian and overseas amateur and professional titles, moved to the US where he served in the army in WWII, and continued to prolifically compete and have significant golf victories into the 1950s. Sport Australia Hall of Fame says his “... may well be the best all round amateur professional record of any Australian golfer”. There is a statue of Jim Ferrier in the National Portrait Gallery. 3AW is a talkback radio station based in Melbourne, which began transmission on 22 February 1932 as Melbourne’s fifth commercial radio station. It was established when a company formed by Allans Music (established in Melbourne in 1850 and by 1877 was the largest musical warehouse in the southern hemisphere), JC Williamson’s (a theatrical management company and theatre owner) and David Syme (then publishers of The Age newspaper) was granted a radio broadcasting licence. 3AW originally broadcast from a makeshift studio in the front part of His Majesty’s Theatre, Exhibition Street, Melbourne, and is still in operation today. The 1930s were a time of rapid change and significant improvement in the development of microphones, accelerated by the move from the visual world of newspapers, to the auditory world of radio. The BBC had only been formed in May 1923, and their first outside broadcast was in May 1924. It is interesting to note that 3AW was owned by those intimately involved in the music, arts and newspaper world who had a good eye for future developments in these areas. The microphone in use in this photo may have been a USA-developed condenser microphone – still a fairly experimental concept, and whose design may have been influenced by the American film industry. References: WIRELESSING FROM THE GOLF LINKS. (1933, September 9). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 15. Retrieved September 14, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205106453 J.C. Williamsons’s, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._C._Williamson%27s Allans Music, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allans_Music Jim Ferrier, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Ferrier Jim Ferrier sculpture by John Frith, National Portrait Gallery, https://www.portrait.gov.au/portraits/2013.79/jim-ferrier '3AW is 90 today (22/2/22)', 3AW, https://www.3aw.com.au/3aw-is-turning-90-take-a-look-back-through-the-decades-with-us1/ Her Majesty’s Theatre Melbourne, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Her_Majesty%27s_Theatre,_Melbourne Jim Ferrier, Sport Australia Hall of Fame, https://sahof.org.au/hall-of-fame-member/jim-ferrier/ 'From Nightingale to Narcissus: capturing the first ever live otudoor radio broadcast', Iain Baird, 2013, Science and Media Museum UK, https://blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/from-nightingale-to-narcissus/ 'The BBC-STC ‘Bomb' Condenser Microphone: a curatorial perspective', Ian Logie Baird, 2021, Baird Television, https://www.bairdtelevision.com/the-bbc-stc-bomb-condenser-microphone.htmlPhotographer notations on slide: "3AW portable transmitter at R Melb Golf Links 1933 B5".golf, radio

This transceiver was made by Merv Collins, a long-time resident of Wodonga. His call sign VK3AF) is attached to both of the radios. "Merv" Mervyn Aubrey Lascelles Collins was born near Horsham Victoria in 1922. He and his family moved to Wodonga in 1965 so that he could work at the newly opened TV transmission station at Mt Baranduda, to Wodonga's south. He was passionate about electronics and radio, becoming an Amateur Radio (Ham) operator in the 1950s. He had an amazing understanding of the science, allowing him to build the majority of his equipment from scratch, often without a circuit diagram. Through his resourcefulness, Merv frequently modified old black and white TV's and other equipment destined for landfill, incorporating them into gear ranging from transceivers to test equipment. Merv’s handiwork allowed him to talk to people all around the world. He lived in Leonard Street, Wodonga for over 40 years, and the antennas that rose from the back yard were a local landmark. He passed away in 2010, a proud Wodonga resident and keen "Ham" to the end.This item is significant because it was owned by a local resident who operated it in Wodonga for over 40 years.Two radio transmitters used by a ham radio operator in Wodonga.merv collins wodonga, ham radio transceiver, amateur radio, radio communications