© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

Loud and clear: ham radio’s calling cards

Rummaging around collections of old photographs and postcards I have often wondered about these peculiar cards, emblazoned with strange letters and numbers, that sometimes turn up, usually in groups of several. I could guess they were connected with amateur, or "ham" radio operators, but their purpose remained a mystery until recently, after I found a few more, when I decided to find out about them. It didn't take long to discover that they are known as "QSL" cards and that radio operators use them to let one another know when they have received each other's signals.…

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Why public health in NSW is a disaster

Years ago, when I was a novice health reporter on The Newcastle Herald, I was attending the grand opening of a major piece of cancer treatment equipment at a local hospital. Because the NSW Government tends to be reluctant to spend money on populations outside the state capital of Sydney (unless a particular electorate suddenly finds its parliamentary representative influencing the balance of power) it has often been left to non-Sydney communities to fund their own capital purchases. Like most people in Newcastle I deplored the negligence of the government but was proud and delighted that…

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Read more about the article Memories of Old Sydney Town
Photo by Barry Shoesmith

Memories of Old Sydney Town

During almost 30 years of operation, the historical theme park Old Sydney Town, near Gosford on the NSW Central Coast, attracted millions of visitors. Intended as a reconstruction of the Sydney in the very early 1800s, it was a remarkably faithful replica with many authentic touches. The park was the brainchild of architect Frank Fox, who bought the 110ha site because of its apparent resemblance to the landforms of early Sydney Cove. Fox was apparently inspired by the example of Walt Disney and Disneyland in the USA. He and his children - David, Stephen, Michael, Peter…

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