It has taken 10 years and many meetings to put forward the idea of having a plaque to commemorate the landing of the Compac Cable at Bondi in 1962 and the first telephone call on 3^rd December 1963 between the Prime Ministers of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom.

The Committee of the OTVA made representations to the following organisations and sent them a presentation fully explaining the magnitude of the event (Compac Cable Landing) and the subsequent significant impact upon telecommunications between Australia and the rest of the world that resulted in significant social and commercial benefits to Australians and Australia businesses:

• Waverley Council to get the plaque installed in the vicinity of the cable entry hut on the beach side of the promenade at Bondi Beach. Your committee also engaged the support of the Waverley Historical Society when negotiations with council stalled.
• Malcolm Turnbull when he was the Communications Minister and then again when he became Prime Minster of Australia.
• Channel 7

These efforts were unsuccessful.  The landing of the Compac Cable was not considered a significant event in the history of telecommunications in Australia worthy of celebration.

Telstra was approached through the manager of the Paddington Terminal, Geoff Parr. Largely through the support and effort of Geoff the concept of a plaque to recognise the laying of Compac was agreed by Telstra but the Paddington Terminal building was undergoing removal and the plaque could not be installed until last week.

Telstra installed the plaque on the Oxford Street side of its building at Paddington in Sydney NSW beside the building’s foundation stone late last week. Please have a look at the photos. We extend our thanks to Telstra for the support and recognition that it has provided through the installation of this plaque.

Many thanks to Charlie Rudd for supplying the plaque and greatly assisting your committee on the design to accommodate the words that were acceptable to both Telstra and the OTVA.

It is a real shame that Henry Cranfield was not still with us to celebrate this successful joint venture.

Well done to all involved. Below is a recent photo of the Paddington terminal that has been supplied by Geoff Parr.

Denis Pickwell wrote:

I was just going through some of last years Blogs and came across a short video (May 2015) entitled Memories – the OTC Story 1946-92. This is a complete misnomer as it obviously only covers a few years back from 1992. All the shots have computers in them! During my 10+ years with OTC (1950-1961) I never handled a computer as they didn’t exist. There is a story to be told about the early days of beam wireless and cable. I don’t know much about the history of AWA in the early years but I’m sure others do. I was stationed at Fiskville Beam Wireless Station for 7 years before transferring to Spring St. H.O. Doonside and Bringelly were new stations still “settling in”. I can recall Pennant Hills transmitters and the cable station at Southport and being amazed at what they did with an extremely weak, single channel signal. Compare that with the latest cable and associated systems!

In those days we were at the cutting edge of communications technology but in retrospect we were pioneers working with primitive equipment. I remember the visit of the Queen to Melbourne in 1956. At Fiskville we built a complete new high powered transmitter and installed about 3 others to cater for the expected traffic. I could ramble on, but I am sure there are those that remember what really happened in the early days from, say, 1946.

Regards,
Denis

Peter Grove wrote:

I visited Bribie Island last week at the end of my Queensland holiday but couldn’t find any mention of a radio station on local maps, and I’m wondering if anyone could clarify the situation?

I am trying to recall when in OTC Supply purchasing and sending/shipping goods to a Coastal Radio Station (CRS) which was – I think – on Bribie Island Road, Ningi; via Caboolture.

I’ve also found some comments by Neil Yakalis on Robert Brand’s exotc site about Lindley Deslandes, retiring after 42 Years Service (Neil was apparently a former workmate). The item begins: “Lindley Deslandes is retiring from Telstra Managed Radio Ningi Qld after 42 years service on Tuesday 14^th August 2012.”

Neil’s comments include, “Later when Doonside was in the process of closing in January 1996 he [Lindley Deslandes] moved his family to Qld. In moving he followed the transfer of transmitters to Ningi & remote receivers onto Bribie Island.”

The “1996” reference probably explains why I couldn’t find anything about Bribie Island Radio in the five archive books that were produced at the time of the OTC-Telecom merger (1992).

Was there, in fact, ever a “Bribie Island Radio” or was it always “Radio Ningi”?

Anyway,  I think it was a coast radio station.  But, if not, what purpose did it serve and how does it fit into the history of OTC?

And finally(!), does anyone know where on Bribie Island the remote receivers are located and/or whether the facility is included in any of the island’s museums and/or “historic sites”?

Photo courtesy of Lindsay Deslandes

I am shocked and saddened to hear of Jeff’s sudden and unexpected passing. In my mind he is still pictured to be young and full of life. I worked at Paddington and only had limited dealings with Jeff when he worked at Broadway.

Jeff was well liked and respected by those who knew him and worked with him.

After finishing up with Reach in early 2000s Jeff moved to Hargraves 30Kms south west of Mudgee and 40Kms due west of Kandos (as the crow flies) where he ran his own business, Graphical Constructions. I recall that he was anxiously awaiting the delivery of nbn to enhance his capabilities and business opportunities.

Please email me a Tribute that can be uploaded to the OTVA web site for us to remember Jeff and his exploits. That will also be a way for us to send condolences to Jeff’s’ family and share our experiences knowing and working with Jeff in his years with OTC and Reach.

A Funeral Service will be held for Jeff as follows:

When:   10:30am Friday 15th January 2016

Venue:  Macquarie Valley Funerals

118 Market St,

Mudgee NSW 2850

The below photo was taken of Jeff and John Eades at John Daly’s farewell quite a few years ago (I am not sure of the date).

Many thanks to Trevor Clay for alerting us to this program on Ceduna.

http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/back-roads/IV1507H001S00#playing

Features the OTC Satellite Earth Station 17 minutes into the video.

It was very interesting. Enjoy!

Much loved husband of Ruth. Cherished father of Julie, Geoffrey, Bill, Matt (dec’d) and Kaylie.

Family and friends are invited to a Celebration of Life for BOB was held in the Chapel of Lake Macquarie Memorial Park, Cessnock Road, Ryhope on MONDAY (October 19th) commencing at 10:00 am

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Tim Jensen has come across this funeral notice in the Sydney Morning Herald on Oct 17 but was unsure as to whether this was the same Bob Reeks that worked in the Coast Radio section in 1970 when Bob was about 45.

At the time Bob was working in the ANZ building Martin Place with Ray Hookway, Gordon Webster, and others.

The OTVA held its Christmas reunion in the function rooms at the Bowlers Club, 99 York Street, Sydney between midday and 3pm on Tuesday 24th November.

There were 57 attendees: Allan, Peter;Anderson, Bob; Barker, Tom; Beaton, Gary; Beckett, Ron;Bennett, John; Breeze, Bill;Bull, Peter; Callaghan, Mick; Charles, Don;Clay, Trevor; Corben, Jules;Coutts, Dave; Craig, Ross; Currie, John; Davis, Max; Dentskevich, Bob; Francis, Gregg; Game, Mike; Grant, Dennis; Gray, Steve; Hainke, Neville; Hennessy, Allan; Hinwood, Jeff; Hookway, Ray; Huddy, Graham;Hulme, Jim; Jensen, Tim; Jolly, Bill; Kelly, Col; Lions, Bob; Lloyd, Peter; Lukin, Ron; Marshall, Steve; Martyn, Greg; McCredden, Keith; McDermott, John; McDonald, Ian; Miles, Ted; Mills, Peter;O’Brien, Kevin; Oldman, Geoff; Phillips, John; Pow, Ray; Richardson, David; Simpson, Jim; Smith, Ross; Stuart, Tony; Travis, Brian; Tuckfield, Robin; Veverka, Dean; Vossen, John; Wan, Ernie;Wilden, Mick; Wills, David; Woloszuk, George; Yakalis, Neil.

There were 5 late apologies received: Emanuel, Bob; Trebeck, Peter; Hopkins, Kim; Brand, Robert; McCann, Paul; Hibbard, John.

The Buffet meal was well received by members and provided great variety catering for a wide variety of tastes. The rooms were well laid out enabling members to move around relatively easily and say Hello to everyone present.

There was probably 40 years difference between the youngest member and the most senior generating a wealth of stories both factual and exaggerated as happens after many years and a few beers.

From what I could see a great time was had by all.

Many thanks to the committee for a job well done. Events like this don’t just happen. They require a lot or planning and organisation by a dedicated few.

Special thanks to Kevin O’Brien, David Richardson and Robin Tuckfield for their work in collecting the money at the door. Nobody escaped!

Peter Bull

One of my first field training experiences was at the ISCC located on the old Level 1 at Paddington. I was introduced to Paul Mulcahy, Pat Anderson and Eddie Tammes. Pat and Paul were nice people but I found Eddie to be a very cranky and angry person. I was later told that this was probably due to his Dutch heritage but I think that it was just Eddie being Eddie.

When I finished my training I spent 12 months in Head Office working in the Quality of Service Section under Ernie Wan and Graham Markey. QoS had a close linkage to ISCC as it produced some of the qualitative reporting used by QoS so my association became almost a daily one albeit over the phone. I had a great time working for Ernie who was a great boss. I also had the real pleasure of working with Roy Ranger. He was a great character and a really nice guy.

After 12 months I was anxious to get to a technical area with hands-on exposure to equipment. I wrote a number of letters requesting a transfer and was getting nowhere when Roy suggested that I ask Ron Flood. Floody was really accommodating and delegated the task to Lawrie Waller with instruction that I be sent to Broadway. Lawrie sent me to Paddington ITMC. In his mind I think that he thought it to be punishment as Broadway was the newer station with handpicked staff capable of understanding and adapting to the newer technology which may have been correct at that time. 5 years later Paddington had a new Ericsson AKE telephone exchange. Technology is never static.

I spent the next 17 years at Paddington and enjoyed every minute of it. What a great bunch of people and what a great experience for my first job!

I worked with ISCC and ITMC more closely than with teh other groups at Paddington.

Below is a picture taken by the Marketing Section for which Jim Hulme (ITMC) was asked to pose alongside Eddie.

Peter Bull

In yesterday’s SMH there was a Death Notice for John Bartlem HOPLEY (7.5.1925-9.11.15). John worked for OTC for over 20 years,firstly in the Methods Section and then in the Secretariat.He was a quiet and meticulous person whose work was always of a high standard.During WW2,he served in the RAF from 1943 to 1947.His last years were spent in a nursing home in the ACT.

David Richardson