(or, as Spike Milligan might have put it: “Adolf Hitler: My Family’s Part in His Downfall”) In this lecture, Zara VK2ZYP talks about her great-uncle, who was involved in the crucial development of radar; her Grandpop, who fought on D-Day at Juno Beach, and became the youngest major in the Royal Marines; and her Nanna, […]
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Category: History
August 2025 Lecture: Two-way Radio in Australia from the 1960s
Norm Champion, formerly VK2ZND, returns to the club with a presentation on the development of two-way radio in Australia from the 1960s, and his role in it – particularly in the introduction of Citizens Band radio. You’ll learn a lot of “behind the scenes” information from Norm’s story. Watch it on VK2MB-TV.
September 2024 lecture: Fiskville
In the club’s September lecture, Warren Lang spoke about Fiskville, a site once owned and managed by Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia) Ltd. It was used as a long-distance radio communications station, part of the Imperial Wireless Chain. The name Fiskville of course came from AWA’s chairman, radio pioneer Ernest Fisk. You can also read about the […]
February 2024 lecture – HMAS Vampire Project
Colin VK2JCC leads of team of Amateurs, including several MWRS members, who operate the Special Event Station VK2VMP from HMAS Vampire’s HF Communication Centre, and who talk to visitors about the ship and about Amateur Radio. The Vampire is moored at the Australian National Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour in Sydney. Watch Colin’s lecture at […]
Message of good news over the radio (1987)
Society member Jim Kimpton G4WAO came across an old newspaper browsing some photos on an ageing iPad. It was the JOTA of 1987, the year of the hurricane in southern England, when Jim was living in Chichester then and was with the local club. Jim had forgotten about the event but thought it might be […]
MWRS Members on HMAS Vampire
If you haven’t heard MWRS members Colin VK2JCC, Carmel VK2CAR, and Stuart VK2BMX operating 40m from a park recently, it’s because they have been busy on the historic warship HMAS Vampire, activating the Special Event Station VK2VMP! They are joined on the “Vampire Team” by Mark VK2DI, Steve VK2KHA, Chris VK2VCG, and Alex VK2PRC. Congratulations […]
April 2023 lecture – Colour TV Manufacturing in Australia
In the April lecture, John Mobbs spoke about Television Manufacturing in Australia – yes, it used to be done here! John originally came to Australia when his employer, Marconi Wireless, was acquired by the medical colour TV unit of the company Smith Cline and French, who brought him out here. The rest, as they say, […]
QSL Card Archive
Like most Amateur Radio Clubs, over the years VK2MB has accumulated a sizeable collection of QSL cards from Amateur stations all over the world. Recently, Mal VK2TMF brought a document scanner to the club, and now the cards have been digitised for posterity. Thanks Mal! You can find the MWRS QSL Archives here.
Lectures Online – Something Old, Something New…
Two lectures have been uploaded to VK2MB-TV today. One lecture sat unnoticed on an SD card since it was recorded in February 2022. Sorry about the delay, but better late than never! David VK2CZ did a presentation on Antenna modelling software for Radio Amateurs. The “New” one is last month’s lecture by Zara VK2ZYP, on […]
Centenary Party Video
We’ve just received the final cut of the video shot on the Big Day! Many thanks to Tim Webster at Dekko Media for the production. You can see the video on VK2MB-TV.
MWRS Knows Balloons too…
Balloons have been in the news a lot recently, with an alleged Chinese communication surveillance balloon detected over the USA and shot down last week, another seen over Latin America… It turns out that the Manly-Warringah Radio Society is not exactly a stranger to ballooning either. In June 1993, Australian entrepreneur, and now Honorary Life […]
40 years ago!
Far left Clive Jackson VK2TD, next to Clive is Michael Smith, then not sure until Rod Bird VK2VBR second from right with elbow on table. From Chris VK2YY: “I Have known Rod since I was 14 years old and made contact with him on Facebook some say 7 years ago and asked him he wanted to […]
Sun 26-Feb-2023 – 100 year anniversary
On Sunday 26 February 2023, the Society will be celebrating 100 years of Amateur Radio on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. The first meeting of the Manly & District Radio Club took place at the Presbyterian Hall, Raglan Street, Manly on 26 February 1923, marking the start of organised Amateur Radio in the area. More details on […]
1923 Manly Radio Club meeting
Recent spelunking through the archives of Radio in Australia & New Zealand, a popular magazine that began publication on 4 April 1923, unearthed this photo of an early Manly and District Radio Club meeting, which probably took place at the Victoria Building in Wentworth Street, the home of the Manly Literary Institute. The photo is from page 84 of the 16 […]