Until recently (late 2009), we thought that the club had started around 1934. A recent search through the newspaper archives held by the National Library of Australia, reveals that the Manly and District Radio Club (sometimes just referred to as the Manly Radio Club) was already active in 1923!

(The following comments about the old Manly Radio Club were written in 2005 by Gerald Sabin VK2AGS, who joined the club around 1936 and was a member until he went SK in 2015.)

The Manly Radio Club (callsign VK2MR – see update, below) initially commenced at the home of Harry Knight, who worked at the Fresh Food and Ice Co. in La Perouse St, Fairlight in approx 1934-1935. They then moved to a large garage situated at the home of a Mr Huddlestone at 120 Condamine St., Balgowlah. In the latter part of 1935 a double-storied house became available in Fairy Bower Rd Manly and the club occupied this building until a wall collapsed during a heavy storm which naturally terminated their tenancy. (See Dec 2010 update, below.)

Some of the names mentioned to me as original members were Ron Kirton (who very kindly supplied the information of the formation of the club), George Thornton, Doug Hardy, Norm Buchanan, Bill Kelly, Alan Furze, Bill Smith, Charles Wilkins and Jim Haining. Following their move from Fairy Bower Rd, the club obtained permission from the Navy in 1936 for use of their clubrooms on the East Esplanade, near the Manly Baths (where the Manly Skiff Club is today). The Navy trained Cadets, part time in sailing techniques from this building.

The Radio Club had the use of a small room wherein was located their transmitter and receiver, with the antenna strung from the roof of the building. to one of the convenient trees nearby. This Building was used until 1939, when with the increase of training, the Navy required the building full time with the approach of WWII. VK2MR was finally wound up and disbanded with the assets of the radio club being disbursed amongst the current members at the time.

There were many radio clubs formed at that time, some being Waverley, Zero Beat, Lakemba, Hurstville, St George, Nth Western, Gladesville, Illawarra and Manly. Each had their own individual colours, Manly being white on Black and they all hosted field days from time to time.

Plenty of space for field days with North Head and Dobroyd Head being just virgin bush, ideal areas to hide the “fox”. Bob le Moine of Harbord always won these events and eventually I learned his secret. He wound up a 40mx coil as his antenna and once he obtained the sense, he could walk straight to it! I built up a receiver using a #19 triode, all enclosed in an Arnotts biscuits tin (for shielding) a small battery, inside for the filaments with the HT battery underneath, which in those days cost a packet.This was all assembled in a carrying case for portable use.The antenna consisted of two crossed pieces of timber with a few coils of wire wound around it. (very antiquated by today’s standard). There was great rivalry between clubs at these field days in attmpting to find the fox first.

The highlight of that era was the annual radio display held in the Assembly Hall. Sydney, where each club was designated a space for their stall. Prizes were allocated for things like the best decorated stall, best display of home brew equipment etc. I am quite sure a few members of the public would have become interested in Amateur Radio following those shows.

(Horst VK2HL supplied the following…)

I think the club reformed at Hinkler Park around 1976. Before moving to Beacon Hill from Hinkler Park we were in limbo for some time and had meetings at the Harbord Diggers Club which was often attended by local identity Bob “Tex” Morton.  We also had club rooms at Warringah Mall (in the building on the site of what is now Sizzler Restaurant.)

Moving to Beacon Hill at the site of the old Radar Station the club stayed there until redevelopment (new “Apple” building) forced us to move to our present spot at Terrey Hills [at the time, the Volunteer Services Centre in Thompson Drive]. It was at that time our title was changed from “Club” to “Society”.

Over the years, the Society has provided emergency communications backup for a number of natural disaster situations, and has also provided safety communications services for local community events, such as equestrian cross-country communications. Notably, members of the Society helped operate the ground control station for Dick Smith’s record-breaking hot-air balloon flight across Australia in 1993 [and another flight across the Tasman Sea in 2000].

Fast forward to 2009, and the Society was asked to leave the Centre to allow the NSW State Emergency Service to expand their operations there. The Society is not a front-line emergency service agency, so this request was understandable. In past years, the Society has supported the other emergency services on site, but Sydney has not had a major disaster requiring the backup services the Society offers. The last really “good” emergency was the 1994 Sydney bush fires; during this activation, the Society helped provide emergency communications when damage to critical infrastructure on the Central Coast crippled communications between Sydney and Newcastle.

So, in June 2009, the Society’s tenure at the Volunteer Services Centre came to an end. After a short spell at the Terrey Hills Community Centre, the club moved to its current home at the 1st Terrey Hills Guides Hall in September 2009.

(Later updates by Richard VK2SKY:)

February 2010: a search through the archives of the Sydney Morning Herald, held by the National Library of Australia, reveals that the club was active at least as far back as 10 July 1923. The presentation on the night was given by Sir Ernest Thomas Fisk, receiving music transmissions from R C Marsden 2JM on the other side of Sydney Harbour. A brief notice on 6 July 1923 advertises the event, but doesn’t explicitly name the club. Searches for earlier references to the club are continuing.

July 2010: Page 93 of the Sydney “Evening News” Wireless Handbook (PDF), published in 1924, includes a list of licensed Amateur Wireless stations. The callsign 2YE was shown as assigned to the Manly District Radio Club. On page 125 of the same handbook, a list of Radio Societies included the Manly Radio Club, with the principal being G. M. (George Mansfield) Brown, of 24 Reddall-street (sic), Manly. Thanks to Tim Mills VK2ZTM for that information.

July 2011: 2YE does not appear in a list of callsigns published in The Sunday Times (Perth) on 4 October 1925. Perhaps nobody remembered to renew the licence! March 2023: the club callsign is also missing from the list published in The Homecraft Magazine (!) for 1 August 1925.

December 2010:  According to the Adelaide Advertiser of 24 October 1936… “VK2MR, the Manly Radio Club, is now located at Darley road, instead of Condamine street, Manly. The transmitter has a 53 crystal oscillator, and type 410 power amplifier.”

2016 updates:  here is a list of early news stories mentioning the club:

  • “The Sun”, 1 March 1923:
    RADIO CLUB AT MANLY 
    Starting with a membership of 52, a radio club has been formed at Manly for the purpose of receiving instruction in wireless matters. The Boy Scout organisation has taken great interest in the formation of the club, and provision has been made that one of its officers shall be connected with the club in an official capacity.

    The election of officers resulted:— President, Mr. Swinburne; vice-president. Mr. Brown; secretary, Mr. Sandell; treasurer, Mr. Clark; committee, Messrs. Crocket, Symes, and Dixon.

  • The Magic Spark column in the Sydney “Evening News”, 3 March 1923:
    Another New Club.
    An excellent attendance and enthusiasm marked the inaugural meeting of the Manly and District Radio Club on Monday night last. [i.e. 26 February, 1923]
     
    For some time a number of radio enthusiasts had been discussing the possibility of forming a club in Manly, and the fact that their estimate of the attendance at the first meeting was exceeded by over 50 per cent was more than a sufficient reward for the enterprise.
     
    Mr. F. C. Swinburne, a well-known and highly proficient radio experimenter, who was one of the pioneers of the move to form a club in Manly, was elected president. Messrs. Brown, O. Sandel, and Clarke were elected vice-president, secretary, and treasurer, respectively, and a committee of three was appointed, consisting of Messrs. M. Dixon, Crocker and Symes.
     
    It was decided that the club should consist of senior and junior members, those under the age of 17 comprising the latter section. An entrance fee of 2/6 per member and an annual subscription of 15/- for seniors and 5/- for juniors was decided upon. Forty-seven members were enrolled at the meeting, and since then an additional five have joined, making a total of 53.
     
    It was decided to hold general meetings on Monday nights, and buzzer classes on Wednesday nights.
     
    It is the intention of the club to construct two portable sets at an early […] a novel feature of its activi- […] into two parties, […] portable sets. Transmitting and receiving practice will then be indulged in between the two widely-separated parties.
     
    The next meeting of the club will be held on Monday evening, at which an interesting lantern lecture will be delivered. Visitors and members of other clubs are invited to attend.
     
  • The Magic Spark column in the Sydney “Evening News”, 17 March 1923:
    MANLY     AND DISTRICT.
    The first general meeting of the above Radio Club attracted a good attendance. Prior to the commencement of the lantern lecture by the club president, Mr F. C. Swinburne, Mr. Marsden, president of the Metropolitan Radio Club, and Mr. Atkinson, of the Illawarra Club, were invited to address the meeting. Both volunteered sound advice on the formation and running of radio clubs, and congratulated Manly on having made such an excellent beginning. In the course of his lecture Mr. Swinburne displayed 70 lantern slides of wireless stations in various parts of the world, and different types of apparatus in use. These were accompanied by brief details. Several members have expressed the intention of having their sets on view at the next general meeting, affording those unfamiliar with the construction of radio apparatus an opportunity of learning something of the subject.
     
  • More at the National Library of Australia’s Trove site.

March 2020: Sparks from Radioland, in The Sunday Times for 9 September 1923, features a “Demonstration at Manly”, at which R. McIntosh described musical entertainment on the wireless as a gateway to becoming a radio experimenter.

The club gets a few mentions in The Daily Telegraph. On 10 July 1923 reported on a wireless concert demonstration featuring Ernest Fisk and F Swinburne, and on 16 Feb 1924 lists the contact details for the  Secretaries for numerous radio clubs, including Manly.

More early media coverage

Radio in Australia & New Zealand

2018 and March 2020 updates: the World Radio History web site contains many digitised magazines from all over the world, among them issues of Radio in Australia & New Zealand. As luck would have it, page 19 of their inaugural issue (PDF) includes news of the first meeting of what was then the Manly and District Radio Club, confirming the meeting date as 26 February 1923.

Further mentions of the club appear in subsequent issues through 1925, the latest year for which World Radio History has copies of the magazine. The magazine continued publication until 15 December 1928, at which point it merged with Wireless Weekly.

  • 4 April 1923: Page 19 of Club Note & News reports of the first two meetings: “The Manly and District Radio Club was formed on February 26 under circumstances which tested the enthusiasm and initiative of all who made up their minds to be present. Firstly, heavy showers of rain made outdoor conditions unpleasant, and, secondly, the failure of the electric light rendered it necessary to use candles to light the hall. But neither the rain nor the poor illumination affected the enthusiasm of those present, and when the meeting was well in progress, under the able chairmanship of Mr. F. C. Swinburne (one of the promoters of the Club), the “juice” once more consented to flow, and the room was flooded with light. […]”
  • 18 April 1923: Club Notes & News on page 46 tells of the club’s second meeting, which featured a display of valves and crystal sets, which even drew in some local VIPs.
    The Club also planned to build two portable sets specifically so that they could be taken in different directions for field testing.
  • 2 May 1923: Club Notes & News on page 70 reports that F.C. Swinburne gave a lecture on “Aerials” at the third meeting of the club, and that the Committee of the Manly Literary Institute had agreed to allow the raising of an antenna, 150 long and 50 feet high. There were also proposals to actively raise public awareness of wireless telephony as a medium of entertainment.
  • Page 83 of the issue for 16 May 1923 included this photo taken at the club (then probably at the Manly Literary Institute):
  • 13 June 1923: Experimental Work at Manly; N.S.W. on page 128-9, features F.C. Swinburne’s experimental work done at the Club. The article includes a photo of his experimental apparatus and circuit diagram.

    Club Notes & News on p. 140 of the same issue notes the election of a new committee and other club activities.
  • 27 June 1923: the regular Club Notes feature on page 164 says that the renowned Ernest Fisk promised to deliver a lecture to the Club, on the subject of Broadcasting.
  • 25 July 1923: Club Notes & News on p212 reports of a radio telephony demonstration and lecture on “Broadcasting” by Ernest Fisk at the club. Details of the lecture on p204-5.
  • 8 August 1923: Club Notes & News reports of club activities.
  • 22 August 1923: a Club news item reporting satisfactory progress on erecting the aerial previously mention in the 2 May edition; and plans for a social evening, the establishment of a technical library; also they had a lecture on “Simple Crystal Circuits”.
  • 5 September 1923: Items of Interest on page 277 notes the feminist pioneering efforts of Club Secretary, W.J.S. Perdriau, in demonstrating conclusively that women (his XYL in this case) could operate a radio:

    Of course, no one ever doubted that women would be enthusiastic ”listeners in” but there certainly was some question as to whether they could successfully manipulate a set. That should now be dismissed.

Club Notes & News on page 284 notes the election of a new committee, a lecture about and demonstration of “heterodyne wave-meters”, a visit to AWA at Glebe, and notice of another wireless music demonstration.

Page 285 also noted that Club President, F.C. Swinburne, would give a lecture at the Kurin-Gai [sic] District Radio Society.

  • 19 September 1923: Club news on p308 details the club going from fortnightly to weekly meetings, commencing classes to assist newcomers, and successfully demonstrating the reception of music broadcasts from another experimenter at Rose Bay.
    On page 309, we learn of a proposed debate between the Manly and Waverley clubs.
  • 17 October 1923: page 354 features a photo taken at the club during a recent demonstration:

  • 31 October 1923: page 376 briefly describes a club meeting, and a lecture on troubleshooting wireless problems.
  • 14 November 1923: on page 404, Club Notes & News mentions a lecture on 29 October, aimed at beginners, and notes that the Club had recently been granted a receiving licence. The following page records that the Club Secretary had been granted a transmitting licence and would soon be on air.
  • 28 November 1923: The Experimental Call Signs listing on page 434 does not include 2YE.
    The club news item on page 445 notes the lecture on receiving circuits, and that the club planned to move from the Manly Literary Institute to a more convenient location.
  • 12 December 1923: on page 464, club station makes its (debut?) appearance in the October callsign listings, at Wentworth Street, Manly, and on page 468 news of a Manly Club meeting.
  • 5 March 1924: page 621 lists Amateur Transmitting licences, as of December 1923, including 2YE
  • 1 October 1924: p364, club station 2YE still listed at Wentworth Street; other Manly-area Amateurs are listed throughout the issue.
  • 4 March 1925: the Queries Answered feature on p.846 includes the  question and answer, “C.P.G (Epping). […] Q: Give wavelengths of the following: 2YE […] A: 2YE: 208 metres […] These are the latest wavelengths of which we’ve been advised.”

Wireless Weekly

  • 23 February 1923: page 10 holds the earliest mention of the Club, announcing the forthcoming inaugural meeting:

RADIO CLUB FOR MANLY

A movement is afoot to inaugurate a Radio Club at Manly. The formation meeting has been called for Monday, 26th February, at 8 p.m., in the Presbyterian Hall, Raglan St., Manly.

  • 7 September 1923: reports of a lecture at the club on the subject Wave Meters.
  • 28 September 1923: the List of NSW Radio Clubs on page 12 included Manly, and on page 18 that the Club had not responded to Waverley regarding the inter-club debate mentioned in the World Radio History section. Maybe Manly has always been more of a techie outfit?
  • 14 April 1933: Radio Club Notes records a club meeting.
  • 26 May 1933: Radio Club Notes records a club meeting on May 10, at the club-rooms at 31 La Perouse Street in Manly. The building seems to be a 1960s or 70s era apartment block now.
  • 22 September 1933: the Radio Club News and Notes section records that the club held its first meeting at its new clubhouse at 120 Condamine Street in Manly. This building, complete with the year 1933 and the name Balgowlah Friendly Societies Hall, is still visible on Google Maps. More info about the building can be found here.
  • 12 January 1934: the club organised a Field Day at Brookvale Showground. It’s unclear who is featured in the photograph below, as this article was published two days before the field day:

  • 30 March 1934: Manly Radio Clubs [sic] presence noted at the AGM of Amateur Radio Australia.
  • 25 May 1934: report of the third Wyong Field Day, including toasts to the King and responses from 2WQ on behalf of Manly; and Manly taking out second place in the 80m fox hunt.
  • 3 August 1934: noting that Manly Radio Club president, G. Shelley, has passed his A.O.P.C., and other club happenings.
  • 24 August 1934: the supplement list of Experimental Stations includes VK2MR, sited at the club rooms at 120 Condamine Street. At this time, VK2MB was allocated to Amalgamated Wireless Australasia.
  • 23 August 1935: notes that the club has changed its “QRA” (? I think they meant QTH) from Condamine Street, Manly.
  • 6 September 1935: reporting on the WIA’s Wyong Day, “using 5MX band exclusively”. Representatives from Manly were there. Also, president George Shelly 2QF is recorded as moving from Newport to Greenwich and “concentrating on 5MX”.
  • 25 October 1935: Amateur Notes records opening of yet another “new” club rooms, on 12 October, but doesn’t give an address.
  • 24 April 1936: Amateur Notes reports on the club’s participation in the Brookvale Show. A spark gap transmitter from an adjacent stand cause considerable QRM, but the club’s portable transmitter (0.9W) was copied as far afield as… Dee Why. Of the 13 prizes awarded, two “firsts” went to the club, and another two went to club member Gerald Sabin (then or later, VK2AGS).
  • 19 June 1936: Preview of the WIA’s upcoming Amateur and Short Wave Radio Exhibition. Keeping it simple on stand No. 12, the Manly Radio Club stand “comprises the showing of amateurs and short-wave listeners in the Manly district”
  • 26 June 1936: Manly Radio Club had a stand at an Amateur Exhibition (photo in the article)
  • 16 October 1936: reporting on the Newcastle  Hamfest, noted that “the Manly gang were missing […] but just as well 2AX represented them.” Also, “Everyone will be please to know that the old club is on the air again” with “the new rig […] getting ready for 20 metres again, chasing DX”. The club was also offering “a chance for any country Ham to become a life honorary member of our club”. For visitors arriving in Manly “by the sea”,  there was a club board on the wharf…
  • The 1937 Wireless Weekly Call Sign Book and Technical Review (p.23) lists the club callsign VK2MR with the address 2 Fairy Bower Road, Manly.
  • 30 April 1937: reporting on the upcoming WIA (NSW Division’s) Amateur and Short-Wave Radio Exhibition at Town Hall, 3-8 May. The Manly Radio Club’s stand described the same as in 1936.
  • 21 May 1937: Prizes list from the previous month’s exhibition. Manly picked up a couple of awards: Best  Pieces of Apparatus on Club Stands – first prize fo VK2HF of Manly for his transmitter, and Special Prize to the club, VK2MR, for its multiband transmitter.
  • 1 April 1938: Ham Notes records that the club was to hold its “annual smoko” at its Club House on East Esplanade, Manly.

 

Amateur Radio

Archives of “AR” are available at https://worldradiohistory.com/Australian-Amateur-Radio.htm

  • 2 April 1934, p23: in The North Shore Zone, lists a number of “Manly district hams”.
  • 1 May 1934, pp23-24: news of the Manly District Radio Club “Broadcasting Surf Carnivals”, and the difficulties experienced while attempting to do so… actually, Manly features in numerous 1934 editions; I don’t know how these escaped my attention until now (December 2023)
  • 1 Jun 1934: The Association of Radio Amateurs (N.S.W.) held their first field day on 6 May, featuring an 80m fox hunt for a transmitter hidden on the banks of the Wyong River; the club came in second. The club also attended an ARA dinner on 17 May.
  • 1 September 1935: “The Manly Radio Club are scouting around for a new QRA[…]”
  • 1 October 1935: the hunt for the new QRA was apparently successful! The club was also offering honorary life memberships.
  • 1 November 1935: report of members of Lakemba Radio Club coming to the Manly “Smoko” for some unconventional entertainment.
  • 1 January 1937: the club gets a fleeting mention, “Manly Radio Club, VK2MR, still doing good work.”
  • 1 March 1937: notes that “the 5 meter [sic] craze has arrived in Manly” and mentions that the club’s 40m rig is nearing completion.
  • 1 June 1937: at the WIA NSW Division’s second annual Radio Exhibition, the Manly Radio Club won a special prize for a “transmitter showing originality and economy in design”. The Club Notes in the same edition also mentions “three firsts, a second, a third” in addition to the special prize. Also reported in The Bulletin.
  • 1 June 1939: p17, ‘2HF is learning to fly, the idea being to save about four hours a day in travelling to work from Manly to Parramatta, and thus have a bit of time left for ham radio, so we understand, anyway. “Thus news is made.” ‘
  • 1 August 1939: p20, various doings around the club, including Gordon VK2ACJ, who “has an electrolytic condenser that blows smoke rings.” Mention is made of a 6d admission fee, but details of the event.
  • October 1942 possibly an insert to the magazine, includes this: ‘From Cpl. Sabin [Gerald VK2AGS apparently], R.A.A.F. Darwin comes news also of the ham spirit. Before the war he was a member of the Manly Radio Club and was sent up to N/W Australia. Meeting there a chap from VK5 by name of Bob Fuller – they did some fag and at the local post-office sat and passed for the “ticket” so no time would be lost when it was time to call CQ again. Don’t you reckon those two will make good hams–congratulations OMs – very FB indeed.’
  • July 1949: the NSW section of Divisional Notes comments, “I’d certainly appreciate hearing from some of the gang in the Manly-Warringah area, also from someone up Hornsby way. How’s about it, anybody with a pen?”
  • April 1952: p11 – “Bill 2WF is busy constructing a rotary W8JX for 20 mx and the Manly gang intend giving a hand in the erection of same.” (emphasis mine – it’s currently unclear whether a formal club had yet been formed, post bellum, but a “gang” might have been the next best thing. 
  • July 1960: p28, Gerald Sabin offering for sale an AR88LF communications receiver, “complete with all tubes”; also a Mecablitz 500 electronic flash.
  • November 1971: p28 includes a classified ad from Gerald Sabin, offering a Swan 350 5-band transceiver and accessories.
  • September 1978: p33 features photographs by Sam Voron VK2BVS, including one taken outside Woolworths in Manly, of members of the Amateur and Citizens Radio Club, VKCB; it mentions that new members were coming to club for novice exams, and that the gathering was to explain Amateur Radio to the general public.
  • October 1978: p41 lists repeaters, including VK2RMB under construction, expected to be operational in “late 1978”.
  • September 1979: in a review of the Drake TR7, Stephen Garner VK2AXM of Castle Cove compares it to the Kenwood TS-820S running at “VK2MB, the Manly Radio Club”.
  • October 2003: p11 has an article we submitted about the Society’s first activation of Barrenjoey Lighthouse for International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend, with photos on the inside back cover.

Australasian Wireless Review

  • April 1923: page 44 records the inaugural Club meeting.

Australasian Radio World

  • 2 November 1936: The DX News and Views feature on page 42 includes Manly Radio Club Notes, by “Second Op”. As well as DX reports, it notes that the club had recently moved to club rooms near Manly Baths on Mondays at 8pm, and at weekends.
  • 1 March 1937: Manly Radio Club Notes on page 42 reports of “the five-metre craze” arriving at Manly, with locals building suitable transmitters and receivers.
  • 1 May 1937: page 3 has a guide to the 1937 Amateur Radio Exhibition at Sydney Town Hall, 3-8 May, which includes members of the Club displaying their home-built gear.
  • 1 June 1937: the Many Radio Club Notes on p. 37 boasts of the club’s success at a recent WIA Exhibition, and seeks more players on the “UHF” five metre band.
  • 1 April 1938: the VK Amateur Transmitters lists “Additions and Amendments to List of Experimental Stations for February, 1938”, including “2MR – Manly District Radio Club, East Esplanade, Manly, N.S. W. (Postal address, P.O., Box 644FF, Sydney.)”. This was probably a change of address, as the callsign was already in use in use in May 1937; see below.
  • July 1948: on p. 29, the list of alterations notes VK2MR being issued to L.H. Vale (formerly VK2ANN) in Miranda.

The Bulletin

  • 20 November 1935: in Amateur Chatter, passing mention that the club station VK2MR “is testing”
  • 14 April 1937: previewing the upcoming Amateur Radio Exhibition at Town Hall. Manly Radio Club gets a mention.
  • 14 May 1937: Passing mention of the club as an exhibitor in the upcoming exhibition
  • 19 May 1937: At Sydney’s 1937 Amateur Radio Exhibition, the Manly Radio Club VK2MR won “Special prize for transmitter showing originality and economy in design”. Also reported in Amateur Radio.

Newcastle Sun

  • 14 November 1933: an article by S. U. Grimmett VK2ZW reports on the Amateur Radio Field Day at Tuggerah, headlining the Manly Radio Club’s win there in an 80m band fox hunt.
  • 6 January 1934: VK2ZW again, reporting on Guglielmo Marconi’s visit to the Amateur Radio exhibit at the 1933-34 World’s Fair in Chicago and also mentions the Manly Radio Club’s first Amateur field day to be held on the 14th.

Gloucester Advocate

  • 3 June 1924: although not about the club, this report features a lecture at the Gloucester School of Arts, by then club President, F. C. Swinburne, on the history and applications or wireless. It includes a transcript of his presentation, so there is plenty of historical detail.

Truth

  • 28 Jan 1934, reporting on the Manly Surf Carnival: “Something novel was tried out by the
    Manly Radio Club, who arranged wireless sets and transmitters between a boat at the buoys and the broadcasting outfit on shore. It was a huge success.“

Club callsign

As mention in the previous section, the 12 December 1923 issue of Radio in Australia & New Zealand, shows that the club was granted the callsign 2YE in October.

As noted at the top of this page, Gerald VK2AGS recalls the club callsign, VK2MR, and the 1935 mention in The Bulletin (above) confirms this. But the Broadcasting section of the Sydney Morning Herald for 29 February 1936 lists VK2MR as an experimental service operated by A.W.A on 31.28m/9590 kc. However, a later SMH article, dated 6 May 1937, shows VK2MR as allocated to the Manly Radio Club at that time.

Presumably, World War II caused disruption to the callsign allocation system!

The September 1965 issue of Electronics Australia notes the existence of Verle VK2MR, searching with OM Marc VK2CM for a site for their antenna farm. Still trying to work out when the callsign VK2MR was reassigned.

In 2018, the club callsign is VK2MB, and has been for many years. (A 1911-1961 callsign database shows VK2MB allocated to HTS Banks in 1950, and HJS Banks from 1954 through 1961.)

Post WWII – the Dark Years

Amateur Radio was effectively shut down at the outbreak of WWII, but once restrictions were lifted after the war, individual Amateurs started becoming active again. Some clubs, however, took longer to re-form. In the case of our club, this seems to have finally happened some time in the 1970s.

When the club finally did restart, some members reasoned that rebranding as the Manly-Warringah Radio Society would be a good move: it would spread the activity throughout the Northern Beaches, and “Society” sounded somewhat more respectable than a mere “club”. And so the Manly and District Radio Club was reborn as MWRS.

Research is continuing, but some details are outlined above by Horst VK2HL. Pictures to follow…

Other notable club events

  • 1993: Running the Mission Control ground station for Dick Smith’s Trans-Australia balloon flight;
  • 1993-4: Assisting WICEN and other emergency services during the Eastern Seaboard bushfires;
  • 2001: Running the Mission Control ground station for Dick Smith’s Trans-Tasman balloon flight;
  • 2003: Activations of Barrenjoey Lighthouse for the annual International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekends;

Sydney Morning Herald

The Herald features a light-hearted column called Column 8 (after its original location on the front page, back when SMH was a broadsheet). C8 features short, pithy, curious, and humorous items on an eclectic range of topics, and the Society and members have made a few appearances there (mostly Richard VK2SKY, on various subject including radio – other contributors welcome!):

Also in the Herald…

  • 31 October 2012: Amateur radio buffs battle to get messages through council red tape features MWRS member Mark VK2MP

The Evening News (Rockhampton, Queensland)

  • 2 February 1934: Story on the club providing safety communications for a surf carnival at Manly, including a couple of shark sightings.