Tuning an APS20 radar???

Memories flooded back. Memories of rampant camp rumours - like the camp barber (don't remember his name) who had a white Studebaker Hawk, and who definitely drove in from Geelong each day at 120MPH, or the aeroplane rumours concerning that top secret tarmac area of the base - ARDU - like the one about strapping a 44gal drum full of water under one wing of a Cessna 172 and then trying to fly it, (why would you want to do that???), or jamming a couple of Sabre engines into a Canberra. There were rumours too about that other super secretive Laverton based establishment - CPE - where in 1965 they had cameras that could actually photograph a newspaper on the moon - from the earth - and you could read the words in the photo. 

There were stories from blokes who said you just couldn't miss with the girls if you wore your uniform to town, or the easy way to spit polish your shoes was to put the polish on your shoes first and then set fire to it, and of course there was the one that has been around military establishements for ever - where the mess staff definitely put bromide into the tea and coffee every day to control the urges of the masses (but of course only in the Airman's Mess). There were lots of these rumours, and we believed every one of them all because they were told to us by our mates. 

There were memories of sheet change (and trying to get two clean ones each week instead of the miserly 1 that the RAAF supplied), of Monday night panics and Tuesday night repanics, of late nights in the games room, of getting together in ASCO for smoko and of the juke box in the corner of the dry canteen that used to play 'What's new pussycat', or 'These boots are made for walking" or "Like a rolling stone" the minute anyone walked in - all great memories. 

There were memories too of  some blokes who used to try and supplement their RAAF pay by doing casual jobs on the weekend - like picking oranges at Mornington Peninsula. Only trouble was, they would nearly always call into the Moorabbin Hotel on the way back to Laverton, just for a couple, and end up back at base with less cash in their pockets than when they left. (BJM??) There were car trials, beach parties at Brighton Beach (enough said), weekends away at your mate's parent's home (then putting in a claim on Monday morning for the $1.14 per day subsistence allowance), there were parties at a "bagger's" house, group bar-b-q's, extravaganzas at Laverton footy club, lots of good times. 

And there were memories too of another kind. Memories of lots of young 15 year old kids being placed on a train or a bus by their parents, usually from some small station in the bush, and having the long solitary, and in some cases scary trip to Laverton, compliments of the RTO. For those kids that come from the east it was perhaps not such a big deal, but for the kids who came from far away places like the little country towns of South Australia or from over in the West it was a big event as it was probably the biggest journey any of them had ever made. They left behind worried families and friends to take up an apprenticeship with the RAAF at a time when communications and transport were very much inferior to what they are today. 

In reflection, it was a huge commitment on their behalf, and also on behalf of their families. At a time in their lives when most 15 year olds didn't give 10 minutes thought to "what are you going to be when you grow up?" these kids were committing the next 15 years of their lives to a profession and a way of life none of them really understood. The RAAF was to become their new family, their confidante, their provider, their carer, their protector and their employer during the most influential period of their lives. 
 

John Harris and 'Blue' Leece at the Melbourne reunion.

But they made it, they banded together, formed friendships - some to last a life time, settled in to the daily routine, and the study, and the discipline and in the main - they loved it. It was exciting, it was different, it was "away from home", and they were amongst good mates. 

And having good mates is what it's really all about - isn't it!! 

Re-unions.

Before that though it is necessary that we extend a big thank you to a few people. In Melbourne thanks to Wng Cdr Con Nannery, OIC Laverton and to Grp Cpn (Ret) John Townsend (CO Radschool Jan78-Jan80) who both shared the night with the blokes. In Brisbane we owe a big thank you to John Broughton who drove down and back from a hockey carnival in Towoomba to MC the night. Everyone there would agree that he made it the memorable evening that is was as he kept the night flowing right up to "lights out" with his wit and infectious humour, and kept everyone 'involved' in the night's activities. 
 

Con Nannery, Mick George and Alan Mainwaring at the Sgt's Mess Laverton, 9 Oct 1999

Thank you too to those that travelled quite some distance to be at the Brisbane night. 1st prize has to go to John Harris who flew out from the US to be at the Qld reunion, but when he arrived in Brisbane a week early and heard of the Melbourne show, he flew down to Melbourne to be there also. Thanks too to Adrian Heinrich who organised the Melbourne show and then flew to Brisbane to be there as well. Jack and Sue Hancock came up from Coffs, Mick McGuin and Kev Stapleton came down from Toowoomba, Harry and Leonie Howsan, Bill Langton and Bernie Ballantine came down from the Sunshine Coast area, and Bob Hughes, Tom McIntyre and Barry Gillick came up from the Gold Coast. Thanks also to Cecilia Bocos who rallied 'round and helped  swell the numbers at Brisbane. 

And finally, thank you to all  who could and did make the effort - it was good to see you all. 

Now it's time to start planning for the big one, and we have - but more on that in our next issue in the year 2K! 

(What are we going to call the next century?????) 
 

New Columns.

Sam is experienced in the computer industry, starting as an analyst programmer with Philips in 1975, and after several other employers and a period as an ISI consultant, now works for IBM global Services. 

In 1993 John & Lynne Morley bought 23 acres of land north east of Tenterfield, NSW, with the view to living out of town, however, it soon became obvious to them that their block was too big to mow and too small for livestock. The urge to grow something took over and after much deliberation, wine grapes were chosen. The planting of 3,500 vines began in 1994 and Willowvale Wines was born. John and Lynne now sell their award winning wines all over Australia. If you would like to buy some we ve included an order form on page 11. 

If there's anything you d like to know about Computers and stuff and/or Wines and stuff, address your queries here (radschool@yahoo.com or snail-mail to 30 Redwood St, Stafford Hgts, 4053) and we ll try and answer them for you. 

We recently came across a little red book titled "RAAF form MF2"  which, in 1971, was the "Members Pay Book". This little book had been especially designed by very intelligent people employed by the RAAF so that it was completely and utterly incomprehensible to almost everyone - except, that is, for selected personnel who worked in pay section. It was felt that this was done deliberately - pay section personnel used to be on the receiving end of a lot of shouts. (And so were cooks - but that s another story - tb). 

The MF2 had a couple of pieces of coloured plastic tape in the top right hand corner, and sometimes the cover was changed to blue - obviously for a very good reason??? And another funny thing, although it was yours, you were never allowed to have it, that is until you got out which was when you didn t need it anymore. Normally you saw it briefly on a pay day. It used to be brought out by an officer and an NCO and placed on a table in a long wooden box with a lot of other MF2 s. You were allowed only a quick glance at it, then it was whipped away and placed under lock and key again. But when you were discharged, they gave it to you to keep!!! 

Looking at that little book today shows that the rate of pay for an LAC Radtech, group 15 (in 1971) was $118.34 per fortnight, a whopping $3,000 per year. These days the Radtech is called an Avionics Technician, and (what are they doing), his/her training is done at Wagga. Pay groups have gone back to 7 (familiar) with the AT on group 3, and an LAC AT now earns about $1,350 per fortnight. WOW......... 

Leonie and Harry Howsan, Bob and Cecilia Bocos sharing a joke at the Brisbane reunion

Trev Benneworth, Adrian Hienrich and MC for the night - John Broughton enjoying a "coldie" and a well overdue get together and yarn at the Brisbane reunion.

Adverts.

Sue Hancock (who travelled up from Coffs) Iris Bellert, Melinda Langton (who came down from the Sunshine Coast) and Sheryl Benneworth at the Brisbane reunion.

Book Review.

This excellent little book (108 pages) discusses the operations of the Canberra aircraft of 2Sqn, the Iroquois helicopters of 9Sqn, and the Caribous of 35Sqn. It also looks at the RAAF personnel that were seconded to USAF units as forward air controllers and F4 Phantom pilots and also explains how/why the RAAF went there in the first place.

This book can be purchased from:- 
 Air Power Studies Centre,
 RAAF Base Fairbairn, ACT.
 Phone 02 6287 6621 
 http://www.defence.gov.au./apsc/
 
 

Puzzled by all this he said to her "Is something wrong?" 
"There certainly isö, she said,  "My stupid computer keeps giving me this message saying...  YOU'VE GOT MAIL" 

Graeme Brownrigg, Terry Haebich and Phil Witts at the Melbourne reunion at Laverton.

Finances

Computers and stuff.  Sam Houliston

Not many of us can get by these days without our email. In only a few years, and at an astonishing rate, it has become an almost indispensable tool in modern day communications, yet as a rule, not much thought is given to setting up this important facility. Some of the more important factors you should consider before committing your mail to the ether are:- 

1.  Whether to use a Browser based email or the standard email from an Internet Service Provider (ISP)?
2.  Whether you are able to change your service provider without changing your email address?
3.  How do you avoid junk email or 'spam' 

1.  Browser based email or the standard email from my Internet Service Provider (ISP)? 

When you open an internet account with an ISP (such as BigPond or OzEmail) they provide you with instructions on how to set up an address (such as myaddress-@bigpond.com). This allows you to send and receive email from that address. If you don t want to use the ISP s email system, you can use a browser based email, (such as Yahoo, Alta Vista etc - there are heaps of them) but the best known is probably Microsoft's Hotmail. 

A browser based email has the advantage of being readable wherever you are (it is a favourite with backpackers who read their email at internet cafes) and you can set it up to read email sent to your regular address at your current ISP, but it has the disadvantage of (typically) allowing you only 3-5 megs of space. This means you could not send or receive a large document containing a lot of graphics (this newsletter for instance), but it is ideal for text. Browser based email is also usually slower. 

There are many providers of browser based email (most search engines provide it as a free service), some to consider are: 

myname@yahoo.com - quick, and allows setting an alternate "reply to" (but not "from") address. 3 meg limit. 

myname@netscape.net - handles inline images etc particularly well, 5 meg limit, no alternate addressing. 

myname@hotmail.com - allows setting an alternate "reply to" (but not "from") address. 2 meg limit. 

myname@dotexpress.com - no advertised size restriction, and permits you to set your own "From" address (eg myname@bigfoot.com) in email that you send. (Go to www.networksolutions.com to sign up for this service) 

2. How can I change service provider without
 changing my email address? 

There are two ways of doing this - either use browser based email (as previously described) or use a free redirect service like Bigfoot. At  www.bigfoot.com, you can get a free address like myname@bigfoot.com, which is simply a redirect to any other address you care to nominate. And you can alter the nominated destination at any time. 

If you're undecided about whether to choose ISP based or browser based email, you can use myname@bigfoot.com as your main address and at various times direct to different email addresses. And if you've decided on ISP based email in preference to Hotmail or similar, you can change ISPs without having to tell all your friends that you have a new address. 

3. How to avoid junk email or 'spam' 

Spam gets it name from the Monty Python sketch, where spam was everywhere. Spammers are senders of 'junk email', they are widely despised, but do it because they can make a buck that way. Many people have no problem with spam, but once you start to get a problem, you will know about it. 

There are a few things you can do to minimise spam: 

a. Get a domain name [the bit after the @] that spammers don't like. These include bigfoot.com, compuserve.com, and most names ending with ".au" or ".org". 

b. Don't put your email address on your web page unless you need to promote it. 

c. If you do get spam, NEVER reply in an attempt to get off the mailing list. This tells the sender they have not only got a valid address, but someone who reads the stuff too! Addresses like that are valuable on mailing lists. 

Spammers often send email to a dummy address, with a BCC ("Blind Carbon Copy" or "Blind Courtesy Copy") to the many intended recipients. Some (a minority) spam filters will reject any mail with multiple BCC recipients as spam, so be careful if you plan to use this method of sending email to a group - some people may never get it. 

Finally avoid the trap of signing up for the "lowest cost per month" scheme - because it is almost always the most expensive. For instance, as at November 1999, BigPond's casual user plan  costs $9.90 per month and gives you 3 hours/month access. You buy any extra hours at the rate of $5/hour. If you average 5 hours per day (150 hrs/month) the cost is about $445 per month. However, if you signed up for Big Pond's "Big 150 Plan" (capital City only) you would get that 150 hours access per month for only $44.

17 RMT Oct 1967 - Dec 1968

BR: Tony Digby, Mick Beard, Pat Hanon, Lindsay Anson, Chris Ireland, Graeme Kuger, Mark Grimm. MR: Colin Pugh, Bob Harvey, Derek Radcliffe (Dec'd), Kerry Ryan, Bob Cook, Bob Sorbie, Gene Rosenblatt. FR: Kev Collins, Max Pryor, Ted Washbrook, Martin Raynor, Peter Greening, Peter Whyte, Chris Dennys, Peter Pope, Dernard Godwin.

"Bone of Contention" Tug of War Team (RAAF v's Army)

BR: Scotty O'Laughlin, ?, ?, ?, Flt Lt D. Thompson, ?, Spud McIntyre, ? FR: Max Pryor, ?, Ted Washbrook,(Coach), ?, ?

Another view of Flt Lt Dave Thompson - doing the "Laverton Limbo" - June 1967

A. They normally don't have time.

The way it was!

"The two triode sections V_1a and V_1b of the 6BQ7 form the cascode RF amplifier stage and the 6J6 twin triode is the mixer oscillator. Injection of the oscillator voltage into the mixer grid circuit is provided by the mutual inductance between L₅ and L_4. The IF output is coupled by the mixer plate transformer T1 to the first IF amplifier. The turret switch selects one pair of matched coil strips for each desired channel. The parallel resonant circuits L₁₂C₁₂ and L₁₃C₁₃ in each side of the antenna input circuit are IF wave traps which reject unwanted IF freq signals from the RF circuits. Etc Etc Etc"

What was so common to us only a short time ago has now gone the way of the morse key - never to return. These days you would buy the equivalent from Dick Smith for about $4.95, you wouldn't need to know how it works because it would be unfixable, it would be the size of a 5 cent piece, would last forever, run on 3 volts and never need tuning. Pity isn't it!!!

We need your input!

Help!

We need some sort of solid state voice recorder (about a 2 min message) to continuously loop and modulate the signal, and it has to be switchable between on and off and record and Tx. It needs a range of about 100 metres, which will have to be achieved through Æ selection as we can t increase power. Cost?? - about $50-70 each would be ideal.

Can anyone help. If so please ring Trevor Benneworth on 0414 359 173 

Brenda Russell, Maryanne Collins,and Jenny Dixon taking a breather at the Brisbane reunion.

ôIt s an easy gameö - he says, ôeveryone can learn to play golfö.  Once a player has mastered the grip and stance, all he has to bear in mind, in the brief two-second interval it takes to swing, is to keep his left elbow pointed in toward his left hip and his right arm loose and closer to the body than the left, 

• then take the club head past his right knee, 
• and then break the wrists at just the right instant while the left arm is still travelling straight back from the ball and the right arm stays glued to the body, 
• and bring the hips around in a perfect circle and  keep the weight shared 60 percent on the left foot and 40 percent on the right foot,
• and at just the right point in the turn bend the left heel in towards the right in a dragging motion until the left heel comes off the ground, 
• but not too far, 
• and ensure that the hands are over the right foot, but not over the toe more than the heel , 
• and be sure the hands at the top of the swing are high and the shaft points along a line parallel with the ground, 
• and pause at the top of the swing and count one, then pull the left arm straight down, but don't uncock the wrists too soon, 
• then pull the left hip around in a circle, but don't let the shoulders turn with the hips, 
• then  transfer the weight 60 percent to the left foot and 40 percent to the right,
• and tilt the left foot so the right side of it is straight,
• then make sure the left hand is extended, but not too still,
• and don't let it get loose or you'll smother the shot,
• and don't break too soon but keep your head down,
• then hit the ball!

That's all there is to it! 

Thanks Allan, looks a piece of cake!!! - tb

Timeless words of wisdom! - from Nana V

• Anything free is worth what you pay for it
• If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.
• If you think you're a person of some influence, try ordering somebody else's dog around.
• Never miss a good chance to shut up.

BETTING: "Betting Gloves" are worn by betsmen in crucket.
BRIST: Part of the human anatomy between the "nick" and the "billy"
BUGGER: As in "mine is bugger than yours".
COLOUR: Terminator , murderer.
CHULLY BUN: Kiwi word for Esky.
DUCK HID: Term of abuse directed mainly at males.
DIMMER KRETZ: Party founded by Don Chipp.
EKKA DYMOCKS: University staff
ERROR BUCK: Language spoken in countries like "Surria", "E-Jupp" and "Libernon".
ERROR ROUTE: As in "Arnotts mulk error route buskets".
GUESS: Flammable vapour used in stoves.

Wines and stuff

The following is a brief insight into what all that sniffing, slurping and gurgling is about prior to the serious stuff of enjoying a glass or two of good wine.

The ability to perceive the differences that exist, both good and bad, is paramount to the winemaker. In effect sensory evaluation is the process that the average consumer uses to make their "I like it" or "Yuck" decision.

To assist those of you that are still coming to grips with the most ancient of elixirs, the following set of notes may provide you with an insight. Better still, a wine tasting is a great way to start off a lively night with friends.

When tasting a wine, there are three distinct areas that you should evaluate, and of course the glasses that you pour the wine into when you do all this sniffing and slurping etc, are XL2 International tulip shaped wine-tasting glasses of 215 millilitres capacity.

 Colour and clarity. The wine should have the right tint and hue for its style. It should also be brilliantly clear unless it s a really old red.

 Aroma and bouquet. If the wine has been chilled, warm it first (12-18 deg C ). Put your nose well into the glass and take one good deep sniff. Frequent little sniffs will soon raise the start level and your perception will diminish. Evaluate the nose, varietal character, chemical smells or other components.

 Taste or palate. Take a good amount into the mouth and roll it around the mouth with your tongue and suck air through it (ignore the sounds and strange looks from others in the room, you re the expert remember). The reason for sucking air through it is to aspirate the wine and enhance the evaluation. The next step is the most difficult but most necessary if tasting large numbers of samples. Spit it out. The remaining wine in your mouth will allow you to look for flavour, acid balance, sweetness or bitterness. Sweetness normally appears first and at the front of the tongue, bitterness latter and at the back of the tongue.

Of course to be fair to the winemaker you should not be able to see the label prior to tasting as the label may well predispose you to a like/dislike before you start. Quite often wine is purchased on the label or pretty coloured bottle alone.

If you want to try an interesting experiment have someone pour two dry wines, one red, one white, out of sight from you. Close your eyes and hold your nose, like taking your medicine. Then without seeing or smelling the wines, have your partner pass each glass to you to taste a couple of times. You should be able to distinguish the red from the white two out of three times. It's really not difficult to do and it will give you an insight to your evaluation skills.

Remember with wine its quality not quantity that counts but at our age I'm told that it all counts, and.....red wine is good for you.....honest.

Next time you re in the Tenterfield area with a bit of time to spare, Lynne and I would love to see you. Drop in, say hello and have a look around - you ll be most welcome.

Much of the above comes from MAKING GOOD WINE, Bryce Rankine 
(1989). A veritable treasure trove of information for the winemaker.

Harry Howsan, Kev Stapeleton and globe trotter John Harris at the Brisbane reunion, discussing the inter-electrode capacitance of the 6AU6 perhaps???

The cop came up to him, took his license and said "Look mate, it's been a long day, this is the end of my shift and it's Friday the 13th. If you can come up with an excuse that I haven't heard before, I ll let you off." 

The bloke thinks for a second or two then says, "Last week my wife ran off with a cop. I was afraid you were trying to give her back." 

"Have a nice weekend," said the officer. 

12 RMT May 1967 - Jul 1968

BR (L-R): P. Sharper, John Bleckinsop, M. Griffin, S. Lawson, M. Agostino, Dave Peacock, Jim Chadd, Terry Houston, G. McGlincey, Kevin O'Neill, Lindsay Rice, Dave Murray, J. Cranny, Frank Jenkins. FR: J. Terry, Brian Miller, Peter Fitzgerald, John Brockington, Brian Emery, Kev Stapeleton, Russell Gabriel.

"I was originally on 31RMT (ground) but while out as a Mech at Pt Cook I got a little worried about having to climb those high Tx towers, and didn't like the idea of remaining a mushroon inside 4 steel walls - so I remusted to R/T air thinking at least I'd keep my feet on the ground, and/or be out in the open air on a tarmac. On graduation, I was posted to 4 walls at 3AD, then to another 4 walls at HQSC, then they stuck me into an Orion at 30,000ft." (They'll always get yuh.  tb)

"During my 22 plus years with the RAAF, I met a lot of great blokes and blokettes, and made some great mates, though since retirement I've found that civvy mates are not quite the same. They don't have the same sense of humour or intrinsic values or mate loyaltiness as do service mates."

Will writes how he misses the old mates of bygone days, and hopes to one day get together again with a bunch of them.

We're working on it Will.  tb

"I was posted back to Laverton in 1970 to do a conversion course on the thing, but it was not until 1976 that I actually saw it being used. I was posted to Williamstown and they made me duty tech on the beast. By then all  I could remember about it was that it was red and white".

I was luckier than you Ted, at squadron level we weren't expected to fix anything, but boy, could we swap black boxes.  tb

"After graduating in 1968, I spent the next 12 years in the "Fighter world" with postings between Williamtown and Butterworth û two tours of Butterworth, one as a CPL and one as a SGT, with a daughter born on each tour, must have been the tropical air. (It's not air that does it Peter - tb). In 1980 I was posted back to RADS; this time as an instructor, and was commissioned as a Radio Officer (well, it was a way of getting out of the School). I eventually left the RAAF as a SQN LDR.

I am still working in the Department of Defence in Canberra; as a public servant now (my third career in Defence).

I'm looking forward to the reunion and meeting up with some old mates again."

Now Peter - you're amongst friends here, we all know that no-one actually works in Canberra - tb

"When I first heard about trying to organise a SOR reunion I guess I was rather cynical, but when I received Vol2 of the newsletter and saw photos of 4RMT and 9RMT, and recognised some of the names, a feeling of nostalgia came over me (call it middle age sentimentality). We were very lucky and privileged young men, most of us didn't go to Vietnam, we lived in a time of virtually full employment, earned plenty of money, the food was good, and we had an interesting job. We lived in an age of great optimism which culminated in the landing of 2 men on the moon in 1969. It was a Golden Age for many of us. 

Since the RAAF, I haven't experienced that level of mateship and comradeship that one takes so much for granted in the service. Let's hope we can pass on to our young people, who perhaps are living in more uncertain times, that sense of optimism that we all enjoyed."

Thanks for the letter Alan - hope you enjoyed the reunion at Laverton early in October - tb

"Most of the people from that course, along with myself, were posted to the newly formed 3CRU at Williamtown to undergo the first HUBCAP training in Australia. Quite a few of us ended up at 114MCRU which had  just gone to Amberley. It was good to see all those names and faces again and it certainly brought back a lot of happy memories".

We're sorry you couldn't make the Brisbane reunion this year Keith, but we'd like to see see you at the big one.  tb 

If you know where any of these people are, please let us know.

And if you're looking for a long lost mate, send us your "where are they now" photos, along with a few words.

To test the findings, 100 men were fed 20 schooners of beer each over a 1½ hour period. It was observed that 100% of them gained weight, talked excessively without making any sense, became overly emotional, couldn't drive, failed to think rationally, argued over nothing and refused to apologise when wrong.

No further tests are planned.

Brookvale

One such pub used to be in Manly, on North Steyne, right on Manly Beach (remember Bill). It was called the Pacific Hotel and it had a lounge area called the "Conopus Room" which was a huge favourite with a ton of people. The Conopus Room was about 5,000 acres in size, could seat half of Tasmania, and probably used to go through more kegs of beer on a Friday/Saturday night than they did in the whole of Victoria. There was one major problem with the Pacific though - it was a helluva long way from (RAAF) Richmond. However, if you had a mate at Brookvale, you didn't have a problem.

Brookvale was the Air Board's answer to Ansett's Hamilton Island. It was (supposed to be) a surveillance radar establishment (I think), and was situated on the hill over looking beautiful Manly Beach. It was small, it had a Drive In theatre on one side, and a Hotel on the other (The radar dish was over the road). There used to be a large viewing window (all one wall) in the Airman's Bar that overlooked the Drive In screen, and rumour had it that the Drive In had installed speakers in the Boozer in return for the Base security lights being turned off during sessions.

If you had a groundy mate you could always find a spare bunk at Brookvale after a serious night at the Pacific instead of trying to negotiate the often dangerous late night wobbly trip back to Richmond. What we, as Richmond blokes, couldn't get over, was the food they used to serve up at Brookvale. Richmond's Airmans' Mess worked on the "we're here to feed you - not fatten you" principle, whereas Brookvale's mess staff were taught the Cordon Bleu approach. At a Brookvale breakfast you got a choice, you ordered your eggs and your bacon, and they were cooked the way you wanted, and then brought to your table. We loved it, and we envied the blokes that had to endure it. 

If you were posted to Brookvale, we'd love to hear from you about your time at the resort base.

War Memorial

When next in Canberra make sure you set aside at least half a day to visit the magnificent Australian War Memorial. 

The Memorial is undergoing a multi-million dollar redevelopment, and is definitely worth a visit - even if you've been there before. Some of the galleries feature relics not seen before by the public, while some of the old favourites have been moved to new displays. New technology has resulted in many interactive displays and audio-visual presentations.

If you are unable to visit the Memorial in person, you can now do so via the internet. You can access the 000's of photos, films, art and sound libraries, books and private records all through the Memorial's award winning web site www.awm.gov.au


Contest.

The reunion in Brisbane thoroughly convinced us that absolutely everybody would just love the opportunity of getting their hands on a bottle of that most wonderful of wines - Orlando's Sparkling Rinegoldé. There were some very long and disappointed faces indeed in Brisbane when it was realised that there would be only 1 winner, in fact, there were times when it looked like we would have a full scale riot on our hands. So, to be fair to everyone, we've decided to make available, every 3 months, 1 bottle of this wine which is normally only purchased on very special occasions. 

But you have to win it. To be  eligible you first have to answer this very simple though perfectly relevant question, the answer to which can be easily found in that popular reference journal, which of course practically everyone keeps on their coffee-table at home  "Practical Electrical Engineering - Newnes" - circa  1960.

And the question this edition is:-  What do the initials TRS stand for in the following: "TRS surface wiring is particularly suitable for houses where walls etc must not be disturbed."  Easy - right!!!!

Send your written answer to us via any way you like, email, fax, post, etc, to reach us by the end of January, 2000, include your name and address, and all correct entries will go into a hat and 1 lucky name will be drawn. We'll send the wine to the winner, along with a certificate of merit, to anywhere in the world and the winner's name will be notified in the next edition, as will a brand new question. Absolutely no correspondence will be entered into, and the judge's decision - etc, etc.   
 Go to it! 

Unfortunately it costs to product this little booklet, there's paper, envelopes, inks, stamps etc, and we can't do it without your support. We're sorry but we can't continue to send you the booklet unless you help us by contributing to its cost. It's not fair on those that have.

Income

Expenses

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Merry Christmas.

It's only "not much longer now" to Christmas, and we'd like to wish you all a happy, joyous and safe Christmas period. This is a beautiful time of year when all the little faces light up with wondrous uncomplicated and unquestionable excitement, when little minds race at top speed with rapturous images of that big old fat bloke speeding across the heavens in his bright red sleigh with lots and lots of beaut things in his big old bag. It's Christmas, and if you're lucky enough to be around little kids at this time of year, whether they're your own or your grand kids, or rellies, or just some kids from across the street, take a minute, slow things down and get into their world for a little bit. Theirs is a world of love, of joy, of happiness, of excitement, of simple uncomplicated things.    Where the hell did it all go!!!

We hope that Santa is good to you and that you have someone to love and to share Christmas with, and we'll talk to you all again in February of next year.


Stand by your beds!

Trevor Benneworth 

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