Radio Link-up To Give A Novel Farewell

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 September 1949, Page 4

Radio Link-up To Give A Novel Farewell

Seventeen men scattered in, an area of 10 miles around Greymouth were linked by radio last evening to accord a novel, but appropriate farewell, to a radio-friend who has been transferred to Christchurch. The men are all members of the Greymouth branch of the New Zealand Amateur Radio Transmitters’ Association, and at 8.30 last evening they became linked through the secretary of the association, Mr P. Daniels, whose station was used as a control station. After making contact with the home of the departing member, Mr George Chapman, who will leave tomorrow for Christchurch, the 17 members took their turn at delivering farewell messages. When the president, Mr D. Ramsay, of Cobden, was making an appropriate speech from his home, Mrs Chapman, on behalf of the speaker and his association, made a presentation to her husband. This had been arranged in the afternoon, though the whole ceremony was a surprise to the “guest,” who made a radio reply to fellow members. This novel “send-off,” was made necessary because the transfer was arranged between usual meetings, thus preventing a normal farewell from being arranged. Lasting, more than one and a-half hours, it is believed to be unique as far as New Zealand is concerned.

Speakers who took advantage of the occasion to bid farewell to Mr Chapman, came from Runanga, Brunner, Cobden, Blaketown, Greymouth and areas south of the town. Other New Zealand operators “on the air” last night, overheard the link-up and were interested listeners, while a number of Christchurch operators who accidentally overheard the broadcast {farewell, joined in to express a welcome to Mr Chapman.