Abstract of Peter Albert MILLER, 2024
Item — Box: 37
Identifier: H03520002
Abstract
H0352 PETER ALBERT MILLER
Interviewer: Gordon Duston
Abstracter: Judith Christie
Interview: 25 May 2018
TRACK One
00:00 Interview identification. Recorded at Awarua Museum. Born in 1945.
01.50 Worked at AWARUA RADIO 1962-1963. Position technician, known as a MECHANISM. Arrived at age 17 with two others directly from school in January. Was going to be a school teacher, but enjoyed working with radios, so saw ERNIE HANCOCK, Manager, who took self on.
03.10 Spent some time in this building, sent on field trips to CENTRE ISLAND, DOG ISLAND, MILFORD SOUND. Moved to Wellington to advance career at age 18. Worked in RADIO LAB there. Wanted to come home but was not allowed, so joined BROADCASTING SERVICE.
04.30 Self feels that Post office and government employees were sent to Wellington because people didn’t want to work there.
04.50 Worked 8.00 am to 5.00 pm. Travelled to work on a Vespa scooter, falling off often. One shift started at 4.00pm and one at midnight.
5.30 Equipment noisy, and self feels that is where DEAFNESS came from.
06.20 ‘DOGGO’ SHIFT from midnight was very hard on the body, difficult to stay awake. Self didn’t have to do that shift because he was a junior.
07.30 Self travelled from town, carpooling before getting the VESPA. Hurt quite badly falling off once. Once drove scooter up to Wellington for training, staying at Johnsonville hostel first, then flatting. Johnsonville Hill terrifying on the Vespa.
10.15 Immediate boss at Awarua was EDDIE HANCOCK?, second year LIONEL TASMAN. Young workers mostly worked with OSSIE OSBOURNE, who made sure assignments were completed, arranged trips etc.
11.30 Travelled to CENTRE ISLAND, and stayed at DOG ISLAND – got drunk there and learned a valuable lesson from that. Describes
12.20 MILFORD SOUND – no telephones, used radio communication. Stayed there and got caught in a deluge. Travelled there in a Morris Minor with PETER JOHNSTON. Describes
13.30 Technicians installed a lot of equipment on MOTUPOHUE BLUFF HILL. Lots of problems – self would have to visit there every second morning. Post Office refused to purchase superior equipment.
End of Track One
TRACK TWO
00.00 Further information regarding Bluff Hill equipment.
00.35 Describes VALVES and valve testing – coming back into vogue.
02.40 Lots of workers and families lived on site. SINGLE MEN’S QUARTERS had approximately 20 rooms but no more than two people at any one time. Burnt down. Most single workers lived in Invercargill. Village of housing for families. Cheap to rent. Lot of BRITISH WORKERS, who were more accustomed to MORSE CODE. Describes
06.00 MORSE CODE was a specialized skill describes. Self learned Morse Code ZLB testing as a requirement of the job. Many Morse Code operators came from the MERCHANT NAVY describes.
06.30 Morse code used ship to shore, Mayday calls. Direction equipment used if a ship went down. Very clever workers. Describes
08.00 Once a Morse operator was working with a ship on the Thames describes
09.10 AWARUA had the advantage of being one of the BEST RECEIVING STATIONS in the world. On a LARGE EARTH MAT WITH PEATY GROUND. Describes.
10.50 Technical department and receiving stations two separate entities.
11.45 Got qualified, then returned to Invercargill from Wellington, went into BROADCASTING. Went into a radio lab where new equipment was tested. Worked at DACRE, then got into television production. Would have been happy to go back to Awarua, but had to leave Post Office because they didn’t want self to leave Wellington.
14.00 Wellington training taught self a lot, and skills were transferable to Broadcasting. Describes.
End of Track Two
TRACK THREE
00.12 Wanted to get into AMPLIFYING and ??? , which enabled self to get into private industry later on.
00.45 No longer knows what Post Office workers do. No longer fix equipment, but during self’s career, things were fixed.
01.10 Self most interested in sound engineering and broadcasting, which led into television at AVALON. Avalon no longer exists.
01.45 Grounding at AWARUA stood self in good stead, and met interesting people, all of whom were interested in electronics.
02.30 Self still works part time in a LOCAL REPAIR SHOP. Describes
03.15 Describes VALVE RADIOS and fixing them.
05.00 Describes TRAIN travelling from BLUFF, including carrying children to school. Describes PRANKS played. Went FISHING.
04.30 Self refused to go to PUYSEGUR as didn’t travel well on boats. Went to DOG ISLAND on the WAIROA. Describes. Drove into MILFORD SOUND on a gravel road, in pouring rain. Describes
09.30 WOMEN TECHNICIANS hired by the time self left, who were very clever. Met some at reunion. Many workers returned to Wellington radio or into private enterprise.
End of Track Three
Interviewer: Gordon Duston
Abstracter: Judith Christie
Interview: 25 May 2018
TRACK One
00:00 Interview identification. Recorded at Awarua Museum. Born in 1945.
01.50 Worked at AWARUA RADIO 1962-1963. Position technician, known as a MECHANISM. Arrived at age 17 with two others directly from school in January. Was going to be a school teacher, but enjoyed working with radios, so saw ERNIE HANCOCK, Manager, who took self on.
03.10 Spent some time in this building, sent on field trips to CENTRE ISLAND, DOG ISLAND, MILFORD SOUND. Moved to Wellington to advance career at age 18. Worked in RADIO LAB there. Wanted to come home but was not allowed, so joined BROADCASTING SERVICE.
04.30 Self feels that Post office and government employees were sent to Wellington because people didn’t want to work there.
04.50 Worked 8.00 am to 5.00 pm. Travelled to work on a Vespa scooter, falling off often. One shift started at 4.00pm and one at midnight.
5.30 Equipment noisy, and self feels that is where DEAFNESS came from.
06.20 ‘DOGGO’ SHIFT from midnight was very hard on the body, difficult to stay awake. Self didn’t have to do that shift because he was a junior.
07.30 Self travelled from town, carpooling before getting the VESPA. Hurt quite badly falling off once. Once drove scooter up to Wellington for training, staying at Johnsonville hostel first, then flatting. Johnsonville Hill terrifying on the Vespa.
10.15 Immediate boss at Awarua was EDDIE HANCOCK?, second year LIONEL TASMAN. Young workers mostly worked with OSSIE OSBOURNE, who made sure assignments were completed, arranged trips etc.
11.30 Travelled to CENTRE ISLAND, and stayed at DOG ISLAND – got drunk there and learned a valuable lesson from that. Describes
12.20 MILFORD SOUND – no telephones, used radio communication. Stayed there and got caught in a deluge. Travelled there in a Morris Minor with PETER JOHNSTON. Describes
13.30 Technicians installed a lot of equipment on MOTUPOHUE BLUFF HILL. Lots of problems – self would have to visit there every second morning. Post Office refused to purchase superior equipment.
End of Track One
TRACK TWO
00.00 Further information regarding Bluff Hill equipment.
00.35 Describes VALVES and valve testing – coming back into vogue.
02.40 Lots of workers and families lived on site. SINGLE MEN’S QUARTERS had approximately 20 rooms but no more than two people at any one time. Burnt down. Most single workers lived in Invercargill. Village of housing for families. Cheap to rent. Lot of BRITISH WORKERS, who were more accustomed to MORSE CODE. Describes
06.00 MORSE CODE was a specialized skill describes. Self learned Morse Code ZLB testing as a requirement of the job. Many Morse Code operators came from the MERCHANT NAVY describes.
06.30 Morse code used ship to shore, Mayday calls. Direction equipment used if a ship went down. Very clever workers. Describes
08.00 Once a Morse operator was working with a ship on the Thames describes
09.10 AWARUA had the advantage of being one of the BEST RECEIVING STATIONS in the world. On a LARGE EARTH MAT WITH PEATY GROUND. Describes.
10.50 Technical department and receiving stations two separate entities.
11.45 Got qualified, then returned to Invercargill from Wellington, went into BROADCASTING. Went into a radio lab where new equipment was tested. Worked at DACRE, then got into television production. Would have been happy to go back to Awarua, but had to leave Post Office because they didn’t want self to leave Wellington.
14.00 Wellington training taught self a lot, and skills were transferable to Broadcasting. Describes.
End of Track Two
TRACK THREE
00.12 Wanted to get into AMPLIFYING and ??? , which enabled self to get into private industry later on.
00.45 No longer knows what Post Office workers do. No longer fix equipment, but during self’s career, things were fixed.
01.10 Self most interested in sound engineering and broadcasting, which led into television at AVALON. Avalon no longer exists.
01.45 Grounding at AWARUA stood self in good stead, and met interesting people, all of whom were interested in electronics.
02.30 Self still works part time in a LOCAL REPAIR SHOP. Describes
03.15 Describes VALVE RADIOS and fixing them.
05.00 Describes TRAIN travelling from BLUFF, including carrying children to school. Describes PRANKS played. Went FISHING.
04.30 Self refused to go to PUYSEGUR as didn’t travel well on boats. Went to DOG ISLAND on the WAIROA. Describes. Drove into MILFORD SOUND on a gravel road, in pouring rain. Describes
09.30 WOMEN TECHNICIANS hired by the time self left, who were very clever. Met some at reunion. Many workers returned to Wellington radio or into private enterprise.
End of Track Three
Dates
- 2024
Conditions Governing Access
For access please contact the Southland Oral History Project Coordinator at [email protected].
Conditions Governing Use
The contents of Southland Oral History Project collections are subject to the conditions of the Copyright Act 1994. Please note that in accordance with agreements held with interviewees additional conditions regarding the reproduction [copying] and use of items in the Southland Oral History Project collections may apply. Please contact the Southland Oral History Project Coordinator for further information at [email protected].
Extent
From the Record Group: 1 folder(s)
Language of Materials
From the Record Group: English
Creator
- From the Record Group: Duston, Gordon Thomas (Interviewer, Person)
