My Side of the Mast

By Gary Sjoberg

This book tells the story of my father's career with a commercial AM radio station, primarily in Adelaide, South Australia. The station was South Australia's first commercial radio station, 5DN, which started broadcasting in 1925. I wrote it as a memoir in response to his desire to tell of his very interesting career and the many opportunities it offered him along the way.

The book title refers to his involvement with the technical side of the radio broadcaster. The 'Mast' refers to the antenna from which the radio signal radiates out to the listeners. The listeners were, of course, on the receiving 'side' of the mast whilst Lawrie was on the transmitter 'side'.

Lawrie's education was cut short due to him having to leave school at the age of 14 and start earning money due to the loss of his family's income and house. This left him at a disadvantage entering the job market but many people were in a similar position following the depression years. Lawrie is an optimist and is very enthusiastic, and his interest in radio steered him in the right direction to be gainfully employed without even making an application! He was willing to take opportunities as they presented.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gary Sjoberg
• Release date: Sep 29, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223803744

Book preview

PREFACE

I remember, as a young child, going along with my father (Lawrie) and often with one of my siblings, on his trips to Dry Creek where the radio station he worked for, 5DN, had its transmitters and antenna (mast). Lawrie was the chief engineer and was responsible for all things technical. He thus made these trips to get the radio back on the air when something had failed, or when maintenance required his attendance there.

The transmitters were housed in a small brick building, with cable connecting them to the mast, which was located several 10s of metres away. One of these transmitters was built by Lawrie and the former chief engineer. It was a very large construction with cables, electronic valves, coils and noisy cooling fans. It took up the length of the long wall of this main room and had a glass wall through which its inside could easily be seen.

Inside the building were other small rooms entered from the main transmitter room. One of these was a small soundproofed studio with a microphone, 2 turntables and a console with switches and level meters. Of course, we practised our skills as radio announcers in here. Another room had tools and a work bench next to a large diesel engine and generator to keep the transmitter going during power failures. There was also a small kitchen and toilet and bathroom.

On other occasions we went with our dad to the 5DN studios in North Adelaide, and would see the radio announcers in their sound-proof studios, the technicians in the control room, and the office and administration staff in their upstairs offices.

This gave us and insight into our father’s work and how integral he was to the operation of the radio station. I was interested in the electronics I saw and dad taught me the basics over the years. My tertiary education and subsequent employment was in the digital electronics field. Dad’s involvement was almost exclusively in the analog electronic field, and as digital electronics matured and took over in the radio and other applications, I was able to assist him with the digital concepts where his skills were lacking.

The book title, My Side Of The Mast, therefore depicted Lawrie’s involvement with making sure the optimum radio signal was fed to the radio transmission mast (antenna). When the listening public tuned their radio receivers to the transmission frequency, they could be thought of as being on the other side (the receiving side) of the mast.

The book contents are mostly technical in nature and I thought would be of most interest to those involved with electronics or the radio industry, but also to those interested in what the technical side of broadcast radio involves.

While I remembered many of the interesting aspects of dad’s working life, I interviewed him and wrote this book based mostly on what he was able to remember. I also interviewed Ron Ehrke about the overseas community radio stations he asked dad to help him with the transmitters and antennas. It was a mistake to have Lawrie present when I recorded Ron’s interview. Ron started explaining the sequence of events in order, but Lawrie remembered these events (mostly out of sequence) and kept interjecting. Ron kept his place in the sequence and the interview continued, but it made transcribing the interview a very difficult and confusing process!

Nevertheless I persisted and asked Ron to proof read the relevant chapter, which he duly did.

This book is the result and I hope you enjoy reading it.

Gary Sjoberg

1. Beginnings

He remembers looking over at his parent’s empty bed from a cot, with railings, enabling him to stand up, lit by a kerosene lamp on one side. He would have been less than 1 year old. It is one of Lawrie’s earliest of many memories of a very interesting life well lived.

Lawrence Neville Sjoberg was born on the 4th of March in 1926, in Snowtown, a country town in the mid north of South Australia, to railway porter Sidney Charles Sjoberg and Ethel Ann (nee Hancock). The Australian country railway traffic at that time was very busy, unlike today, and passengers and goods required the services of porters. The Sjoberg family were living in a small railway cottage next to the railway lines on railway owned property. The cottage had a picket fence separating it from the railway corridor.

One day, years later, Lawrie remembers climbing up on the fence gate to wave at a train passing by. He slipped forward and his feet got hooked between the pickets of the fence. The train driver and fireman stopped the train and ran over to set him free. Lawrie used to walk from his home to school through the streets of the town and across a wheat paddock. One day, when he was almost seven, he tripped and fell on some wheat stubble, getting some caught under the skin of his knee. It subsequently became infected, requiring a short stay in the Snowtown hospital, where he spent his seventh birthday.

Sidney’s father (Carl August Sjoberg) was an immigrant from Sweden, who arrived by ship, which he left when it arrived in Sydney, Australia. Sidney was born in Broken Hill, and not much is known of his time before being in Snowtown.

The three children