History

GISBORNE’S FIRST PIONEER AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS

2AC Ivan O’Meara,  2AD Percy Stevens,  2AE Bob Patty, 2AF Bill Sinclair

Ivan O’Meara:  a number of world records for long distance radio telegraphy

Ivan, Percy Stevens & Bob Patty experimented with a crystal set to listen for Morse signals, which they picked up from Western Samoa during the war and the trio established two-way shortwave links with amateurs around the world

Percy Stephens: In 1923 he and O’Meara set up what was believed to have been New Zealand’s first two-way radio-telephone circuit.

Percy, Ivan & Cliff Hands established two of the earliest private broadcasting stations in the country. 2YM and later 2ZM

Bob Patty: carried out preliminary experiments to find out most suitable wave lengths and broadcast times to communicate with the 1928 Byrd Antarctic Expedition

In 1932 installed what is believed to be the world’s first ship-to-shore radio telephone.

He was with Ivan O’Meara when sending CQ calls to America and made contact with someone about Gisborne’s Tom Heeney USA boxing match

Bob was eventually able to talk with Tom via contact with a New York ‘ham’ operator.  The fight was relayed to the world. USA telegraph operators included transmitting it to Bob Patty in Gisborne, who decoded it and with the help of Gisborne Times staff, Percy Stevens relayed the fight to crowds outside 2ZM when it was finally sent ‘over the air’