I thought this heading would get your attention!
Des Hudson, formerly of Camp 6 where he acquired the above radio back in the 1970s, emailed me from Fairfield - no, not in Sydney but Connecticut in the USA:
"Just got our power back after a three-day blackout courtesy of a hurricane that battered the East Coast and had our internet, cable-TV and landline phone down. Was able to pull out my shortwave radio (a legacy of life on Bougainville which I used to listen to Radio Australia and Aussie rules football) and listen to the latest blackout news. Listening to the radio was a good reflection of the idealistic life we enjoyed in Loloho and Panguna without the company of females and the absence of cable TV."
Seems radiophile Des prefers radios to females! To each their own.
P.S. Always ready to spoil a good story, Roy Goldsworthy emailed from Penang: "Interesting - surprising that it still works! But was it that model? From what I can see, that particular model was only introduced in the 1980s - see attached photo."
So I confronted Des Hudson with the facts and received this reply: "My demented memory has confused my Bougainville years in the 70s with my Saudi years in the 80s. I definitely had a shortwave radio on Bougainville which must be collecting dust somewhere. The Sony version must have been my link to the world while in Saudi Arabia. I enclose a March 1974 photo of that elusive shortwave radio from the 70s inside my donga in Camp One." It must've been all that 'Saudi champagne' that turned your memory into mush, Des.
A very "Freudian" photo, Des. Besides verifying the existence of that elusive shortwave radio, it indicates that yours was the only donga in all the camps without PLAYBOY-centerfold pictures plastered all over the walls, plus a mirror on the wall (presumably none on the ceiling!)
Does the absence of PLAYBOY pin-ups suggest a lack of interest in women while the presence of a mirror on the wall makes you a self-absorbed narcissist? James A. Michener's Bildungsroman "The Fires of Spring" on the bedside table goes some way towards restoring your tarnished image but you still have a lot of explaining to do. 😜
Of course, as a James Michener aficionado I could've told him that Tales of the South Pacific, Rascals in Paradise, and Return to Paradise would've been far more appropriate books to read on tropical Bougainville Island.
P.P.S. I've just checked ebay: the old SONY ICF-7600D still sells for up to $500 - see here and here and here. Des, instead of a thousand shares in Western Minerals N.L., you should've bought a thousand SONY ICF-7600D!
