The forgotten story of Arthur Ernest Dillon

Arthur was educated at Christian Brothers College, Gympie and his first place of employment was as a Cadet Journalist for the Gympie Times. 1921 Arthur moved to Brisbane, his occupation was an electrician. Although he didn‘t always get the recognition he deserved it is claimed he was the first sound broadcaster in Queensland . With only raw materials to work with, he constructed his own station and on the 25th July 1921 he broadcasted the first Sound Broadcast, he was 19 years of age.

In 1828 convicts were used to build a ‘Windmill‘ at Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill in Brisbane. It is the oldest surviving building in Queensland and is Heritage Listed. It has had many uses over the centuries, originally used for grinding grain, two Aboriginal men were hanged from a beam from an upper window after being found guilty of murdering members of a surveying party near Mount Lindsay in 1841. It was the first home of the Queensland Museum in 1862 and later a signal tower and later still a weather observatory.

Early in 1922 Arthur E Dillon 4CH was the first experimenter to conduct MV tests and transmissions from the tower. The tower was ideally suited for this endeavor as it had a panoramic view from Moreton Bay in the east to the Darling Downs in the west. Said to be the most impressive configuration of it‘s kind in Queensland at the time. Nearby he erected a 150 feet (45 m) tower and strung a 80 feet (24 m) antenna between it and the tower. Under his direction 240V AC was supplied, simplifying Page 8 The Gympie Researcher the problem of power supplies and allowing his tests to be conducted on a lower wave length transmission.

Arthur was largely responsible for the formation of The Queensland Institute of Radio Engineers (QIRE) an d became it‘s first Secretary/Treasurer. The body claimed to be the first of it‘s kind in Australia, it‘s aim was to raise the status of wireless ‗tinkering‘ to that of an organised science. It‘s members consisted of Academics, Scientists and Businessmen, these members willing to assist anyone interested in intelligent research. The Institute set up it‘s headquarters in the Observatory Tower, installed it‘s own transmitter and operated under the call sign 4EZ. The inaugural meeting was held in March 1922 and the first broadcast a month later in April 1922. The Daily Mail Newspaper reported the test as a phenomenal success. ―Using only 6 watts, reception of music and voice was logged as far south as Sydney, New South Wales,‖ Success indeed. Arthur was better known as Ernie or Ernie 4CH. Returning to Gympie and with the help of his former employer, The Gympie Times, he called on all those interested to form a radio club. The Gympie Amateur Radio Club came into being, May 1923, a first for Gympie and another first for 4CH.

 October 1923 saw Ernie participating in a demonstration of wireless transmission to the general public. Using 25 watts of power a musical programme was transmitted from the tower and listened to by 1000 people attending a concert at the South Brisbane Technical College. Yet another successful first for Ernie 4CH, a telegram was received from Sydney saying ―Reception was loud and clear.”

Picture of Gympie Scouts 1964 viewing Radio Station at Gympie