You've Got This!

6Use Your GiftsTrust your talents and play to your strengths

‘CQ, CQ, CQ DX, Dingo 502 callin’ to see who’s out there,’ my brother Frank would say into his CB radio handset.

‘G’day there Dingo 502, comin’ through loud and clear,’ a crackly voice would respond from the beyond.

These conversations, about nothing in particular (at least to my ears), would go on for hours and hours, night after night, often in lieu of Frank doing his homework.

Frank loved his CB radio. He loved every radio. In fact, we were hard pressed to find a few square inches in his bedroom that weren’t covered in paraphernalia from the many radios, televisions and telephones he would dismantle. One time he even climbed to the top of a huge old peppercorn tree next to our house to install his own oversized homemade antenna (which, once discovered by our younger brothers, Steve and Pete, became their new favourite object for target practice). Frank drew enormous satisfaction from pulling apart multiple radios to reassemble their pieces into a better one. It all fascinated him.

Me on the other hand … not so much. In fact, I had little interest in understanding how sound could be transmitted from one place to another, miles apart. And to be honest, I still don’t. (As long as the button works, I’m good!)

Years later, when digital technology began to replace analogue, I asked Frank to explain what that meant. He did. Many times. But it wasn’t until I actually started to use an iPhone that I began to grasp what ...