Victorian Telecommunications Museum
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2007) |
The Victorian Telecommunications Museum is a registered not for profit incorporation that was responsible for the inception of the Telstra Museum and later in 2018 with the Heritage Telstra committee and interstate volunteer groups Heritage Telecommunications Ltd. trading as the National Communications Museum in the Hawthorn Telephone Exchange, Burwood Road, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia.[2] It housed historical telecommunications equipment that had been used by what originally was called the Postmaster-General's Department. The department split in 1975 into Telecom Australia and Australia Post. In 1993 Telecom Australia was renamed Telstra after the merger of Telecom Australia and OTC (Overseas Telecommunications Corporation).
A fraction of the thousands of items housed were on display for visitors. One was a working mini telephone exchange with four old phones that could call each other. The visitor watched the exchange manually step up and click around as the numbers are dialled. The phones had all the original dial tones and rings that were standard for this equipment.
The exhibits included one of the original mechanical speaking clocks, made with rotating glass discs. This was one (number 2) of the four Mark II machines produced in England for use in Australia, which were received in Australia in the early 1950s. The discs were originally read using an exciter and a detector made with valve technology. These devices are no longer available and, because all the originals had failed, replacements had to be fashioned using digital technology adapted to plug into the original valve sockets. This development has enabled the speaking clock to be restored to full operation.
The museum was operated by The Victorian Telecommunications Museum Inc. under the leadership of a Telstra Museum Manager and an associated Telstra Heritage Committee of Telstra internal staff. The museum closed for redevelopment in November 2019, during the course of redevelopment the new management and board dispensed with all original foundation creators including volunteers. The foundation of design and construction had been already laid by the inaugural Heritage Telecommunications (HTL Ltd.) board and first General Manager as well as volunteers that is represented in today's construction. A Volunteer Agreement was in place that was to ensure continuous pivotal involvement of significant subject matter expertise that the volunteers possess on communications and just as importantly the extensive collection developed and secured by the volunteers, this agreement has the appearance of being negated. National Communication Museum reopened on the site in September 2024.[3]
Other Telstra museums
[edit]A Mark II speaking clock is still on display at the Telstra Museum, Bankstown, Sydney, next to the Bankstown Telephone Exchange, which is open to the public every Tuesday and Wednesday. This museum also is run by volunteers. This museum is permanently closed,[4] the Mark II clock was relocated to the Hawthorn location in Melbourne as the machine in Melbourne is no longer functioning for reasons unknown.
The Brisbane Telstra Museum is at Albion Telephone Exchange, Albion, Brisbane. Volunteers also run this site, which is open to the public every Wednesday.
References
[edit]- ^ Victorian Telecommunications Museum Inc.
- ^ Progress Leader, 1 May 2007, page 9
- ^ "National Communication Museum". Victorian Collections. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
- ^ Volunteers Bankstown