Greetings to all from south western Sydney.

I completed my apprenticeship in 1985 in the calling of "RADIO FITTER/MECHANIC" with a large rental company.
They were truly wonderful days back then: a workshop of over thirty-five qualified tradesmen and seven apprentices.
We had a full CRT reprocessing plant, a cabinet maker's shop, parts store and Australia wide logistics.
I thought the party would never end. Sadly it did and electronics became disposable.
A period of self-employment was profitable and then the end came when manufacturers decided that small repair shops were not in their corporate interests. So it goes, nothing lasts forever.

One has moved on into the world of commercial HVAC after getting my second trade qualification in refrigeration and air conditioning.
Electronics has given me an edge over many of my peers due to the complexity of modern commercial HVAC systems.
My passion has never dimmed for the joys of electronics and now it is a hobby, albeit with some lingering customers who still insist that I attend to their electronic and electrical woes.

Looking forward to learning from the erudite members of this forum.

Regards
Haku

I drove down Parramatta Road this morning on the way to a camping shop and was pondering on all the factories that once stood there, along with many that are still there but are shopfronts for imports now, rather than seeing local products made there.

I drove past the sites that were once the AWA Radio-Electric Works at Ashfield, Bonds clothing at Five Dock, Airzone Radio at Auburn, Goodyear Tyres at Lidcombe, HMV at Homebush, Lovells Springs at Homebush, Australian National Industries at Lidcombe. The names are too numerous to mention here.

Very true Brad,

I remember when the old EMI (HMV) factory was just down the road from Lovells Springs. Canberra TV was based there for many years.
The old AWA /Thorn factory at Rydalmere is now dedicated to NSW railways servicing air conditioning systems.
TV factories I visited over the years were AWA in Rydalmere, Panasonic at Penrith, Philips in Clayton (Victoria), Kriesler in Caringbah and Sharp in Huntingwood. So much knowledge and engineering opportunities have been lost as we chose China as the world's factory.

I have been fortunate enough to visit the LG factories in Korea and China for TV/AV products, appliances and air conditioning. Staggering in their size. The Changwon factory in South Korea employs over 12,000 people. Dormitory accommodation for foreign employees and fleets of buses to bring in the workers. Cannot see why Australia chooses to be nothing other than a quarry for China rather than producing value added goods. My late father worked at Comalco Aluminium in Yennora when they had full production for aluminium cans and numerous other products. Truly sad how Australia has handed all our self-sufficiency over to Asia.

Welcome to V-R.

There's the Telstra Museum at Bankstown, a place that I've been meaning to visit -- once we are rid of COVID.