Ron McMullen & His Morse Key Collection

Ron McMullen is an avid collector of all things to do with Morse code. He learned Morse code as a nine year old from his postmaster father. This led to a lifelong love and fascination with the subject. His work as a qualified Morse operator took him to post offices all around Australia, and then to the PMG training school teaching the code and all aspects of telegraphy. His work became his passion. He reckons that once Morse gets into your blood, you never get rid of it; that it’s like music is to a musician.

The collecting bug bit when he heard of a reunion of ‘Morsecodians’ (enthusiasts who still enjoy communicating by Morse) and he decided to go along to see what it was about. He now collects anything to do with the code and telegraphy and lovingly restores the objects to working order. Ron believes his collection is the largest and most diverse in Australia. The quality of his pieces is testament to a lifetime of working, learning, teaching and now collecting and restoring telegraphic equipment.

Ron shows us a typical Morse code setup that you would find in a country post office. He types his transcribed message on a typewriter and shows how it is then delivered to the addressee as a telegraph. The rhythmical sound as Ron demonstrates the dots and dashes on the key and ‘talks’ to his friend Leo certainly does have a musical quality.

We see a message received from Ron’s Morse code buddy that reads, ‘Say hello to the Collectors from me’!

From ABC's Collectors
Also Ron McMullen's Telegraph Collection