Although an electrician by trade, I have spent most of my working life in electronics, with a lot of experience as an installer in the Audio Visual industry. I have greater experience in commercial installations, rather than domestic set ups. As the concepts are the same in both, I can share with you the technical explanations, but I don’t pretend to know every domestic brand and model. So I’m not a salesman who can tell you what equipment to buy – I am an installer who loves to know the how and why!
I have always been interested in all things electronic, and have been fiddling with electronics since I could hold a soldering iron (by the right end). As a young teenager, my mum asked me to install a speaker in the kitchen so she could listen to the news while cooking dinner. This was just the start, after that I installed speakers in the bathrooms, back room, sewing room, workshop, shed, pool area… This sparked a passion which turned into a career – thanks Mum.
As for other hobbies, I enjoy photography and making video productions. I would like more time to watch most types of sports, and to spend more time on the computer (and this website), but life, work and grandchildren take precedence.
With my wife and family we spent 10 years working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then called Zaire) starting and ultimately handing over a cassette ministry. During the time in DRC I fixed a lot of electronic things for other people and taught a number of the locals some basic electronic principles.
Since then, we have visited Zambia, Myanmar (Burma) four times, and Laos (5 times) where I fixed a number of things as well as taught some basic electronics to some youth.
For over 40 years I had been involved in the technical team of CMS Summer School, held in Katoomba, NSW each January. This is a conference with 3000 adults and 1600 children attending. A few years ago I retired after 9 years of leading this team of over 35 people providing the audio, video, and projection requirements of this 6 day conference.
In my local church, I oversee the technical needs including installing and maintaining all the AV equipment and continually training new operators. I have also lead training sessions in other local churches.
My son says I’m a “special breed” – I think that is because I love technical things and he likes to break them so I can fix them. I do like helping people with their technical issues, and I like to try to explain technical matters simply.
And yes, I do have grey hair – and proud of it.
Thanks
Geoff
