Phill Hawke's letters to the editor on May 6 and May 20 showcased his passion for Queanbeyan, the Queanbeyan Age and local sport. This resonated with me as I share the same feelings.

Not surprisingly we both grew up in Queanbeyan, were students at Queanbeyan High School and participated in the many sporting opportunities on offer then.

In particular, like other kids we eagerly awaited the construction and completion of the Queanbeyan swimming pool in the early 1960s.

This was an exciting time to live. Life was less complicated than today and we embraced the new multicultural society as we grew up with the children of the many European migrants and refugees that we welcomed following World War II.

I can only hope that others who lived through the same experiences and felt the same way have passed on their great love of the community to their children and grandchildren.

- Kevin Chamberlain, Queanbeyan

Farewell to the dairy industry

So the dairy industry may be heading down the gurgler. It should have happened long ago. It's an industry based on the use, abuse and killing of cows and their calves. It produces a food we can well do without and perpetuates this ludicrous practice of humans drinking milk well past weaning age - milk intended to quickly grow a calf into a 600 kg animal.

All its nutrients are readily available in various other foods - without the saturated fat and cholesterol.

But instead of using a levy to help those finding it hard to stay in the industry, I, and I'm sure many others, will gladly pay an extra 50c per litre for our soy milk (or almond, oat, coconut milks etc.) toward a fund which assists dairy farmers who want to transition out of that moribund industry.

- Mike O'Shaughnessy, Spence, ACT

Black spots an issue in Eden-Monaro

When your residents and travellers in the Queanbeyan area drive up the Monaro Highway they will enter the ABC 810 AM South East radio broadcast area, just south of Michelago.

The reception will be heard if the vehicle has an external antenna, in the window or outside the vehicle.

ABC 810 AM Bega can be received in a car up to 20 kilometres east of Adaminaby, BUT nothing up the Snowy Mountains Highway to Kiandra, Yarrangobilly Caves, and across to Mt Talbingo.

No Mobile Phone Service either.

There is intermittent ABC 810 AM reception across the Numeralla District, and between Berridale and Jindabyne, and before Nimmitabel.

ABC 810 AM CANNOT be heard on a home/motel/lodge or portable radio, UNLESS an external antenna is connected to the ferrite rod inside the radio.

Unfortunately external connections are not available on modern radios to connect an external antenna.

Note: the external rod on a home/portable radio is for FM (Frequency Modulated Radio signal and FM requires LINE OF SIGHT between the transmitter and the radio.

AM (Amplitude Modulation) travels over hills and down dales and is far better for the geographical environment of this region.

ABC 1602 AM Cooma reception in a car will JUST be received up the Monaro Highway south of Bredbo, for about 30 kilometres. The car reception will be a much shorter range of a 25 kilometre radius around Cooma.

This is a very serious situation for new Snowy Mountains Regional Council, and the residents, touristsl, travellers, campers, and Queanbeyan for the following reasons:

* No emergency broadcast reception in a home or motel/lodge or portable radio other than for the five kilometre radius around the ABC 1602AM Cooma transmitter.

* Some of the areas above have snow and black ice to 700 metres, fires are numerous over the whole area (154 in 2013), high winds up to 140 kilometres an hour, rock falls on the Brown Mountain, mud slides on Alpine Way and overturned trucks on black ice blocking the Snowy Mountains Highway.

* There is bumper to bumper snow traffic up the Monaro Highway in winter (two million vehicles with 14 per cent of those being heavy vehicles in 2015), plus high accident rates.

Without good ABC AM reception Queanbeyan and the region are unaware of the hazards they could be driving into. A new 4,000 - 5,000 watt ABC 1602 AM transmitter within 1.5 kilometres of the existing 1964 model 50 watts transmitter in Cooma would cover all the above areas.

The ABC South East is a very informative radio station for news, local events, great interviews with local and oversea identities (annual shows, rodeos) right down to Eden and up to the Snow Country.

The 2016 Eden-Monaro have not stated any of their priorities or policies in regard to the inadequate ABC 1602 AM transmitter in Cooma. This should be stated before the election.

- Brian Curzon, Numeralla