I was up a nearby mountain today that has a telecom microwave relay tower - and i think its one of the earlier ones.
As I was leaving the site, I saw a concrete slab with the words

Erected by NZPO and some year i couldnt read.
Then each of the builders / engineers that originally built the thing had signed their name on it.

The farm owner tells me that his parents sold a small parcel of land on top of the mountain to the NZPO "for a very small penny without realising what it was truely worth". And the particular site is interesting because it has a dormitory 20m away with bunk beds and i think shower and toilet facilities. The engineers used to spend days at a time up at the relay site fixing equipment.

So this stuff now facinates me. I was on the rsm website looking up the licenses for the site and found the models of the old 6ghz Fujitsu microwave transmission systems, but I cant find any information on it.

And the only history i can find on early days of the telecom / nzpo microwave radio network is a few mentions of a hybrid microwave/coaxial link between auckland and wellington in the 80's.

Does anyone else know of any websites or articles I could read up on early use of fibre and microwave or exchange linking systems in new zealand?

Odd request i know though i have found some of the long retired telecom and nzpo engineers have published stories etc about other parts of the telephone network online (found a nice one on a young enginners expierences working at the gisborne exchange in the days when the weekend call diversions for doctors and businessment ment physically re-soldering a patch pair for two days and then removing it every friday and monday).
 
Hoping to read up on some microwave and fibre stuff too.