Peter sells The Big Issue at the corner of Ann and Albert streets in Brisbane.

Many people already know him as Peter, the well-spoken vendor always ready to lend a sympathetic ear and offer some considered advice. But for the many thousands of ham radio operators around the world he is VK4VY. Peter got his radio licence in 1983 and has been connecting with people from Libya to Russia ever since.

“We use Greenwich mean time to arrange to meet on certain frequencies,” …