My name is Don McKenzie, and I have a passion for bringing history to life through the art of colourisation...
I am dedicated to creating stunning images that capture the essence of a bygone era. I use my technical expertise to infuse historical photographs with vivid colours that bridge the gap between the past and the present, making history more accessible and meaningful.
I take pride in the quality of my work, which is now available in extremely high resolution. My images can be printed out at 4000 pixels wide, which is four feet seven inches without any loss of resolution.
16-July-2025 - A Note on Copyright: At my stage in life, I'm not seeking monetary gain from these works. However, I'd appreciate it if the "wizard-of-oz" and sequence number watermarks remain intact on each image, giving me due credit for my efforts.
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about my passion for colourisation. I hope my work inspires you to see history in a new light and appreciate the power of colour to add depth and meaning to the past.
We take great pride in our daughters, Penny (Melbourne) and Sharon (Darwin), and it's evident that their father's love for computers has left its mark on them.
Both of them contributed their skills to Dontronics during our working years before we retired. Penny pursued her dream of becoming an interior designer, and as a mature-age student, she dedicated herself to earning her Diploma of Interior Design and Decoration. Over the past five years, she has been deeply involved in more than 180 design and installation projects, showcasing her expertise and unwavering commitment to delivering outstanding results. She has now ventured into a new realm where the boundaries between imagination and reality become blurred. Cutting-edge technology allows you not only to conceptualise but also to experience the finished product before it takes shape. To truly grasp this, you have to witness it. Photorealistic Renders eliminate guesswork, especially in Kitchen and Bathroom design.
Sharon is retired and travels Australia in her little van named "Opal".
Penny, now an interior designer, has just launched her 150-page eBook titled "Your Complete Kitchen Renovation Guide and Planner."
You can explore her work by visiting her website:
Updated 1-Oct-2021
I have been going up to Darwin for 30+ years, as I have children and grandchildren up there. I actually had a great-grandson there as well, but he decided to go to QLD because of his father's job. Then before we could even visit, he decided to go to NSW.
With the Covid lockdown, we organized for all of our descendants to meet in August in Darwin, but the lockdowns didn't allow that to happen.
We did manage to spend time with our Melbourne daughter and granddaughter in Darwin, something we couldn't even do in Melbourne.
For the last 20 years, we have lived in Darwin for a month each year. Prior to that, it may have been 2 weeks a year.
Have actually been up there twice this year, believe it or not, yes even with Covid. We had to isolate and test on our last return trip to Melbourne. Was there for January for a month, and August for a month.
Our Rainbow Connections
Our connection to Rainbow Vic Australia is fairly deep. My father was born there (also Don McKenzie). My wife Cheryl was born there, as were my two daughters. I was married in Rainbow. I lived and worked in Rainbow for a number of years. My grandfather George McKenzie arrived in town about 1919. He had a steam engine operator's license and drove in the original piles for the Albycutya timber bridge. After that contract expired, he worked at the Rainbow flour mills, as they were steam-operated. He then went on to be a foreman for Tom Ismay, a local building contractor, a position he held for many years.
I worked for my Uncle Joe McKenzie, followed by the Yaapeet Gypsum mines, then C and D McKenzie (my uncle and father), Don Hope, McKenzie Woodhall and Chapple, McKenzie and Woodhall, then back to Joe.
When first married, we lived in the tin shed on the corner of Gray and Taverner Streets Rainbow. We had a chip heater and a kero fridge. I remember putting in a hot water system that Len Petschel gave us. We had a pan toilet system at the back of the block, right on McKenzie Lane, of course. Named after my grandfather George. Today, this block is part of the sewerage treatment plant, and the block was originally owned by Jack Johns.
I had numerous jobs when I returned back to Melbourne in 1968.
1955 - 1958 Essendon Technical School and RAAF School Cadet
My first-ever flight was in an Avro Lincoln Bomber at the RAAF base in Sale, Victoria, in 1956. Weapons fired during service: Lee-Enfield 303, Thompson sub-machine gun, Smith and Wesson .38 revolver. I remember carrying the 303 on a bus to school. I doubt if that would happen today.
Top Marks at school. Diploma entrance standard, but parents couldn't afford Uni. I had to get a job.
1958 - 1961 Taught Ballroom Dancing
I taught teenage classes of ballroom dancing for Bon Gibbon's Dance Academy in Buckley Street Essendon for 3 years. I even had a few shots at the Victorian State Championships at the Melbourne Town Hall. Never won anything, but gave it a shot.
1959 - 1961 Army Citizens Military Forces (CMF)
Weapons fired during service: Lee-Enfield 303, Sten-Gun, New SLR introduced to replace 303, Owen submachine gun. Two years' service. A lot of fun. When I was employed as a PMG trainee, I also got Army pay when on duty. Double pay.
1964 - McKenzie Woodhall and Chapple Electrical Contractors Rainbow Victoria
The link below will take you to the Rainbow Electrician's story of the 1960s, where I played a very prominent part.
When I came back to Melbourne, I drove taxis on what we called a hungry shift. 5PM to 5AM, 7 days a week. I did that for two years. My wife Cheryl joined the very first bunch of female Taxi Drivers during this time.
1970-1972 - Radio Room Operator
Having won over the Silver Top Taxi Radio room manager, I was invited to join the staff in the radio room. I ended up working three shifts on three different jobs at one stage. Silver Top Taxis in Carlton, Yellow Cabs in South Melbourne, and City Towing in Collingwood. Now there is a long boring story about how we shuffled shifts to make this 24-hour 7 days a week rotation work, but I also managed to drive Taxis in my spare time during this period.
Up until recently, we had a Christmas lunch radio room reunion on a regular basis in Melbourne. I now believe I'm the last man standing, so to speak, so there are no more lunches. :-(
I spent nearly a quarter of a century working for ATL, a company that eventually became known as TAB in Victoria. In 2010, I wrote about my experiences there, but it was not a polished piece and I never completed it. Reflecting on it now, I'd rate it as a 4 out of 10.
I began my tenure at ATL as a tote machine floor mechanic but quickly advanced to the role of Senior Computer Systems Engineer. I was responsible for computer operations at the Melbourne Cup for many years. I found it easy to learn about computers and after taking a course at RMIT, I realized I was even teaching the instructors. I received a certificate and moved on.
During my time at ATL, I always felt like I was working for the race club rather than the company. If the tote machines were down, the club would suffer. I sometimes prioritized the club's needs over my company's responsibilities. This may not have been the best move for my career, but it led to some memorable moments such as when I had to change a computer power supply during a Melbourne Cup race while heavy betting was taking place. I had a representative from the club on one shoulder and a representative from the company on the other, but I politely asked them both to step aside so I could fix the issue.
I thoroughly enjoyed working for the tote machines in the early years, but things began to deteriorate as the company transitioned to TAB. I felt like I was just a number and they attempted to force a long service award on me in the form of an inscribed Omega watch worth $2000. A few of my colleagues felt the same way and we rejected the award. They still made us attend a special presentation just to check a box. I still have the watch, but it sits in a case and I wear a FitBit now.
Eventually, I found an opportunity to double my income through an internet business and I left the company at the age of 56. It was a bold move, but one that I never regretted. My internet business, Dontronics, was successful for 22 years.
1978 - Did Don have the first Personal Computer in Australia?
Many years ago, I set up a page and a challenge to test if I was the first person in Australia (March 1978) to own what is considered today, A Personal Computer (PC). Check out my findings.
Written September 2023 by Don McKenzie.
It has been 45 years since I initiated the challenge for ownership of Australia's first personal computer. Given the absence of any substantiated counterclaims and my continued possession of this computer, I believe I'm correct in stating that I purchased Australia's first-ever Personal Computer in March 1978. When 4K ROM and 4K RAM was more than enough.
December 2023
Recently, The Australian Computer Museum Society (ACMS) reached out to me regarding my TRS-80 Model One, which appears to be the first true Personal Computer (PC) sold in Australia. This took place in March 1978. In light of its historical significance, I've decided to donate it to ACMS, and they have graciously accepted it.
My TRS-80 computer generated all the 5, 10, and 20 WPM Morse Code that was used for Novice, Ham, and Marine Morse Code receiving tests by the Australian Department of Communications from around 1980 to 1986. This was previously done by a punch tape machine, and when I was asked if I could program a computer to do this, I said of course I can. That's the sort of thing that computers are designed to do. I soon found out that you can't get accurate timing for long periods using the basic language built into this machine, so I had to learn Z80 machine code damn fast.
I eventually had to tell DOC that I wanted to drop this contract, as the repetitive nature of the input strings really drove me mad. It was around the time they shifted headquarters from Melbourne to Canberra, so I suggested they get someone to rewrite the software on an 80286 AT-PC, as the TRS-80 was getting very dated, and I was involved in too many other projects of my own at the time.
1980-1990s - Wrote articles in Electronics Australia, Silicon Chip
I was involved with several computer user groups and pioneered many on the internet when it came of age. Just two of them in this image.
To drum up traffic in those days, I held a Dontronics Electronics Logo design contest as follows: First Prize $500USD, Second Prize $250USD, Third Prize $100USD
It was a different world, and I held the cards. Unfortunately, everybody caught up with me. The equivalent is eBay these days, and every man and his dog is in the competition.
Here are just some of the boring highlights for technical people:
PBUFF
A few years into the TRS-80, I designed a printer buffer based on the Z80. Printers of the day had no memory, so when you went to print a large document, your PC was completely tied up during the print. PBUFF was a printer buffer that could be configured from 8K to 4Mb of DRAM. Hardware memory interfacing was done with only a single 74LS00 and a 74LS04. The magic was achieved with software and no hardware multiplexing was used. To my knowledge, I'm the only person that was able to achieve this result. We actually tested the design with 64Mb of memory, but the printer design world had caught up with me, and it became obsolete.
PBUFF sold over 4000 units worldwide, well before the internet was known.
Reference: Electronics Australia Magazine Apr-94, Silicon Chip Magazine Oct-89, Australian Electronics Jan-88 (PBUFF memory secrets revealed.), Australian Electronics Mar-87
ZLOAD
This was a development board based on the code of PBUFF which allowed a fast download to the target element of assembled Z80. Required no platform burning or EPROM burning and started instantly. Similar development systems of the time started at several thousand dollars.
Reference: Electronics Australia Magazine Apr-2016
Z8TBASIC
I recompiled the 8080 into Z80 code, then added the I/O routines to make it tick on the development board). This meant you could write a Basic language program, test it, and then burn it into an EPROM when completed and ready for use.
Tri-colour LED moving message board
Silicon Chip Magazine Mar-89 Part 1, Silicon Chip Magazine Apr-89 Part 2, Silicon Chip Magazine May-89 Part 3, Silicon Chip Magazine Jun-89 Part 4
1993 - First On-line Transactions CBA Bank
When I found I could post a product on the internet with Microsoft Windows, I built a shopping cart from a public domain JavaScript program I found with my new search engine "AltaVista". I made a few modifications to this program, and we had Dontronics online.
After applying to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to be a merchant, we started selling with a manual credit card system in 1995.
I spoke with the CBA about an online system, as I had seen some overseas merchants with those facilities. They had no idea what I was talking about at this point. It took maybe another 12 months, and a lot of pushing before we were truly became an online shopping cart system.
We had four different shopping carts over the years, so it was always evolving, as we had to keep ahead of things with security and software updates.
2000 - Australian Taxation Office GST
Australia was about to introduce a Goods and Services Tax (GST) in July of 2000, and I was constantly on the phone with the Australian Tax Office trying to get a lot of tax rulings clarified for my business.
I told them I was selling software, which is nothing physical. It's basically a product file that is distributed over the internet, via email or download, and sometimes I might be sourcing it from overseas or selling it to customers abroad.
Then I might also buy physical hardware goods from overseas suppliers and sell them to clients in various countries.
And of course, there was also a mix of those goods that could be sent from or arriving in Australia, that could be either hardware or software, or both.
They had so much trouble understanding the transaction types involved that they agreed to a meeting at my home in February of 2000, so we could look at together the range of transactions that could take place on the internet, and how GST would be applied. They sent out two officers from their offices.
After a lot of mutual discussion and agreement, they went back to their office and eventually sent me a copy of the Tax Rulings that would be applied to my business, and what they were moving forward with under the new GST rules.
Of course, even those rules are still evolving, with, e.g., now 10% GST being applied to some imports. Glad I'm glad I'm not keeping up with it now.
2018 - Melbourne Cup November 2018
Yesterday, on during the Melbourne Cup day, I got a report from the technical staff in the TAB computer room at Flemington Racecourse that a software program I wrote about 25 years ago to monitor for the correct operation of communication channels between on-course selling terminals and the computer systems was still being used successfully.
This year will be the last time for it, as next year they'll be using new terminals with a completely new system.
Thanks for the feedback, Viv and Mick. Nice to know something I designed years ago was still being used successfully 19 years after I retired.
The picture below shows DONMON in action at the Melbourne Cup 2018. Running under an old DOS system before Windows was even thought of, and written in 8086 machine code. Unbelievable.
The photo doesn't capture the full scope of the "Donmon" program, as it was taken during a quiet moment on the comms line. In action, the program displays up arrows for polls and down arrows for acknowledgments. It utilizes 75107 and 75110 long line drivers. When a bet is processed, details like race number, bet type, and horse names appear in plain text.
2021 - August Covid-19 escape to Darwin
I consider we've been very lucky this year. While Covid runs rampant in the southern states, we've been lucky enough to escape to the Northern Territory in Australia, where we have a daughter and two grandsons. We managed it for the month of January and now again in August. Two months out of lockdown-free, no masks, no social distancing.
Found a Latin-American coffee spot in on Mitchell Street that does really good coffee at a great price.
Yes, I've been dropping losing weight, but feeling good. Not sure about going back home to Melbourne right now. We could stay a little longer here, but I guess we'll have to bite the bullet and hope that things get better down south.
22-Feb-2024 - Our 60th Wedding Anniversary in Darwin
Today marks a truly special occasion for us. Six decades ago, we exchanged vows in Rainbow, Victoria, making a lifelong promise to each other.
With two daughters, Penny (and Paul) residing in Melbourne and Sharon calling Darwin home, our family roots have spread far and wide.
Over the past 34 years, we've embraced Darwin not merely as a visitors but as avid explorers, discovering its unique charms and complexities.
We have four grandchildren, Leesa (and Shane), Niamh, Eilee, and Flynn, and a great-grandson, Eli.
Don and Cheryl...
23-Feb-2024 - We thank our family and friends
We extend a heartfelt thank you to all who shared their warm wishes for us on our 60th wedding anniversary yesterday.
The outpouring of congratulations, both privately and across various Facebook groups, was truly overwhelming, making it a challenge to respond to each one individually.
Discovering the connections between Rainbow, Victoria, and Darwin added an intriguing dimension to the celebrations, reminding us of the interconnectedness of our world.
A special thanks to the wonderful Amelia Huang from the Nightcliff Foreshore Cafe and Andrew Kritikos from ZEN Apartments Management Darwin for their kind gestures.
And to our daughter Sharon, thank you for the beautiful flowers.
Don and Cheryl...
Photo taken at Fiddler's Green restaurant on the Darwin waterfront. This was closed for 2 months for air-con upgrades and reopened just in time for our anniversary.
14th June 2025 - I'm currently between heart operations
A brief update for family, friends, and Facebook groups.
I'm currently between heart operations. The artery blockage was cleared on May 28th, and I underwent a procedure where it was drilled out. Interestingly, I was given a sedative drip instead of being fully anaesthetised, which apparently leads to better success rates and recovery times. This decision was made considering my age and current health, and I've since found confirmation by Doctor AI, "Previously known as the artist Dr Google". :-)
I'm still quite weak, but I'm gradually increasing my walking distance to regain muscle tone. I'm grateful to have Cheryl's exceptional care and support during this time.
On Friday the 13th, I visited Dorset Rehab in Pascoe Vale, which was a positive experience. The paperwork took about an hour and a half (Hi Nina from Chile), but it was good to meet the staff.
In two weeks, I'll be having a valve replacement with a similar procedure. Given this, it doesn't make sense to start rehab until after the second operation. I'll be seeing my cardiologist on June 25th, and we'll discuss the next steps then.
I've had to scale back on my "Darwin Colourising Yesteryear" Facebook group efforts due to the demands, but I'm focusing on compiling my "The Adventures of Don McKenzie" stories. These were previously scattered across the web, and I'm hoping to leave a more cohesive legacy of my life's journey.
BTW, my Darwin online image conversions total is now over 950. I would like to make that number 1000.
BTW2, I had open heart surgery in 2007.
20 June 2025 - Cardiology Staff Thank You
I'm currently undergoing heart operations, and I'm deeply thankful for the outstanding care provided by the cardiology staff at John Fawkner and Royal Melbourne Private Hospitals, as well as Dorset Rehab. I deeply appreciate the care and attention of every individual who has contributed to making my life much more fulfilling and rewarding.
Sorry, we didn't have our makeup on this morning. :-)
25-June-2025 - Today's cardiologist appointment threw me a curveball
Today's cardiologist appointment threw me a curveball - the heart valve replacement surgery I was preparing for has been pushed back to the review stage, with an echo scan scheduled for December.
I was caught off guard, having put my life on hold in anticipation of the procedure. But with this unexpected reprieve, I'm seizing the moment. I booked flights and accommodation today, feeling a sense of freedom and possibility.
Of course, I still have rehab sessions to complete - twice a week for six weeks - but the future suddenly looks brighter.
