The Long Story of a Maritime Wireless Station “Down Under”
Today, October 1, 2012, is
the 100th anniversary of an early and important maritime wireless
station. It was on that date, Tuesday
October 1, 1912, that the coastal wireless station POA was officially opened
for wireless communication with passing ships; it was the only wireless station
on the southern coast of Australia located in between what we might call the
east and the west fringes of the continent; and yes, it participated in its share
of radio broadcasting activities, including shortwave beam programming. This is what happened.
It
was during the year 1912 that a whole host of new wireless stations were
installed in coastal areas on the continent of Australia. The 6th station in this network of
new communication facilities was installed at Rosewater, an outer near-coastal
suburb of Adelaide, the capital city of the state of South Australia.
At
the time, Rosewater was a lonely and isolated locality, just one mile inland
from the busy sea port of Port Adelaide.
The new wireless station was installed into a newly constructed building
on what was known as Grand Junction Road.
The
transmitter was a 5 kW spark transmitter, designed in the Balsillie wireless
system, and manufactured in Sydney at the Maritime Wireless Company, which was
owned by the Catholic priest, Archibald Shaw.
The aerial system was a center fed squirrel cage, suspended from two
wooden masts, 250 feet tall and 250 feet apart. The earthing system consisted
of a large copper plate and a mat of radial wires.
Their
1st receiver was a 3 position crystal set, with a choice of 3
different crystals and cat’s whiskers.
Electrical power was taken from the city power grid. The station was installed and operated by the
PMG, Postmaster General’s Department, and initially a staff of 3 operated the
entire facility. In those days, the
Adelaide station was usually the 1st station on this continental
island that was heard by ships coming in from the Far East.
The
original callsign for the Rosewater station was POA, standing for Post Office
Adelaide. However, the call was changed
a few weeks later to VIA; with the letter V indicating Australia and honoring
the late Queen Victoria, the letter I as part of an Australian sequence of callsigns,
and the letter A standing again for Adelaide.
On
October 1, 1915, station VIA was taken over by the Australian navy, along with
all other stations in the coastal radio system.
Then 5 years later again, the station was transferred back to PMG control;
and then on May 8, 1922, it was taken over by AWA, (the Australian equivalent
of the American RCA), along with all of the other coastal radio stations.
At
the time, that is in 1922, VIA was still on the air with the original spark
transmitter, though by now it was in operation full time, 24 hours daily. The observatory time signal was broadcast
twice daily, at midday & midnight, and weather bulletins were broadcast
regularly throughout the day in Morse Code.
In 1923, the British
passenger liner, “Changsha” hit a reef off the coast of the Philippines while
en route from Australia to the Far East.
Adelaide Radio VIA was the 1st station to hear and report the
SOS signal from the stranded ship “Changsha”.
A
new 500 watt communication transmitter was installed at Rosewater in October
1925, together with a bank of regenerative valve receivers, all made in Sydney
by AWA. The original spark transmitter
was removed from service 18 days later on October 22.
Then,
in 1927, work on a new 5 kW shortwave transmitter was completed at the AWA
factory near Ashfield in Sydney, and this unit was tested on air at the factory
in communication with the sister coastal station VIM in Melbourne. This new transmitter was then transported to
Adelaide and installed at VIA Rosewater, and taken into communication service
in November 1927.
This
new shortwave transmitter was specifically designed for use in what was called
the AWA Beam Service. That is, the
transmitter would be in use for the point to point relay of radio programming
and for official communications between Adelaide and the two eastern state
capitals, Melbourne & Sydney. The
AWA Beam Service from Adelaide would be quite similar to the Beam Service at
the two other locations, the better known VK3ME & VK2ME.
It
is known that radio programming from the two ABC stations in Adelaide, 5CL
& 5AN, was at times relayed by the ABC mediumwave stations throughout the
Commonwealth. It is also known that
the popular commercial program on 5AD,
“Australia’s Amateur Hour” with Dick Fair was relayed throughout Australia, and
also worldwide by Radio Australia on shortwave.
As required, the Beam Transmitter at Rosewater fed the required
programming eastward to Melbourne & Sydney, and probably at times westward
to Perth in Western Australia.
Beginning
on August 1, 1943, station VIA began the relay of time signals from the local
ABC mediumwave stations at 9:00 am & 10:00 pm, and this service was
presented on longwave 500 kHz.
As
time went by, change & development were implemented. In 1946, OTC, the Overseas Telecommunications
Commission, took control of all maritime coastal stations including VIA. Then, 6 years later, the receiver function
was transferred from the Rosewater transmitter building to a temporary location
in the grounds of “Minda Home” in suburban Brighton.
With
the development of housing estates in the area around the Rosewater station,
the time had come for the construction of a totally new station. A country property of 66 acres was procured
at McLarenvale, 25 miles from the city; and at 1:00 pm on Friday March 29,
1963, the maritime coastal service was transferred from the old VIA in suburban
Adelaide to the new VIA out in the rolling countryside.
Over a period of time, a dozen
transmitters, longwave, & shortwave, were in use at this new station. However, 30 years later again with the march
of electronic progress, the countryside station was closed in favor of
alternative procedures in electronic communication with shipping. The entire radio facility at VIA McLarenvale
was put up for sale, and the new owners were a family that had migrated into
the area from Germany.
The new owner, Dr Harro Krause, used
this ex maritime radio station as his own amateur radio station, VK5HK. His wife Yvonne also held an amateur radio
license, VK5YK.
This then, is the 100 year story of
an important coastal wireless station that was on the air with occasional
broadcast programming, and with the relay of other radio programming for
extensive coverage elsewhere. The 1st
station in coastal Rosewater gave way to suburban housing; and the 2nd
station in McLarenvale was taken over and operated as an amateur radio station.
(AWR/Wavescan via Adrian Peterson)