THE HISTORY OF SHORTWAVE RADIO IN AUSTRALIA

1914 - Shortwave Wireless Telephony

Home
Project Overview
1800s - Land Telegraphy
1874 - Guglielmo Marconi - a Tribute
1895 - Wireless Telegraphy
1901 - Wireless Telegraphy
1902 - Wireless Telegraphy in Australia
1904 - Australian Coastal Radio
1906 - Wireless Telephony
1912 - Melbourne Radio - VIM
1914 - Shortwave Wireless Telephony
1920s - Commercial Shortwave Telephony Development
1920s - Receivers
1920 - The huge RCA Longwave Station in New York
1920 - Wireless broadcasting in Australia
1920s - First shortwave stations in Victoria
1921 - Discovery of Shortwave Propagation
1921 - Koo Wee Rup (Victoria) Experimental Wireless Receiving Station
1923- Longwave Broadcasting in Australia
1923 - Evolution of Australian Domestic Radio
1924 - 3LO - Melbourne's Second Broadcaster
1924 - 3AR - Melbourne's first broadcaster
1924 - The Braybrook (Melbourne) Transmitting Site
1925 - First Shortwave Stations in Western Australia
1926 - First Shortwave Stations in New South Wales
1926 - RAAF Communications - Laverton (Vic)
1927 - Beam Wireless Worldwide
1927 - Beam Wireless from Australia
1928 - ABC Lyndhurst (Victoria)
1930 - AWA Receiving Station at La Perouse (Sydney)
1930 - AWA Radio Centre at Pennant Hills
1933 (to 1969) - Shortwave Radio Clubs in Australia
1936 - Ship Broadcaster - the MS Kanimbla
1939 - Belconnen Communications Station (Canberra)
1940 - RAAF Receiving Station at Werribee (Victoria)
1941 - RAAF Frognall (Melbourne)
1941 - ABC Brisbane
1942 - Army Wireless Chain - west of Melbourne
1942 - Dutch Stations in Australia
1943 - ABC Radio Australia - Shepparton (Victoria)
1943 - Army Shortwave HF Stations in Melbourne
1944 - ABC - Radio Australia - Looking Back
1945 - PMG Receiving Station - Highpark (Victoria)
1945 - Radio Australia - DXers Calling
1946 - Radio Australia - Communications Programs
1946 - VNG Time Signal Station
1948 - Radio Australia QSL Cards
1948 - ABC Sydney
1966 - ABC Cox Peninsula (Darwin)
1970 (to 2012) - Shortwave Radio Clubs in Australia
1975 - ABC Gnangara (Western Australia)
1975 - ABC Carnarvon (Western Australia)
1978 - Omega Navigation Station - Woodside (Victoria)
1985 - ABC Northern Territory
1989 - ABC Brandon (Queensland)
2003 - Private Shortwave Broadcasters
Timeline - Part One - 1839 to 1927
Timeline - Part Two - 1928 to 2012
SPECIAL - Licencing of Shortwave Broadcasters
SPECIAL - Radio Receivers for Shortwave
SPECIAL - Radio Monitoring as a Hobby
Epilogue
Bibliography, References and Resources
Links to the author's personal websites

SHORTWAVE RADIO ADVANCES
Almost all of the early experiments with wireless were carried out on what we would now call longwave. However, Marconi himself conducted wireless tests initially on frequencies of about 2 MHz and he, along with many other researchers, found that attempts to increase the transmission range, an increase in power was not sufficient.

Fading difficulties appeared, and they were overcome by reducing the operating frequency, which appeared to be the generally adopted solution when long distances were to be covered. It was also recognized that an increase in atmospheric interference increased if the frequency was lowered.

Early research tended to concentrate on the longwave bands, due to the difficulties of fading for the higher frequencies.

Another problem was due to the non-existence of suitable vacuum tubes for transmitting purposes on shortwave, where higher powers were required.

During WW1, and particularly towards its end, shortwaves were in fact being used for army and air force signalling for short distances, where communications were crowded by the narrow fighting fronts. Frequencies of about 2 MHz were used with portable spark transmitters and occasional telephony.

It was during this period, and shortly after the end of WW1, that research was concentrated generally into the longwave and mediumwave regions.

After the end of hostilities, amateur radio involvement intensified, and experimenters were forced, by government regulations, into the shorter wavelength region, due to the official need to retain spectrum usage on the lower frequencies for the regular services.

The experimentation which was conducted on the higher frequencies soon revealed that long distance transmission was indeed possible, and rather than the shortwave spectrum being termed a kind of no man’s land, it rapidly developed in popularity, both for private experimenters and commercial enterprises alike.

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