THE HISTORY OF SHORTWAVE RADIO IN AUSTRALIA

1925 - First Shortwave Stations in Western Australia

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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

6WF Perth
1925
The first shortwave commercial operations in Australia were pioneered by the Perth station 6WF, which conducted special tests, on about 3 MHz in 1925, using the call sign 6AG.

VK6ME
January 27 1937
Available radio records would suggest that the first program broadcast from a new shortwave station in Western Australia took place on this date

This is how it all happened.  Back in April 1936, unannounced test broadcasts were heard from a shortwave station with the callsign VK2MD.  These test broadcasts on 34 metres consisted of informal readings from a technical radio manual.  The transmitter location was the AWA radio factory located at Ashfield on the outer edge of Sydney.

At the time it was conjectured that this new transmitter was intended for installation at Suva, capital of the South Pacific islands of Fiji.  All enquiries made to AWA remained ignored and unanswered.  

As it happened, two broadcast transmitters were under construction at the AWA radio factory around the same time.  Subsequent events confirm that these two transmitters were a 200 watt unit that was installed as VK6ME at Perth in Western Australia, and a 500 watt unit that was installed as VPD2 at Suva in Fiji. 

Although it is not stated anywhere, it is quite possible that both transmitters were tested on-air at the factory around the same time under the callsign VK2MD.  There are no known QSLs confirming the reception of these test broadcasts from VK2MD.

The 500 watt transmitter that was installed in Suva, Fiji, supplemented the coverage of an earlier unit at the same location, and it was officially inaugurated on August 19, 1936.  Many QSL cards were issued to verify the transmissions from VPD2, and these were posted in both Sydney and Fiji.

The AWA shortwave unit that became VK6ME was installed in a small transmitter building at the Applecross Transmitting Station that was in use as a communication facility.  Transmitter VIP was on the air with transcontinental traffic to Sydney; transmitter VJP was in use for traffic with coastal and regional locations in Western Australia; and transmitter VKK was in use for overseas traffic.

The earliest known test transmissions from VK6ME were noted in the United States towards the end of 1936.  However, available evidence would suggest that some form of program broadcasting began on January 27, 1937 using studios in a nearby residence on the same estate at Applecross, in suburban Perth, half way to the port city, Freemantle.  Perhaps this date was chosen in honor of "Australia Day."

March 22 1937
The official inauguration of the new VK6ME was conducted with speeches and messages.

This station was on the air just one evening a week, Sundays, on 9590 kHz, the same channel as used on other days of the week by the sister station VK2ME in Sydney.

At the onset of the European emergency at the beginning of September 1939, program broadcasting from VK6ME was terminated and the transmitter was taken into service for high speed telegraphy.  In 1942 the transmitter was re-installed into the main transmitter

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