VIM closing down The Argus Melbourne
Recognised text
Text below was produced by optical character recognition and may contain errors. Check it against the original.
The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1956), Saturday 5 March 1932, ...
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/de]/printAniclerg/4440122/3?print:y
lj{uth Graham.
‘VIM Closing
Down’’
AUSTRALIA'S FIRST
STATION.
By E. H. COX.
w HE oldest and une of the mwt soon after, avd the much lacger station at|
wleresting comumreinl wirelons Sydney followsd stil] later
statione in Austrelin will dis War Tims Sevvices. !
When the Melhourne station wus opetistl
for the Hret commercial serviess, it Wi
ant itsdevisiontodemolish 1he allotted the call sign POML » cull whach &
remains of the stetion which Cvw months leter Decamie the property of |
crowns 8 Httle Will iu the I CUvrmany by decisions of the Internationat
i, offDomeinroad. Rising1& height Wirelens ‘Iviflnmx Lonventivn of m\"»
iof [, the winglemast of this stetien The Dowmsin station, for oftivial purpomes.
has boen & femilinr landmark 0 Melbourne was techritesed VIM. It &mmi
for 21 years. In the course of e long Cronics] thet, having ywelded its origiasl
| existence millionsof words have pesssd to teall sign to the Uermane, the Melbourne
cund froalongfaserial. ‘station slmost immediately afterward was
? Thedemolitionoftheold Domanstation }wml agninet them with good effeet. Wma
| ruenlls & Inct, known o very few people, | thewarbroke
out, thestation, in common|
| that exmperiments in wireless communice [with the other Australian coastal stations,|
on were being conducted in Melbourne gvuhkumhyth‘@wfl Board. About
nearly 8 yewrs wgo, and that esrly ex- the station building barbed wire entangle
perviments in Melbourne were contempor. 1««»»&: were erected, aud dunng the years
woeous with those which Mareoni later iuflf war it was salways worked under an
brouaght to so brilliant & culmination, Mel | armed wunrd. The most intervsting time|
logrpe's Hrut wireless expenimenter was Jin the hstory of the statiom wies une||
Mr, 6. W, Selbs. wim pow lives 1 Fast donbtedly the tivst few mouths of the war. |
Malvern. By 1w Mr. Belby, who, iike LAt Hutmul the Germans had o fine wire |
| Marvemi, Sir Oiver Lodge, auf other varly | fote inaniatiation, and, although the fact was|
Cworkerw, adopted the strikiog laboratory f no disvovered until long afterward, fluy}
vxperiments of Henrwh Herte as the sturt. had even then completed pluns {or & direct
g posnts of experiraents i practical com. wireless serviee from their Pacific eolonies}
munwestion, had schieved much initial sue to Herlin, Fhis station in New Guines!
come. He had propared o aumber oi papers was within vasy rauge of the &laiWfi&,
disenening the possibiity of the commer- ixumm, whivh was weed until thwoorupmtion
el spplication of the elevtric waves din Lt German New Guines th tntererid fier
sonered by Herts, The usertanes of My i esmagve. AL B sanie Ly eBorts
Solhw's work was pet wgion fgatesd Pweve guide by the Naval depmsititest o
“i*
eqpes inite were laedly soderstosd vt T stubion for Camming” the Uherinan
Methwrarin stiprraln, o F oAramsmitting sinaianenoely with
It woas bedt t M PV
fawige, ith shunn
e bpmiava s e wave Jength thes
My Bethy was on P
wiabpratton, b avkonewirdpge Bs tesaits o ueag koo remier their messapes un
g
sout Britaim Shbhawigh Moo Sedbs b iteiiggibbe. These offarts, however, were
i hlwmd o prasbival sappert or his eaperi | unsuccesst il maiuly bevause of the greater
(mienits, he had the willrug snd warm oo | power emploved by the Germuans., Iu
operation of the Victerlan naval suthorities view of the movements of ransports
' before Federstion, Poction of hiv equip about the Aupstralian coast, the con-
[ment waer instalied on the old gunbogp) | *TANE coming and gomg b warships
‘ftmmpow & broukwaterst Black Rook, from Australian poris, the knowledge that
Thum{flmlumuémfiuur the Wolf wue in Avstralian waters, s
warships in the world, if not actually the !tcmfi that pther vablers might enter the
first, to be Bttedwithequipmient (or wire- [ Pacific, the next Tew years were extranely
lets cominunication, Despite this early sue !mw In 1916 & wew duty was allofted
cemn andthework ofotherexperimenters, it yfiu the Melbourne radio station, P nider
was pot wntd 1911 that the Domain station Vb direction of Commander ¥, G, Cres
wunrmum‘uflwfim&wnwm:n; well, oue of the Hrsl salve pecuvers used
in Mustyalis. The egupment for the | i Awstenlin wie instalied in the station,
stataon waw oearly all made st Rapdeick awd it was foand immediately that signals
by the Maritime Wireless Co. It was in- fram the high-powered German statious
stalled by the late Mr. J. G. Balbillie.
T wirslens slation wt Holwst wes vpwned|
moon after, and the much larger station st
Modemsne FnMlomisad atil? latow
National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4440122
2 0f2
9/24/2011 1:47 PM
From the Melbourne Argus 5th March 1932
"VIM Closing Down"
AUSTRALIA'S FIRST WIRELESS STATION.
By E. H. COX.
The oldest and one of the most interesting commercial wireless stations in
Australia will disappear in the next few weeks when the State Ministry carries
out its decision to demolish the remains of the station which crowns a little hill
in the Domain, off Domain road. Rising to a height of 180ft., the single mast
of this station has been a familiar landmark in Melbourne for 21 years. In the
course of its long existence millions of words have passed to and fro along its
aerial.
The demolition of the old Domain station recalls a fact, known to very few
people, that experiments in wireless communication were being conducted m
Melbourne nearly 40 years ago and that early experiments in Melbourne were
contemporaneous with those which Marconi later brought to so brilliant a
culmination. Melbourne's first wireless experimenter was Mr G. W. Selby, who
now lives in East Malvern. By 1896 Mr Selby, who, like Marconi, Sir Oliver
Lodge, and other early workers, adopted the striking laboratory experiments
of Henrich Hertz as the starting points of experiments in practical
communication, had achieved much initial success. He had prepared a
number of papers discussing the possibility of the commercial application of
the electric waves discovered by Hertz. The importance of Mr Selby's work
was not appreciated. His experiments were hardly understood in Melbourne.
It was left to Sir Oliver Lodge, with whom Mr Selby was in communication, to
acknowledge his results in Great Britain. Although Mr Selbv obtained no
practical support for his experiments, he had the willing and warm
cooperation of the Victorian naval authorities before Federation. Portion of his
equipment was installed on the old gunboat Cerberus, now a breakwater at
Black Rock. Thus the Cerberus was one of the first war-ships in the world, if
not actually the first, to be fitted with equipment for wireless communication.
Despite this early success and the work of other experimenters, it was not
until 1911 that the Domain station was opened as the first commercial station
in Australia. The equipment for the station was nearly all made at Randwick
by the Maritime Wireless Co. It was installed by the late Mr. J. G. Balsillie.
The wireless station at Hobart was opened soon after, and the much larger
station at Sydney followed still later.
War Time Services.
When the Melbourne station was opened for the first commercial services, it
was allotted the call sign POM, a call which a few months later became the
property of Germany by decisions of the International Wireless Telegraph
Convention of 1912. The Domain station for official purposes was
rechristened VIM. It is perhaps ironical that having yielded its original call sign
to the Germans, the Melbourne station almost immediately afterward was
used against them with good effect. When the war broke out, the station, in
common with the other Australian coastal stations, was taken over by the
Naval Board. About the station building barbed wire entanglements were
erected and during the years of war it was always worked under an armed
guard. The most interesting time in the history of the station was undoubtedlv
the first few months of the war. At Rabaul the Germans had a fine wireless
installation, and, although the fact was not discovered until long afterward,
they had even then completed plans for a direct wireless service from their
Pacific colonies to Berlin. This station in New Guinea was within easy range
of the Melbourne station, which was used until the occupation of German
New Guinea to intercept German messages. At the same time efforts were
made by the Navai department to use the station for "jamming" the German
signals or transmitting simultaneously with the Germans on the wave length
they were using to render their messages unintelligible. These efforts,
however, were unsuccessful, mainly because of the greater power employed
by the Germans. In view of the movements of transports about the Australian
coast, the constant coming and going of warships from Australian ports, the
knowledge that the Wolf was in Australian waters, and fears that other raiders
might enter the Pacific, the next few years were extremely busy. In 1916 a
new duty was allotted to the Melbourne radio station. Under the direction of
Commander F. G. Creswell, one of the first valve receivers used in Australia
was installed in the station, and it was found immediatley that signals from the
high-powered German stations at Nauen could be copied in Australia. It was
not until several years after the war that the first message was sent direct
from England to Australia. This was a message from Sir Joseph Cook, then
High Commisioner to Mr Hughes, then Prime Minister. It was received in
Sydney by Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia) Ltd. Actually, however,
about 1200 words a day of enemy messages sent from within the German
boundaries were received in Melbourne and Perth in the last two years of the
war.
After trhe war the Naval Board handed the Australian coastal stations back
to the Postal department and they were operated by that department until
1921, when they were transferred to the control of Amalgamated Wireless.
Just before the Postal department relinquished control of the Melbourne
station, a small wireless telephone transmitter was installed there, and it
provided some of the first broadcasting in Melbourne.
As broadcasting developed, it became apparent that the Domain site
would have to be abandoned as a transmitting centre. The siognals from the
transmitter caused severe interference with broadcast programmes in the
southern suburbs. The transmitter was remeoved to Braybrook by
Amalgamated Wireless in 1926; it has been there since. Until a year ago,
however, the Domain mast and aerial were used as the receiving post, the
transmitter being controlled from the Domain by means of land lines. About
a year ago the receiving equipment for the station was removed to Rockbank,
where the receivers for the beam wireless circuit also are installed and the
Domain site was abandoned. The removal of the old mast is strongly
recommended by those who remember its construction, as it is believed to be
unsafe. It is built up of a great number of planks of selected oregon timber,
each 18in. wide and 3in. thick, screwed together.