History of wireless telegraphy and broadcasting in Australia/Topical/Publications/Australian Radio History/On this day/November

On this day - November

1 November

4MK Mackay 1981 They commenced 24 hour broadcasting.

2DU Dubbo 1982: They opened a relay transmitter at Cobar.

2BE Bega 1986: The station was sold to music promoter Glenn Wheatley.

2 November

1923: Millswood Auto and Radio Company in Adelaide was issued with a commercial licence as 5MA which never went to air.

4QG Brisbane 1936: One of their cricket commentators died while live on air.

2GB Sydney 2014: Ratings results included the 100th consecutive win for announcer Alan Jones.

3 November

4GY Gympie 1941. A 4BK bid to obtain this licence failed. Started by Steve Fittell (4JO 1929), from Fittells Radio Service. Their opening broadcast was from the Olympia Theatre, with entertainment by local groups. Money raised went to “Liberty”, a group aiding women whose husbands were at WWII.

4 November

1945: Hector Crawford established Crawford Productions to produce radio programs.

5 November

1932: A proposal that all non-metropolitan stations should use longwave instead of mediumwave was considered.

6 November

2BE Sydney 1929: Sydney’s third commercial station closed due to bankruptcy.

7 November

2BE Sydney 1924. Launched by Burgin Electric Company using 100 watts. First started as experimental licence 2WV in 1922. Phone No. 141. Manager was Oswald Mingay (2XX) who manufactured and sold his Mingay radios.

8 November

9AF Labuan (Borneo) 1945. Launched as an Australian Army Amenities station. Their Commanding Officer was 5AD and 5RM announcer Lieutenant K. Crossman. Their chief announcer was Warrant Officer Bert Wooley from 5DN. Other announcers were Ken Austin from 9AP, 2GZ, 3SR, and 3UL, and Warrant Officer Chris Lymons from 5CL. Their Chief Technician was Ernie Higgenbottom from 3AR.

9 November

2NU Tamworth 1948. A.B.C. Relay of 2BL. Opened by the A.B.C. Chairman, R. Boyer, with a temporary studio in the Town Hall.

6WB Katanning 1972: They were bought by 6IX.

10 November

2XT Rural N.S.W. 1925. A.W.A. experimental train broadcast station. Nicknamed “The Great White Train”. World’s first complete mobile radio station. Operated in over 100 rural N.S.W. towns (first was Gosford) broadcasting local programs and advertisements. On air for five days in each town 1600-1700 and 1900-2030. Spent two days travelling between towns, and setting up equipment. Heard throughout Australia, New Zealand, and Papua. Their Sales Manager, Charles Coldwell, was later the first manager of 2GF.

11 November

2MK Bathurst 1925. Owned by Mockler Bros., with manager Trevor Evans (VK2NS), and only two licensed listeners in Bathurst. On air 14 hours per week with 250 watts. Sold crystal sets with a five mile range for two guineas. They closed in December 1930.

3HA Hamilton 1975: The station was destroyed by a fire.

7HO Hobart 1990: Moved to F.M.

12 November

4MK Mackay 1937: The Daily mercury bought a half share in the station and increased the on-air hours from two to three each evening.

13 November

2WEB Bourke 1978. Community (originally educational) licence. Western Education Bourke. The three letter callsign was issued in error by the A.B.T. under the misapprehension that they were an F.M. station.

14 November

2CA Canberra 1931. Launched by Jack Ryan – VK2LE (a WW1 signaller) in his Kingston radio shop with a 50 watt transmitter, built by himself. Received 17 letters from New Zealand after the reception of their first broadcast. 16 year old George Barlin, Jack’s only employee, worked as technician, salesman, announcer, and copywriter (he was later first manager of CTC-7 TV).

15 November

4BK Brisbane - 4AK Oakey 1941: Sold to the Courier Mail, with the slogan “The Newspaper of the Air”.

2TR Taree 1948. A.B.C. Originally a relay of 2NC Newcastle, then 2NR Grafton. Has relayed 2KP in Kempsey (now Port Macquarie) since 22-4-1996.

16 November

2FC Sydney 1923: They commenced testing their transmitter by using several receivers situated on top of the Carrington hotel in Katoomba.

3YB Mobile 1935: Closed after four years moving around Victoria in a model T Ford and then a train.

17 November

9AJ Solomon Islands 1945. Launched as an Australian Army Amenities station at Bosley Field, Bougainville. Their station manager was Sergeant George from 2GZ. They also had a mascot cat called ‘Mike’. Their most requested record was “I’ll be spending Christmas with the old folks”. The photo includes their mascot cat.

18 November

5KA Adelaide 1946: Announcer Jack Hume launched the first Australian radio station strike in 1946 when management refused to get rid of a flea infestation. Photo is David ‘Daisy’ Day and Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum.

19 November

2GO Gosford 1971. First Central Coast station. Started by Tom Jacobs (2RE and 2SM) and Keith Graham (2MO, 2WG, and 7HO). Keith later established the Wesgo network. Their directional antenna was one of only three in Australia using three towers.

20 November

5CL Adelaide 1924. Launched by Central Broadcasters Ltd., situated in two horse stables with no sound proofing. Started as experimental licence 5AB on 5-4-1924. Broadcast the world’s first description of a full horse race meeting. Closed December 1924, using their equipment to launch 5BF. Reopened on 16-12-1924 using 500 watts with Harry Kauper (5BG/5DN) as Chief Engineer. (He later started 5AD in 1930). Their applications for licences in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, and Launceston were rejected. Often heard in the Philippines and the U.S.A.

21 November

1966: New Zealand pirate radio station Radio Hauraki begins test transmissions.

22 November

1938: Letter to the Editor “I am a constant ‘listener-in’ to 2BL and I write to say that, with one exception, your programmes are excellent. The exception is ’news items’ with murders, suicides, accidents, deaths etc., with all the harrowing details making up the major portion of 2BL news. Do Sydney papers not publish anything else but this of news? If so, why not broadcast it?

23 November

2SB Sydney 1923. Sydney Broadcasters Ltd. Their first Directors included Will MacLardy (2HP), S. Colville (2FA), R. Fry (2KC), and Cecil Stevenson (2IY). Cecil Stevenson (later 2UE), designed and built their 500 watt transmitter. Installed and operated by Ray Allsop (2YG and 2ZH) on 857 KHz. Joe Reed (2JR) was their first Chief Engineer. First commercial licence in the Southern hemisphere. Often heard in Hawaii and California. Changed their callsign to 2BL (Sydney Broadcasters Ltd) on 1-3-1924.

1978: A.M. frequency spacing was reduced from 10 KHz. to 9 KHz. creating twelve extra medium wave channels.

2WS West Sydney 1978. Opened at 1224 A.M. on 1224 KHz. with 5,000 watts. Their Managing Director was Keith Graham from 2GO as were many of their announcers (both stations later merged as the Wesgo network). A legal challenge to their licence by 2SM was lost. Originally licensed to cover only Western Sydney (Parramatta to Emu Plains), with a transmitter at Prospect. First known as “Your Station 2WS 1224”. Their directional antenna is one of only three in Australia that use three towers.

24 November

1924: The Adelaide Advertiser, under the heading “THE BROADCAST PROBLEM – 5CL”, stated “One might provide oneself with a receiving set, but what if there is nothing to listen to, or if the transmitter is put to such poor use as to make the invention next to worthless, except as a scientific curiosity”.

25 November

6NW Port Hedland 1977. Commercial licence with Classic Hits programs. Now part of the Spirit Radio Network in Perth, with most programs from their Perth studio, but with some local programs.

26 November

4QN Townsville 1936. A.B.C., relaying 4QG with some local programs. Closed at 1800 during WWII as their signal made Townsville a night-time bombing target. Warned by the P.M.G. that their licence would be cancelled if they continued to broadcast adult material during children’s program times.

27 November

6IX Perth 1933. Owned by West Australian Newspapers and 6ML with a 180 feet tower on their building, relaying to 6WB and 6MD. Became a Major (2UE) Network station, then changed to the Macquarie (2GB) Network in 1950 (6PR did the reverse). Criticised in 1955 for looking interstate for announcers, stating that local candidates didn’t meet required standards. A Melbourne listener won a car as the only correct entrant in a competition. First in Perth to try ‘Talkback’ in 1965, and first with a Top 40 Hit Parade.

3EON Melbourne 1988: They changed their on-air callsign to 3MMM with the slogan “Triple Your Music”.

28 November

7DY Derby 1951: Their tower was destroyed by a storm.

29 November

3AK Melbourne 1931. Owned by Akron Tyre Co. Started in the owners bedroom (George Palmer at Balwyn), then at his tyre business. Most programs were concerts from their Queen Street (later Bourke Street) studios. Known as “The Voice of the Night” with 200 watts, on air 2330-0200, and 0500-0700, then all night from 1937 until 1954.

3GG Warragul 1989. (Originally 3UL Warragul 18-5-1937). (Greater Gippsland). Moved to Traralgon with their new callsign, selling their Warragul building, which they later bought back, moving back to Warragul. Owners have included Reg Grundy Capital, Macquarie Regional Radioworks, and Resonate Broadcasting.

30 November

4HI Emerald 1981. Heart of the Inland. Sold to Ray Rumble in June 1988.

5AL Alice Springs 1948. A.B.C. Started as a relay of 5CL, with studios situated next to the Court House. On air 0630-1000, 1200-1430, 1700-2230. Changed their callsign to 8AL on 5-7-1960, and became a relay of 8DR with some local programs. Now covers all of inland Australia with a separate short wave service. Callsign 5AL was first allocated to an Army station at Adelaide River in March 1944.