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Australian Coastal Radio Service, 1912-2012
Image: Handbook - Radiotelephone Ship Station Operators, Melbourne Coastal Radio Station, 1992
Source: Museum Victoria
The first Australian Coastal Radio Station opened in Melbourne's Domain on 8th February 1912. It was part of the Commonwealth Government decision to build a network of stations around Australia. By 1914 there were 19 Coastal Radio Stations in the network at: Melbourne, Hobart, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Thursday Island, Port Moresby, Mount Gambier, Geraldton, Rockhampton, Cooktown, Esperance, Townsville, Broome, Darwin, Flinders Island, Roebourne and Wyndham.
In 1914, regulations governing safety at sea were established at the International Conference on Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) in London. The conference had taken to heart the lessons learnt from the sinking of the Titanic in April 1912.
The principal means of communication of the Coastal Radio Stations was morse telegraphy. By the late 1920s, electronic valve equipment had replaced the original spark gap transmitters and crystal detectors.
In 1947, the Overseas Telecommunications Commission (Australia) took over responsibility for the coastal network. Use of maritime communication rapidly increased until the 1990s, for example six new stations were built in the 1960s. Decline in use set in when satellite technologies were introduced in the early 1990s and many stations were closed or downgraded.
In 1992, the Overseas Telecommunications Commission (Australia) was merged with Telecom to form Telstra.
On 31st January 1999 the morse telegraphy service was closed down after 87 years.
In 2000, a contract was awarded to a New Zealand company to build two new digitally based stations in Western Australia and Queensland, remotely controlled from Canberra. These stations provide weather and navigation warnings to shipping over 300 gross tonnes using radio and satellite. Ships less than 300 gross tonnes are served by radio networks controlled by State Governments.
All the Telstra Coastal Radio Stations were closed down on 30 June 2002.
References
Hewitson, Peter 2007, 'A brief history of the Australian Coastal Radio Service' Australian MCS http://coastradio.info/history.html, accessed Mar 2012
Items per page: 10 50 (showing 1 - 10) 260 items
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Appreciation Plaque - Currie Cruise, Melbourne Coastal Radio Station, 1997
Wooden plaque, 'With thanks to Melbourne Radio VIM for supporting the 1997 Currie Port Phillip to Port Lincoln Cruise'. The organiser of the cruise was the Brighton Yacht Club. This pl ...
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Appreciation Plaque - Hidden Harbour Yacht Squadron to Melbourne Radio & Staff, 1991
Wooden plaque presented 'In appreciation of diligent & dedicated service to vessels at sea, September 1991' by the Hidden Harbour Yacht Squadron. This plaque was collected from the Mel ...
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List - OTC, Australian Seaphone Channels, circa 1992
List of Australian Seaphone Channels on a wooden clipboard. This equipment was collected from the Melbourne Coastal Radio Station after it was closed in July 2002. In addition to commu ...
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Clipboard - Radiant Durable, 1966-2002
Masonite clipboard, labelled 'VIM'. It was collected from the Melbourne Coastal Radio Station after it was closed in July 2002. In addition to communications equipment and documentation ...
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Clipboard with Fax - Radiant Durable, Melbourne Coastal Radio Station, 1990-2002
Masonite clipboard holding faxed traffic list report. This clipboard and fax were collected from the Melbourne Coastal Radio Station after it was closed in July 2002. In addition to co ...
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Clipboard - Daily PDO Schedule, Melbourne Coastal Radio Station, 2002
Masonite clipboard holding 7 'Daily PDO Schedule (ET Time Order)' sheets dated 30 June 2002. This clipboard and documents were collected from the Melbourne Coastal Radio Station after ...
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Mouse Pad - Microsoft, Melbourne Coastal Radio Station, 1990-2002
Anti-Static Mouse Pad used by operators in the Melbourne Maritime Radio Station. This equipment was collected from the Melbourne Coastal Radio Station after it was closed in July 2002. ...
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Mouse Pad - Mouse Systems, Melbourne Coastal Radio Station, 1990-2002
Mouse Pad used by operators in the Melbourne Maritime Radio Station. This equipment was collected from the Melbourne Coastal Radio Station after it was closed in July 2002. In addition ...
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Framed Certificate - Presented to Telstra-Melbourne Radio Maritime Communication Station, ...
Framed Certificate presented to the Telstra-Melbourne Radio Maritime Communication Station by the Engineering Faculty, Communication Department, HMAS Cerberus, 27 May 1998. This equi ...
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Safety Helmet - Telstra, 1993-2002
Telstra Safety Helmet (Hard Hat). This equipment was collected from the Melbourne Coastal Radio Station after it was closed in July 2002. In addition to communications equipment and ...
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