"Connecting radio, popular culture, history and heritage"
|
|
|
"Connecting radio, popular culture, history and heritage"
|
On April 28 1937, radio station 2ZB of the National Commercial Broadcasting Service began broadcasting to
Wellington from atop Mt Victoria, overlooking New Zealand’s capital city. The studios were located in the
Hope Gibbons Building on Dixon Street. The frequency was 1120kc on the medium wave dial...
Art of Amateur Radio Japan
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 "7K2BLP Moriyuki Furuya, Yokohama")
|
7K2BLP Moriyuki Furuya, Yokohama |
Quartz Hill Amateur Radio Station ZL6QH was based at an old short wave receiving station located about 30 minutes drive from central Wellington, New Zealand.
With a wide variety of aerials stretching across the hills of an exposed farm site overlooking the wild seas of Cook Strait, the site offered amateur radio operators a unique operations platform and a ZL contact eagerly sought after by thousands of amateurs around the world.
Thousands of the QSL cards received from these stations over the years have been preserved, and we're pleased to continue a new series featuring some of these cards.
Many amateur radio operators include entertaining art work on their personal QSL cards, and
here are some of the cartoon style characters featuring on a selection of such cards
from Japan.
> read more
 "UA3VSX Igor A Blokhin, Vladimir, Russia")
|
UA3VSX Igor A Blokhin, Vladimir, Russia |
In the first of this new series, amateur radio stations from around the world that have worked
ZL2ADN Palmerston North, New Zealand, are featured.
> read more
It’s around 90 years ago that the first Australian radio stations began broadcasting to a few enthusiastic early adopters of the new technology called wireless, and this is the kind of music that was popular at the time.
|
Australian Radio History |
Hello, I'm David Ricquish in the Wellington studios of Radio New Zealand International and
that was Louise Homfrey with her hit from 1927, "There's a Trick in Pickin' A Chick Chick
Chicken". Louise was born in New Zealand and actually christened with the name Hinemoa...
and started broadcasting in 1926 from Sydney radio station 2BL [which at that time was owned
by Sydney Broadcasters Limited].
> read more
 "Queen Elizabeth II")
|
Queen Elizabeth II broadcasting to the British Commonwealth from the New Zealand Broadcasting Service in Auckland, Christmas 1953 |
Princess Elizabeth was on holiday visiting Kenya in central Africa when news broke
that her father, King George VI had died, and she assumed the throne on February 6 1952.
Her coronation as Queen Elizabeth II took place the following year, 1953.
> read more
|
|
Kiwi Radio Campaign Sponsor |
Kiwi Radio Campaign Sponsor |
MELISSA KINEALY
Papakura Radio Club members will be making contact with people from all around the world during the Rugby World Cup.
But they won't be meeting them face-to-face. Instead they'll be using a special call sign – ZL6RWC – from September 1 to October 31.
|
|
RADIO SOUNDS: Papakura amateur radio club member David Karrasch can't wait to use the club's special world cup call sign. Photo: FIONA GOODALL |
"We expect to have it on air on two or three bands every day. It will be swamped."
He applied to the New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters for a call sign especially for the Rugby World Cup. The club's usual callsign is ZL1VK.
But club members won't be having lengthy banter with contacts. Most communication
is just an exchange of call signs, he says.
> read more
Station 4IP is owned and operated by the Ipswich Broadcasting Company Pty. Ltd. This up-to-date broadcaster was officially opened in September, 1935, and since its inception has provided high-class programmes for listeners in Ipswich and surrounding districts.
 "4IP listener card")
|
|
4IP listener card © Cleve Costello Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation |
The transmitter operates on a frequency of 1440 Kc’s with an aerial power of 200 watts.
Programmes are radiated daily from 6.30 a.m. to 10.00 p.m. Broadcasting activities are
handled by a competent staff, many with years of engineering, executive and writing
experience, and all with good educational backgrounds.
> read more
2QN is situated in the heart of the fertile and wealthy Riverina district of N.S.W. Its signal is heard far afield where the popularity of its programmes is reflected in the large mail which flows into the station every day.
 "John Pearce, 2QN")
|
|
John Pearce, 2QN |
2MW, owned and operated by the Tweed Radio & Broadcasting Coy. Pty. Ltd., has come a long way since the pre-war days of 37, 38 and 39.
 "2MW listener card c1950")
|
|
2MW Murwillumbah sent this card to a New Zealand listener around 1949 © Cleve Costello Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation |
Owing allegiance to no network, 2MW takes pride in being an independent unit in one of the
richest districts in Australia...
> read more
 "Original 3BA Ballarat logo")
|
|
The original 3BA Ballarat logo as seen on this letterhead detail from 1935 © Eric Shackle Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation |
Since commencing operations in July 1930, “The Voice of the Garden City” - 3BA Ballarat - has
progressed in every phase of broadcasting. Itself a city of over 40,000 inhabitants and over
400 factories, Ballarat is Victoria’s most productive and thickly populated area outside
Melbourne. 3BA services 19 per cent. of the population of Victoria other than Melbourne,
and a district producing 29 per cent. of the State’s wealth in 8 main primary products...
> read more
 "2KM QSL card 1944")
|
|
2KM "The Macleay River Station' sent this card to a listener in
1944 |
This station is operated by Radio Kempsey Limited, Head Office, Hosking House, Hosking Place, Sydney.
The Studio and Transmitter are at 61 Belgrave Street, Kempsey; Licensed and operating power, 500 watts;
wavelength, 306 metres; Frequency 980 Kilocycles...
> read more
 "VU2ZP Brochure Page 1")
|
This is the Army! On 20th January 1945, Colonel Melville C. Robinson, then commanding officer of Southern India Air Depot, conceived the idea of installing a radio station at this base. In the Army, thoughts - at least, the thoughts of a commanding officer - quickly lead to action. The wireless hummed with an exchange of messages while technicians and experts converged on Bangalore and planes transported equipment. Then, on the twenty-ninth of January, for the first time over the air were heard the words “This is Radio Station VU2ZP in Bangalore beginning its regular schedule of daily broadcast…” These words were spoken by Burt Urdank, the station’s first announcer, until that instant a motor pool dispatcher. And so was a radio station born. The initial staff consisted of three men: the base adjutant, Lt. Richard Gajewski ; Urdank ; and a former personnel clerk, Art Tracy. But like Topsy, the staff “just growed” until, in November, nine men were engaged in the turning of dials, repairing of equipment, writing of scripts, programming, newscasting, announcing - all dedicated to the improvement, of our precocious war baby...
> read more
In 1946, British announcer Peter Knowlden introduced radio programs to British Commonwealth Occupation Forces at Miho Airfield in Japan with the words ‘This is Station WLKT Miho operating on 14-40 kilocycles and 2-oh-8 metres’ and played Eric Coates’ “London Again” suite as his nightly signature tune.
His audience included Royal Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force and Royal Indian Air Force personnel, and he broadcast from a mobile radio station that was originally built in Melbourne, Australia for the AAAS – Australian Army Amenities Service – and had been allocated the call sign 9AM.
 "WLKT mobile truck studio")
|
WLKT broadcast from a mobile truck studio, like this one which later became the key AAAS station WLKS in Kure |
Peter says “I have no idea how that truck got to Miho, the roads were awful, but the railway line was excellent, so maybe it came that way.”
How did a British serviceman become the DJ on an Australian controlled radio station with
an American call sign operating in Japan?...
> read more
"97FM keeps us entertained at work and in the bar in the evenings" reports a winter staff member at the New Zealand Antarctic base writing on a recent blog for the UK Natural History Museum.
|
DJ Johnny 5 at 97FM Scott Base |
Melvin Bok was born in China in 1912 and lived in Peking.
Melvin developed an interest in radio from an early age. When he was only thirteen, he left school for a year to join a company run by an American in Peking named Warren E. Stimson. Stimson was an agent for the Kellogg Switchboard & Supply Company and also imported Crossly radios. Another role Stimson undertook was as a news agent listening to broadcasts in Morse code from the US using long-wave, there being no short-wave technology at the time. After the year was up, Melvin, who had by then learned Morse code, returned to school and started to make various ‘radio gadgets’, as he puts it, in his free time.
 "Kellogg Switchboard & Supply Company issued these original stock shares")
|
Kellogg Switchboard & Supply Company issued these original stock shares |
On completing his schooling in 1932, Melvin joined the AIU insurance group in Peking. Melvin admits
that he was less than enthusiastic about working as an insurance agent but he at least developed
some useful contacts. He continued to expand his knowledge of radios and, soon after joining the
company, built his first short-wave transceiver and became an avid radio ‘ham’.
> read more
|
 "Miss PeLung, youthful star at radio station XHHS, Shanghai")
|
Miss PeLung, youthful star at radio station XHHS, Shanghai. Although slow to accept radio as a popular pastime, China now is making rapid strides in that direction. |
From bustling Shanghai and fast-growing Nanking near the eastern coast, to Chengtu in
remote Szechuan province, from the far reaches of Hopei province in the north to Yunnan
in the extreme southwest, countless receivers blare forth a cacophony of western and
Chinese music, announcements, speeches. Out of the ether to hundreds of middle schools
come the lessons and exhortations of mass-education broadcasts. In shops and homes are
heard, in rapid succession, the traditional story-tellers of old Cathay and the swing music
of American jazz bands from the swank hotels and cabarets of Shanghai. And once a month,
to crowds reminiscent of World Series listeners in America come the stentorian voices of
announcers reciting the lucky numbers of the National Lottery.
> read more
3GL is owned and operated by the Geelong Advertiser, Victoria’s oldest morning journal, founded by John Pascoe Faulkner in 1840.
 "3GL QSL card 1949")
|
|
3GL issued this plain bold QSL to confirm reception in 1949 © Cleve Costello Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation |
3GL commenced operations in November, 1931, being the second country
station established in Victoria. It is now in its fifteenth year of
operation. The power is 500 watts, its frequency 1350K.C. (222 metres).
It gives continuous service - Monday to Saturday from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.,
and on Sunday 8 a.m. to 10.15 p.m.
> read more
Station 2KA first went on the air on September 7th, 1935 with studios and transmitter at Medlow Bath. Early in 1937 the studios were established in the main street of Katoomba.
The present transmitter with its giant twin steel towers, the tops of which are over 3,000 feet above sea level, was erected in 1938. The transmitter, which is capable of putting 2,000 watts into the aerial, was built for 2KA by Amalgamated Wireless. The station was granted an increase to its present aerial power of 1,000 watts in June, 1938, and since that time excellent response has been received from most parts of the State. Mail arrives regularly from listeners outside the 50 mile radius.
 "2KA listener confirmation 1944")
|
|
2KA issued this listener confirmation in 1944 © Keith Robinson Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation |
 "2GF")
|
Station 2GF commenced operations on December 15th, 1937. It transmits on a Wave Length
of 248 Metres (1210 K.C.’s). 2GF has made continual progress, and all of the best Shows
are heard from this Station, either on Relay or Transcription. The Station takes a very
active part in local affairs and renders many services to the community. It is situated
in one of the wealthiest areas of the North Coast of New South Wales, and has become an
integral part of the community life in Grafton and District.
> read more
|
Misamari Air Force Base with airfield tower, 1944 © Walt Newman at www.thebicyclingguitarist.net |
Sgt. Fishman of 1327 BU Hopes for All-India Coverage
1327 BU, ASSAM - A 50-watt transmitter can’t quite compare with NBC or CBS but it is definitely better than none.
Anyway, that’s the opinion of the founder and program director of radio station VU2ZS,
Sgt. Lawrence J. Fishman, and his listeners. And, if ambition is any indication of the
future, the present 20-mile radius of the station someday will grow to an India-wide coverage.
> read more
|
VU2ZP Bangalore staff used this business card in 1945 © Arthur J Tracy Collection |
By SGT. CHARLES KELLOGG Roundup Assistant Editor
Late in the evening of December 9, a khaki-clad GI leaned close to a microphone in what had once been an unused warehouse on the giant Southern India Air Depot of the USAAF in Bangalore and said simply: “This is VU2ZP, your Armed Forces radio station, signing off the air for the last time.”
With those words there came to an end broadcasting activities which started
on January 29, only nine days after Col. Melville C. Robinson, the commanding
officer of Southern India Air Depot, made known to AFR the need for a radio
station at the sprawling air base, located in the south central part of India.
> read more
On JANUARY 20, 1945, Colonel Melville C. Robinson, then commanding officer of the Southern India Air Depot at Bangalore, conceived the idea of installing a radio station at that base. The wireless hummed with an exchange of messages while technicians and experts converged on Bangalore and planes transported equipment.
Then on January 29th, for the first time over the air were heard the words, “This is Radio Station VU2ZP in Bangalore beginning its regular schedule of daily broadcasts...”. These words were spoken by Burt Urdank, the station’s first announcer, until that instant a motor pool dispatcher. And so a radio station was born.
 "Tower of VU2ZP Bangalore")
|
The broadcast tower of VU2ZP Bangalore, India |
The initial staff consisted of three men: the base adjutant, Lt. Richard Gajewski;
Urdank; and a former personnel clerk, Art Tracy. But like Topsy, the staff “just growed”
until in November nine men were engaged in the turning of dials, repairing of equipment,
writing of scripts, programming, newscast-ing announcing - all dedicated to the
improvement of the precocious war baby.
> read more
By SGT. ART HEENAN Roundup Staff Writer
Radio executive and advertising agencies need have few worries that when the millions of overseas servicemen return home they will disgustedly turn off commercial plugs, with the comment that they have grown used to hearing the best of programs without having to listen to an announcer tell of the benefits of Nine Star Headache tablets.
At least that is the opinion of Theater Radio Officer Lt. Robert F. Black, who heads
the India-Burma network of the U.S. Armed Forces Radio stations.
> read more
Roundup Staff Article
BHAMO - Our G.I. radio stations in this Theater are doing an exceedingly professional job. In Delhi, Calcutta, Kandy, Bangalore, Ramgarh, Agra, Ledo, Shingbwiyang, Tezpur, Jorhat, Gaya, Chabua, Karachi, Myitkyina and Bhamo, American air waves are carrying American programs to American troops.
According to broadcasting experts with whom I have talked, at least three of these stations could
prosper in the States as commercial enterprises on the basis of their entertainment value.
One of them is our most forward station, WOTO, in the heart of North Burma.
> read more
By SGT. GEORGE GINGELL
The great pulse of the Ledo Road has slowed down. The thousands of men and machines that manned the incredible supply line to China have gone. The pipeline is no more and the jungle is fast creeping in along the way that once swarmed with platoons, companies and battalions of Service Troops. Among the landmarks to disappear in the wake of departing men were the Armed Forces Radio Stations.
 "Part of the staff which once operated VU2ZN at Ledo")
|
This is part of the staff which once operated VU2ZN at Ledo. Left to right are S/Sgt. George Gingell, Lt. L. M. George and T/3 Walter Flint, all three now at VU2ZY in New Delhi, and S/Sgt, Rob Spiros, now en route to the U.S |
Since 1944, troops along the road had been provided
with Stateside radio entertainment by a chain of broadcasting
stations known as the India-Burma Network.
Men in Chabua, Shinghwiyang, Myitkyina, Ledo and
Bhamo were entertained from early morning until late
night by the finest radio programs in the world.
> read more
Previous Home Page material is still available through
From David's Desk
A Warm Pacific Welcome
Welcome! Here, you'll find features, pictures, personalities, commercial art, radio station guides, audio and more connecting popular culture, nostalgia and radio heritage across the Pacific.
Annual Supporter Rates
Regular US$25 Contributing US$50 Sponsor US$100 Other options "It's been a pleasure to support you in the small ways we've been
able to"
|
Air Adventures of Jimmie Allen, ZB Network 1939
Adrian Peterson
David Ricquish
Aaron Skudder
Jonathan Marks
May 2012
May 2012
Tema Beach Bungalow
Enjoy a refreshing beach stay at our heritage 1920's beach bungalow in New Zealand.
Full details.
'The sound of a generation captured on a T-shirt.'
© Radio Heritage Foundation 2004 - 2012 with thanks to: 
|
 "NZ 1937 2YD On Air")
 "NZ 1937 2ZB on Way")
