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G3VGW  > SWL      26.07.04 07:51l 101 Lines 4801 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 259_GB7NOT
Read: GUEST DK5RAS
Subj: VLG Lyndhurst historic station
Path: DB0FHN<DB0RGB<OK0PPL<DB0RES<ON0AR<GB7CIP<GB7COV<GB7NOT
Sent: 040726/0604Z @:GB7NOT.#23.GBR.EU #:259 [Arnold Nottingham] FBB7.00i
From: G3VGW@GB7NOT.#23.GBR.EU
To  : SWL@WW

 
From:  G3VGW @ GB7NOT.#23.GBR.EU                 26 July 2004 
 
Hello SWLs, 
 
         Here is news  about  the  historic  short  wave  station  VLG  at 
Lyndhurst, Australia, by courtesy of Wolfgang, DF5SX...... 
 
------- 
 
AUSTRALIA. AUSTRALIAN RADIO ANNIVERSARY - VLG LYNDHURST 
 
         Another  nostalgic  callsign  during  the  Lyndhurst radio era in 
Australia was VLG, a callsign that was in use by both the ABC Home Service 
on  SW  as  well  as by Radio Australia in its external sces to Asia & the 
Pacific. 
 
         The Lyndhurst radio station, as was mentioned here in Wavescan  a 
few  months  back,  traces its earliest beginnings to the year 1928 when a 
small locally made tx was installed in a galvanized iron shed on  the  top 
of  a  small  hill  in  rolling  grazing  country  near Lyndhurst, east of 
Melbourne in Victoria. A more  substantial  building  was  constructed  in 
1935, 
 
         For  a  period  of  14 years, the VLR tx was the sole occupant at 
Lyndhurst until a new 10 kW unit was installed. The inauguration date  for 
this new SW unit was June 21, 1941, just a little over 63 years ago. 
 
         In  the original planning, this new 10 kW tx was intended to be a 
replacement unit for the original and lower powered VLR. However,  because 
of  the  pressing  needs of World War 2, both txs were needed for national 
and international coverage. 
 
         Back in mid 1941 when the new tx was taken into regular  sce,  it 
was  operated  on  air under the same callsign as the first original unit, 
VLR. For a period of a little over  a  month,  it  was  noted  on  air  in 
Australia,  New  Zealand and the United States with a relay of programming 
from "Australia Calling", Radio Australia. 
 
         This unit, constructed by STC-Australia, was heard  initially  on 
11880  kHz  as VLR3 and on 15230 kHz as VLR4. The usage of these callsigns 
was rather confusing due to the fact that the other VLR was  also  on  the 
air  with  the  same programming, and also because the other unit had also 
been identified previously as VLR3 & VLR4, though on different channels. 
 
         Because of this confusion, the new tx was re-identified on air  a 
month  later  under  a new callsign, VLG, beginning on August 24, 1941. At 
this stage, VLR3 became VLG5 and VLR4 became VLG6. It was on the air  part 
ime for both organizations, the ABC Home Service and "Australia Calling". 
 
         In the late 1950s, a new tx building was constructed over the old 
building and three new txs at 10 kW each were installed. These  units  had 
been  manufactured  by  RCA  in the United States for use in American navy 
vessels. It is probable that the original 10 kW STC tx with  the  callsign 
VLG  was  removed  from  sce  in  1958,  and the VLG broadcast sce was now 
carried by any of the three available units. 
 
         It was on June 1, 1951, that the numeric designators were changed 
so  that  the number following the callsign indicated the freq band. Thus, 
for example, VLG7 on 15160  kHz  became  instead  VLG15.  In  1961,  Radio 
Australia  dropped  the  on  air  usage of callsigns, though the ABC still 
announced them in their programming. 
 
         Some ten years later, the ABC discontinued the usage of the VLG 
sce and they used just two SW units on air, VLR & VLH. In 1966 a total of 
eight new SW txs were installed at Lyndhurst and the usage of the three 
battleship units was phased out. 
 
         It  was  on  June 12, 1987, that the last ABC broadcast was heard 
from Lyndhurst, though Radio Australia had closed out the  usage  of  this 
relay  station a few months earlier. The broadcast callsign VLG was in use 
in  era just after World War 1 by two coastal steamers in New  Zealand, 
the  "Maunganui"  (MAUN-ga-NOO-ee)  and the "Mangaia" (man-GUY- a), and it 
was in use as a broadcast sce from Lyndhurst for a period of 47 years. 
 
         Many QSL cards were issued over the years to verify the reception 
of  the  VLG  sces  from  Radio  Australia  and the ABC. From the ABC, the 
original QSL card was  a  simplified  text  card  in  black  print.  Radio 
Australia  issued  four different cards for the specific callsign VLG, and 
these were:- 
 
         The famous kangaroo card in orange The large circular map with 
Melboune as the centre of the world The well known yellow & blue map card; 
and Another map card with the Kookaburra (COOK-a-BUR-ra) superimposed. 
 
(Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan July 11 via John Norfolk, DXLD) 
 
------- 
 
         Danke Wolfgang! 
 
(Please note I am not the author of the above, just the packet postman!) 
 
         73, Richard  G3VGW @ GB7NOT  (Ambergate, Derbyshire, UK) 
 
(Edited & sent using a BBC Micro) 
 


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