Marconi Special Event Callsigns Logging and QSL
VI2MARCONI, VI3MARCONI, VI4MARCONI, VI5MARCONI, VI6MARCONI, VI7MARCONI, VI8MARCONI, VI9MARCONI, VI10MARCONI, VI11MARCONI
On 22nd September 1918 the first direct wireless messages from The United Kingdom were received in Australia. The messages were transmitted from the Marconi station at Waunfawr, near Carnarvon, in Wales and were received at the home of Ernest Fisk, the Managing Director of Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia) Limited (A.W.A.).
Two messages were sent, one from the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr. W.M. "Billy" Hughes who was in England trying to raise enthusiasm within Australia for the Australian war effort in Europe, and a second from the Minister for the Navy, Sir Joseph Cook, who accompanied Hughes.
The messages were received by Fisk at his Experimental Wireless Station at Wahroonga, New South Wales, with apparatus designed and manufactured in Sydney by himself and the Staff of Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia) Limited.
At a time when the fastest form of communication was a relay of telegraph messages, instantaneous wireless communications from the UK to Australia was a major technological achievement.
This year, being the 100th anniversary of that radio transmission, the WIA, Ku-ring-gai Historical Society, the Hornsby and Districts Amateur Radio Club (HADARC), and the Dragon Radio Club in Wales, are holding a significant event to commemorate this major achievement near the original receiving site; the Fisk home in Sydney on Saturday the 22nd September. Information about the event is on the websites of HADARC: hadarc.org.au, and the WIA website www.wia.org.au.
The WIA is supporting this event by holding a month long special-event on-air amateur radio activity. Special event callsigns have been issued to operators in each Australian State and Territory, and will be on-air throughout the month of September. Additionally, the callsign VK100MARCONI has been issued to HADARC for their use during the commemorations and will be activated from 22 September through to 21 October.
All logs will be uploaded and available to be searched using your callsign at www.silvertrain.com.au
Please note the QSL is on line only. You can confirm your contact by going to www.silvertrain.com.au and searching the Marconi event data base.
Comments