Amateur radio provided a very valuable service when radio, telephone and telegraph systems between Darwin and other capital cities were giver the severest possible test following the effects of the cyclone
which struck during the early hours of Christmas morning, 1974.

Except for those who were directly affected by the cyclone, the tragic event is fading in the memory of most people. Yet, one aspect of the disaster which touched everybody in Australia was the impact that radio and television made throughout the nation in sponsoring large fund raising appeals to assist those who lost homes and personal possessions.

Radio also played a major role in providing communication during relief operations. In addition to the normal channels provided by the OTC, amateur radio through the Wireless Institute Civil Emergency Network (WICEN) gave valuable service.
Contrary to reports which appeared in some of the major daily news- papers, Darwin was not at any time compietely devoid of official communication channels with other parts of the continent, in particular, Syd ney and Canberra.

The value of amateur radio, as a service available to the community in times of emer- gency, was shown beyond doubt and on a scale never before called-upon.

However. it is unfortunate that many daily press reports referred to the work by amateur radio. not out of regard for it as a service, but to boost veiled criticism of the PMG. OTC and military communication services.

Much harm can be done to amateur radio status in government administrative circles if exaggerated claims-such as being the only of communication out of Darwin immediately following the cyclone-are per-petuated by amateurs themselves.

What is true is that the amateur network linked all areas of the continent. In addition to Darwin, the network contained stations in Gove, Mount Isa. Cairns. Townsville, Mackay. Rockhampton. Brisbane. Lismore. Sydney, Canberra. Cooma. Melbourne, Birchip. Ade- laide, Alice Springs and Perth. There were many more stations maintaining a listening watch on the channel, participating only if required to assist as a fill-in relay point. Many stations were on standby around the twenty-four hours of each day and the total number of operators probably runs into several hundred. The total number of messages handled was no doubt very large.

Details of all amateur participation probably never will be fully recorded. However, one authentic report on the initial action and activi ties, during the three days following the cyclone. has been provided by Garry Gibson. VK2BNN and his wife Wendy. VK2BYL, whom I had the pleasure to meet and hear first hand their experiences and impressions of what took place.

Early in December. 1974, Garry, Wendy, and nine month old daughter Korin, moved from Sydney to Darwin, where Garry was to take a position as TV technician at the Darwin Community College. Casuarina, about 14 kilometres from the city. Until three days before Christmas. when they moved into their own house, they had stayed at a motel. The cyclone flattened the motel. but only the roof was torn from the house. Sheltering for the night in a cupboard they escaped injury. The SSB transceiver which he had placed in the protection of the cupboard also escaped damage. But not so the power supply which had been overlooked and was saturated with water.

The story as related by Garry and Wendy. tells of setting up a station, the equipment used and the untiring assistance given by many who. like themselves, took shelter in the college.

However, to quote Garry. “The original in- tention of setting up the station was not to call for assistance, but to aquaint amateurs in the eastern states of the devastation caused by the cyclone and how we. and others had fared”.

About 7:00am on Christmas morning Garry and his family moved from their house to the very much less damaged college building. Thanks to his initiative. assisted by Wendy and members of the college staff, by about 10.00am his Hallicrafters SR 150 transceiver was on the air. This was the station which was to play a major role in handling emergency traffic out of Darwin.

At this stage the transceiver was fed into a CODAN aerial coupling unit and a 10 metre length of wire tied at arms height to a pole near one of the college rooms. This room became the emergency communication centre for the Darwin amateur net.

The initial call was made on approximately 14.110MHz, under the call sign VK2BNN/P8 but no replies were received. While Garry and others were considering what could be done to improve performance, Trever (Slim) Jones, who had come to lend a hand, gave a call on Garry’s equipment, using his own call sign, VK8JT, and was answered by Ken McLaughlin, VKAH, in Melbourne. Several other contacts were made and when it became obvious that emergency traffic was to be handled. the call sign VK8JT was retained to avoid possible confusion.

Shortly after a very large network formed on the frequency ready, if required, to handle emergency traffic to administrative authorities and other organisations assisting in relief and evacuation work. The net control station was in Melbourne.

Two who played a major part in maintaining the Darwin station, and VHF links established later, were Nigel Muddle and Joe Maidens Nigel was the electronics teacher at the college, had been a commercial operator, and was capable of operating on CW should the necessity (arise). He assisted greatly in maintenance and traffic clearing. Joe was the maintenance mechanic who brought the college 2.5kVA petrol-electric generator into operation. The small fuel tank required refilling every 1.5 hours and Joe did not have more than 90 minutes rest at any one period for three days.

In addition there were about 20 persons assisting by doing the footwork around the station, particularly between the college and the Casuarina Police Station before a VHF link was established. This link originally consisted of a hand-held walkie-talkie operating on the police frequency, until the batteries ran down and the charger could not be located.

The link was re-established several hours later with commercial 67MHz units, flown in from Mount Isa.

Attempts were made to set up a link between the college and Darwin Police Headquarters but permission to do so was refused. All traffic was via the link with the Casuarina police und then relayed to Darwin.

From early Christmas evening a senior police officer was at the station to authenticate messages. These officers gave much needed assistance in obtamig such things as peirol to keep the generator operating and a hand held bair drier to dry out equipment This included the transceiver power supply, from which the filter capacitors had boen removed and strung outboard to allow the moisture absorbent casings to dry out.

Another link, established and manned by army personnel, operated between the college and the evacuation centre Darwin. This link was completely independent and did not tie in with the amateur and police link. The equipment was a type 25 set.

Except for short periods while refuelling the generator und the re-assembling of the power supply. Garry’s Hallicrafter SR ISO was in continuous operation for three days. On the evening of the 27th they received am FIJOIB, flown in by Owen Marshall, VK&OM, in his private air-craft. Doug McArthur, VKSKK, also arrived about the same time.

During that period the acrial system at the college had been upgraded to an inverted “V” dipole, with the apex about 5 metres above ground. Also a 7MHz dipole was made up by Wendy for use if it became necessary to operate on that band.

Until the evening of Christmas Day. when a duplicate-copy book was found, log sheets were used as message forms to the Casuarina Police Station. It appears certuin that the records of the traffic handied during that period have been lost. Nor is it possible to recall many events. Due to the almost continuous operation, even keeping track of the days became a probiem.

After the station had been closed as an official emergency unit, inquiries were being received about stretcher cases, who had been evacuated, from relatives still in Darwin who were com-cerned about their welibeing. Permission to handle this type of third party message was nitially refused. But a telegram to the Postmas-ter-General repeated as information to the Prime Minister, reversed the situation. A reply authorising such traffic was received within twenty minutes.

Conditions on 14MHz in Darwin during the period was good most of the time, especially from Queensland stations, and at times Melbourne. Maximum signal strength nearly all the time was received from VKSCW in Alice Springs

During the first day of operation the 14MHz net frequency was kept clear. By the end of the second day interest by the onlookers appeared to wane and interference on the channel increased consideranv

During the first three days the amateurs operating the station were Garry VK2BNN. Trevor (Slim) VK8JT. and Wendy. VK2BYL

Wendy took turns operating during the quieter periods of the night. Maintenance, which was not without its problems, was by Garry Gibson and Nigel Muddle. The generator serviced by Joe Maidens, not only supplied power for the transceiver and VHF units, but also for makeshift coolrooms for food storage. At one period more than 100 adults and a number of small children were sheltering at the college waiting to be evacuated.

Nigel Muddie had, just prior to Christmas, applied for an amateur licence but had not received a reply. He and Garry had planned to start an amateur radio course at the college.

Apart from the operations at the college at Casuarina, the first amateur to make contact from Darwin on Christmas morning was Bob Hooper, VK 8RR operating mobile from Fanny Bay. This contact was with Harry Simpson, VK6HS at 0915 Darwin time. Details of the damage caused by the cyclone was passed by VK6HS to Perth Radio.

Bob Hooper is manager of OTC station VID

Darwin and was apparently endeavouring to make his way to the station at Parap.

To further clarify the communication story, here are some details from Walter (Blue) Eas-terling, VK2ABL, of the staff of OTC Sydney.

The OTC Darwin Coast Radio Station was relocated at Parap in 1948-1949, 7 kilometres from the city. There has always been a bad ORN (static) problem in Darwin and OTC had sited remote receivers at the DCA station at Lee Point, with a 160MHz link to Parap, and one at the PMG station on Cox Peninsula, linked through a microwave bearer to the Mitchell Street exchange in Darwin then by landline to Parap. There were also backup receivers at Parap.

Like other masts in the Darwin area the masts at Parap did not survive the 200kMH winds.

However the station building took very little damage, possibly due to being built close to the ground. Some water was forced through the windows and doors; but generally speaking the equipment was undamaged. The emergency diesel generator was also intact. All the staff houses were badly damaged and the staff with their families took shelter in the station building.

The Lee Point and Cox Peninsula stations were wiped out.

During the early hours of Christmas morning

VID Darwin telexed Marine Operations Canberra advising that the remote receivers were out of service. MOC then advised VIS Sydney.

VIS telexed VID twice to discuss the situation.

During the second telex the line went out.

Shortly after this the Western Australian State Shipping Service vessel NYANDA/VMNA contacted VIS Sydney on 12MHz as it was entering Darwin Harbour. When it had berthed at the Stokes Hill wharf, two operators from OTC went aboard and about 1040 hours commenced operations from the ship under the call sign VID2.

At the Sydney end, OTC put into operation a 30k W transmitter and a rhombic antenna. The operators at both ends were experienced in commercial work and large blocks of official traffic were handled. This was telexed from VIS straight into Marine Operations Centre Canberra where it was cleared to the various authorities.

The circuit was maintained for five days continuously, except when the ship shifted to a paired radiophone frequency for calls to the PMG terminals at Sydney and Perth.

OTC flew a trouble shooting party into Darwin on Boxing Day; the Director of Adminis-tration, Tom Molloy, the Assistant Manager-Coastal Radio Services, Arch Barrie (VK2BH); and three skilled riggers. In the meantime staff at Darwin were working hard to restore services, patch up two of the least damaged houses, care for their families, try to salvage personal effects and stand watches at VID2.

By the evening of Boxing Day they had a small ship frequency (4136.3kHz) working from Parap, plus 500kHz and 2182kHz from the ship.

Early the next day restoration of other circuits followed, even an RTTY link into Sydney.

By Friday afternoon 27th December, 1974 the Darwin GPO was back in business on TRESS (Tape Reperforating & Switching System). Telephone and telex were restored to VID Parap

At the Sydney end, OTC put into operation a 30k W transmitter and a rhombic antenna. The operators at both ends were experienced in commercial work and large blocks of official traffic were handled. This was telexed from VIS straight into Marine Operations Centre Canberra where it was cleared to the various authorities.

The circuit was maintained for five days continuously, except when the ship shifted to a paired radiophone frequency for calls to the PMG terminals at Sydney and Perth.

OTC flew a trouble shooting party into Darwin on Boxing Day; the Director of Adminis-tration, Tom Molloy, the Assistant Manager-Coastal Radio Services, Arch Barrie (VK2BH); and three skilled riggers. In the meantime staff at Darwin were working hard to restore services, patch up two of the least damaged houses, care for their families, try to salvage personal effects and stand watches at VID2.

By the evening of Boxing Day they had a small ship frequency (4136.3kHz) working from Parap, plus 500kHz and 2182kHz from the ship.

Early the next day restoration of other circuits followed, even an RTTY link into Sydney.

By Friday afternoon 27th December, 1974 the Darwin GPO was back in business on TRESS (Tape Reperforating & Switching System). Telephone and telex were restored to VID Parap on Saturday 28th. STD had been restored to some subscribers the previous day—a lady in Sydney telephoned a friend at Darwin Hospital on the Friday afternoon.

In Darwin virtually every overhead line, electricity and telecommunications, had been torn down and subscribers’ equipment destroyed or damaged.

Many of the commercial operators working the VIS/VID circuit have held or hold amateur licences. Among these are VK8RR, VK2WL, VKZAOW, VKBCV, VK2AFD (ex-G3PLQ),

VK2ABL, ex-VK2AQO and ex-VK9RI. There are many more at the transmitting and receiving stations at Doonside, Bringelly and Perth. At all levels there was a fusion of commercial and amateur licensees working for the common good.

Summarising the situation as it existed: Telex in operation until 0647 hours 25 December; possibly later in the town area.

VMNA QSO with VIS at about 0645 hours;

VID2 operated from VMNA from 1040 hours onward.

There was commercial contact with Darwin, one way or another, almost without a break. and ready for traffic when it was eventually offered.

The fact that commercial communication circuits were in operation, does not in any way lessen the praise and appreciation for the service amateurs provided during the emergency. In particular, that due to the operators and assistants at VK2BNN-P8/VK8/T Darwin, where operating and living conditions were primitive compared with those enjoyed by others who participated.

In fact, one of the most significant aspects of the whole operation was that, within a few hours of the disaster, amateurs were able to establish and maintain a well organised, well disciplined net, covering all major population areas of the Australian continent. The extent to which it was used is less important than the fact that it was there-ready to be used!

Originally Published in “ELECTRONICS Australia, March, 1975”