Staff at Adelaide Radio, 1916
The coastal radio station in Adelaide opened on 1 October 1912 - the sixth coastal radio station to be built in Australia and the last of the capital city stations.
The station was constructed on Grand junction Road in Rosewater, about
three kilometres from the centre of Adelaide. it operated from 8 am
to midnight every day of the week, and was one of the first points of
contact for ships sailing south from Hong Kong and Japan.
Apart from its major function of listening for ships' messages, Adelaide
also handled traffic to and from the State telegraph system, and broadcast
time signals to shipping.
When the Royal Australian Navy took control of the CRS in 1915, staff at VIA became naval personnel.
After World War I, the Postmaster General's Department regained control of the Service, and made plans to upgrade the stations. These plans were shelved when the Coastal Radio Service changed hands yet again and came under the control of AWA in 1922.
Further developments followed: the introduction of short-wave radio communication in 1923; the establishment of a radio telephone service between small ships of the Adelaide Steamship Company and the station in 1929; and the installation of a transmitter connected to Parafield airport for two-way radio communication between aircraft and airfield in 1934.
The Rosewater site for the Adelaide station was abandoned in 1963 when operations moved to a new station built by OTC at McLaren Vale.
