The Navy Vol_22_Part2 1960 - Navy League of Australia

H.M.A.S.T an Imperial ConferenceA held in London in 1926.discussions on Empire Defencetook in a long range plan ofEmpire Communications. Thethen relatively new techniqueof long range communicationsusing short wave was to heexploited fully and a chain ofwireless stations was to be estalishedthroughout the Empireto ensure satisfactory defencecommunications.The Australian CommonwealthNaval Board decided tohave its major Shore WirelessStation nearby and under itsdirect control. Even in the1930's it was planned to havethe Headquarters of the threeDefence Services in Canberra.Accordingly suitable transmittingand receiving sites wereselected in the districts of Belconnenand Woden in the AustralianCapital Territory.Work commenced in constructing"HARMAN" in 1938.The first message was receivedfrom Singapore Radio on 19thDecember, 1939. Before thatdate, however, telegraphistsspent many hours diggingholes for trees and shrubs atboth stations from which havegrown magnificent windbreaks. The present occupantsare grateful for this forethought.H.M.A.S. "HARMAN" wasnamed after the Director ofNaval Communications and assistantof the time, CommanderB. H. Harvey. R.N. and CommanderJ. B. Newman, R.A.N.There was a first "unofficial"message received "outof the blue" from a Walrusamphibian aircraft fromH.M.A.S. "ALBATROSS".The aircraft was flown fromJervis Bay to look at thestation from the air anddropped a good luck messageas it flew across. With "HAR-HARMANMAN" going on the air aconsiderable load dropped fromGarden Island and HindersNaval Depot Wireless Stationswhich up to this time hadtaken the brunt of Naval Communicationssince the outbreakof war.WRANS first appeared inthe form of 12 girls who werepart of a private (but publiclyminded)organisation calledthe Women's Emergency Corp.These girls had been trainedin morse code by a Mi's. Mc-Keuzie of Sydney who hadbeen far-sighted enough torealise the value of suchoperators. Her trained girls,when offered to the Navy, weresent to "HARMAN" "on approval''. where they provedthemselves rapidly. They subsequentlymerged into theWRANS. From the outbreakof the Japanese War there wasa steady build-up in personneland equipment to a peak of 600in 1943/44.The station represented quitea mixed bag of men and womenRAN, RN. and USN with theArmy providing guards forsecurity purpose:,.On 15th May, 1946, in additionto Naval Communications,"HARMAN" providedbroadcast facilities for MerchantShips in the AustralianArea. This was part of a worldwidescheme sponsored by theAdmiralty to provide safe andefficient communcations forBritish Commonwealth Ships.It is not generally knownthat all long-distance radiotelegrams to and from merchantships in and out of Australiapass through "HAR-MAN" in some form. Thiswork is carried out by theNavy, free of charge.Following the run down ofWRANS after the war. thegirls re-appeared in 1951 anilhave been growing in numbersever since. A modernisationprogramme has been progressingsteadily with the resultthat there has been a completechange-over in equipment.Of the original transmitters,only 4 remain. Three are duefor very early replacement.The fourth is still the mostpowerful transmitter in theSouthern Hemisphere and willcomplete a 20-month refit inOctober. Not only will navaland merchant ships be glad tohave it available again, but sowill organisations such as theUniversity of Sydney, theNational Observatory at MountStromlo and the Sydney WaterBoard.The modernisation programmehas resulted in "HAR-MAN" being one of the mostmodern Shore Wireless Stationsin the British Commonwealth,if it is not the mostmodern. There is little morseused now. Radio Teletype isthe normal method of communication.even the fleet receivesits messages on a teleprinter.The receiver andtransmitter b u i I d i u g s aremasterpieces of radio engineering.The comfort of the sailorsand WRANS has not beenforgotten. The WRANS arealready living -in modern, centrallyheated quarters whichwere officially opened by H.R.II.Princess Alexandra, on 23rdSept., 1959. Construction ofnew bachelor quarters for thesailors has commenced at"HARMAN" and "BELCON-NEN" and will be ready foroccupation earlv in 1961."HARMAN"' is the onlynon-stop operational "ship" inthe RAN, working -24 hoursper day, throughout the year.This has been the case sincethe first morse code in London,the ship's motto of NE CEDEcould be well twisted into"We never close."INTERNATIONALCO-ORDINATION OF TIMEAND FREQUENCYSERVICES.It has been agreed, by theauthorities concerned, that thetime and frequency transmissionsof the United States andthe United Kingdom shall heco-ordinated.The purpose of this synchronisationis to provide auniform system of time andfrequency transmissions, whichis needed in the solution ofmany scientific and technicalproblems in such fields as radiocommunications, geodesy andthe tracking of artificial satellites.Participating in the projectare the Royal Greenwich Observatory.the National PhysicalLaboratory, the Post OfficeEngineering Dept. of the UnitedKingdom, and, in the UnitedStates, the U.S. Naval Observatory,the Naval Research Laboratoryand the NationalBureau of Standards.It is anticipated that, withthe completion of modernisationof t'>e 200 Kilowatt poweroutput transmitter at H.M.A.S.HARMAN. Australia will alsojoin in this programme oftransmissions.The transmission stationswhich are at present includedin the co-ordination plan areGBR and MSF at Rugbv. England: NBA. Canal Zone; WWWBeltsville, Marvland: andWWVH, Hawaii.Co-ordination began in January.It is expected that by theend of 1960 the time signalsfrom all participating stationswill be emitted in synchronismto the thousandth of a second.Such accuracy has been neededfor some time in tracking artificialsatellites on a world-widebasis.Checking Equipment inTransmitter Control RoomTHE NAVYJuly,I9601