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"Wavescan" is a weekly program for long distance radio hobbyists produced by Dr. Adrian M. Peterson, Coordinator of International Relations for Adventist World Radio. AWR carries the program over many of its stations (including shortwave). Adrian Peterson is a highly regarded DXer and radio historian, and often includes features on radio history in his program. We are reproducing those features below, with Dr. Peterson's permission and assistance.

Wavescan N575, March 1, 2020

The Grand Wireless Station at Monte Grande

Construction work on the world's largest wireless station, as it was touted at the time, began a little over one hundred years ago, in the year 1918. However, due to the Great War and its aftermath over in continental Europe, progress on the work was quite slow. Initially, the Marconi company in England began the preparatory work, but due to the total size of the completed project, a consortium group including other wireless manufacturing companies was formed.

A combined property of 1,200 acres located on the south side of Buenos Aries and 25 miles from the city center was obtained as the location for the Monte Grande longwave wireless station. Two powerful alternators at 400 kW each were installed, and electricity with 800 kW at 12,500 volts, was fed into the station from the city generating plant. The two alternators were capable of transmissions in the longwave spectrum, running from around 18 kHz up to about 72 kHz. In regular usage, one transmitting alternator was on the air while the other was maintained in standby mode.

The massive antenna system in total was nearly two miles long, and it was formed in the shape of the English capital letter T. It was supported on ten towers in pairs, each 680 ft. tall and spaced at nearly a quarter mile apart. These towers were imported from CTSF in France and from Telefunken in Germany.

The 16 wire aerial system was supported at 200 places by cross wires incorporating the use of a thousand insulators. The steel cables that supported the aerial wires were installed with insulated rollers, and the aerial wires were weighted at each end with weights at 88 pounds each, thus allowing for compensation in wire lengths due to variations in the local temperature. There was a complicated double counterpoise system with a buried network of wires, as well as another system of wires, 30 ft. above ground level.

The Monte Grande Wireless Station was officially opened in a formal ceremony on Thursday, January 24, 1924, in the presence of the president of Argentina, Senor Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear. Next day, this new and grand wireless station, with the international call letters LPZ, began Morse Code communication with similarly high-powered longwave wireless stations in London, Paris, Berlin and New York.

During the early 1920s, the communication scene throughout the world was in transition from wireless to radio, and thus, in 1925, just one year after the opening of the Monte Grande wireless station, two American-made RCA shortwave transmitters rated at 20 kW each were installed at the same location. In this way, voice communication began to take over from communication by Morse Code.

Give six more years (1931), and the two hefty wireless alternators were decommissioned, and a bevy of additional shortwave transmitters was installed. At the beginning of the European War in 1939, several shortwave transmitters were in use at Transradio Monte Grande, ranging in power from 1 kW to 125 kW. An additional 100 kW transmitter was installed in November of that same year (1939).

Beginning in the mid-1930s, the Monte Grande radio station was often noted in the United States and elsewhere with the broadcast of radio programming. The transmitters generally in use for the relay of programming from local mediumwave stations were rated at 10 kW and 20 kW.

Sometimes a shortwave transmitter was in use as a program link from a Buenos Aires mediumwave station to an upcountry mediumwave station, and on other occasions the purpose was for the relay of mediumwave programming for network rebroadcast in the United States as well as for direct reception worldwide. Radio station LSX at Monte Grande was often heard with a program broadcast at 10 kW on 10350 kHz. This station was recognized and appreciated internationally as a reliable verifier of listener reception reports.

In 1970, the official telecommunication concession ended and the Grand Wireless station LPZ-LSX at Monte Grande was closed, and abandoned. Several other shortwave stations in Argentina took over the various services previously on the air at Monte Grande.

In 2011, the Monte Grande location was declared a Nature Reserve as Laguna de Rocha (Rocky Lagoon), and much of the abandoned radio structure is still in place. The front of the huge main building still stands intact, though a picture at the back of the building shows nothing but wrecked debris. Some antenna towers are also still standing.

Two additional radio buildings on the same site are also abandoned, though they are still in good condition. These two structures were the transmitter buildings for two mediumwave stations, Radio Splendid-LR4, currently with 25 kW on 990 kHz, and Radio Excelsior-LR5, with likewise currently 60 kW on 910 kHz.

Transradio Receiving Stations

The first receiver station for Transradio Monte Grande in Argentina was located at the outer suburban Villa Elisa, some 20 miles from downtown Buenos Aires, and 25 miles from the transmitter station. Two flat top multi-wire aerial systems were installed, thus ensuring reception from both Europe and the United States.

A bank of electrically operated receivers was installed in a specially constructed building. It was back in 1924 that this receiver station was taken into service, along with the transmitter facility at Monte Grande. These days, this Transradio property is serving the local community as an Ecological Reserve, a Nature Park.

During the year 1935, a replacement receiver station was installed on a property at suburban San Martin known as the La Dora Farm. This receiver station was closed in 1970, along with the Monte Grande transmitter site, and since then this property has also been taken over as an Ecological Reserve.

According to information in print in Argentina, all three Transradio properties (transmitter site at Monte Grande, early receiver site at Villa Elisa, subsequent receiver site at San Martin), strangely enough, have been taken over by the local communities for public use as Nature Parks.

Australian Shortwave Callsigns VLR - 2

In our program today, we pick up the story of the Australian shortwave callsign VLR in Lyndhurst, Victoria in September 1937. It was back at that stage that the original locally-made 1928 shortwave transmitter was again renovated, and re-engineered from 600 watts up to 1 kW. During its 10 year experimental era, the transmitter callsign was listed as VK3LR, which was an amateur designation, though the station was always a professional operation, never amateur.

One year later (1938), on October 1, transmitter VLR was again upgraded, this time with an output power of 2 kW. At this stage, three shortwave channels were in use (6140 kHz, 9580 kHz and 11880 kHz), and three different antenna systems were available, thus ensuring wide coverage throughout Australia, and also coverage into many areas worldwide.

At the outbreak of war in continental Europe on September 2, 1939, the ABC shortwave station at Lyndhurst was the only shortwave broadcasting station that was permitted to remain on air. The programming feed for VLR was produced in the Melbourne studios of the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) stations 3LO and 3AR, and from there it was landlined to Lyndhurst, some 25 miles southeast of downtown Melbourne. At this stage, the ABC announced that a new 10 kW shortwave transmitter was planned as a replacement for the now eleven year old ailing transmitter.

Due to the exigencies of the European war, rapid plans were implemented in Australia for the introduction of a government-operated international shortwave voice; and three months later, on December 20 (1939), the new Australia Calling was inaugurated. December 20 was the birthday of Australia 's Prime Minister (Sir) Robert Menzies.

Four shortwave transmitters were available for Australia 's new shortwave voice, and these were designated as VLQ and VLQ2 at Pennant Hills near Sydney in New South Wales, VLW near Perth in Western Australia, and the already mentioned VLR near Melbourne in Victoria. Special international programming for the new Australia Calling was produced in the Melbourne and Sydney studios of the ABC.

Eighteen months later, on June 21, 1941, the promised new 10 kW shortwave transmitter was activated in the Lyndhurst transmitter station, though now it was not a replacement for the old VLR, but rather it was an addition to the old VLR. Initially, this new STC transmitter was designated on air under the same VLR callsign, as VLR3 (11880 kHz) and VLR4 (15230 kHz).

At this stage there was confusion as to which of the two transmitters was in use, so two months later, on August 24, (1941), the new 10 kW VLR was redesignated as VLG; and thus VLR3 on 11880 kHz became VLG5, and VLR4 on 15230 kHz became VLG6. From this time onwards, VLG was on the air with programming for both Australia Calling and the ABC National Service, though the original VLR was in use only for ABC National Service coverage in Australia itself. Never again was VLR taken into service for Australia Calling, nor for Radio Australia, as the international service was known subsequently.

For a few years after the end of World War II, the VLR transmitter was operating at a power level of 5 kW. However, unfortunately, this old VLR was always noted on air with a raspy signal, and sometimes a loud booming hum, and never with a good clean and easy to listen audio.

During the 1950s, a new building was erected over and around the old transmitter building, and the old building was then removed piece by piece. In this way, the now three transmitters (VLH was added in 1946) were still in regular usage, and no damage was done to any of the electronic equipment. At this stage, there was a change in the numeric designators, with the number now indicating the MHz band. For example, VLR2 on 6150 kHz therefore became VLR6.

Now that there was more space in the transmitter building, three additional 10 kW shortwave transmitters were installed in 1956. These American-made RCA transmitters were redundant equipment originally planned for installation in American battleships, and with the end of World War II they were no longer needed.

At this stage, the old original VLR transmitter was removed. In addition, the callsign VLR was no longer the identification of a specific transmitter, but rather it now became the designation of the ABC shortwave service for coverage in the Great Outback, which was on air from any of the available transmitters.

Then, beginning in the 1960s, a total of eight STC-made 10 kW transmitters were installed progressively at the Lyndhurst shortwave station. Give another score of years, and the VLR shortwave service was declared redundant, and thus it was closed at 1402 UTC on Friday morning, June 12, 1987. The final transmission from ABC VLR came to an end, as VLR6 with 10 kW on 6150 kHz, just after midnight local time.

In summary, VLR was an experimental and broadcast transmitter at Lyndhurst that was on the air for 29 years stretching from 1928 to 1956. This transmitter also carried a program relay for Australia Calling for a couple of years from 1939 to 1941. From 1956 until closure in 1987, VLR was an ABC program service that was on the air from any of the multiple shortwave transmitters that were available in the Lyndhurst shortwave station.