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Rewind - with Glenn Dunstan VK4DU
In these days of cheap long distance telephone calls, spare a thought
for the mariners of yesteryear.
For many years, the only way to make a telephone call from a ship at
sea was via HF radio.
Coast Radio Stations were located in major Australian cities. These
radio stations broadcast weather reports, and provided monitoring of radio
distress channels for calls from those in trouble at sea. They also provided
a service for connection of telephone subscribers to ships at sea, known
as radphones.
A ship at sea would call the coast station on the HF radphone channel,
and specify the telephone number to be called. The coast station operator
would dial the telephone number and connect the shore party through to
the ship.
At its peak in the 1980's, the radphone service was connecting thousands
of ships and shore subscribers annually. Radphone channels at the major
Sydney and Perth Coast Stations were always busy, particularly with passenger
ship traffic.
In the late 1990s, the introduction of Inmarsat maritime satellite communications
and the rapid spread of mobile telephones resulted in a severe decline
in radphone service revenue.
The service eventually closed in February 2002.
The major downside of the service was its cost. Calls had a minimum 1
minute connection time, and were charged in units of 1 minute thereafter.
Calls were charged at two dollars fifty per minute, with a one dollar
connection fee and a ship charge of two dollars fifty per call.
Think about those numbers the next time you are talking across Australia
on your Voice over internet telephone for 10 cents un-timed.
Glenn Dunstan VK4DU
Source: Wireless
Institute of Australia
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