Telecommunications

DCA maintained a telegraphic and radio service for the collection of observations from Bureau offices on aerodromes and the exchange of forecasts and warnings between the Bureau's aviation offices. The Overseas Telecommunications Commission (OTC) maintained telecommunication links with ships at sea and remote territories while the Royal Flying Doctor Service operated pedal radio services with remote outback properties which was used for collection of meteorological observations. The RAAF operated the AXM broadcast transmitter in Canberra and the AXI broadcast from Darwin from which regular routine broadcasts were made by short-wave radio-telegraph or Morse transmissions of selected reports from the Australian synoptic network and coded analyses and prognoses.

Early in the Dwyer years major Bureau offices were connected by a teleprinter network called Intermet, although the teleprinter machines did not appear much changed from those in operation when I joined the Bureau before the war.

Issue No 25 of Weather News, July 1958, recorded that the daily telecommunications traffic included 1000 synoptic messages of 10 or more five-figure groups via Intermet; over 40 000 groups of five-figure code by DCA including aerodrome weather reports, aerodrome forecasts, and synoptic reports from remote and overseas aerodromes; 16 000 five-figure groups in the RAAF radio broadcasts from AXM Canberra and AXI Darwin, and 6000 groups of international broadcasts intercepted by AXI; 80 transmissions of 10 groups or more received from ships, over 1000 messages from Antarctic bases and about 1000 groups from Colombo; and a total of over 1000 messages transmitted by the 14 Australian coastal radio stations.

The organisation of this traffic was coordinated by Ralph Holmes who was in charge of the Communications and Facilities Section of the Bureau's Central Office. His responsibilities obviously required a considerable liaison with telecommunication engineers in the PMG, DCA, RAAF and OTC. Ralph, calm, thoughtful and mature, was ideal for the job.

Bureau of Meteorology