This article is extracted from the The Listenr In - April 29 1933

 "How Doth the Busy 'B'?"

In this series of articles we purpose providing readers with a brief historical review of the various stations, together with details of the plant employed.

No 7 - Station 3GL

Had radio been an everyday need in 1802, the year in which Captain Matthew Flinders scaled the heights of Station Peak in the You Yangs and gazed with admiration on what is now the' City of Geelong then it's a certainty there would have been a 3GL microphone at the summit for Flinders "to tell the world" what he saw.

3GL, Geelong, the "Geelong Advertiser" station, was the first Victorian provincial B class radio station to receive a transmitting licence. and. on December 3rd 1930, the station was officially opened by the then Mayor of Geelong - Alderman 0. C. Hearne. Since that date 3GL has grown in popularity to a wonderful extent. The station is owned and controlled by the "Geelong Advertiser," which was founded in 1840, and is the oldest morning daily newspaper in Victoria, and the third oldest paper in Australia. John Pascoe Fawkner conceived the idea of publishing a newspaper in Geelong, and it made its appearance for the first time on November 21, 1840.

Although 3GL has not reached its third birthday, its associations hearken back 93 years.

3GL, like the explorer of the past, is ever eager for new fields to conquer. It was that station which gave a detailed description of the Warrnambool to Melbourne Dunlop cycle race last year. Along the route a direct line to the control room was picked up' at 'a number of post offices, and. as the riders passed through, descriptions were broadcast. As an indication of the improvement on previous types of broadcasting this classical race, while one of the A class stations was giving a telegraphed description of the first riders passing through Geelong the 3GL sporting announcer was giving the names of the leading men as they left Werribee. The equipment and the 'announcer were rushed from one stage to the next in a fast moving car which at times reached a speed of 90 miles per hour.

Another very exclusive broadcast was that of the opening of the Geelong Prosperity Campaign. Speaking over a land-line from Canberra, the now Postmaster-General (Mr Archdale Parkhill) was introduced by Mr H. G. Casey. M.P., for Corio, and the campaign was officially opened through 3GL. Mr Casey is a frequent speaker from 3GL, and his talks on Current Topics are listened to with great interest.

The station has been fortunate to secure the exclusive rights of the broadcast of details of 'football matches at the Corio oval. Last season a number of these broadcasts was relayed to metropolitan B class stations.

The annual Fire Brigades demonstration for 1932 was held at Geelong, and the various track events were described in a special broadcast from 3GL. Among other important special broadcasts was that of a description of the cricket match South Africa v. the Victorian, provincial team at Geelong; the proceedings of the 65th district Rotary International Conference at Geelong last year, and a talk by Second Officer Osata, one of the survivors of the ill-fated Japanese steamer Kinsen Maru. The latter broadcast was relayed to 3UZ, Melbourne.

Recently the Prime Minister, Mr Lyon's, while in Geelong spoke from the studio and complimented the management on the progress made since the station was opened and the high standard of efficiency which had. been. reached.

THE directorate consists of Ramsay B. Cook, managing director Geelong Advertiser Pty. Ltd., as chairman; A. Leslie Sutton, the managing director of Suttons Ltd., and E. J. Hayne', the director and manager of 3GL.

E. J. Haynes has had a long association with 'B" class broadcasting units, and he was the founder of 3DB Melbourne. He was also managing director of that station.

Bruce Tart, one of the best-known advertising executives, formerly of Sydney, is in charge of the advertising department. As the advertising manager of the Geelong Advertiser, Mr Tart is in the happy position of being able to offer advertisers a complete tie-up between newspaper and radio.

The senior announcer is Wilf. Gray, formerly of the Victorian Education Department. Wilf. is a well-known advertising executive. being for a number of years a senior copy writer of the Paton Advertising Service. Sydney, where he handled large National appropriations for Australia. Advertisers therefore have the services of a competent man in preparing sessions for the air.

The assistant announcer, Newman O'Dea, formerly of the literary staff of the Argus, takes the morning sessions, and in addition is the outside advertising representative.

Dorothy Dungan. the lady announcer, is an Associate of the London College of Music (Eloc.) and is a former student of the Hermitage. Geelong.

Hundreds of kiddies listen in each evening a- half past five o'clock to Old King Cole, when he conducts his court from 3GL. Old King Cole is quite a young royal personage. who in his more leisure moments works with the Geelong Advertiser. There are nearly 5000 children enrolled as members of the court. and many reside in far distant parts of the State and in New Zealand. There is a member living in Shanghai and a number in England. 'Recently the court endowed several cots at the Bethany Home for Babies', Gee-long. King Cole is an ideal merry old monarch, and his court is a very definite 'feature of the station. He is assisted by Nell Wright, who. as Goldie-Locks, is a firm favorite with the young listeners, and more often hampered than helped by Grunglenunc the Goblin. A cub's session on a Thursday evening and a weekly trip in the fairy train are two star attractions of the court.

When 3GL first went on the sir there was probably no more up-to-date station, in Australia and. as hardly a week passes without some further improvement being incorporated, 3GL has been able to maintain its place as a leader in Australian broadcasting.

The station engineer. Morris Israel. is well known in the radio world; his assistant engineer is Jack Matthews, a former Geelong Collegian. No effort has been spared to maintain the station frequency (wave length) absolutely accurate; while the audio-frequency portion of the apparatus is designed to give practically equal response from 30 cycles up to 8000 cycles. In this way riot only are the bass notes transmitted with their full richness, but there is no loss of the high notes. There is an entire absence of the booming characteristic sometimes noticed in other transmissions. 3GL. Geelong. is one of the few stations to be operated entirely by A.C. There is not a battery or a D.C. generator in the station; nevertheless the carrier is quite free of any trace of A.C. hum.

The frequency is. of course, controlled by a quartz crystal, and in addition there is in operation a monitor which would immediately indicate the slightest deviation. The output from the crystal oscillator stage is amplified by two screen-grid valves in a push-pull circuit. The screen-grid valves feed the two modulated output valves which are also in push-pull.

We believe that 3GL was the first station in Australia to use this method. One benefit of this push-pull connection, as far as the listeners are concerned is the suppression of harmonics. Modulation is carried out by two valves specially designed for the purpose. These valves and all' others in the audio frequency chain are likewise connected in push-pull. Up-to-date design of this portion of the apparatus enables a high percentage modulation of the carrier wave. Besides assuring greater volume for receivers in the immediate locality. this is very helpful to listeners at a distance from the station because the background of static is apparently greatly reduced when the' carrier is fully modulated.

This characteristic together with the general efficiency of the station, is evidently the reason for the numbers of wonderful long distance reports received. Despite the low aerial power of 50 watts, confirmed reports of reception of the station have been received from as far afield as Philadelphia, U.S.A., while hundreds of reports have been received from every part of Australia and New Zealand.

Unlike many other stations, 3GL, 'Geelong, has two distinct units. The studio is in the National Mutual Buildings, at the corner of Moorabool and Malop Streets. while the control room is at the Geelong Advertiser building. a block and a half away. The studio is a cosy room, with modern equipment and one which the noise of the passing traffic does not reach. The studio equipment was made and provided by Suttons Ltd., the well-known music house of Melbourne. Geelong. Sydney and Ballarat. The reproducing units of the studio are of the must modern design and are driven electrically. Many of the recorded numbers heard from 3GL are drawn from the comprehensive stocks of Suttons Ltd.