Today it is one hundred years ago that the first messages in Morse code from Radio Malabar, in the former Dutch East Indies, were received at Radio Kootwijk in the Netherlands. A historic event, with a Drenthe tint. Because at Astron, the Dutch institute for radio astronomy in Dwingeloo, the anniversary is celebrated with a temporary amateur radio station.
Nowadays it is almost impossible to imagine with video calling, but in the past it was impossible to achieve direct communication between different parts of the world. On May 5, 1923, that changed. Then messages could be sent to overseas areas via the ‘long wave’. At the time, this was still done via Morse code.
“It was quite a happening in Malabar (near Bandoeng, ed.), on the island of Java,” says Nico Ebbendorf of Astron in Dwingeloo. “There, in the jungle, a radio station with a wavelength of 18 kilometers and 2400 kilowatts was created. There was nothing at all, so the energy had to be brought to it.”
Initially, it mainly concerned government messages that went across the sea, Ebbendorf continues. “Later telegrams were sent. They were quite expensive, about 30 guilders. That was a considerable amount in 1923.”
In the Netherlands, the transmitter building was located in Radio Kootwijk (Gelderland). Because a wide open space was needed to receive the signals, a location in the middle of the Veluwe was selected. Houses and a water tower were built for employees of the transmitter building. They formed the village of Radio Kootwijk. After the first long wave messages were received in 1923, the radio telephone service followed in 1929. Queen Mother Emma used it with the historic words “Hello Bandoeng, do you hear me?”
Astron started in the fifties as ‘Foundation Radio radiation from Sun and Milky Way’ on the site of Radio Kootwijk. Because of the link that Astron has with Kootwijk, the institute is today reflecting on this historic form of communication. Today there is a temporary amateur radio station in Dwingeloo and for this station some antennas are set up near the well-known radio telescope.
“On shortwave, we’ve made a number of transceiver systems,” says Ebbendorf. “We do this on an amateur frequency, for which we have a license. We then communicate in Morse code and via telephone connections. In this way we hope to connect with radio amateurs all over the world, and hopefully also in the former Dutch East Indies.
The event in Dwingeloo is a collaboration between Radio Club Assen, scouting association Beyloo ter Horst, Stichting CAMRAS and Astron. Radio amateurs will also give demonstrations in Radio Kootwijk on Saturday and Sunday. Staatsbosbeheer, which has managed the building since 2009, tells more about the monumental status of the complex and the surrounding nature. There are also guided tours and an exhibition. A ticket with a time slot is required for access to the radio station.