The airwaves were pretty quiet in Darwin at the end of World War Two.
The shortwave signal from the southern states was erratic and there was concern the only alternative, Radio Moscow, could be getting a strong following among the union-friendly population.
The Australian Broadcasting Commission was working on extending its regional radio network, even Port Moresby was getting a station. Historians believe political reasons were as strong as any others in getting the opening date for the ABC in Darwin brought forward.
So in 1947, the ABC took over the broadcast signal and equipment which had been used by the army station 5DR during the war, and set up the new station at Gardens Hill.
The Minister for the Interior Mr Herbert Johnson had this to say about the launch:
"The opening of the ABC station 5DR Darwin will meet a long outstanding want and will be of considerable advantage to the residents of the Northern Territory. It should result in clear reception of all broadcasts and place the people of the Territory on an equal footing with the population of other parts of Australia."
The launch itself was a big event for Darwin.
One advertiser in The Northern Standard placed this notice, Dear 5DR Darwin, Congratulations on an achievement. We, the people of Darwin, thank you for bringing to us one of the most essential amenities of modern life.
So how did it the magic of radio work in a town of 3,000 people re-building a town a long way from the rest of Australia?
Old newsletters show four original staff members lived in temporary huts without air conditioning.
Some programs were flown up on discs, while some of the most topical including news, sport and kindergarten of the air were picked up by shortwave.
An April 1947 issue of The ABC Weekly reported:
"The station's transmitter works on a frequency of 1500 k.c. and a wavelength of 200m with a power of 200 watts. It is designed to give a reliable signal over a radius of 15 miles.
5DR has two separate studios so that program rehearsals may take place in the one studio while the other is on air.
There are two gramaphone turntables and pick-ups and two microphones in each studio. Two gramaphone turntables are also provided in the record library for testing and timing of programs."
The station featured outside broadcasts of sporting events ( Ted Egan was an early commentator), music for the many dances held in Darwin each week and even radio plays.
Kevin Chapman was one of ABC Darwin's earliest employees, and in 1997 he told historian Peter Forrest about his experiences.
"When I got sent to Darwin in 1948 my friends in Adelaide were so sorry for me that they regularly sent food parcels up by air. But the upside was that everyone in Australia was fascinated by the remote and undeveloped Northern Territory."
Mr Chapman said because there was only one newspaper a week all funeral arrangements were given on the ABC because "if someone died you couldn't keep the body for a week in that climate".
He said they even got permission to announce when the fresh fruit and vegetables arrived from down south.
If one event of the past 40 years defined Darwin it was Cyclone Tracy.
The ABC newsreader finished the bulletin the night before the cyclone with the words, "We'll be back tomorrow night - weather permitting".
An ABC reporter, Dick Muddimer, is credited with getting the news to the world.
After the cyclone tore through the town he made it to the ABC studios ( by then located at the current site on Cavanagh Street) to find they were completely out of action, then discovered the Overseas Telecommunications Facility at the end of Smith Street was also off air.
He made it to Channel Eight and found a way to get a message to Mount Isa telling them to send a message to ABC in Sydney that Darwin had been hit by a cyclone.
An ABC newsletter from January 1975 says:
"For 52 hours during the aftermath of the cyclone ABC radio provided the only local link within Darwin and between Darwin and the outside world.
During the entire calamity which put Darwin out of action for weeks, the ABC was off the air for only 34 hours.
The ABC premises had no water, sewerage or power, except from a small generator, just enough for radio broadcasting requements."
The ABC has been there for all the big yarns; from the 1998 Katherine floods to frequent cyclone emergencies across the Top End, to the completion of the Adelaide to Darwin rail link, to Territory self-government, to the continuing growth of Darwin as Australia's gateway to Asia.
The 50th anniversary of ABC radio was marked in 1997 with a musical written for the occasion by Peter Forrest, Let's Celebrate, which was performed in front of an audience of 900 people, as well as being broadcast live on radio and recorded by ABC TV.
More than 60 years on from the initial broadcast, the technology, platforms and standards may have changed but 105.7 ABC Darwin continues to strive to provide fascinating content relevant to Territorians.
Thanks to Peter Forrest for assistance with historical research, including that undertaken in writing the script for 'Let's Celebrate', a play commemmorating the 50th anniversary of ABC Radio in Darwin
