For a more comprehensive treatment with full quotes of newspaper articles refer Wikibooks chapter on VIN Geraldton

The Coastal radio station VIN was a wireless telegraphy coast radio station at Geraldton, Western Australia, which commenced operation on 12 May 1913.

It was the first station in Western Australia constructed by the Commonwealth of Australia. The station VIP Perth / Fremantle / Applecross had commenced previously, but that station had been constructed by the Australasian Wireless Company under contract to the Commonwealth.

The station provided a vital link between VIP and VIZ Roebourne during the daytime (then to VIO Broome and VIW Wyndham and stations further north) and particularly when land telegraph systems failed.

Operationally the station's duties remained relatively constant for several decades, being essentially a communications link between the huge numbers of ships that worked on the Western Australian coastline as well as the mail liners that connected Australia to Europe.

Organisational changes Organisational control was constantly changing: initially a possibly unwanted part of the Postmaster-General's_Department, but with officers professionally classed following the commencement of WW1, informally within the scope of the Defence Department late in WW1, a reluctant transferee to the Department of the Navy as the Royal Australian Naval Radio Service (RANRS) after the conclusion of WW1 transferred back to the Postmaster-General's Department in 1922 bought under the control of Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia) Ltd as it increased its grasp of Australian wireless in 1928 the hard assets of the coastal radio network formally sold to AWA Upon commencement of WW2, again the coastal radio network control vested in the Defence Department in 1946 briefly under the control of the PMG in 1948 transferred to the newly created Overseas Telecommunications (OTC)

Precursors In the early 1900s, Geraldton was essentially a port town and saw many vessels both docking at the port and passing nearby on their way to northern Australia and to Europe. But the coastline was not yet well charted and was littered with many small rocky islands and reefs, all of which presented significant danger to the shipping trade. The proprietors of the Geraldton Guardian were well versed in the problem, its pages regularly reporting lost or damaged ships. Equally, with great forethought, they saw the solution to the problem. Following the sad loss of the SS Windsor, in February 1908 they proposed both additional lighthouses and provision of wireless telegraphy stations along the coastline. Still in July 1909, at the time of the arrival at Fremantle of the first wireless-equipped merchant ship (RMS Mantua), the Geraldton Guardian was advocating for a wireless station for Geraldton. In July 1912 the Commonwealth Meteorologist visited Geraldton investigating a number of weather phenomenon unique to the Northwest coast of Western Australia and noted the benefits arising from a wireless station at Geraldton and foreshadowed the establishment of a continent-circling network of wireless stations. The following month, August 1912, John Graeme Balsille, the Commonwealth Wireless Expert formally announced that the Government was proceeding with the establishment of a network of coastal wireless stations and that Geraldton would be one of the initial locations. The Geraldton Guardian waxed lyrical in its announcement later in the month of August 1912 of the proposed establishment of the Geraldton station. In September 1912, Balsillie was comprehensively interviewed by a journalist from "The West Australian" and was advised that, following the completion of the capital city stations, priority was now being given to establishment of the WA coastal stations, indeed that the Geraldton station might be commenced as early as three weeks hence. A few days later, the Sunday Times also interviewed Balsillie who reiterated the short timetable proposed for the Geraldton station. The interview demonstrated Balsillie's straightforward and matter-of-fact manner which is precisely how he proceeded with the establishment of the stations.

Construction As foreshadowed by Balsillie, initial work soon commenced and the project supervisor W. M. Sweeney arrived in Geraldton at the end of September 1912 and quickly identified the Residency site on Francis street as being the most suitable. Evidently local council was so keen to see the station established that no opposition was raised to the use of the prime site, and materials were already being delivered on site in the first week of December 1912. Construction of the station was proceeding apace towards the end of December 1912 with a team of eight carpenters constructing the 180 foot mast, 21 inches square consisting of Oregon planks steel bolted together. A further interview with Sweeney was published in the Geraldton Express a few days later which provided further detail of the overall construction and layout of the station. It noted that Sweeney was being assisted on site in wireless matters by Mr. Cox and that the mechanical aspects of the construction were being oversighted by Mr. R. D. Munson of the Public Works Department. Early in January 1913, the Geraldton Express noted that work by the Public Works Department was proceeding satisfactorily and estimated that the buildings would be complete in about three weeks' time. Mid January 1913, the new Peak Hill-Nullagine telegraph line was announced as being in service, which led to consideration of the unreliability of the old line & potential risks remaining with the new line. But it was noted that the coastal radio chain being established provided a key alternative route in case of emergencies. When the coastal chain of wireless stations was first announced, the necessary total number of stations was thought to be about 30, being almost every major port in the nation. But as commissioning proceeded, it became clear that the reliable range for the lower power stations was greater than expected. Carnarvon, about 450km North of Geraldton had been nominated as a likely site, but on 11 January 1913 it was announced that Carnarvon would not be established since Geraldton would be able to service Carnarvon's requirements (in conjunction with the land telegraph system). In February 1913, a few months after the fact, the Commonwealth Gazette announced the purchase of Bullivant's Patent Flexible Steel Wire and Bullivant's Galvanized Wire Rigging Rope for VIN as necessary for antenna and mast rigging. In March 1913, further rigging wire was announced as having been purchased for Station VIN. By mid-January 1913, the jury mast essential to raising the transmitting mast had arrived at Geraldton on the Minderoo and that task was set to commence in a matter of days.

The main mast was raised to the perpendicular on 18 January 1913. The activity in the heart of the town was a visual spectacle that was not equalled for many years and a number of townsfolk turned out to observe (as reported by the Geraldton Guardian). The report of the activity by the Guardian Express emphasised the nautical flavour added by the eight man sailor gang doing the hard lifting with a liberal spread of maritime dialect as the work progressed: "Brace up the top guy"; Ay! Ay! Sir!; "Ho! Ho! Boy!"; "Make fast"; and finally the mast was "Four square to all the winds that blow." The demands on Sweeney's time and resources did not abate but rather increased as the Government relented to local representations and prioritised the Wyndham station for completion also. Sweeney had to juggle available staff and problems with availability of the necessary oregon timbers began to emerge. By mid-February 1913 the mast and buildings were complete. While the transmitting apparatus was not operational, the receivers were installed and reception was obtained from the Perth coastal station and two ships in Fremantle port. In March 1913, the PMG's Department called for tenders for the supply of 2,500 gallons of petroleum for station VIN. This would be a continuing requirement for many years until Geraldton had its own electricity supply and the station could be serviced. The transmitter and all equipment for the station was provided by a 15-h.p. "Gardner" Oil Engine, direct coupled to a "Westinghouse" D.C. Generator. The unit was purchased from Noyes Bros. (Melbourne) Propty. Ltd., 499-501 Bourke-street, Melbourne for an amount of £285, as announced in the Commonwealth Gazette of 14 June 1913. There was some competition between the various crews erecting the masts and stations. The record set by the Geraldton crew for mast erection did not last long, being announced on 30 March 1913 as broken by the Esperance team with a time of 5½ hours, though the latter mast was only 160 ft. high, compared to 180 ft. for the Geraldton mast. There had been little progress when two months later in mid-April 1913 it was advised that the promised transmitter still had not been despatched from the Shaw Wireless Works and was still "undergoing testing" in Sydney. With little more to do pending the arrival of the transmitting apparatus, Sweeney returned to Perth on 4 April 1913. Finally in early May 1913 the transmitter and ancillaries arrived on the Aeon and completion commenced in earnest. On 10 May 1913 it was reported that the transmitter had tested successfully on site and official commencement was imminent. On 12 May 1913, a brief report in the Geraldton Express stated simply that "Wireless.— The wireless station is now ready for public work." The following day the rate of progress in the coastal radio network was well illustrated. When announcing the commencement of the Geraldton station it was also stated that VIR Rockhampton would commence in three days' time, while VIC Cooktown and VIE Esperance would commence the following week.

Initial operation Two days after commencement of the station, it was operating commercially, with an underwhelming volume of traffic. Local A. H. du Boulay had the honour of lodging the first commercial radiogram and was rewarded two hours later with a reply from the RMS Malwa. An increase in business volume was foreshadowed following enactment of the Navigation Act. It was noted that VIN appeared to be able to receive ships south of VIP somewhat better than VIP itself. The Commonwealth Gazette of 19 July 1913 advertised vacancies for Officers-in-charge for 12 coastal stations outside the major metropolitan centres. The positions were in the Professional Division following advice by Balsillie and generally reflected superior pay and conditions compared to other telegraphists in the Department. Following the exciting times of station construction and initial operation, ordinary life soon set in and in October 1913 a local resident was complaining about the fire risk of long grass in the station paddock. Towards the end of January, Mr. Lamb, officer in charge of the Geraldton Wireless Station was reported returning from his holiday. In May 1914, Mr. Lamb concluded his period as officer-in-charge of the Geraldton station and was transferred to VIP Perth. He was replaced by Mr. Mortimer.

World War I