100 yrs of 'VKG' Police radio 1924-2024
NSW Police Force VKG Radio Communications, Police Headquarters, Phillip and Hunter Streets, Sydney.
In August 1924, the NSW Police Force commenced the installation of wireless Morse Code devices in several detective vehicles performing night shifts. The crew of each vehicle consisted of two detectives; a junior constable as the designated driver and a qualified civilian Morse Code operator employed by the NSW Police Force. Police vehicles performing this duty were known as the “wireless car”. Due to the reliance of trams for transport in the CBD and surrounding suburbs, police performing duties in the wireless car had to avoid tram tracks embedded into the roadway, the reason being interference with broadcast transmissions was caused by the metal. Messages were dispatched to these crews from Police Force Headquarters in Sydney which later came to be known by the call sign, ‘VKG’.