science

Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable

Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable rather than just read about it. In short: The Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable was a major telecommunications engineering and construction project in south-eastern Australia in the early 1960s, designed to significantly increase telecommunications transmission capacity between Sydney and Melbourne, and other centres along its route, including Canberra. The route length of the cable was approximately 960 kilometres (600 mi) and roughly followed the Hume Highw…

Key takeaways

Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable was a major telecommunications engineering and construction project in south-eastern Australia in the early 1960s, designed to significantly increase telecommunications transmission capacity between Sydney and Melbourne, and other centres along its route, including Canberra. The route length of the cable was approximately 960 kilometres (600 mi) and roughly followed the Hume Highway as it existed at that time. Key points along the route were Sydney, Liverpool, Campbelltown, Bowral, Goulburn, Canberra, Yass, Gundagai, Wagga Wagga, Culcairn, Albury, Wangaratta, Benalla, Euroa, Seymour and Melbourne. It was five years in the making and cost £6.89 million to complete. Its prime purpose was to boost the capacity for telecommunications between the two major cities. The cable was made up of three pairs of tubes, each pair capable of carrying 1,260 simultaneous telephone connections. There was a marker stone commemorating the official opening of the cable at 532 Hume Highway, Casula, which has since been removed. There is a corresponding commemorative stone in Gordon Reserve near Parliament House, Melbourne.

Origins The volume of telephone traffic in Australia increased significantly after World War II. As a result, by the 1950s the trunk network was becoming congested. The Postmaster-General's Department (PMG) was also pursuing a policy of automating the telephone and telegraph systems, including the introduction of subscriber-to-subscriber (rather than operator-assisted) long-distance calls ("subscriber trunk dialling"). So it was decided in 1957 that a new high-capacity communications link would be installed between Sydney and Melbourne (via Canberra). A number of systems were considered, including radio transmission. Eventually the decision was taken to install a six-tube coaxial cable. As well as providing more capacity than was necessary at the time, it also allowed for the transmission of television signals. The associated carrier equipment (e.g. the active electronics) was to have sufficient capacity for the first five years, with facilities for readily increasing the number of channels to meet demand for the next 20 years.

Construction Tenders to supply the cable and other equipment were called and the main supplier, Felten and Guilleaume (West Germany), was selected in early 1959. The details of the contracts were finalised by mid-1959. The cable for the Canberra-Melbourne link was manufactured by a subcontractor, Olympic Cables, in Australia. The remaining cable and carrier equipment was manufactured in West Germany. Construction work was undertaken by staff of the PMG. The initial shipment of cable arrived from Germany at the end of 1959. Cable laying was completed in October 1961 and jointing and testing completed in December 1961. In total, over 960 kilometres of cable were laid, and over a million tons of rock and soil excavated to lay the cable. Main repeater stations, attended by staff, were constructed every 64 kilometres and minor, unmanned repeater stations every nine kilometres (103 in total. The main repeater stations also provided break out points to connect with minor trunk routes to regional towns (e.g. Goulburn, Yass, Gundagai). Many of the repeater stations remain today along the route, along with cable markers and other reminders of the project.

Opening and impact The Sydney–Melbourne coaxial cable was officially opened on 9 April 1962 when Prime Minister Robert Menzies, made an interstate direct dial call. The coaxial cable infrastructure supported the introduction of subscriber trunk dialling (STD) between the cities and live television link-ups. After its commissioning in April 1962, the cable carried telegraph and telephone traffic. It also allowed simultaneous television broadcasting in Melbourne and Sydney for the first time. The cable was decommissioned many years ago, superseded by more modern optical-fibre cables, operated by firms such as Telstra, Optus and NextGen. A large number of concrete repeater stations remain along the cable's route as a reminder of the project, for example at Sutton Forrest, Wollogorang, Collector and Wallaroo. Some repeater stations are still in use as optical-fibre repeaters for the Telstra network. In April 2012, the Minister for Communications, Stephen Conroy, issued a media release commemorating the 50th anniversary of the cable, and drawing a parallel between its forward-looking nature and his proposed National Broadband Network.

Television TCN9 and GTV9 were connected via the coaxial cable in 1963, allowing the instant sharing of news stories and programs between both cities. The cable supported the simultaneous live broadcast of the 5th Test of the 1962–63 Ashes series from the Sydney Cricket Ground to Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne – a major milestone in Australian television history. The cable was also used in 1965 for innovative interstate live split-screen link-ups between Graham Kennedy's In Melbourne Tonight and Don Lane's Sydney Tonight.

References

Further reading Special issue of the Telecommunication Journal of Australia, v.13 no.3, Feb. 1962., available at the National Library of Australia, catalogue number, Npf 621.38780994 TEL. Conroy, S, '50th anniversary of the Sydney–Melbourne coaxial cable', 12 April 2012 monumentaustralia.org.au http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Search/Home?lookfor=my_parent%3A%22(AKIN)24154127%22&iknowwhatimean=1 http://www.abc.net.au/tv/50years/didyouknow/firsts.htm http://www.telstra.com.au/abouttelstra/company-overview/history/tele-communications-timeline/

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable

In research: Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1962 establishments in Australia, Telecommunications-related introductions in 1962, Telecommunications in Australia, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable in simple terms?

Why does Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable.