West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Saturday 17 October 1936, page 17


RADIO BEACON FOR SHIPPING. This year the first radio beacon for shipping will be installed at Cape Otway, Victoria, by the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service. The con-struction of the beacon will be part of a new plan of improvement for coastal lighthouses which will necessitate also the installation of five new lighthouses in Queensland and Western Australia, and improvements to several existing lights. Director of Lighthouses (Mr. M. W. Mehaf-fey) said that the radio beacon at Cape Otway would be of a non-directional type which would broadcast a certain signal. This would enable ships to use their own direction-finding apparatus to check bearings with Cape Otway. The new lighthouses will be built on the Queensland coast at King Island, South Barrow Island, Electra Head and Three Islands, and at Hamelin Island; and off the coast of Western Australia, between Cape Leeuwin and Cape Naturaliste. The service at present controls 169 light stations, of which 59 are manned and 110 autolnatic.