Together with Henk Jesse (top right) the Brothers Tappenbeck (left) from Noordwijk in 1923 succeeded in making one of the first Transatlantic Amateur radio contacts. Jesse’s callsign was PCII and the Tappenbecks used PCTT… What they did was illegal at the time and the equipment was soon confiscated. But the achievement is still considered a milestone in Dutch radio history
In the nineteen twenties NORA (Noordwijk Radio) was established as a short-wave reception station. Together with the new short-wave transmitters in Kootwijk it provided a vital link to the former Dutch colonies, primarily Indonesia. During the German occupation it was used to intercept and decode allied radio traffic. At present the site hosts a Naval radio station. The impressive array of Rhombics is something every HAM would dream about.
	In 1964 a commercial radio and television station started operating from an offshore platform just outside the territorial waters. The Dutch government soon changed the law, and shut down the station the very same year.
The big mast was dismantled, but the platform is still there. It is now used as an environmental and weather observation platform.
In 1970 another pirate radio station stranded on our beach. It was the vessel “King David”, used by Capital Radio, a religiously inspired pop station. It’s remarkable ring shaped antenna gave the operators a lot of trouble and they never progressed from their occasional test transmissions. A November storm made an early end to the stations aspirations.
	Noordwijk has always been a harbour for new ideas and new technology. That is why it hosts the European space research and technology centre ESTEC