It was sited near Foxton at a location chosen because of excellent all-around look angles and good ground conductivity, both desirable attributes for an HF station.
It was the 'mouth' and Makara Radio was the 'ears' for international telephone calls and telegraph traffic.
The control terminal was located on the ground floor of the telephone exchange building in Stout Street and was staffed 24/7 by Carrier and Toll technicians.
[citation needed] Opened in 1953 with a radiotelephone call between the Postmasters-General of New Zealand and Great Britain, it operated until 1993 when it was closed down and stripped.
Maintenance was performed during the weekdays from 8am to 4:30pm by the same staff of technicians as part of a roster.