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VK7AX > WIA 16.09.26 10:30l 67 Lines 3851 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 17615_VK7AX
Subj: In Carnarvon? Take a Detour Through Australiaâ€Ös Communicat
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Sent: 260916/0754Z 17615@VK7AX.#ULV.TAS.AUS.AUNZ LinBPQ6.0.24
In Carnarvon? Take a Detour Through Australiaâ€Ös Communications History
Date : 16 / 09 / 2026
Author : WIA
If your travels take you anywhere near Carnarvon in Western Australia, there is one destination that
should be particularly interesting to radio amateurs: the Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum.
The museum preserves an extraordinary period when Carnarvon sat at the intersection of satellite
communications, international telecommunications and the space race, with its history centred on both
the NASA Carnarvon Tracking Station and the Overseas Telecommunications Commission, OTC, Satellite
Earth Station.
The OTC Earth Station opened in 1966, initially using the distinctive 12.8 metre Casshorn antenna,
affectionately known as the Sugar Scoop, as part of the emerging global satellite communications network.
On 21 July 1969, the Casshorn played its own part in the Apollo 11 story, relaying television of
Neil Armstrong's first steps on the Moon from Honeysuckle Creek through the Australian communications
network to viewers in Western Australia.
Later that year, the much larger 29.6 metre steerable dish was constructed, a structure that remains
an impressive landmark above Carnarvon today.
For radio amateurs, however, there is another fascinating human connection.
Many of the engineers and technicians who worked for OTC were also amateur radio operators.
The two worlds were natural companions.
Skills developed through amateur radio in RF engineering, antennas, propagation, electronics,
fault finding and operating practice complemented professional careers in international and
satellite communications.
Conversely, the knowledge accumulated in those careers found its way back into amateur radio clubs,
home workshops and stations.
When OTC later disappeared into Australia's changing telecommunications landscape, many of those
technically skilled people continued into communications careers across government, industry,
broadcasting, defence and other organisations.
The precise career paths varied, but the connection between the professional radio community and
amateur radio was a strong one.
That connection has continued at Carnarvon.
Amateur radio has been operated from the museum site, and the museum itself has benefited from the
involvement of people with both communications and amateur-radio backgrounds.
A 2023 account of a portable activation at the museum, for example, records museum chairman Phil Youd
VK6YOB supporting an amateur station beneath the enormous former OTC dish.
Today the museum includes original Mercury, Gemini and Apollo consoles, NASA and OTC memorabilia,
full-size capsule displays, interactive exhibits and the historic antennas themselves.
The museum is volunteer-run and largely self-funded.
It is open seven days except Christmas Day, with seasonal opening hours, so check its website
before making the trip.
For amateurs travelling through Western Australia, this isn't simply a space museum.
It is also part of Australia's radio and communications heritage, preserving the technology and
stories of a generation whose professional and amateur interests in radio frequently overlapped.
If you're anywhere in the vicinity of Carnarvon, take a look.
You may recognise rather more of the equipment than the average visitor.
Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum -
Link >> https://www.carnarvonmuseum.org.au/
About the Museum and its OTC and NASA history -
Link >> https://www.carnarvonmuseum.org.au/about/
Page Last Updated: Wednesday, 16 Sep 2026 at 09:45 hours by Justin Giles-clark
(Sourced https://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2026/20260916-1/index.php)
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(Posted to the packet radio network on behalf of the WIA courtesy Tony VK7AX)
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