Moonwalking with ham radio operators

A group of radio amateurs are planning a commemorative event to mark this year's 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Neil Armstrong on the moon. Image courtesy NASA

Called 'Echoes of Apollo', various activities are planned around June and July.

The organisers of the event are negotiating with some of the world’s largest and most capable amateur radio moon-bounce stations, and also some deep space radio facilities.

The idea is to hook-up people from various locations using moon-bounce and, if the antennas are large enough, possibly achieving near broadcast quality audio. You might say, a kind of ‘Back-to-the-Moon’ day.

Also planned is an HF radio weekend, with HF stations set up near sites that took part in the original support for the Apollo 11 mission.

The Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) has agreed to publicise the event and to also issue certificates to those
amateurs making contact with commemorative event stations.

The EME event is planned for the 27th June this year and the HF event is planned for the weekend and the Monday of 18-20th July, so time is very short.