On March 29, 1968, the Overseas Telecommunications Commission (OTC) opened Australia’s most advanced commercial earth tracking station, right here in Moree.
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Moree’s OTC Satellite Earth Station was Australia’s second earth station – the first was in Carnarvan in Western Australia – which paved the way for telecommunications links between the USA, Canada, Japan and other countries across the Pacific Ocean.
The four storey building with its 27 metres parabolic antenna cost $4 million to erect in 1968. The satellite dish weighed nearly 200 tonne and measured 36 metres in diameter.
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Moree was specifically chosen because the beams could be aimed at “The Bird”- the Intelsat II F4 satellite situated 37,000km in space over the Pacific Islands of Gilbert and Ellice - without interfering with the Postmaster-General's Department’s land-based telephone system.
The communications satellite station was part of an International Telecommunications Union which allowed more than 800 million people world-wide to watch live international television.
“It was just a mass explosion of telecommunications,” former OTC technician Graeme Hanigan said.
“Prior to satellites there were cables and radio but that was it. If you wanted to send a picture from London to Sydney, a slow scan would be sent through on cable. Radio suffered more interference. The first picturegram had to be relayed 18 times. But with satellites, you could do it in one drop. So suddenly we were connected to the world.”
The first commercial traffic was on April 1, 1968 when United States President Lyndon Johnson announced he wasn’t going to seek another term as President.
On July 21, 1969, the Moree station was part of history when it relayed live footage of man’s first steps on the moon to the US and the rest of the world.
Fifty years since the site was first opened, more than 50 former employees of Moree’s OTC facility will be returning to town for a very special reunion.
Not only does 2018 mark the 50th anniversary since the OTC facility opened, it is also 30 years since the earth station was shut down in 1988 due to technological advances.
“Satellites were getting better and they went digital,” Mr Hanigan, who is organising the reunion, said.
“There were bigger technological improvements. Once the signal was digital and could be encoded to make it immune to noise, it was relocated to Sydney.”
Former employees who worked at the Moree OTC facility throughout its 20-year history will be attending this weekend’s reunion, including John Eades who was on duty during the moon landing.
People will be travelling to Moree from all over Australia including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
This Saturday, March 31 everyone will gather at Moree Services Club for a reunion dinner where they will reminisce and share stories about their time working at the earth station.
On Sunday, April 1, Irritek, which now owns the old station building, will host a morning tea and barbecue at the site on the Carnarvon Highway from 10am to 12pm.
