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created a digital story on the Cooby Creek
Tracking Station. In the digital story former staff member Patrick Hetherman, a synchronous controller in the telemetry and command section, discusses the establishment, purpose and significance of the station and former employee Veda Finlay remembers life
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The tracking station had approximately 100 electronic/electrical technical staff and 50 support (diesel mechanical and other) personnel; an average space "operation" involved approximately 100 staff. The staff mostly lived in
Toowoomba in their own houses, and the organisation had a van which would
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Because of the nature of the work, it was necessary to choose a site with minimal radio interference. The high ground to the south and south-west of the site screened the station from man-made radio frequency interference which could have jeopardise the reception of the satellite signals. The lower
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devices. Additional smaller VHF antennas were used to control the various functions of spacecraft and to send and receive information. The antennas were operated by the "Telemetry and
Command" crew of the station, whilst additional personnel performed the actual experiments.
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mission Moon landing; the video feed was then re-sent back to USA via a satellite up-link from the station. It was also a key tracking station involved in the first synchronisation and broadcast of a TV program across the entire globe.
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pick up all the members and deliver them to the station. There were four shifts working 24 hours (3 active, 1 off). There were male and female staff involved; however, all technical and engineering staff were male.
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A 12-metre (40-foot) parabolic antenna was used to receive and transmit information to geostationary satellites, which served as the forerunners to modern telecommunication satellites. The steerable crossed
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in the mid-sixties. Between 1967 and 1970 it was used by such organisations as NASA for communication experiments, including experiments that led to the design of communication systems for the
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horizon to the north-west permitted low angle tracking, and the station was arranged to give the antenna an unrestricted 180 degree view.
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The station was self-powered by four jet turbines and most likely held the first computer in
Queensland. The station ran on the American
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rocketry had failed, so that the spacecraft was not in the correct orbit, and personnel had to find ways to repair the situation.
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Some of the main goals of the station were to research methods to ensure that spacecraft were stabilised in space (also known as
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television production, linking 24 countries around the world to
Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.
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On 6 June 1967 the station received the first television program from outside
Australia (from
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Cooby Creek tracking station phased yagi array with satellite dish in the background
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The station closed in 1970. On 21–23 October 2016 there was a reunion on the site.
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The station consisted of what is known as "transportables", similar in size to
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in the US, which were shipped to
Australia and transported by road from
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Cooby Creek was the initial receiving point for the video feed of the
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and general improvements to the communication technology of the time.
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The research and experiments were carried out under directions from
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communications, introduction of digital communications, and early
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363:"Cooby Creek Tracking Station Toowoomba [digital story]"
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power amplifiers, and the receivers were cryogenically cooled
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Cooby Creek tracking station – trailers and satellite antenna
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from various spacecraft of that era. The transmitters used
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One example of an experimental situation was that the
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This
Knowledge (XXG) article incorporates text from
162:, was located 22.5 kilometres (14 mi) north of
49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
390:Interview with Patrick Hetherman & John Grant
206:Spacecraft Tracking and Data Acquisition Network
367:State Library of Queensland OneSearch Catalogue
135:Cooby Creek Tracking Station site looking north
182:and other sources of potential interference.
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143:David Ronald Gilson working at Cooby Creek
196:The station was built in 1966 to support
109:Learn how and when to remove this message
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442:Buildings and structures in Queensland
246:, not the Australian 240-volt system.
16:Earth station in Queensland, Australia
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47:adding citations to reliable sources
457:1970 disestablishments in Australia
341:(8 October 2021) published by the
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395:Cooby Creek technical information
254:was used to transmit and receive
452:1966 establishments in Australia
339:The Cooby Creek Tracking Station
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202:Application Technology Satellite
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204:Program and was a part of the
58:"Cooby Creek Tracking Station"
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462:NASA facilities in Australia
156:Cooby Creek Tracking Station
447:Earth stations in Australia
352:, accessed on 31 May 2022.
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314:State Library of Queensland
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