Grumman Amateur Radio Club
WA2LQO

The Grumman Amateur Radio Club, WA2LQO, is the proud sponsor of a special event station operation commemorating the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11. In particular, the Club recognizes the incredible feat accomplished by the thousands of employees, suppliers and partners in achieving the Lunar Landing and safe return of our Astronauts in July 1969. The Lunar Module that delivered Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the lunar surface and returned them to the orbiting Command Module was the 5th LM (LM-5) produced by Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, with final assembly taking place in the Bethpage, New York, Plant 5 facility. A total of 13 LM units were produced, 10 of which were flown in space, see the Wikipedia for more information. Plant 5 was also home to the Grumman Amateur Radio Club for many years following the Apollo era.

Special Event Frequencies: The majority of operations will be on SSB, 40 KHz up from band segment/major MHz segment edges. Expect to find stations on, or near 3640, 3740, 3840, 3940, 7140, 7240, 14240, 21240, 21350 (above the SSTV operating frequency), 28340, 28440, and 28540 KHz – depending upon propagation. There will be occasional CW operation on or near 3540, 7045, 14040 and 21040 KHz. VHF operation will be on local Long Island, New York 2-m repeaters, particularly 146.745 and 145.330 MHz.

Operation Schedule: Special Event Stations will operate over the July 17, 2009 through July 21, 2009 period. Times of operation will vary by station, but generally will reflect periods of Apollo 11/Lunar Module – related events which mostly occurred during US East Coast hours of 9:30AM EDST to midnight. Accordingly, the “Official” period of operation is from 9:30 AM EDST (1330 UTC) July 17 – just prior to mid-course correction on the way to the moon; through 7:45 PM EDST (2345 UTC) on July 21 – following the jettisoning of the Lunar Module ascent stage upon the safe return of the crew to the orbiting Command Module for the return trip to Earth.

Special Event Certificate: A Special Event commemorative certificate – 8 ½ x 11 inches, is available to all who contact one of the WA2LQO stations. The certificate will be mailed flat if you provide a large, self-addressed, stamped mailing envelope ($1.05 postage required for US addresses). If you provide a smaller self-addressed, stamped envelope, the certificate will be folded, and $0.61 is sufficient postage. All certificate requests should be sent to the WA2LQO Callbook address (70 Dewey Street, Huntington, NY 11743) with your SASE. If you prefer to send “green stamps”, 1 is sufficient for a folded certificate; 2 are required if you wish to have an unfolded certificate mailed flat.

About Apollo 11: The flight log of the Apollo 11 mission is available here

Read the Club Newsletter.

GARC participated in the International Lighthouse Weekend Aug 20, 2005, from the Nantucket Lightship in Oyster Bay.

Operation from the original radio room.

Some Pictures from our 2004 operation.

Read the Nantucket's history.

Plane News article from July 1983. Putting the Blue Ball on Plant 5. 6/03.

Take a Blue Ball Photo Tour. 8/02.

Download a Video on Blue Ball History. It is a 6.6 Meg file, and uses Windows Media Player. 8/02.

Newsday Article on the Ball. 8/24/01.

Read news about the new Blue Ball. (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) 12/01.

The Bethpage Repeater is on the air.

Activities

• Club Meetings. GARC holds its monthly meeting in Farmingdale, NY, at the Ellsworth Allen Park on the third Wednesday of each month. Starting time is 5:30 PM, and refreshments are served. After a short business discussion, the featured speaker is presented. Meetings usually conclude by 7 PM.
• Volunteer Exams. The V.E. sessions are held at Briarcliff College at 5 PM on the second Tuesday of every month.
• Field Day. GARC has operated in every ARRL Field Day since this activity was introduced in 1959. Currently, they are held on a site in Bethpage, NY. This occurs on the 4th weekend in June.
• Nets:

 Twenty Meters: 14.262  at 12:00 PM EST Wednesdays. *suspended
 Forty Meters:   7.289  at  7:30 AM EST Sundays.
 Two Meters:    146.745 at  8:30 PM EST Thursdays.   
                145.33  at  8:45 PM EST Thursdays. 
                145.33  at  9:00 PM EST Mondays (ARES/RACES).

Club Meetings:

All meetings are held in Farmingdale: Ellsworth Allen Park, Heisser Lane and Motor Ave. (entrance on Motor Ave.), Farmingdale, NY.

We have directions and a map here.

To see previous GARC meetings, click here.

VE Information:

GARC VE sessions are held every second Tuesday at Briarcliff College. Call W2ILP for the latest information.

Field Day 2008 Pictures

Field Day 2007

Field Day 2006 Pictures

Field Day 2005 Pictures

Field Day 2004 Pictures

Field Day 2003 Pictures

Field Day 2002 Pictures

Field Day 2001 Pictures

Field Day 2000 Pictures

Field Day 1999 Pictures

All WA2LQO Field Day scores

Special Event Station 7/20/2000, commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the Landing on the Moon.

The station was operated from the Original Grumman building in Bethpage, NY, where all the Lunar Modules were built. There were 220 QSOs made. View the log here .

Read the Club Newsletter.

View KE2LJ's tower project

View member email addresses. Send corrections and updates to KE2LJ

Download a Grumman Screen Saver for Windows.

Click here to download the mpeg video of an F14 going transonic. It is 1.4 MBs. Will take a few minutes.

This is a still picture of an F18 breaking the sound barrier. It is a MS Word doc file about 1.4 MBs also.

Affiliated Radio Club Links

Contacts:

President: Ed GellenderWB2EAV. 516-575-0013

Vice President: Gordon Sammis KB2UB. 631-xxx-xxxx.

Secretary: Karen Cefalo KC2OPX.

Treasurer: Ed Gellender WB2EAV. 516-575-0013.

V.E. Coordinator: Bob Wexelbaum W2ILP. 631-499-2214.

You are visitor number since 8/3/98.

Last Update 6/19/09.