History

During World War 2 (1939 to 1945), all amateur radio operation was banned. Some of the men that enlisted for service received technical training in radio and radar. Before the war, in 1938 there were nine amateur radio operators listed in the Geelong area. By the time the war was over and amateur radio operation was once again permitted the number of licensed amateur radio operators in the area had grown to fifteen.

On the 7th of June 1948 a meeting was called, and from there the Geelong Amateur Radio Club (GARC) was formed with weekly meetings drawing 15 to 20 people. On the 7th of December in 1948 the GARC christened it’s new call sign – VK3ATL. The first contact was on 40m between J.S. McNamara, VK2EQ and Dick Heighway, VK3ABK using his Type 3 Mark 2 transmitter. The GARC callsign VK3ATL has been in operation ever since.