Amateur radio enthusiasts will climb Mount Ainslie in Saturday's pre-dawn darkness to beam Anzac Day messages around the globe.
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However, demonstrating the huge changes since Morse code, they will bounce signals off satellites and use the internet to welcome hundreds of people to their radio net.
The commemorative broadcast, using the unique call sign VK100ANZAC, comes as Canberra radio amateurs prepare to host this year's national convention of their organisation.
Amanda Hawes, president of the Canberra Region Amateur Radio Club, said the Anzac Day station would make contact with similar stations in New Zealand and Turkey.
"We have 15 or 16 members who will participate in the running of the station and at 9am we will broadcast the speech of the Governor-General," she said.
"We will keep operating until about four o'clock in the afternoon, depending on the enthusiasm of those participating."
A mass of antennae and wires clutter her backyard in Evatt, from where she contacts enthusiasts around the world.
"There's an old saying about amateur radio – they're silly old farts who hide in the shed down the yard. They can talk to the world but they can't talk to their families," she said.
While Morse code is used by some traditionalists, many amateurs use repeater stations, connected via the internet.
"If I dialled up a repeater and put in a particular code, I could activate a repeater in Antarctica," Ms Hawes said.
"To me, it's cheating. It's not like real amateur radio, where you actually make contact station to station.
"For me, the attraction of amateur radio is the educational side, getting people interested in amateur radio.
"You can't just go out and buy the equipment. You have to do a course and sit for an examination for a licence.
"Once you get your licence, you can go on the air and do anything you like, within the terms of the licence conditions."
Ms Hawes said her recent gender transition highlighted the inclusiveness of the amateur radio fraternity.
"As a result of that, with my change in lifestyle, it demonstrates that amateur radio includes everybody who wants to participate."
Club member Rob Smith is part of the team who will begin to assemble the radio station at 2am on Saturday.
"I'm not sure I will go to bed that night," he said.
"As a teenager I was always interested in amateur radio but I didn't do anything about a licence until about six years ago, when I suddenly decided to get one."