The Kangaroo Flat resident was reading Neil Armstrong's pulse as the astronaut put his hand on the hatch-door and prepared for mankind's first moon walk.

"I know exactly where the antenna was pointed - straight at the moon, not a satellite Hollywood was playing around with," he said.

The world will this year mark 50 years since mankind took its first step on the lunar surface.

Back in 1969, Mr Tobin was part of an Australian crew relaying signals from the astronauts to NASA's American base.

Hearing the conspiracy theories used to frustrate Mr Tobin. Now he finds them funny.

"In the end you think 'what's the point of arguing with them? You know what is right and what is wrong.

"They will carry on and be silly for the rest of their lives. I'll know what I was doing, and what it was all about."

Related: Race to space began as a daring dream

Mr Tobin was watching Armstrong's vital signs as the astronaut prepared to make his way onto the lunar surface.

"Armstrong was as physically-fit a specimen as you could possibly get, but he was really stretching his vitals. I think a lot of that was nerves."

The astronaut's pulse skyrocketed as he put his hand on the hatch, Mr Tobin said.

"That was enough to put most other people in hospital, but he was still focusing with such high levels."

Those high levels dropped once Armstrong had made his celebrated first steps.

"I think there was realisation he was not going to sink into six foot of dust, or something like that," he said.

"They had a lot of work to do. They only had a few hours on the surface of the moon and about 10 different experiments they had to deploy.

"So once that feeling of 'we're here' was over and done with it was down to work."

Mr Tobin met Armstrong after Apollo 11's crew returned to earth.

"He was very quietly spoken and unassuming. You would think that somebody who had done what he had done would be allowed to be a little full of himself. But he was a very different person," he said.

Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.