WAP Antarctic Bulletin nr. 3Ø6, Jan 28, 2025

WAP Antarctic bulletin nr. 306 is online at: https://www.waponline.it/wap-antarctic-bulletins/

On the same page, readers can take a look of the bulletins issued in the last 10 past year.
Those who eventually wish to get more, just drop a mail to Max IK1GPG (wap_info@virgilio.it).


Just a curious note: 1st WAP bulletin has been released 34 years ago (Feb. 10th 1991) !

 Ejnoy Antarctica as much as we do!

Fire on Amsterdam Island

Since Wednesday, January 15, a fire has continued to ravage part of Amsterdam Island, a district of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF). The fire, initially declared near the scientific buildings of Pointe Bénédicte, quickly spread to the vegetation, directly threatening the Martin-de-Viviès Base (WAP FRA-Ø3), located 2.5 km away.

No information is available at this stage on the origin of the fire, as this question is not an immediate priority.  The fire came dangerously close to the Base during the day on January 16. Although the buildings have been spared at this stage, the surrounding vegetation is severely affected. Several critical infrastructures were damaged, including pipes, the fire main and the power supply to the water treatment systems. This fire also threatens major scientific facilities. Located on Pointe Bénédicte, the Research Station monitors background air pollution, greenhouse gases and aerosols, which are crucial for the IPCC’s work. Pictures Credit to:  Rémi Chazot

Now, it seems that emegerncy is gone an 31 people of the personnel at the Base safe and well recovered.

Thanks and credit to:  https://taaf.fr/actualite/nouvelle-mise-a-jour-sur-lincendie-en-cours-sur-lile-amsterdam/ 

Prof. Lyubomir Ivanov involved in a research mission in Antarctica

We are happy to receive greetings for the New Year by our good WAP friend Prof. Lyubomir Ivanov who is actually in Antarctica, on board of the Bulgarian naval ship RSV 421, preparing (weather permitting) for a research mission on the forbidding Smith Island.

Smith island doesn’t host research stations or camps, and is seldom visited by scientists or mountaineers. Its interior is entirely occupied by the Imeon Range, rising to 2,025 m (6,644 ft) (Mount Foster). The first detailed topographic mapping of the island was made by the “Antarctic Place-names Commission” and the Military Geographic Service of the Bulgarian Army and published in 2009 in both English and Bulgarian.

See the very accurate map at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Livingston-Island-Map-2010.jpg  

Prof. Lyubomir Ivanov (pic aside) of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (born 7 October 1952 in Sofia) is a Bulgarian scientist, and Antarctic explorer. He is a graduate of the St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia with M.S. degree in mathematics in 1977. He earned his PhD from Sofia University in 1980, under the direction of Dimiter Skordev with a dissertation titled Iterative Operative Spaces, and was the 1987 winner of Acad. Nikola Obreshkov Prize, the highest Bulgarian award in mathematics. Initiator and participant in Bulgarian mapping and place naming (some 400 Bulgarian names) in Antarctica.

Expert on geographic names, Standing Committee on Antarctic Geographic Information of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) since 2006.
Topographic surveys and mapping in four Bulgarian Antarctic expeditions during the 1994/95, 1995/96, 2002/03, and 2004/05 austral summers.

Ivanov has taken part in several Antarctic expeditions. In 2004, Ivanov went with Doychin Vasilev on the Tangra 2004 topographic expedition, noted by Discovery Channel, the Natural History Museum, the Royal Collection and the British Antarctic Survey as a timeline event in Antarctic exploration.[12][13][14] Awarded the jubilee medal 30th Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition by the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute for his active participation in the expeditions and in the building of St. Kliment Ohridski Polar Base.

If the readers wish to look the list of the so many books and publications by Prof. Lyubomir Ivanov, check here: http://www.math.bas.bg/logic/ivanovll/Lyubomir-Ivanov.html 

TNX Prof. Lyubomir Ivanov

Let’s hope one day, when in Antarctica, our friend Lyubo can involve some Hamradio operator to join him and maybe activate the last Bulgarian rare spot: Camp Academia (WAP BUL-New) listed on WAP WADA-Directory.

New informations about the Argentinian Antarctic Light Houses

WAP has recently received by our fiend Pedro Sarli, LU1JHF some fresh information and updates on the Argentinean Antarctic & Sub Antarctic Light Houses.

Pedro wrote: «I was looking the Antarctic Lighthouses file in WAP Online website, and now I’m sending an Excel file with new information about the Argentinian LHs (ARLHS Reference Number, Admiralty Number, NGIA Number, SHN Number, etc.)».

In addition, Pedro sent few QSL cards of some LHs Ham radio activity of years ago which are going to increase WAP archive.

While we thank Pedro LU1JHF for his always precious help, we want to say that all the new entries provided by Pedro will be included as soon as possible in the updated list of the Antarctic & Sub Antarctic Light House Directory at https://www.waponline.it/wap-antarctic-sub-antarctic-light-house-directory/
Thanks to Pedro Sarli, LU1JHF

 

TM22AAW ready for the 22nd AAW

François Bergez, F8DVD  will be active as TM22AAW (WAP-354) to celebrate the 22nd Antarctic Activity Week (A.A.W.) on 2 and 3 February and from 8 to 20 February 2025.

Activity will take place at from Mâcon,  Frank’s QTH in East part of France, 60 km North of Lyon (Locator JN26JH).

Frank will use his Icom 7600, Acom A2100, Antenna 8 elements Log for 10 to 20m and rotative dipole for 30 and 40m

QSL card is OK via Buro or Direct (with 1 SASE + 1 new IRC or 3 USD) to F8DVD (address on QRZ.com).  QSL’s received via bureau will be answered in the same way. Qso will be uploaded to LOTW.
TNX François F8DVD-TM22AAW

Congrats to Frank who have never missed to be on air since the very first editions of the Antarctic Activity Week!
Check: https://www.waponline.it/antarctic-activity-week/aaw-2025/   

IAØ/IZ1KHY/Mobile, nearly 40 km traverse from LDC to Concordia

Danilo has got chances to operate Mobile, signing IAØ/IZ1KHY/Mobile while doing tech measurement on the path from LDC to Concordia.

1st Lieutenant Danilo Collino IZ1KHY, is a keen Radioamateur who is involved this year in his 4th season in Antarctica where he has been appointed as Chief, responsible at Little Dome C-Beyond Epica Camp (LDC).

Danilo reports that, he has to go quite a few times a week from LDC to Concordia Station for some working issues and this kind of trails, takes different driving time, depending on which means of transport is used.

Danilo said: «With the Arctic truck, it takes between 40 and 50 minutes. With the unloaded Caterpillar challenger 1h 20 Min, if the Challenger is loaded with the sled, it takes between 2.30 to 3 hours. With the snowcat (Pisten Bully 300) 3 to 3,30 hours depending on what the track/path is like.

At the beginning of the season, we did trace the path with GPS, following six known points, which we marked with six numbered poles, stuck on the ice. Now the road is always visible, even in a blizzard, if snowy you don’t get lost at all. The problem is the whiteout when visibility is reduced to almost zero. The whiteout is a meteorological condition in which the contours and points of reference in a snow-covered area become almost indistinguishable.  

During a whiteout it took 5 hours to do the traverse because we must travel between 7 and 10 km per hour. In any case, particularly at this latitude, safety is mandatory so, we have a tracker to be followed by the Concordia operations room during the journey and we have a satellite equipment on board for emergencies, then VHF radio for normality».

 

Pics show: The big blue jeep is called Artic Truck, the orange Caterpillar (Challenger), in other words, a tractor, and the one with the blade in front, is a snowcat (Pisten Bully 300), a “trail groomer”.
TNX to:  1st LT Danilo Collino IAØ/IZ1KHY/Mobile

Dixie’s Camp (WAP MNB-NEW) and FD83 (WAP MNB-Ø9)

Thanks to Oleg Sakharov (UA1O, R1ANF, ZS7ANF) WAP has  now a better understand of the fact that, as thought, Dixi’s Camp and Fuel Depot 83 are for sure, two separate entities, located at different latitude and longitude.

Opened in 2019, Dixie is a new Camp made by White Desert Company, at about 10-15 km from the existing FD-83 (Fuel Depot at 83° South).

Dixie’s Camp (WAP MNB-NEW) is an isolated research station surrounded by the vast, icy expanse of the South Pole. Actually Dixie is a Camp for turists  who visit South Pole  and a refueling station for aircrafts.  It has been designed to give the guests the opportunity to experience just what life was like for the original polar explorers, almost a Century ago.

Situated some 750km from the nearest humans, at an altitude of 2.640 mts   and located exactly at 83° 24’ 5,56” South, 19° 41’ 52,8” East, the sun never sets on this  Expedition Camp during season, making it a surreal outpost in the centre of the Great White Continent.
Named after renowned explorer Dixie Dansercoer, this remote camp is one of the harshest environments on Earth.  Dixie’s Camp is so remote, that their nearest neighbor is the International Space Station (ISS) orbiting over 400km overhead!
Dixie’s Camp could also provide a base for interdisciplinary research, including glaciology, climate science, and polar ecology. Researchers and scientists from around the globe, could converge here to study the unique ecosystems, ice formations, and atmospheric conditions of the South Pole, contributing valuable insights into our understanding of climate change and the delicate balance of the polar regions.

Despite its remote location, Dixie’s Camp, equipped with cutting-edge technology and sustainable infrastructure, exemplifies human perseverance and the pursuit of knowledge in challenging, unspoiled environments. (Pics aside show the Camp to the Left and a BT67 to the Right at Dixie’s Camp).

FD83 (WAP MNB-Ø9) was made by ALCI in 2007-2008, and even if activated already, it remains a rare “New One” for the majority of the Antarctic Chasers. It still exists and it is used by “Ultima Antarctic Logistics” (EX ALCI).
Oleg Sakharov (UA1O, R1ANF, ZS7ANF) was the only one active from FD83 on last 2019 as RI1ANX
TNX Oleg Sakharov  ZS7ANF 

 

Johann Gregor Mendel Czech Antarctic Station (WAP CZE-NEW)

The Czech Republic is one of the Countries which has historically carried out significant scientific research in Antarctica, enjoyed an international recognition, and since 2006 has had its own research polar station. The Research Station Johann Gregor Mendel has been built between 2004 and 2006 at 63°48’16” South, 57°53’08” West on the remote James Ross Island in Antarctica, by the Masaryk University in the years 2005–2006, to serve as a base for the Antarctic research of the Faculty of Science, as well as other national and international academic institutions. The plans for setting up a Czech base in the Antarctic go back to the 1990s, when the necessary legal, logistical and later constructional preparations began. The station was completed on 4 March 2006 and it was commissioned during the following research season on 22 February 2007. It was given the name Mendel Polar Station after Johann Gregor Mendel, whose 200th anniversary of birth is commemorated worldwide this year.

 

On Jan 2025, a total of twenty-two members, seven women and fifteen men, are participating in the actual Masaryk University expedition to Antarctica. The bulk of the expedition, consisting of fourteen people, did set off on New Year’s Eve. This main group will depart from Vienna Airport for Argentina, from where they will be transferred by a special vehicle of the Argentine Air Force via Marambio Base (WAP ARG-21) on Seymour Island to the station on James Ross Island. This part of the expedition, led by Peter Vácz from the Institute of Geography and the Institute of Experimental Biology of the Faculty of Science of the Masaryk University, consists of scientists of Israeli, Italian and Slovak nationality, among others, not only from Masaryk University, but also from the Czech Technical University in Prague, as well as a doctor and three technicians who ensure the functioning of the infrastructure of this unique, southernmost Czech university workplace.

The second part of the expedition, consisting of eight members, who will then set off on Saturday, January 11, 2025 via Chile to the CZ-ECO Nelson Base on Nelson Island (WAP CZE-Ø1)

TNX and credit to: https://www.em.muni.cz/udalosti/17804-do-antarktidy-opet-miri-dva-tymy-z-masarykovy-univerzity

While CZ-Eco Nelson Base  (WAP CZE-Ø1) has been activated in 2004 by OLØANT and from R1ANF/p on 2006,  Johann Gregor Mendel is a brand “New One”, never activated on HF by Radioamateurs so far.

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The Worldwide Antarctic Chasers of the Ham Radio community is still hopeful that one day or another some Czech operators can put this rare Base up on the air!

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WAP … where else,  to get connected with Antarctica?

One million wishes  to the Arctic and Antarctic Chasers, tho those who love the fascinating world of the Poles, to our great friends who have and are operating from remote sites in the Icy Continent. Antarctica is in our hearts since we were young DX hunters and it has remained as it was since the beginning. To all of you,  Happy New Year, a 2025 full od new emotions, made of contacts and QSLs!
From WAP staff