Departure from Antarctica

Last night's flight with 49 passengers went without a hitch. I was at the threshold for the landing when the beast came in.

The weather looks great today. Mostly clear sky and light winds. The Ilyushin should take off from Punta Arenas this afternoon and arrive this evening. I have dug the valances of my tent out of the snow and ice in anticipation of dropping it at a moment's notice. Now in the process of packing up. Last thing I do at the base when the plane arrives is drop the antennas, unplug and box the radios, and off we go.

Have a day of debriefing and a staff dinner before departing Punta. Will send my flight arrival information when I learn it.

Adam

Storm

Last week we were smacked with the first Antarctic storm of the season. For all intents and purposes, the camp was shut down for four days. Even the young hotshot pilots - who are here to rack up flying hours in Twin Otters in hopes of a job with an airline some day and will it seems do anything to get into the air - wouldn't consider going out of the dining tent.

So for four days, it was indoor activities only around camp. Clean up paperwork, repair some of the machinery, cook dinner, catch up on some missing sleep, and yes, drink some Chilean wine, play card games and engage in lengthy conversation. Happily for me, one of our guests was a nuclear physicist from San Diego who has spent the last thirty years on fusion research and is an active ham radio operator. We had plenty to talk about and radio equipment to play with. No need to suffer in Antarctica, at least here at Patriot Hills.

The storm was comprised of a heavy snowfall, followed by sixty knot winds. After a day or so, the snow formed into corn (hard round snow crystals) which felt like small buckshot against any exposed skin. At night one slept amidst this wonderful racket, the tent being machine- gunned by the corn snow while at the same time shaking like an old airplane straining to take off on a runway with potholes. That is about the only way I can describe the experience, except to say that throughout the night, I was certain that I was soon to go the way of Dorothy and Toto.

One morning during the storm, our high frequency wire antenna snapped in the wind, and I went to the downwind end of the camp to inspect the damage. This necessitated a two-minute upwind return leg back to the Comms box in the lethal sixty knot breeze. One of my friends caught me in his camera as I stepped in the door. The expression on my face, in case you are wondering, is awe.

See you later.

Korean Expeditioners Visit Patriot Hills

South Korean amateur radio operators Hankyoo Yoo HL1TJF (left) and Jongwoo Park HL1TR (right) visited me at Patriot Hills as members of KoreaMet, the 2006/2007 Korea Expedition for Antarctic Meteorites. While visiting, they briefly operated the Patriot Hills station as KC4/HL1TR and KC4/HL1TJF in communication with my friend and their colleague, Kim, HL8KSJ (DT8A,DS4NMJ), the radio operator at King Sejong Base on King George Island. I have set Jong and Yoo up with an HF rig and dipole and they hope to get on the air with 40 and 20 meter SSB from their expedition campsites in the Pirrit and Martin Hills, Antarctica, during the month of January, although their time will be extremely limited. QSL via Adam, K2ARB.

I have also received visits this season from Bill NA5P, and Kurt KE6WWB, both came to Antarctica to climb Mt. Vinson, the tallest peak in Antarctica.

The other night around 3AM, I found myself handling a flight of Russian helicopters down the Antarctic peninsula toward Patriot Hills. I was working a handoff with the British base at Rothera when I found myself conversing with radio operators from two other Antarctic bases with an interest in the flight. It took a couple of seconds to realize that they were my ham radio pals Oleg R1ANF, at the Russian base at Bellinghausen, and Mike VP8DJB, at the British Base at Fossil Bluff. Only in Antarctica!

As for my own ham radio activities, which are limited to late at night to avoid conflicts with work, the propagation to North America has improved dramatically during the last two weeks although it remains weak to Europe. As the workload decreases toward the end of the season, I hope to be able to be on the air more frequently during times when European openings are likely.

73 and HNY to all!
Adam
KC4/K2ARB, CE8/K2ARB, VP8DKF

The Russians Are Coming!

Those years of suffering in Mr. Reilly's high school Russian class came in handy this week.

The day before yesterday, two Mi-8 military helicopters dropped in (literally) as the advanced party for a group of Russian officials who were on their way to visit the American station at the South Pole. As the closest thing to a Russian speaker here at the base, I spent a great deal of time with the crew, who ate and socialized with us for two days.

Last night the VIPs arrived aboard and Antonov 47. They included, among others, Arthur Chilingorov, Deputy Chairman of the Duma and a major figure in Russian polar exploration for over three decades, and Dr. Alexander Bedritsky, president of the World Meteorlogical Association. I had a chance to chat with them as well as a good number of their associates. Unfortunately, a planned ham radio operation by one of the members of the group did not come to pass, as the party was far behind schedule due to highwinds (up to 60 knots) at our location.

The photo above is with Mr. Chilingarov. In case you cannot tell us apart, he is the one with the warmer hat...