Febbraio 2021 – W.A.P.

New £2 Coin to Commemorate 60th Anniversary of Antarctic Treaty

On: 26 Febbraio 202126 Febbraio 2021 By: Gianni Varetto

An agreement was originally signed on December 1, 1959, in Washington by the 12 nations that were active in Antarctic science at the time.
The Treaty came into force on June 23, 1961. It has since been acceded to by many other nations, and there are now 54 Parties to the Treaty.

The entry into force of the Antarctic Treaty is recognized as one of the most successful international agreements, setting an example of peaceful cooperation, designated as a “natural reserve, devoted to peace and science”.

Now, the Pobjoy Mint is delighted to announce the release of a beautiful new £2 coin on behalf of the British Antarctic Territory to commemorate this anniversary.

The coin is offered on behalf of the Government of the British Antarctic Territory, with full recognition of Article IV of the Antarctic Treaty.

The design on the coin features a map of Antarctica with four emperor penguins standing on the land. The obverse of the coin features an effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II produced exclusively by Pobjoy Mint.

More details at: https://coinweek.com/world-coins/antarctic-treaty-60th-anniversary-commemorated-on-new-2-coin/

1925 Macmillan/Byrd Arctic Vessel WNP-WAP

On: 24 Febbraio 202124 Febbraio 2021 By: Gianni Varetto

Sometimes, as in this case, Arctic and Antarctica are joined together in the bound by the invisible wire of radio waves . That WNP-WAP printed on a very old QSL card intrigues me a lot.

WNT-WAP of 1925 is something rare, nothing to do with WAP (Worldwide Antarctic Program) but it is still part of the passion that join the North and South Pole. This is why such an interesting info deserves to be published. The story shown here below, recalls the commitment of men and women as well as of institutions in exploring, studying and researching the secrets of our immeasurable planet.

We have to thank Mr. Terry Denton (carefreedentons@cox.net) who send us a QSL card which he has from the 1925 expedition.

Terry wrote: «This was in my late father’s collection. He worked in a small radio store in 1925 in Whitesboro, Texas. The card was addressed to his boss J.C. Bass at 106 Charter Street Whitesboro, Texas. My father would have been 17 years of age at that time and his Ham activity is summarized as follows: The American Radio Relay League Amateur 5AFD 12/7/1925 to 12/31/1926 (his old QSL card on the right), then W5AFD 1/8/1932 to 1/7/1933 and W6KQX6 1/7/1946 to 6/7/1951. Later he was N6AHY»

Theo “Ted” Denton was born in 1908 in Whitesboro, Texas. As a boy, like most of us, he became attracted to radio and what makes it work. The idea of having his own station empowered him to overcome the lack of any money or materials and he became successfully licensed as 5AFD about 1923. Like all radio amateurs of the day, he built his own equipment.

By 1928 he updated his exciter to a three stage Meissner design achieving contacts all around the U.S. His station became well known to locals and he was talked about and bragged about. As my grandmother relates: “Everyone who was anyone bragged about my Ted”.

By checking N6AHY on QRZ.com you can read all about Theo “Ted” Denton, a real pioneer on Ham radio. It’s always very nice to recall our colleagues who a century ago really were pioneers.

Arctic Expedition 1925. The card was issued from contact at Etah, Greenland, but based upon the postage stamp it was mailed in Canada.

Here a bit of history: 1925 Macmillan/Byrd Arctic Vessel WNP-WAP

The objectives supported by the Navy and the National Geographic Society were to determine the full capabilities of radio North of the auroral belt and to explore the Northern reaches by air. In the summer of 1925 the Bowdoin, captained by MacMillan led the Peary, a minesweeper enlisted as transport and captained by Zenith president Eugene F. McDonald, to a bay again near Etah in northern Greenland. Three amphibious aircraft were assembled on site and directed by Richard E. Byrd. Severely limited by weather and mechanical problems, the aircraft only accomplished some seven missions within their limited range, and did not actually fly over the pole. The outstanding accomplishment of the expedition was in the sphere of radio. Utilizing short waves, the expedition was in consistent contact with the outside world throughout the journey, to the delight of the amateurs who were able to work them. The phenomenal success proved to the Navy that short waves were definitely superior to the long and ultra long waves on which the fleets had been relying.

Etah (see pic aside) is an abandoned settlement in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northern Greenland. It was was used in the past as a base camp for several Arctic expeditions, including Knud Rasmussen’s expeditions to the northern coast of Greenland and a starting point of discovery expeditions to the North Pole.

Etah was also the landing site of the last migration of the Inuit from the Canadian Arctic. The village was located on the shores of Foulk Fjord near Reindeer Point. The huts of the former village are still standing. Today, Etah is seldom visited

Spain – Don Bosco in Antarctica as Patron of “Army Specialist Corps”

On: 21 Febbraio 202121 Febbraio 2021 By: Gianni Varetto

How far and wide does Don Bosco go? Certainly up to the more than 130 countries on the five continents where the Salesians are present today. What if you wanted to go even further?
Well, if we were to go to Antarctica, we’d also find a small image of Don Bosco there too. This photo was taken 15,073 kilometers from Spain as Don Bosco is present as patron of the military contingent that accompanies environmental researchers on the Antarctic Continent.

The Spanish Antarctic Station Gabriel de Castilla (latitude 62º 55’ S and longitude 60º 37’ W) WAP ESP-Ø2 is located on Deception Island, in the archipelago of the Southern Shetlands . The station is managed by the operations Bureau of the Army General Staff, which organises and directs the operation of the Station. During the the refuge “Gabriel de Castilla” was set on Deception Island, during the Spanish Antarctic campaign of 1988 and being officially inaugurated in 1989 as a military refuge to support research and topographical surveys.

Since its installation, this refuge has been managed by the Army, in close collaboration with the UTM-CSIC. In 1998 the refuge was classified as an Antarctic Station, and in 1999 as a ICTS. Since then it has undergone various periods of remodelling, the most important in the year 2009. This station is designed to carry out singular, cutting-edge scientific activities, and its results are valuable for polar research. Due to its singular nature, it is at the disposal of the national and international scientific communities, hosting studies concerning volcano monitoring, astrobiology, geology, and ecology.

According to the Spanish Military Association (AME), he is the patron saint of the Specialist Corps of the Ground Army and of the fundamental specialties of this corp: Electronics and Telecommunications, Maintenance and Assembly of Equipment, Electricity, IT, Automotive, Aircraft Maintenance, Maintenance of Weapons and Materials, Maintenance of Vehicles, Electronic and Telecommunication Maintenance, Welding, Electricity and Assembly of Equipment.

How did this initiative come about?

The first seminar on the Corps of Specialists was held at the Navacerrada Residence (Madrid) on 27 and 28 November, 1998. Among other things, the convenience and the need to have a specific Patron who could serve as an element of unity and generator of the spirit of the Corps was demonstrated; hence, for the elections, the existing traditions were reviewed and, taking care to preserve the ones with which the majority of the staff members of the Corps of Specialists identified, most having been students of the Professional Institutes, centers that very often venerated St John Bosco, On January 24, 2000, in a communication from the Army Chief of Staff, St. John Bosco was officially designated as Patron of the Specialist Corps of the Ground Army, after his approval in the corresponding act, issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, and sanctioned by Msgr. José Manuel Estepa Llaurens, then Military Ordinary of Spain.

Every year the Specialists of the Ground Army celebrate Don Bosco on February 1^st.

Source: https://www.infoans.org/sezioni/notizie/item/9561-spagna-don-bosco-in-antartide-patrono-del-corpo-degli-specialisti-dell-esercito-di-terra

ZS7ANF regularly on 10115 +/- from 19:00 UTC

On: 19 Febbraio 202119 Febbraio 2021 By: Gianni Varetto

For those who had not yet the luck to work Oleg, ZS7ANF from the Wolf´s Fang Runway, would be useful to know that he is almost every day in the evening hours on 10115 (+/-) in CW.

Wolf’s Fang Runway, WAP MNB-12, is located at 71° 31′ South, 08° 48′ East , 1127mts AMSL, 3000mts long track strip on the the ice.
See http://white-desert.com/wolfsfang-runway-logistics/ and you will get more.

Oleg ZS7ANF is expected to be also active from Whichaway Oasis Camp, WAP MNB-11 in a little while.

Thanks to Dr. Volker Strecke DL8JDX who did provide few pics of a detail that many of the chasers may have missed!

It is particularly worthy of note that the WhichAway Camp (built in 2010) is in the Schirmacher Oasis at the Lake Podprudnoje at 70° 45′ 49″ South, 11° 36′59″ East, exactly at the same position where the Georg Forster Hut (at 70°46′ South, 11°37′ East) was until 1993.

Pictures to the Left and to the Right show how the place looked in 1989 (L) , and on the right a picture of 1991

And below, how the Whichaway Oasis Camp looks today:

TNX Dr. Volker Strecke, DL8JDX operator at:

1988-1989 Y88POL Georg Forster Base Schirmacher Oasis WAP DDR-Ø1

1990-1992 Y88POL Georg Forster Base Schirmacher Oasis WAP DDR-Ø1

1992-1994 DPØGVN Neumayer II Base Ekstroem Shelf Ice WAP DEU-Ø2

How many people live in Antarctica?

On: 15 Febbraio 202115 Febbraio 2021 By: Gianni Varetto

Antarctica is the highest, driest, coldest, and windiest continent on earth. So perhaps unsurprisingly, it spent the last 35 million years in relative isolation. People only discovered Antarctica in 1820, and it took another 100 years for people to reach the pole. But, how many people live in Antarctica now?

Antarctica has no real permanent residents — just Research Stations and Field camps staffed either seasonally or year-round. Yet in the summer season, if the weather is favorable, Antarctica usually hosts up to 5,000 people. When the summer fades into winter, many stations get completely depopulated, and the ones with a permanent mission keep much smaller crews to keep the stations running. During the wintertime, Antarctica’s population goes down to around 1,000 people.

Currently, scientists, staff, and whoever else might happen to be in Antarctica stay in one of 70 even more Bases (40 of which are year-round). Over 30 nationalities are usually represented on the continent.

More at: https://www.zmescience.com/other/pieces/how-many-people-live-in-antarctica-and-other-things-you-wish-you-knew-about-the-frozen-continent/

An Ice Chapel … not only in Antarctica

On: 13 Febbraio 202119 Febbraio 2021 By: Gianni Varetto

The news reporting the build of an “Ice Chapel” outside St. Albert The Great Parish on Michigan Tech’s campus, (see picture aside) reminds us the Ice chapel carved into the ice at the Argentine Base of Belgrano II (WAP ARG-Ø6) in Antarctica!

HOUGHTON, Mich. – On Saturday afternoon, at least 40 people gathered in a student-made ice chapel outside St. Albert The Great Parish on Michigan Tech’s campus. Every person was required to wear a mask during services.

«This is the 6th consecutive year ice masses were held with 200-250 total people attending overall». Father Ben Hasse says holding prayers in the outdoor venue is something special.

«Every year, we’ll see guests and visitors from the area» Hasse said. «Often, students will bring their parents, and we get to meet their parents. Students will bring their friends. It’s been a great opportunity to welcome people, to meet them, and to pray with them.”

Hasse looks forward to having more people at ice mass during the next winter carnival and also hopes for new architectural additions to the chapel.

Thanks and credit to: https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/2021/02/07/michigan-tech-holds-annual-ice-mass-2/

Antarctica– The Chapel of “Nuestra Señora de las Nieves” (Our Lady of the Snows) is the southernmost place of worship in the world, 800 miles from the South Pole. It serves as a permanent Catholic church for those that reside on Belgrano II (WAP ARG-Ø6) throughout the year. Although it’s located in Antarctica, it falls under the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bahía Blanca in Buenos Aires, Argentina with Guillermo José Garlatti as their Archbishop.

In 1959, the first Belgrano Base (WAP ARG-Ø5) was built by the Argentinians and included a chapel. However, the ice that the base was built on was unstable forcing them to relocate. Despite Antarctica being covered almost 98% by ice, they found ice-free land close to the original to construct a new base. Nearby the newly built Belgrano II Base, a system of tunnels and caves was dug out of ice that eventually included the new chapel that remains today in permanent ice. (see picture aside)

Argentina has four churches on the Icy Continent;.

Chapel of Our Lady of the Snows – Belgrano II Base, Bertrab Nunatak, built 1979
San Francisco de Asis Chapel – Esperanza Base, Hope Bay, built 1976
Chapel of Santisima Virgen de Lujan – Marambio Base, Marambio Island, built 1996
Chapel of Santa María Reina de la Paz – Villa Las Estrellas, King George Island

VP8AR Leith Harbour, South Georgia,WAP-WADA New Entry

On: 10 Febbraio 202110 Febbraio 2021 By: Gianni Varetto

Thanks to Mehdi F5PFP for having shown an old QSL card of VP8AR who did operate from Leith Haurbour in 1950, WAP is happy to issue a reference number for this unreferenced Brithish station in the South Georgia islands.

Leith Harbour, Britain’s abandoned whale hunting stations is now WAP GBR-41. The New reference will be add to WAP-WADA Directory on its next release (June 2021).

Between 1909 and 1965, the whaling station of Leith Harbour on South Georgia was one of the busiest whaling stations in the world, with more than 48,000 whales processed into oil for margarine, bone meal for fertiliser and other products. A film crew was granted access to the abandoned whaling stations, and a new BBC4 documentary shows the remains of whaling life, and the wildlife that is re-colonising Leith Harbour.

Leith Harbour whaling station and Stromness Bay, in South Georgia, is part of British overseas territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean. The station was established in 1909, and finally abandoned for good in 1965. It is now off-limits to visitors due to dangerous buildings and high levels of asbestos. At its peak Leith Harbour housed 500 men and was the biggest whaling station in the world. A steam-saw on the bone loft used for cutting up the skulls and spines of whales, which were boiled to extract oil. Up to 29 tonnes of oil could be extracted from each whale by putting its blubber, meat and bone through different industrial processes. In 1933, 37% of the fat in British margarines was from whales.
WAP has actually no evidence that, other than VP8AR in 1950 someone else did operate Ham Radio from there. So far, it looks like no one operated from Leith Harbour after this one. (Pic aside shows an aerial view of Leith harbour)

Read more and watch the nice pics to “The Guardian” site, to which we say Thanks and credit: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2014/jun/10/britains-whale-hunters-in-pictures

Leith Harbour WAP GBR-41 was a whaling station on the northeast coast of South Georgia, established and operated from 1909 until 1965. It was the largest of seven whaling stations, situated near the mouth of Stromness Bay.

ARA Francisco De Gurruchaga a Polar Ship in WAP Directories

On: 6 Febbraio 20216 Febbraio 2021 By: Gianni Varetto

Thanks to Joe De Gasperin I2YDX a keen Dxer and Antarctic Chaser for submitting a rare and old QSL of the Polar ship ARA Francisco De Gurruchaga worked way back in jan 15^th 1976. LU8ENT/MM is listed in WAP-WACA Directory under the Polar Ship section, therefore valid for WAP Awards.

A brief profile of this Polar ship:

Francisco de Gurruchaga (previous name; USS Luiseno) is an auxiliary ship of the Argentine Navy.

In service since 1975, she worked in the tasks of support to Antarctic campaigns, and rescue. In 1976 she set out from Ushuaia to the South Shtetland Islands to rescue the crew of the sinister M/V ARA Zapiola. That same year, Francisco de Gurruchaga supported the oceanographic vessel ARA El Austral and later the ARA Diaguita, both with a waterway. During the Malvinas War she operated from the Isla de los Estados, being the protagonist of the rescue of 390 men from the sinking of the ARA General Belgrano cruiser. In 1985 she captured the Japanese fishing vessels Fuki Maru 51 and Dae-Wang, opening fire on the former for disobedience. She repeated catches in 1986 with the Chidori Marú and Ainnia fishing vessels. In 1999 she was part of the first combined exercise with the United Kingdom after the Falklands War, called “Millenium” .

https://youtu.be/_K7txd-377A

In 2010 she was assigned to Ushuaia as a new seat, from there she began new functions such as search and rescue, and resupply of Control Posts and Maritime Traffic around the Isla de los Estados. In a difficult mission, she rescued the shipwrecked from the Polish sailboat Nashachata, seriously damaged in Sloggett Bay, having to withstand winds of 100 km/h and waves of 6 meters high during the operation. In December 2011 she helped injured kayakers on the Isla de Los Estados, then in May 2013, the veteran ship was again assigned to the Puerto Belgrano Naval Base, where it received important maintenance tasks.

ARA Francisco De Gurruchaga is listed in the all major auxiliary ships transports, colliers, tankers, scientific vessels, tugs, in service with the Argentine Navy

EM25VER WAP-312. Special celebration for 25 years of Ukrainian Vernadsky Station

On: 3 Febbraio 20213 Febbraio 2021 By: Gianni Varetto

25 years ago, February 6^th 1996, Ukraine took over the operation at Base Faraday (or Base F), WAP GBR-Ø7 of the United Kingdom which was sold by the UK for a symbolic one pound. The cost of disassembling the base with good environmental practices and standards would have been too costly.

The National Antarctic Scientific Center of Ukraine did a great job to renew the Base which is one of the most active in Antarctica, Over there, research programs are performed all year round in several fields: of meteorology, upper atmospheric physics, geomagnetism, ozone, seismology, glaciology, ecology, biology and physiology .

Vernadsky Station (WAP UKR-Ø1) is located at the marine tip of Galindez Island in the group of Argentine islands of the Wilhelm Archipelago.

The base has a wonderful Orthodox Chapel inside, the St. Volodymyr Chapel (properly Grand Prince St. Vladimir, equal to the Apostles) a small Eastern church which serves the Vernadsky Research Base.

To celebrate the event, a special callsign EM25VER (WAP-312) has been issued and in addition, a special free digital certificate Award, “25th Anniversary of the Ukrainian Antarctic Station Akademik Vernadsky” will also be issued. It can be requested by sending an email to Pavlo Tarasovych UT1KY at ut1ky@ukr.net after having had at least one contact with EM25VER, which will be on air , all bands, all modes also during the Antarctic Activity Week.

QSL direct or via Bureau to UT1KY

Lufthansa A350 LH2574 – Longest nonstop flight in history

On: 1 Febbraio 20211 Febbraio 2021 By: Gianni Varetto

Yesterday, Jan. 31, 2021 another group of German scientists did fly with an Airbus A350-900 directly from Hamburg to Port Stanley, Falklands. There they will be picked up by the Research Icebreaker Polarstern in order to conduct research projects in the Weddel Sea.

In March 2021 the R/V Polarstern will bring the old Neumayer 3 Winter Team and the Summer Team to Port Stanley. From there they will be flying home.

All details here: https://www.awi.de/en/about-us/service/press/single-view/klimaforschung-im-suedpolarmeer.html

Volker, DL8JDX has sent some links about the currently ongoing 15 hours direct flight from Hamburg to Port Stanley, Falklands. They will did land today around noon time.

https://www.lufthansagroup.com/de/newsroom/meldungen/lufthansa-startet-mit-polarforschern-zu-ihrem-laengsten-passagierflug.html

https://www.awi.de/en/about-us/service/press/single-view/klimaforschung-im-suedpolarmeer.html

https://www.travelandleisure.com/airlines-airports/lufthansa-launching-longest-flight-ever