Mese: Ottobre 2024

The airfields of the Russian Stations Novolazarevskaya (WAP RUS-Ø9 & WAP MNB-Ø6) and Progress  (WAP-RUS-11) in Antarctica successfully hosted the first intercontinental flights of 76TD-90VD aircraft in the 2024-2025 season. The aircraft arrived from Cape Town, delivering a total of about 100 polar explorers and more than 10 tons of cargo to the Icy Continent.

Specialists of the Russian Antarctic Expedition of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute have confirmed their readiness to ensure the reception and dispatch of international aircraft under the DROMLAN program.

The Dronning Maud Land Air Network (DROMLAN) is an air network supported by a consortium of the eleven national programmes that have stations or operations in Dronning Maud Land. Dromland purpose is to create a coordinated logistics service to reduce costs. The participating countries are: Belgium, Finland, Germany, India, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Sweden and United Kingdom.

 

The largest number of flights this season is planned at the airfield of the Russian Novolazarevskaya Station, which is a key center of aviation communication and one of the largest transport and logistics hubs in Antarctica.

“The program of intercontinental flights under the DROMLAN program will be expanded this season. Russian specialists will provide conditions for safe landing on ice and snow runways for about 20 flights of the IL-76 aircraft giant, whose take-off weight exceeds 200 tons. The Zenit airfield at Progress station is the only site in the world that allows heavy aircraft on wheeled landing gear to be taken to the snow strip. Six flights are expected there this season, with scientists from Russia, China and India arriving. The first flight to Progress Base has already delivered a team of Russian builders and materials for equipping a new wintering complex at the Vostok intercontinental station. The sledge-crawler trek will go deep into the continent in just a few days” said Alexander Makarov, director of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute

TNX Oleg UA6GG DX Design-DX Trophy & Oleg ZS1ANF

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On the mean time, Oleg Sakharov ZS1ANF  who is at Cape Town at the moment, has just called   to inform that he is preparing for the next season in Antarctica, where he will be at Wolf’s Fang  Runway (WAP MNB-12) as ZS7ANF. (Pic to the left: Oleg’s tent at WFR)

We  really hope that Oleg will be able to activate the new sites such  as Union Glacier Camp (WAP MNB-NEW), Fuel Depot 83-South Pole Camp (WAP MNB-Ø9)!

David FT4YM (pic to the Right) is  also on the way to Antarctica. Possible activity for him is scheduled by the beginning of November.

Lt. Danilo Collino (pic to the Left) has departed this morning at 03:00UTC from Milan-Airport heading Antarctica, Danilo will sign IZ1KHY/IAØ from few different locations; Concordia (WAP MNB-Ø3), maybe Little Dome C-Epica (WAP MNB-15)  and  MZS (WAP ITA-Ø1) unless different plans on the way on. …
Stay Tuned… 
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Brabant Island, 64°27’ South, 62°14’ West is nearly 561m long and 24km wide and is the second largest island in the Palmer Archipelago. At one time it was one of the largest still to be explored in the world. It lies 400km south of the Antarctic convergence and east of Grahamland, sitting in a rather weather-beaten zone where winds are regularly above force 12.

Brabant Island has been activated from 1983 through 1985 by a British Joint Service Antarctic Expedition which overwintered in tents and carried out multidisciplinary works.

The British Joint Services Expedition was organized in three phases and included a total of 35 men. The first summer leg was organized from January to March 1984, the winter leg then lasted until the 29th of December and finally, the second and last summer leg took place from December 1984 to March 1985. Most of the members of the expeditions weren’t university-level scientists but rather experienced mountaineers. This gap was however filled by the support of numerous research institutions including, among many others, the Belgian Antarctic Committee. An impressive total of 60 scientific projects were carried out, covering topics ranging from natural sciences to sociology and human physiology. “This diversity of aim is, we believe, only possible in a Service expedition such as this free from the constraints of publication, academic rivalry and the need for immediate results.

Base Camp was right in the middle of a colony and the smell took some getting used to. The expeditionners set about unpacking and organising their 15 tonnes of kit. Farewells were brief and the 12 man team had started its big adventure. The first few weeks flew by as we erected a small tri-wall hut for use as a laboratory and a meeting place, and carefully worked out the stores and food area. This had to be marked and carefully recorded for soon it would be buried in snow. With a ready stock of most small things in the hut annex, the stores system worked very well, and only occasionally they have to dig in to find a some of the items

At that tine VP8BDG did operate HF from there, so a WAP reference number WAP GBR-2Ø has been given. (TNX GM3ITN for QSL)  
See: Joint Services Expedition to Brabant Island, Antarctica by John Kimbrey
AJ 1986 139-144 Kimbrey Brabant.pdf (alpinejournal.org.uk)

Almost 40 years after the expedition, the island has not yet finished unveiling all of its stores and camps, but the positive actions undertaken in recent years offer a glimpse of the possibility that it could, one day, be cleaned up completely. A victory that is however somewhat tinged with bitterness, as it is global warming that is freeing the waste from their frozen embrace.

While waiting  another HF operation at Brabant Island, which remains a wanted “New One” for most of the Antarctic hunters, see the article pubblished about  here on WAP website on last march 2024, where you can see also a 47′ video of the operation

Brabant Island;  when  a Hamradio operation from there? – W.A.P. (waponline.it)

The barely known history of an Argentine Antarctic shelter, the Teniente Luis Oscar Ventimiglia Hut, installed by the Argentine Antarctic Institute on Peter I Øy (Peter I Island) in March 1971 has been reported on some dedicated articles from which, WAP has taken an abstract.

In examining the history of the only Argentine Antarctic facility outside of the Argentine Antarctic Sector, this article describes the reasons behind the establishment of the Hut and the scientific work that took place there as well as previous Argentine expeditions to Peter 1st.

On 3 March 1971 a group of scientists from the IAA inaugurated   the   Teniente   (Lieutenant) Luis Oscar Ventimiglia Hut on Peter I Øy (Peter I Island). This became  the  most  remote  Argentine shelter  in Antarctica.  Peter I Øy is to the east of the Antarctic Peninsula, whereas the majority of Argentine stations are located on the western coast of the peninsula and islands located to its west: Carlini WAP ARG-2Ø (at the time known as Jubany), San Martín WAP ARG-Ø8, Melchior WAP ARG-13, Cámara WAP ARG-16, Brown WAP ARG-Ø2 and Decepción WAP ARG-12.

On 29 April 1964, the Antarctic Naval Group conducted a study to investigate the possibilities for establishing a Weather Sation on Peter I. In 1964 a complete survey of the island was undertaken and in early February 1965, the icebreaker ARA General San Martín headed towards Peter I Øy. Instructions were to conduct a general reconnaissance of the area and to determine the limits of the sea ice, anchoring areas, disembarkation points as well as potential helicopter and DHC-2 Beaver airplane landing sites.
By mid-February 1971 the icebreaker ARA General San Martín, left Ushuaia for the fourth stage of its annual voyages, with nine people on board specifically for the mission to Peter I Øy. On March 2nd  at 16:00, a first flight was performer with a Navy Aviation Alouette III S-31 helicopter with the director on the IAA, Guillermo Mackinlay, and the Antarctic commander, Captain Roberto Ulloa, on board. During that dangerous flight, under whiteout conditions, landing at Evaodden (Eva Cape) was made possible by the use of coloured smoke grenades to visualize  the  ground.  Once  on  land,  Mackinlay expressed his profound happiness, claiming to have been waiting 18 years for that moment since the first conceived plan onboard the ARA Bahía Buen Suceso in 1953.
The same day, three hours after of the first flight,  an Argentine Air Force UH-1H Huey helicopter transported scientists and logistics personnel, camp equipment and the prefabricated shelter. The group undertook several scientific studies and established a camp (marked with a red spot in the map below), in the vicinity of Evaodden (Eva Camp WAP NOR-Ø8), some 500 m from the coast, south-east of Tvistein Pillars. The men began to assemble the shelter and, the following day, the seven members from the DNA-IAA and the two from the SMN were taken to the site, where they carried out a series of scientific measurements. Among the activities was the exact determination of the coordinates of the island, possibly motivated by a report by the IAA glaciologist César A. Lisignoli dated 31 August 1970, in which he stated that its geographical position was not well determined on account of different positions given by previous expeditions (Lisignoli 1970). A few metres from the camp that had been established, upon a visit from Mackinlay and Ulloa, the shelter was inaugurated with the name Teniente Luis Oscar Ventimiglia at 68°42’South, 90° 36’East.
The Hut was a prefabricated model similar to others set up in the 1970s by Argentina in Antarctica. Its rectangular base was nearly square (2.36 × 2.46 m), with the front and back panels slightly longer than the sides. There was a door at the front, which faced east, and each of its shorter sides had a small window. Because of the difficulties encountered, including  challenging weather and terrain conditions, the original idea of maintaining a regular summer crew at Ventimiglia Hut was discarded. Additionally, the particular meteorological conditions of the island proved that a Station established there would not improve weather forecasting for the Antarctic Peninsula area, so the main purpose for the establishment of the hut was considered no longer valid. For these reasons the final report of the Antarctic Naval Force recommended not returning to Peter I Øy and to abandon the Hut

Thanks and Cedit to: Pablo Gabriel Fontana and  Instituto Antártico Argentino, Buenos Aires.

Read the full article at: View of A hut too far: history of the Argentine Ventimiglia shelter on Peter I Øy (polarresearch.net)

Later attempts to find the hut failed, but given the conditions at the site where it was established, it is assumed that the hut became buried in the snow, collapsed and was lost to the sea. (Report dated 2018).

As far as we know,  no HF amateur radio activities have ever been carried out from  Teniente Luis Ventimiglia Hut at that time and considering the fact that no more signs of the hut has remained on the site, WAP is still evaluating if adding it on the WAP-WADA Directory or not.

Last season a number of construction milestones including making the new science and operations facility, the Discovery Building, weathertight and the runway replacement lighting becoming operational has been completed.  The upgrades completed to the runway lighting and operational equipment ensure resilience and maintain safe flying operations at Rothera Station (WAP GBR-12). The Discovery Building is a new two-storey scientific support and operations facility to replace older buildings that have reached the end of their life – some of which are up to 50 years old. The programme aims to replace old buildings that have reached the end of their life with modern and energy-efficient infrastructure that should need less maintenance. Automated back-up support features mean should a fault occur, the system can be returned to operation quickly reducing any disruption to life on station. The building has been designed with a focus on sustainable and environmental design and will house both the science and operations teams at the UKs largest Antarctic Research Station.

 

This season has been focussing on the internal fit-out of the new building and resurfacing the runway. 

The runway is an important international gateway for Antarctic science and recent works ensure we can continue to offer aircraft facilities to ferry cargo, scientists and support staff to research stations in the polar regions. 

 

More at: The Discovery Building | Research Station Modernization by NORR

TNX and credit to: BAS (British Antarctic Survey) Modernising our stations: news from Rothera – British Antarctic Survey (bas.ac.uk)

The Antarctica shown at the Liguria DX meeting by one of the most experienced veterans of the Italian expeditions in the White Continent, has received appreciable approval from the participants at the Meeting organized by the ARI (Italian Radioamateurs Association) of Sanremo in the wonderful Riviera, not too far away the French border.

The location chosen this year was a conference room  at the beautiful park of Villa Ormond, home to Floriseum (Flower Museum), one of the Liguria city’s many attractive historic buildings.
More than 50 radio amateurs coming from some Italian regions did join this event that took place on last October 5th. Guest  of the day, was Lt. Danilo Collino IZ1KHY, expert alpine Scout and mountain guide of the Italian Army,  who told us with breathtaking images and detailed descriptions, the past expeditions to Antarctica in which he took part,  in support of the Italian scientific missions from 2018 and ahead.

Congrats to Gianni I1UWF President of ARI Sanremo, to Gabry IK1NEG a keen Antarctic chaser and to the whole Sanremo Hamradio staff  for having set such a nice meeting; wishing them to repeat it  in the following years maybe with some more invited Antarcticans!

 

TNX to Danilo IZ1KHY  which has reserved us such a beautiful Antarctic parenthesis.

By the end of October Danilo will be involved once again down in Antartica; our pleasure will be to work him on HF (SSB) from some possible “New field camp” where he will be involved.

 

(Pics above and below show Danilo IZ1KHY during his presentation,  Danilo IZ1KHY and Gianni I1HYW, Gabry IK1NEG and Danilo IZ1KHY)

TNX IK1NEG

 

Blaiklock Island Refuge located on the North side of Blaiklock Island at 67°32’South, 67°12’West, was established in 1957 and used intermittently from 1957 to 1958 as a refuge and satellite base for survey and geological parties from nearby bases.

Blaiklock Hut (WAP GBR-NEW), designated as Historic Site No. 63 under the Antarctic Treaty, 19 May 1995 (included with Horseshoe Island Station “Y”, WAP GBR-14), has been managed by UKAHT since Oct 2014 under a Memorandum of Understanding with BAS.

UKAHT’s work, centres on six historic bases along the Antarctic Peninsula, each site telling a unique story of discovery and scientific exploration. UKART  preserve historic buildings and artefacts in Antarctica to help current and future generations discover, understand, value and protect this precious wilderness.
At Port Lockroy, Base “A” (WAP GBR-Ø1) UKAHT welcome visitors throughout the Austral summer to explore the museum, visit the world’s southernmost post office, observe the penguin colony and share the wonders of the white continent’s history. Along with their ambitious arts, education and events programme, UKAHT bring together people from around the world to learn about Antarctica’s past, present and future.

Find out more at: https://www.ukaht.org/heritage/

TNX UKAHT UKAHT – Home

As far as WAP knows, no one has never operate HamRadio from Blaiklock Refuge. Ham radio Community as well as the WW Antarctic Ham radio chasers,  send an appeal  to UKAHT who manage some of the most wanted sites, to arrange some HamRadio activity from those rare ones … it will be a clever way to attract founds and interest on the remarkable work done by UKHAT in Antarctica!