From 2013 the “The Frozen Continent” Certificate is released by IK3GER and it’s free. It will be sent via email (PDF or JPEG format file) to the Hams who request it to the Manager IK3GER: corsetti.paolo@libero.it
The “THE FROZEN CONTINENT” award issued in 2 classes is available OM/SWL who will be able to satisfy the conditions provided for class 1 or class 2.
The award is.
Class 1: at least 3 QSO/HRD with different stations based in Antarctica. Stations from the Falklands, South Georgia, South Orkney, South Shetlands and other Antarctic islands are not valid for the purpose of this award
Class 2: spell the words “THE FROZEN CONTINENT” by using the last letter of different Italian callsigns but excluding foreign 
operators operating portable in Italy. QSL from San Marino (T7), SMOM (1A0) and the Vatican (HV) are not accepted for this award
At least 1 QSO/HRD with a station based in Antarctica. Don’t forget that Stations from the Falklands, South Georgia, South Orkney, South Shetlands and other Antarctic islands are not valid for the purpose of this award. QSO/HRD validity 1.1.1985. Endorsement may by requested for SSB, CW, MIXED, DIGI etc. It is mandatory to send to the manager photocopy or scan of the QSL cards of the Antarctic stations only.
Just send your application by email to the award manager IK3GER and you will get the Award right away.
See also https://www.ik3ger.it/antarctica.html
TNX Paolo Corsetti, IK3GER
From the unknown to scientific research, see how the mystery of Antarctic exploration has unfolded throughout the years.
The plan is to sail for Bouvet Island on January 13, 2018. Depending on the winds and sea conditions, it will be a 10 to 12-day sail to Bouvet. The earliest arrival date will be January 23. Time to get ashore is weather dependent. As soon as the wind, sea conditions and visibility allow, the Team will begin helicopter flights to the island. Their Amateur radio license, also originally issued in 2007 with the call sign of 3YØZ, has been renewed and will be used during the DXpedition.
Bouvet lies at 54° 25’ South and Ø3° 22’ East. It’s the product of a volcanic eruption that last occurred in 4,000 B.C. Bouvet is 97% ice covered, and with surrounding rocks and small islands, has an area of 19 square miles, with 18.4 miles of coastline. Its location, ice, rock cliffs, high seas, harsh climate and surrounding pack ice and icebergs isolate it from human presence. Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier first saw the island in 1739. 
The island was not seen again until 1808. There was a disputed landing by Benjamin Morrell. But, the first documented landing was by the Norvegia expedition in 1927, which named the island Bouvetoya, and claimed it for Norway.
Law-Racoviță Station is placed in a rocky area about 3 kilometers from the Ingrid Christensen coast in Princess Elizabeth Land, in the Larsemann Hills of East Antarctica, at the coordinates 69°23’18.61″ South, 76°22’46.2″ East
The wind is again the protagonist in Antarctica. Not only as a driving force for the climate “, but also as a driving force of the first wind farm built in the Italian Mario Zucchelli Station (WAP ITA-Ø1) at Baia Terra Nova, which since 1985 houses the scientific laboratory of PNRA, the National Program of Research in Antarctica, financed from the MIUR (Ministry of Education, University and Research) with the logistic implementation of ENEA (National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) and the scientific coordination of the CNR (National Research Council).
1st December 2017 – Antarctica Day falls on the anniversary of the adoption of the Antarctic Treaty, which took place on 1 December 1959.
The Chapel of the Snows, a non-denominational place of worship at NSF’s McMurdo Station, Antarctica, overlooks McMurdo Sound and the Royal Society mountain range.
The new base will be a 5,000-sq-m structure that can accommodate 64 people and 18 laboratories. As well as the living and working quarters, the company will build a heliport, solar panels and wind turbines that will power the base.
During that time I was able to visit with Rodney, the owner of Heritage Expeditions in Christchurch, New Zealand and Rowan Homes who owns Nautic Electronics.
The FT 897 problem was resolved with a bhi CAT-MATE Electronic “Y” Splitter and a quick jumper move at J102 on the ACC 1/8 inch socket for ALC and PTT control to the SPE amplifier.
Following the Nov. 4th activation of the Antarctic Museum Marambio by the Radio CLUB QRM Belgrano hereby some datas coming from Raul Bobn Foster LU5AR, Secretary of the RC:- Se ha completado la información en la página de la actividad. Toda la información en general y el log en particular, está listo. Se hicieron más de 300 QSOs-.
Now that the Antarctic Campaign 2017-2018 is almost open, it’s time to make presentations and get to know the neighbors.
Just to inform the readers, Antarctic lovers and followers that, it’s time to meditate about the 15th Antarctic Activity Week which will be on air from 17 through 25 Febr. 2018.
Part of a wind turbine at Australia’s Mawson research station (WAP AUS-Ø4) in Antarctica has collapsed overnight, no one was injured in the incident. The head of the turbine fell to the ground about 9 pm Mawson Station time last night.
investigated.”
Members of the Antarctic Uruguayan ARTIGAS Base (WAP URY-Ø1), journalists and other guests visited the Trinity Church in Russia’s Bellinsghausen Polar Station (WAP RUS-Ø1) on King George Island, Antarctica, during the first week of December 2015. The priest explained to guest how the church was built as well as delivered a speech about the Orthodox and Christian churches in the twenty-first century. (see a video by cicking the gif aside) 
British Antarctic research station to shut for second winter as cracks in ice grow 
Novolazarevskaya Station is located at the extreme southeastern tip of the Schirmacher Oasis approximately in 80 km from the Lazarev Sea coast. An ice shelf with a slightly undulating surface resting against an ice cap extends north of the Station in the vicinity of Leningradsky Bay. From the south, there is a continental ice sheet slope. The station was opened on January 18, 1961. First constructions included service space, a living house, a mess-room and a power station, as well as glaciological, magnetic and actinometric pavilions and auxiliary space. There is a runway (1200 m x 60 m dimensions and the landing course of 114°) in the station area for ski- and wheeled aircraft located in 15 km south of the station on the ice sheet surface at the 500 m elevation above sea level.
If you check QRZ.com you will notice that R1ANL is reported to be a call being active from Leningradskaya Base; a good explanation is kindly given by Dominik Weiel DL5EBE (aka R3/DL5EBE).
and I offered him to take care about the R1ANL QSL cards. A few months later I received the original handwritten R1ANL logs. I manually entered all QSOs into my computer and created ADIF files which I uploaded to LoTW, ClubLog and I also printed paper cards which are available via DL5EBE (buro and direct)-.
In 1969 the “Patrulla Soberania”, living in small tents, and with picks, shovels and much efforts, managed to give shape to the first airstrip in an Argentinean Antarctic Base. Thus was born the Marambio Base: gateway of large aircraft to the white continent.
Concordia Station (aka Dome “C” Station, WAP MNB-Ø3) is 1000 kilometers from the coast, 13 flight hours from New Zealand. The next inhabited place is the Russian Antarctic Station “Vostok” (WAQP RUS-13), 600 kilometers far away.
On the day of “The Night of Museums”, Hams of the “Radio Club QRM Belgrano” will be active as LU4AAO/D operating from the Marambio Antarctic Museum located in the town of Villa Adelina, Buenos Aires Province, next November 4th, 2017.
“Radio Club QRM Belgrano” has just add the entry of LU4AAO/D as WAP-286 on the activation page at: 
WAPonline is the only Antarctic site dedicated especially to the Hams worldwide, but also a way to increase the interest around Antarctic Continent and its related matters; to give students and chasers, the opportunity to share our passion, with the aim to stay close to the researchers and personnel who are spending their time away from home and families.
Vanda Station was an Antarctic Research Base in the western highlands (Victoria Land) of the Ross Dependency, specifically on the shore of Lake Vanda, at the mouth of Onyx River, in the Wright Valley. The four original station buildings were constructed in the summers of 1967–1968 and 1968–1969, just prior to the first winter-over by a five-man team from January to October 1969.
including excavations, the erection of buildings, disturbances caused by vehicle movements, the storage of consumables, waste disposal, and accidental spills, led to the effort to remove the station.
One of the most important Argentine Antarctic Museum did open its doors on the occasion of the Anniversary of Marambio Base foundation .
Alex Ushakov, UA1OJL (picture aside) is actually operating as RI1ANO. He will be there till march 2018 from the Russian Bellingshausen Station (WAP RUS-Ø1) and he’s supposed to be back home by April 2018.
As global warming reshapes the Arctic and Antarctic, a new designed Museum like a giant iceberg, dedicated to the Poles has been opened last march 2017. The Museum built by the son of a renowned French explorer aims to show “the beauty of polar landscapes” and illustrate the consequences of climate change. The new museum dedicated entirely to the Arctic and the Antarctic has opened in Prémanon, France.
Finally we did find a time to upload another batch of Antarctic QSLs into the WAP Antarctic QSL Gallery. Some of the cards are Old and rare, some are New to confirm last activities and new callsigns showed up recently from Antarctica.
Enter the page by clicking WAP Antarctic QSL Gallery on the main page, then click on enter. Now you are on the Gallery; always remember to click the red square with a ”+” inside and you will open the Country list, one county by one and you can see all the cards loaded- There are several galleries on the Album:
Last 24 & 25 sept. Prof Ph D Julius Fabbri went to MAECI (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation) in Rome for a second time, to discuss the progress of its IPSSIA Project.
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An envelope has been delivered “own hands” to Tomas Ferrari‘s new Argentina ambassador in Italy. –Open Argentina to the world’ – was the choice of Ferrari when he was nominated as Argentina’s representative to Rome, and this is certainly a good wish.
opened the first Dutch Laboratory in Antarctica and it has been placed near the British Rothera Research Station.
and climate change on the Antarctic Peninsula, study the influence of glacier melt water on marine microbial communities in Ryder Bay and Greenhouse gases.
The 36th ISEA Team (Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica) at Bharati Station is almost at the end of its overwintering task, after a successful winter at 69° 24’ 28” South, 76° 11’ 14” East.
but still no Europeans on his log.
Base A now welcomes visitors to the site every Austral summer, in order to promote the work of the UKAHT on the Peninsula and in the UK and to give visitors a taste of base life from the early days of British occupation.
In the photos you can see the three buildings at Port Lockroy: Bransfield House, the Boat Shed and the Nissen Hut. In the distance you can also see the anemometer tower as well as the antenna mast (in 1957 Port Lockroy used to have eight antenna masts which were used for high frequency radio communication).
In a first for the Australian Antarctic Program, nine tonnes of cargo was parachuted from the back of a Royal Australian Airforce C-17A Globemaster III and on to the sea ice near Davis Research Station (WAP AUS-Ø3) on Sept.20-2017
The pallets were ripped by the Australian Army’s 176 Air Dispatch Squadron.
Great time this morning at the 14th WAP Meeting 
Authorities present: Luca Robaldo, 
Kirvanveggen Camp is listed on our WAP-WADA Directory and it was activated by Radio amateur (Callsign 7S8AAA) in the 90ties.
Just few notes about SVEA (WAP SVE-Ø2)
The third International Polar Year of 1958-1959 heralded the second important phase of the Belgian presence in Antarctica. This year was also known as the International Geophysical Year (IGY), in which not less than sixty-four nations signalled their commitment to study the physical characteristics of the earth.
he Russians set up their Vostok Base at its least accessible point, the middle of the East-Antarctic icecap.
ase has been reconstructed in 1964 and closed in February 1967.
were: OR4KR, OR4OR, OR4RW, OR4TX, OR4TZ, OR4VN and OR5RK).
Our good friend Ghis ON5NT, went to see ON4TX/OR4TX personally at his Radioclub in Waterloo, near Brussels and Roger was extremely kind to give him the reminds that are part of his life. Pictures are from the 1960 Belgian expedition. (pic on the right: Roger ON4TX and Ghis ON5NT)
On the last 3 weeks Sebastian Gleich, SQ1SGB has been reported active from the Polish Antarctic Station Henryk Arctowski (WAP POL-Ø1) as HFØARC on 20 & 40 mts.
snow runway (WAP USA-NEW) has replaced Pegasus Field (WAP USA-42). This runway is capable of handling wheeled aircraft, that have included to date: Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, Lockheed C-130 Hercules and Lockheed P-3 Orion.
Ex Pegasus Field Runway (ICAO: NZPG) WAP USA-42
promise…it was developed originally as a “blue ice” runway (meaning that it consisted of long-term ice that was neither accumulating nor ablating). That condition is more actually applied to colder land-based inland locations such as Patriot Hills, rather than a warmer location on shelf ice.
Carlini is a permanent Antarctic Scientific Station, located at 25 de Mayo Is. (aka King George Is.), in the South Shetland Islands. It is operated and administrated by the National Antarctic Division (DNA) of the Foreing Affairs Ministry of Argentina.
Francisco de Gurruchaga Antarctic Refuge (62°14′ 03″ South, 59°10′ 02″ West) built on Dec. 15, 1954 is placed in Harmony Point, Nelson Island, South Shetland Island. The administration depends on the Argentinian Naval Army. Proposed by Argentina, this area was originally designated as Site of Special Scientific Interest No. 14 under Antarctic ATCM Recommendation XIII-8 (1985), because the Area is an excellent example of the maritime Antarctic communities of birds and land ecosystems present in South Shetland Islands, making possibilities to carry out long-term research programs without damage or harmful interference.
Antarctic Refuges are facilities open to all countries, to be used in emergencies or to support activities in the field. They are equipped with provisions, fuel, generators and communications equipment, accommodation facilities and other logistics.
Plans appear to be melding together for a Maritime Mobile Expedition to the shores of Antarctica in February 2018.
When we went across some notes, we found that, while studying a best location site to install its New Antarctic Station, a Belgian Team, went to Antarctica and set a Base Camp called Utsteinen camp which was fully operational for few months.
A brief history: The Republic of Belarus joined the Antarctic Treaty in 2006 and, in that same year, approved the National program for Polar research which is called “Monitoring of Earth’s Polar areas” ensuring activity of the Arctic and Antarctic expeditions for 2007-2010 and for the period until 2015. Soon after, in 2008, it ratified the Environmental Protocol.
The main principles of activity of the Republic of Belarus in Antarctica are a system approach to the creation of the national Antarctic infrastructure and the organization of research, orientation of works for integration to international research programs, development of international cooperation in order to strengthen the Antarctic Treaty System, as well as development, consideration and recommendation to their Government of actions assisting in realization of principles and objects of the Antarctic Treaty.
“When we send polar explorers to the South Pole we don’t ask about their confession, but every person can have a wish to be alone, to pray. Why don’t we build a church?” said Director of the National Ukrainian Antarctic Scientific Center, Valery Litvinov .
Buromskiy Island holds a Cemetery for several citizens of the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, German Democratic Republic and Switzerland who died in the performance of their duties while serving as members of Soviet and Russian Antarctic expeditions. It has been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 9) following a proposal by Russia to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting
John Landrigan KA4RXP will be active as KA4RXP/MM from on board of M/V Spirit of Enderby from Febr. 8 through March 8 sailing Antarctica. The operation time falls in between the 15th Antarctic Activity Week.
The Orthodox presence in Antarctica arises as parts of various expeditions from major Orthodox Christian Nations to the continent as there is not permanent population in Antarctica.
people, geologists, biologists, doctors, meteorologists, botanists and others .