Tag Archives: Antarctica Shortwave

Giuseppe’s reception of the LRA36 test broadcast

Photo from the Argentine Antarctic Base (LRA36) – Source: RAE

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Giuseppe Morlè (IZ0GZW), who shares the following:

Dear Thomas

Here is the link of to video regarding the transmission of LRA 36 in USB mode Saturday July 25, 2020 from 17.00 UTC on 15.476 MHz.

A good result if I think it was almost impossible to listen to it with the sun still high … the place where I listen, in Formia, Italy, is really excellent.

73. Giuseppe Morlè iz0gzw.

Thank you for sharing this, Giuseppe! I’m always impressed with the DX you catch there at your location in Formia! Grazie e ciao!

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Christmas Carols from Antarctica on Shortwave

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McMurdo Station, Antarctica. (Source: USAP.gov)

(Source: ARRL News)

A program of Christmas carols will be broadcast from Antarctica on Christmas Eve. The transmissions on 7995 kHz USB will begin on December 23 at 2300 UTC, coordinated by McMurdo Communications Operations (MacOps) — known as “The Voice of Antarctica.”

Each year, the station’s residents celebrate the holiday by singing Christmas Carols to those at remote Antarctic field camps. Participation will be from stations scattered throughout the Antarctic continent.

“The radios and antenna systems are optimized for on-continent communication, so we will be lucky to hear them in other parts of the world, but it has happened in the past,” said Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, who is handling QSL requests and who has participated as part of the chorus in past years while studying in Antarctica. Frissell shared some links of previous concerts, one recorded at McMurdo Station and one from the University of Twente WebSDR in the Netherlands.

Click here to read the full article at the ARRL.

UPDATE: Check out this episode of Short Wave–an NPR podcast–wher they interview the scientists involved in this tradition:

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Any real world experience shortwave listening in Antarctica?

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Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Delmar Williams, who writes:

I am going to Antarctica for 9 days on an “expedition.”

I always travel with my radio as I like to to go to remote locations sometimes where there is little or no internet or constant power blackouts. I remember from years ago that someone said reception in Antarctica wasn’t very good, but I could be mistaken. I have looked on the web for this subject, but I don’t see much info. I sent a tweet to someone in Ant., but I don’t think he responded.

Do you know anything about this topic. I tried to go in your chatroom but it didn’t work for me.

Thank you for your question, Delmar. I know that DXing from the polar regions presents a unique set of challenges in terms of propagation, but it certainly wouldn’t stop me from taking a radio!

My hope is that an SWLing Post reader can shed a little light on Antarctic listening and possibly even offer advice based on real world experience SWLing in Antarctica. If so, please comment!

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