Victories only

As they say, ‘history is written by victors’. And when it comes to accurate historical records, the ancient Egyptians were probably the worst. They almost never chronicled their defeats, only victories.

DX chasers are as bad, if not worse. Always happy to brag about the last ‘new one’ worked, while tight-lipped about many more who they missed. And who can blame them? Hours wasted, electricity wasted, suppressed emotions leading to one: determined reticence.

In recent months I’ve missed too many. Ducie Island, Pitcairn, Trindade and Martim Vaz Island, Ghana. The list of excuses is long: an overseas trip, a storm taking the antenna down, a complete lack of propagation – or just being on the wrong band at the wrong time. Happens to all. But there is a DX station that alludes me for four weeks: EM1U from the Ukrainian Antarctic Station ‘Academic Vernadsky’. Named after the Ukrainian / Russian scientist Vernadsky, who was one of the first to recognize the tremendous potential of radioactivity as a source of thermal energy.

There are two reasons for being unable to make a contact with EM1U who does appear on air almost daily: direct over the South Pole path (as bad as the North Pole!) and shift work! Sergiy, the current radio officer is not there on a holiday or amateur radio expedition; he is there to work. And one can only imagine what the daily routine possibly looks like on an Antarctic base. The good news is that Sergiy is staying there until April 2024. Eventually, the stars will align, the signal will peak mightily, perhaps on a frequency least expected – and he will be in my log.

As you already know, there are dozes of research and military bases on Antarctica, some manned permanently, others only during our summer. Nowadays, a need for a Morse operator at the station is diminishing fast, so finding Antarctica on air is quite a challenge. But some stations are still active: Japanese, Argentinian, American dead centre on the South Pole – as well as our flag bearer, Alan VK0AW at Mawson.

Ham radio – what a hobby!