Over to you

“Hi Nick,

Yes, DP0POL is the German polar research & supply vessel ‘Polarstern’. It wasn’t so far from Fremantle the other day.

Others you might look out for on WSPR and FT8 are:

DP0GVN: German Antarctic research base Georg Von Neumeyer at Atka Bay in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. There is a big WSPR RX/TX set up there which is active on all bands.

VP8CMH: British Antarctic Survey’s new research & supply vessel ‘RRS Sir David Attenborough’.

RI0SP: Russian icebreaker ‘Arktika’, presently deliberately stuck in fast ice and spending the northern winter drifting around near
the North Pole.

Then there’s VK0AI at Casey base and VK0DS at Davis base, both active on FT8 this year as well.

73,
Alan

=============
Alan Cheshire
VJ6X VK6CQ VKØLD
Western Australia”

“Hi Nick,

It’s Dave VK0DS and VK2JDS. I subscribed to your newsletter and have been enjoying reading it. On the ship down here to Antarctica I wasn’t able to get emails so I did miss out on reading some, just catching up now.

Anyway, I saw those familiar callsigns in your list of dx chasers; many have worked me on FT8 or ssb on 20 and 15 metres.

How do I get onto that list? I saw something in one of your newsletters about just loading up the contacts into LOTW or using EQSL?

I will have to get EQSL, I have only been loading them into LOTW. Dunno how many I have got, but it’s close to 2000 contacts so far.

All good fun.

Also I didn’t get to find out who won the 9700… Will keep reading through the newsletters hihi.

Down here at Davis station there is no noise, zero, and my old ICOM 756pro3 has the RF gain up and preamps on. I hear everything but cannot get out with just 100 watts.

…. Returning to Australia in November.

73 Dave VK0DS”

VK0DS activation of Davis Station in Antarctica. VKFF-0568 Park.

From December 2023 to November 2024 I will occasionally be operational from Davis Station in Antarctica using the callsign VK0DS.

The bands in use are some HF, possibly WSPR on 6 metres (depending on local science projects), 2 metres EME using a single 12 el yagi, and 100 watts from a IC9700 using JT65B or Q65A-60 (or similar) only on occasions when I get time off and conditions are favourable. Notice will be placed on HB9Q logger, and N0UK ping jockey.

Possibly 23cm EME using a 2 metre dish that I hope to finish constructing whilst at station. 80 watts of TX power and a G4DDK VLNA with septum feed. Nothing is certain, and weather conditions and station duties will have precedent.

You may find me operational as VK0DS/MM on HF FT8, on 20 metres, LOTW is working and I am uploading QSO data every few days, with the grid locator of each location the ship stops at.

From home I was on 23cm moon bounce with a 5 metre dish, 140 watts carrier power at the septum feed, G4DDK VLNA2 preamp and an IC910h.

Email is: vk2jds@hotmail.com

Also 23cm terrestrial with a 4.6 metre dish on a mountain top at 940 metres, and most bands up to 3cm using various dishes, my site also has 6 elements on 6m, 8 elements on 2m and a 80 metre loop.

At the house: 6 metres, 6 elements at 30 feet with an IC746pro and some verticals for 2m and 70cm.

The house and huts are all solar powered, no grid power here, so for high power I must run a generator set.

Dave Scott. See previous callsigns VK2JDS, VK2YME & VK2MIZ, see also VK2XPH. I QSL direct by post and LOTW.