RADIO COMMUNICATIONS

VHF radio communications at each of the valley campsites was extremely limited. At Table Mountain the VHF high-gain aerial worked in selected places and in Pearse Valley there was no VHF reception from Scott Base at the camp. Communication in Pearse Valley was possible only with the HF 'butterbox' with a very poor reception or by climbing .5 hr to a suitably high location.

Field operations in Antarctica now require reliable and quick communications with Scott Base. Because of this, I strongly recommend that satellite phones be provided to field parties that are out of VHF radio contact.