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Victoria University Antarctic Research Expedition Science and Logistics Reports 2007-08: VUWAE 52
RADIO COMMUNICATIONS
RADIO COMMUNICATIONS
Suitability and effectiveness of the radio and/or Iridium equipment
The HF radio system was in poor condition, with loose wires, a broken antennae cable and an unsuitable battery charger. In discussion with the SB telecom, we rewired the radio, renewed the antennae cable and modified the charger. The batteries of the VHF and Iridium phones did not hold their charge in ambient temperature. In the field, the Iridium phone was reliably functional only when powered directly off the generator.
Reception/transmission conditions and suitability of radio schedule timing
HF reception and transmission was in general good but weather dependent. VHF radio and iridium phone reception was consistently good.
Scott Base's general efficiency during radio schedule
SB staff were friendly and helpful during radio communication. However, insufficient training might have been the cause for inefficiencies, miscommunication, and technical problems.
Other comments
The iridium phone is a valid and practical back-up to HF radio communication. We would like to suggest activating text messaging option it is less energy demanding and cheaper than phone conversations. We used for the second year a private iridium phone to receive weather updates via text messaging. This option could also be useful to receive updates of aircraft/helo flight schedules from SB and other short messages outside the normal sched times, since the phone does not have to be switched on to store incoming messages until the phone is switched on. This could make communication initiated from SB easier and less dependent on sched times.