Polarstern steams south (UPDATED)

Image: NASA.

 

Whenever anyone asks me "what's the point of amateur radio?", I always answer: "it's mainly about putting your mind somewhere your body can't be".  That's what I have always thought about radio, since being a child.  Most people seem pleasantly surprised and satisfied with this unexpected answer.

So for those who say WSPR is the 'most boring thing in radio' they can think of, I beg to disagree.  It's great to follow, at 14MHz (5W output) the German research ship, RV Polarstern ('Pole Star') as she makes her way from the Canary islands towards Antarctica over the past week.  After all, Antarctica is a place most of us have no hope of ever visiting.

Heading south...

UPDATE:

In overnight 14MHz WSPR reception, Polarstern was heard throughout the winter night.  Regular station, 9Z4FV, also made the crossing to Wales through most of the night.  These two stations, the only real DX that was received, show that the path to the south and into the Atlantic is quite reliably open under modest geomagnetic field disturbances (Kp overnight ~3 at peak).

Reception of 14MHz, 5W WSPR from RV Polarstern (DP0POL), 2020 December 29-30.

Reception of 14MHz, 20W WSPR from 9Z4FV, 2020 December 29-30.