
Ham Radio during
expedition
The first ham during expedition
Radio is the only way to keep
in touch with the modern world from the remotest of the places. The first ham radio
operator to cooperate in an expedition was American Radio Relay League member Don Mix
(Callsign 1TS). With his radio equipment in tow he accompanied Donald B. MacMillan to the
Arctic on the Schooner Bowdoin in 1923.
Ham radio during 'Kon-Tiki' expedition
Extraordinary explorer and
naturalist Thor Heyerdahl in the year 1947 during his
famous 'Kon-Tiki' voyage through the Pacific Ocean used amateur
radio equipments to communicate from his small reft on the high sea. Throughout the
voyage, Thor along with the five member crew collected mateorological and oceanographic
data and sent them to the USA via ham radio stations scattered around the globe. In fact
the crew kept in touch with the outside world through ham radio stations only. It was the
sole sign of their being present in the modern world. Even nowadays when the professional
communication system is getting hundred percent reliable, navigators are found to use ham
radio equipments, because ham radio has got its own advantages too!
Ham Radio Operation during 1983-84 Indian Antarctic Expedition
During the third Indian
expedition (1983-84) to Antarctica, the Indian Amateur Radio Station
VU2IF/Maritime Mobile-3 became operational from the expedition ship
"Finnpolaris" on 4th December, 1983. The station was operated by radio amateur
Dr. Ashutosh Singh, VU2IF, the father figure of Delhi hams and an active worker of
Amateur Radio Association, New Delhi.
Ham radio operation during the "Samudra" Expedition
The Indian Naval
Sailing Vessel 'Samudra' added another chapter to Naval Maritime history when it
touched the shores of Gulf in 1991. INSV-Samudra, the 13 metre long and 17 year old fibre
glass yatch started its expedition on September 21, 1991 from Cochin and sailed upto
Muscat (Oman) and Abbas (Iran). The speciality of the expedition was that all the
seven crew members were amateur radio operators and the yatch was skippered by
S.B. Anand (VU2SBA). They were in touch with their families and their HQ via ham radio.
Ham radio operation during
polar expedition
In 1988, members of a joint
Soviet/Canadian expedition crossed the North Pole on skis. Amateur Radio Operators
provided daily communications, and OSCAR 11 (Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio)
satellite's "Talking Computer" relayed position information to the expedition
team every 100 minutes !
Sources:
Department of Ocean Development, Technical publication No. 3, p-265-266.
ARRL Handbook, 1993
Science Reporter, May 1988, pp 290