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Communications :

In 19S9/9Q radio traffic was best achieved on 5400kHz from the Mt Sidley area to Scott Base- This season 5400kHz and 4770kHz to Scott from Mt Murph were ineffective.

Best communications were with McMurdo on 11553kHz, and often to Byrd Surface Camp or Pole Station on 11553kHz or 8997kHz. We reached SPRITE, also in MBL, early in the season, and occasionally a group in the Ruppert mountains, MBL.

Direct contact was never made with Scott Base-Message transfer from Mt Murphy to Scott via US Navy radio was necessarily indirect, often frustrating, and usually a waste of time. The system improved to same extent when Phil Kyle and Nelia Dunbar arrived in McMurdo, and were able to assist Rick Campbell with the radio traffic. Our thanks tc all three.

The field radios used were :

One Southcom 130 HF, able to handle any frequency between 2000kHz and 12000kHz- There were no problems with this set.

One Southcom 120 HF. This radio had a low output, and the locked crystals did not include 11553kHz.

Auxillary equipment included two braided wire aerials (the alternative steel tape aerial breaks a lot, and has no plug connectors), a wooden radio box, and solar charger panels. The US solar panels have weak wire connexions, but the NZ panels were strong and efficient.

Communications within the 6–person Event were made with VHF hand-held radios, an Channel 1, which is the McMurdo industrial (I) net. No other combination of the available 6 NZ and 10 US channels was found to work, other than Channel 1 on both Tait and Motorola radios.