8J1RL is currently active from Showa Research Station, Queen Maud Land, IOTA AN - 015.
He will operate on HF Bands, CW, Digital Modes.
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DXCC Country - Antarctica.
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Shōwa Research Station and Queen Maud Land
Antarctica is one of the most mysterious continents on Earth. Covered by eternal ice and washed by three oceans at once, it tantalizes the imagination of numerous explorers and attracts the attention of the most intrepid and extreme tourists.
The total area of the continent is more than 14,000,000 km², most of the territory is occupied by ice shelves, and the center of Antarctica coincides with the southern geographical pole of the Earth. Permafrost, minimum temperatures, the strongest and longest wind gusts, and intense solar radiation are the main components of the climate and dictate the weather conditions in this part of the planet.
Until 1820, the existence of an ice age was only hypothesized. The main evidence of uncharted land was obtained during the Russian expedition led by Mikhail Lazarev and Thaddeus Bellingshausen. Since then, the mysterious territory has become a kind of magnet for explorers from different countries, who laid new routes, named them and put them on geographical maps.
Showa Research Station, Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. 8J1RL 8J60JARE.
Queen Maud Land
The most explored territory of one sixth of the world is considered to be Queen Maud Land, which is located on the Atlantic coast of Antarctica. It received its name in 1929 after an air expeditionary voyage conducted by pilot J. Rissen-Larsen. Rissen-Larsen. The Norwegian loyalist made a flight over the glacial continent and fixed unexplored lands to the east and west of the zero meridian.
The sonorous name was given in honor of Queen Maud, who was the daughter of King Edward the Seventh of Norway. Detailed photography from an airplane allowed to fix the scale and location of the coastal zone as accurately as possible and made it possible to put the detailed geographical coordinates on all maps.
The main advantage of this discovery was a whole wave of discoveries on Queen Maud Land of meteorological stations, which conduct constant observations of temperature changes, as well as conducting research on geophysics and oceanology. The findings became the fundamental basis for many facts in scientific circles and even today are an indispensable aid to climate predictions and the development of educational theories.
A piece of Japan among the boundless snows
The territory of Antarctica is not only the mainland, but also numerous islands located in the immediate vicinity. Scientists from the Land of the Rising Sun established their meteorological station on one of these islands.
The base of the Japanese expedition was located on Ongul Island in the northeastern part of the Cosmonauts Sea Bay. In 1957, a whole complex of station facilities was built on the ice-covered area, where biological, oceanic, medical and aerometeorological research was carried out.
The scientific mini-city received a sound name Shōwa, assigned in honor of the throne name of the 124th Emperor of Japan - Hirohito. Year-round operation of the base of Japanese scientists began only in the middle of 1966, until then, research studies were conducted only occasionally as opportunities arose. Settlement of working processes led to the fact that by the mid-seventies on the settled territory wintered eighteen polar explorers at the disposal of which were three residential buildings and one engineering structure, which housed electric generators.
Showa station was located on the very edge of the Queen Maud Land in three hundred kilometers from the Yamato mountain range. Despite the harsh climate, Japanese polar explorers often visit the highest points of the natural highlands, which contains a part of their beloved homeland in its name.
Tourism on the Antarctic coast
Permafrost and temperature conditions do not deter the most courageous tourists ready to visit the edge of our planet. The official tourist season, which lasts from November to March, gathers according to different data more than 40 thousand visitors, eager to feel the fierce wind from the ocean expanses and see the unique natural landscapes of the continent, the permanent population of which is 0 people.
Delivery of extreme travelers to the deserted shores is carried out by air flights, as well as special ships on the water expanses not filled with eternal ice. For those who decided to replenish their tourist luggage with unforgettable experiences are offered such entertainment as skiing and snowshoeing, mountain climbing and visiting the South Pole of the Earth.
Royal penguins, temperatures that do not rise above -20 degrees, blinding whiteness of snowy immensity and weather stations that dictate the weather of the entire planet - this is the main part of the attractions of the remote wilderness. But despite such minimalism, thousands of ordinary tourists who know the price of fresh impressions that you will never get anywhere else dream of visiting the edge of the earth.
