Yesterday, a packet of QSLs arrived from ARRL QSL Bureau. I really haven’t been sending out many QSLs, and since the last couple of packets, hadn’t contained anything really exciting, I wasn’t expecting much this time. Well, I got a very pleasant surprise—two QSL cards from Antarctica.

This card is from the Royal Research Ship James Clark Ross. The card lists the ship’s location as 53S, 37W, which is about due east of the tip of South America.  That’s not quite Antarctica, but the ship does travel there frequently. The card notes, “The Royal Research Ship James Clark Ross was launched on the 1st December 1990 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and entered service with the British Antarctic Survey in September 1991.”

This card is from R1ANN, which is most definitely located on the continent of Antarctica. The QTH is the Novolazarevskaya Base of the 50th Russian Antarctic Expedition. The card lists the station location as 70′49′26”S, 11′38′46”E.

Coincidentally, I made both of these contacts on 30m CW. I find 30m CW probably the best band for making contacts such as these. At any rate, both of these QSOs were very cool indeed (pun intended).