Despite adverse Antarctic winter weather, the VI0ANZAC special event made it on the air over the August 29-30 weekend. Poor propagation hampered the operation, but 56 contacts made it into the log. The operation was part of the WIA commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) landing at Gallipoli, Turkey.

An earlier plan to activate VI0ANZAC had to be postponed because of a storm.

Operator Doug McVeigh, VK0DMV, sheltered in the antenna shack with a 50 W transceiver. Because of the wind, he had to first obtain official permission before venturing outdoors, and he ended up spending the night there, because winds were at 80 knots.

“Lots and lots of noise,” McVeigh said, “but there were some very clear signals from mainly Queensland (VK4), which was a good break from the noise in the background.” He expressed thanks to all who contacted him and apologized for having to leave early on Sunday, to take advantage of a break in the weather.

A special QSL card will be available for this event. — Thanks to Jim Linton, VK3PC