Thank you to the wavescan staff for sharing Part 2 of Radio in Antarctica
Jeff: Last week, Ray Robinson began a look at early wireless and radio transmissions from some of the islands in the Antarctic region. Today, he moves on to the ice continent itself, which actually has a surprising amount of broadcasting activity. Ray . . .
Ray: Thanks, Jeff. When it comes to the Antarctic landmass itself – what everyone generally considers to be “Antarctica” – all telecommunications and radio services are provided by the countries that have established research stations there, and by commercial satellite and mobile phone operators who have been given licenses by those countries. There are no undersea cables connecting the continent to the outside world, so all intercontinental communication is accomplished by terrestrial or satellite radio.
Probably the most well-known station in Antarctica is the one that can be heard on shortwave – Argentina’s LRA 36, Radio Nacional Arcangel San Gabriel at the Argentinian ‘Esperanza Base’ (or Hope Base in English).
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| Mc Murdo |
LRA 36 was first established in 1979, and
began broadcasting on October 20th of that year with a 2 kW
transmitter on 15476 kHz. Here’s one of
their local ID’s:
To hear the audio clip of LRA36
Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel - ID - LRA36 onda corta, go to: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan
Esperanza
Base has a year-round population of 60, 4 of whom are responsible for operating
the radio station. In the 1990’s, an FM
transmitter was added on 96.7 MHz with 500 watts for the local base area, and
the station does produce its own news programming.The original shortwave transmitter became unserviceable in 2023, and a campaign was launched to raise funds for a replacement unit. This was successful, and a new 10 kW transmitter was deployed in 2024. Radio Nacional stated at the time that this would significantly improve the station's coverage and signal quality, maintain its international reach, and promote the work of the Armed Forces and scientific personnel at Argentina's Antarctic base.
Radio LRA 36 is a sought-after shortwave station worldwide. It’s the only publicly operated station broadcasting from Antarctica on shortwave – still on 15476 kHz, and it’s listed in the 2026 edition of the World Radio Television Handbook with one 3-hour transmission weekly, in Spanish from 1200-1500 UTC on Fridays, although that’s variable due to weather conditions. The FM transmitter operates 24x7. The station is known for its unique role in promoting Argentine culture, the work of the Armed Forces in the Antarctic, scientific research, and Argentina's historical claim to their Antarctic territory. And currently, the station is being run by four women.
Moving on from the Argentinian base, Chile also has a base in Antarctica called Villa las Estrellas (or, Star Town), and operates a station there call Radio Soberania on 90.5 MHz FM with 100 watts.
Then there’s New Zealand, which operates Scott Base, with its radio station ‘Scott97FM’ on 97.0 MHz with 25 watts. This is a volunteer-run station which provides news and entertainment for the Scott Base personnel, and also nicely covers the ice highway which links Scott Base with its neighbor, the American McMurdo Station.
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| McMurdo Station |
The largest presence in Antarctica by far is that of the United States, which operates two year-round National Science Foundation bases – the McMurdo Station, which was first established in the Ross Archipelago south of New Zealand in December 1955, and the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, which as you might imagine is right at the center of the continent, at the geographic South Pole. In the Antarctic winter, the population drops to as low as two hundred, but during the summer, there can be anywhere from 1,200 to 2,000 people at the U.S. bases, including at several seasonal field camps. The currency used at the American bases is the U.S. Dollar, but they operate on New Zealand Standard Time.
The original radio station at McMurdo was established in 1963, under the callsign KMSA. It broadcast on 600 kHz AM with 50 watts. By 1971, the callsign had changed to WASA, which stood for West Antarctic Support Activities, and in 1975, it was renamed again as AFAN – the American Forces Antarctic Network. Originally, the station was located in a building shared by stores, a barbershop and a bar, and it aired tapes which were changed a few times a year.
From 1974 until 1991, the station also operated a 1 kW shortwave transmitter on 6012 kHz, primarily to provide service to other U.S. bases including the Amundsen-Scott one at the south pole. But in spite of its modest power output, this station was received and reported by DXers in many countries, including Australia, New Zealand and the United States. And in 1975, a 50 watt FM transmitter was added on 100.1 MHz.
Since the early 2000’s, there have been three radio stations at McMurdo. The original radio station is now known as ICE 104.5 FM, and is detached from AFAN as an independent station run by about 30 civilian volunteers. A second station, McMurdo Sound on 93.9, relays AFN radio programming received via satellite. With 30 watts on 93.9 and 50 watts on 104.5, these two stations also cover the nearby New Zealand Scott Base. And a third lower-powered station is available on 88.7 although its status is unclear – some would call it a pirate radio station, but the FCC in Washington doesn’t actually have jurisdiction over the McMurdo airwaves, and 88.7 just happens to be one of the low power FM frequencies permitted by New Zealand's radio regulatory authorities as one where no license is needed to operate with less than half a watt of power, or up to 500 milliwatts, which is more than enough to cover the few blocks of downtown 'Mactown'.
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| On the air at ICE FM |
These stations claim to be the most remote radio stations in the world. Because Internet bandwidth is limited and is mostly reserved for scientific purposes, the radio stations are a very important local source of news and entertainment. And these are no slouches in the broadcasting world – they have a library of over 12,000 vinyl LP’s, many of which came from AFVN Saigon after that station closed in March 1973, plus over 38,000 digital tracks.
So, while cruising around the McMurdo and Scott Base area, now there is a choice of four stations on your FM dial, which is more than can be found in many small communities of comparable size in either New Zealand or the United States. And further, three of them are ‘live and local’! But, you won’t find any of them webstreaming, due to the bandwidth restrictions I just mentioned. There IS another ICE FM but be careful – it’s in Reykjavik, Iceland, so don’t get confused with that one.
Now, we don’t often mention television, but today I will for the sake of completeness. McMurdo Station set up the first television station in Antarctica, AFAN-TV, which started broadcasting on November 9, 1973. Its programming, under the control of the US armed forces, consisted largely of American programs and interviews with visitors and scientists on the base, as well as a daily news and weather service. The station was profiled in a May 1975 TV Guide article. At the time, the station broadcast only in the summer months, known by staff as "the season" (November to February), the only season when Antarctica was (at the time) open to aircraft. It was initially a black and white operation, using a 100-watt transmitter, which enabled relays to Scott Base and Williams Field. The average audience at the time was about 30 to 40 viewers, some programming drew in viewers by the hundreds, such as taped NFL broadcasts, Sesame Street (despite the lack of children on the base) and, one Sunday in the 1974-75 season, a 5½ hour Star Trek marathon. In 1990, AFAN installed a cable TV system on the base, initially only with three channels – AFN Prime on channel 2, NewSports on channel 11, and Spectrum on channel 13. Today, over 200 channels are relayed from satellite.
And that wraps up our review of broadcasting, in and from the ice world of Antarctica.
Back to you, Jeff.
(Ray Robinson/Jeff White/Wavescan)
