Still remaining in the queue are applications from another 507 test sessions. By the time ARRL-VEC personnel work their way through that stack, Jahnke said, the wait should be down to less than 10 days. Typical Web call sign servers are at least 24 hours behind the FCC in updating license data, he said. Seven VEC staff members, two temporary employees, and a half-dozen or more HQ staff volunteers from other departments have been whittling down the stacks of applications. Test session processing status is available on the ARRL-VEC web site.
Ham radio is no longer the only means of recreational communications to Antarctica.
For decades, scientists stationed in this frigid southern latitude have depended on Amateur Radio to talk with loved ones back home. But that could soon be a thing of the past as the South Pole telecommunications network gets an upgrade to permit high speed Internet traffic. While the geostationary satellites above the Equator cannot see either pole, a new breed of birds using inclined orbits can. And now these satellites are being used to exchange both voice and data for hours at a time between the poles and other latitudes. And the scientists on Antarctic assignment are saying that they are able to enjoy more privacy and longer communications back home than they could using Amateur Radio.