The last few weeks we've been trying everything within our power to make this VLF receiving system work the way it's supposed to, but nothing seems to work out. We've been moving the antenna back and forth, shielding cables, turning every possible source of interference on and off but nothing seems to work. So, a couple of days ago we decided to build our own portable system and leave the base and it's noise behind. We left in the early morning (around 9-ish, but that's regarded as pretty early among scientists..) and set off on our ski-doos on the demarcated safe route leading to Penguin Bukta (one of the very few routes that we're allowed to use. Everything else is off-limits unfortunately). The reason for the trip was to search for a few of our missing frequencies (these are sent out by military transmitters around the world, mostly for submarine communications, which we're spying on in the sake of science). The setup, shown below was nothing more advanced than a laptop (middle), a pair of coaxial cables in a plastic tube (right) and a human operator (left).
While we were busy working (read: collecting data), we also had to keep the support team in a good mood, so we distracted them with an igloo-building project. Our company on the trip were (left to right): Ski-doos 33,51 & 53, Marlie (scientific support), SJ (sherpa), Daleen (boss & chef) and Rory (field guide). Hanna did also blend in in the picture (second on the right). When we finally were done, the measurements had actually turned out really well: 7 of the missing frequencies actually decided to show up! Success!
On our way back, we celebrated with a visit to crystal palace. An enormous ice-wall finely sculptured by the wind. The sun was shining in from above, making the entire wall sparkle. We also intended to go up towards an ice lake not far from there, but the snow melting had unfortunately made this path impassible.
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