28 December, 2006
by Adam HydeUpdates coming, sorry for delays, been a bit busy here but we will ensure we update everyday now unless its absolutely not possible.
Today we traveled to Lorenzo Piggen, a small Nunatak (Inuit for 'island') about 7 km from the base. This is the proposed site of the AWS (Automatic Weather Station). We travelled out there by Skidoo, I-TASC has been given 2 skids to use at our leisure.
It was an interesting site and tomorrow we will try a data test between the base and the site. Its not so far away so there are no problems anticipated.
What we have to do is set up a radio modem at the base, and then another radio modem and laptop will go out to the site. Then we will establish communication between the two modems, essentially this means we have a 'wireless' data connection (point to point) between the site and the base. If I connect the modem at the base to the internet then out at Lorenzo they could check their email (for example), this is not the intended purpose of the equipment but its an interesting exercise anyway.
I would like to try this set up with sending live audio between the two points, and also to try some internet telephony (something like Skype, but I would try a software called asterisk and some 'software phones') and irc (chat) communication. I will leave this for now and just do a basic test but in the next days I will try something a little more sophisticated.
In the meantime life at the base is establishing a rhythm. We get up everyday at 0630 and then do 'skivvies' which are the cleaning duties for the base. After that we get to work (skivvies take about an hour). Then we work until 1300, have lunch, work again and have dinner at 1900. Then we are usually working again until late or we go to the sauna and relax. Sleep comes at about midnight. So its a long day. Just when you think you are feeling tired you look out the window and the sun fools you into feeling it is the middle of the afternoon and refuses to let you sleep. I think many people are a little lost for things to do at the end of the day. Of course it is beautiful here and a walk outside is a good cure for boredom but at the end of the day most people are very tired and the thought of spending 20 minutes wrapping up in the protective clothing is not as appetising as you might think. Additionally, even though we are on the continent with the least population density, there is no private space which is something of an irony. There is just no way of getting away from people, if you go outside then you must go in pairs for safety sake, and inside there is nowhere that doesn't have people. I am a bit saturated with people at the moment so I might sneak away to the TV lounge when most are asleep and get some nobody time.