December 30, 1999

Adelie penguins on Torgersen Island. The remote microphone is concealed among rocks at the lower left. (Photo by Howard Tobin).

Steve and I, with the help of my roommate, Howard Tobin, assembled the rest of the live transducer and microphone array for our live uplinks to the US and to Europe. Steve and Howie headed out to Torgersen Island to position the remote microphone by an Adelie penguin nesting site; we placed a hydrophone off Gamage Point; a shotgun microphone was set right next to our resident elephant seals; and the wind harp array on the Bio Lab roof was humming. At a little past 2:00pm, we connected with National Public Radio and began sending the soundscape to Washington. I had the opportunity to speak with Noah Adams, who will be hosting "All Things Considered" tomorrow evening, when the program from Palmer will air, as well as with Bob Boilen, the show's Director, and Bill Deputy, who helped set up the technical aspects from Washington. In creating a live broadcast, one never knows what will happen. We had some pleasant surprises from the penguin colony: ecstatic displays and chicks peeping right on cue! The elephants seals snoozed and snored--not stirring much for their brief cameo appearance. The brash ice in Arthur Harbor popped and clinked against the shore. Just prior to the broadcast, I recorded some Very Low Frequency (VLF) sound from space and fed them into the mix. Stay tuned!

Steve Dunbar mounts the Sennheiser SK250 FM wireless transmitter in its weatherproof housing on Torgersen Island. (Photo by Howard Tobin).

Today's activities also included preparing for Het Pak van Sjaalman, a program on VRT - Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep (Flemish Radio and Television), Radio-3: , with host Bart Stouten. Moniek Darge, of the Stichting Logos Foundation, Center for New Music Production in Gent, will be on hand to do a live telephone interview at 7:00am, Palmer time. For Steve and me, this will kick off our New Year's celebrations. I also spent an hour and a half on the telephone with Klaus Schöning, of Westdeutscher Rundfunk to go over last minute details for an hour-long live broadcast to Germany on New Year's Day.

Meanwhile plans for New Year's celebrations are underway at Palmer...