Hams "Undiscover" A S. Pacific Island.

[WW0W]

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/...ntcmp=features

[K8MHZ]

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/...ntcmp=features

Where is the ham part?

[K7WFM]

<snip>
...
Sandy Island's existence was actually ruled out by a group of New Caledonian ham radio operators in 2000. The hobbyists had been interested in the remoteness of the Chesterfield Islands, an archipelago a few hundred miles off of the New Caledonian mainland that was a candidate for a so-called DX-pedition, in which hams set up a communication point in an exotic and isolated locale. If Sandy Island had existed, the Chesterfield Islands would not have been sufficiently remote from another landmass to qualify as a viable DX-pedition destination.
But the radio explorers deduced from satellite data on ocean depths that Sandy Island was indeed an island of the mind, and in doing so, ushered in a brave new era of undiscovery.

...a brave new era of undiscovery.

lolz

[N6MEJ]

Deleted. Redundant post

[KB4QAA]

The oceans are big spaces, and despite all our technology, our knowledge is imperfect. About five years ago a US Navy submarine running at high speed in the Pacific ran violently aground on a poorly charted reef. The accident killed one sailor and seriously injured others.

A prudent sailor never totally relies on charts or any single source of navigation!

[K0RGR]

What, you never watched Lost? The island is there, it's just jumping in time.

[AD7N]

Where is the ham part?

The Australian scientists who sailed through Sandy Island seem poised to be remembered as its true undiscoverers. But just as North America was discovered by both Vikings and Native Americans before Christopher Columbus ever arrived, Sandy Island's existence was actually ruled out by a group of New Caledonian ham radio operators in 2000.

The hobbyists had been interested in the remoteness of the Chesterfield Islands, an archipelago a few hundred miles off of the New Caledonian mainland that was a candidate for a so-called DX-pedition, in which hams set up a communication point in an exotic and isolated locale. If Sandy Island had existed, the Chesterfield Islands would not have been sufficiently remote from another landmass to qualify as a viable DX-pedition destination.

But the radio explorers deduced from satellite data on ocean depths that Sandy Island was indeed an island of the mind, and in doing so, ushered in a brave new era of undiscovery.

Scientists were beat out by DXpedition hunters... why am I not surprised