V44KF

I missed the Jouvert Jam on 26th but have no regrets as my time was better spent on the computer doing what I enjoy. At this time of year most persons, hams included, indulge themselves, with making a new year wish list. Why this is done at this season is anyone's guess, because one should be continuously reevaluating priorities and updating wishes and needs. It may or may not be critical for persons living in recessional times and I cannot pronounce on this because I am still awaiting the recession, here. Some recessional attributes exist on the planet as a matter of course, but some people may find it convenient to disregard them. Anyway here it is about ham radio, not economics or politics. I expect that the typical V4 ham will have everything on their wish list from a rig right down to solder. So many thing are that much more difficult to get these days. Living on an island in the Atlantic ocean adds another dimension to that, and provides the ultimate test for ones resourceful

Tempus fugit. The T-shirt slogan, "time flies when you having a good time", may be seriously misleading, or maybe that was how it used to be in days gone by when "things" were very different. Anything behind the last word you just read is history. I am not getting into any discussion today on time, nor space, neither time travel nor space travel. It is boxing day here and since 2.00 AM I was awakened by the sound of music, actually, its was the thumping sounds from a rhythm box some 1/4 mile away in the West where a DJ and and his orchestra has set up on a flatbed for street jamming all day today. I will have to post some snaps here so that you can get a peep at the Caribbean lifestyle as it pertains to the Jouvert morning jam. Everybody is familiar with rock concerts and the kind of audio power that is run from the amplifiers, so try to imagine that set-up on a flat bed being hauled through 20-foot and 30-foot wide streets by a tractor, and few hundred people stree

Where did the last two months go? It is not that I can't account for them, but somehow for some reason I just did not reach my ham radio blog. I guess it comes with aging, and we just have to take it in stride. Maybe we are moving slower and time overtakes us, but whatever it may be, it is no cause for concern. Fortunately, this time around I have an explanation, not an excuse, but I don't know if I can fix it to stop from happening again. It is Facebook and more Facebook. Not to be outdone I have joined Facebook, not to run any race with the children and grandchildren, nor to keep an eye on them and their friends, but to keep myself 'active' and in the know. I have been encouraged to come out of photographic retirement by some kind and loving Facebook friends and I am liking the idea. At this age I find it is easy to fight what I believe to be the Facebook addiction, even though I have never experienced an addiction other than to ham radio and photography in the last 3

Tempus fugit. Sometimes it feels that someone is playing around with a time machine, but in the last two week we have seen a fair amount of excitement on and across the islands. The election drama continues with court cases, legal action brought against the Government who claim that the opposition party is trying to block the constitutional and electoral process. Storms have passed through the Leewards, but well off our Southern coast, a bit of wind but not much rain at this QTH. September 19th is another Independence celebration and that is sometimes accompanied by stormy weather, the annual coincidence, and it seems to be already shaping up in the Atlantic. We hope that it will blow over quickly, pass us by as a depression, or just don't come at all. Nature is unpredictable but the weathermen are still trying to con us. I am finally down to the last phase of antenna adjustment because I do not settle for any SWR less than 'one to one' at my operating frequency. This has t

WOW!!!!! I made a contact into Maryland this morning with 5 watts on the experimental antenna. I was not even calling the station, I only came of 7.195 MHz and asked if anyone was around, looking for any of the usual local or Caribbean hams, and a W3 station responded. He gave me a signal report but I don't think that I heard him correctly, so I am not repeating it, but the last time I got that quality report I was using a Drake TR4C, L4B and a two element phased array beaming to North America. Anyway, I made the trip to MD with 5 watts and did not have to repeat anything. I know the SWR on the 40 meter portion of the antenna is 1 to 1 at 7.150 MHz. So maybe I should not really be surprised. It could also be that Storm ANA that is 3 days away to our East could have affected the atmosphere to such a degree that it messed with the propagation, creating a super path between V4 and W3. But that is not all, because today is the first time that I have received Guyana, 8R1WD to be exact,

WOW!!! It is hard to believe that 10 days have gone by so soon. It is like somebody push the fast forward button on us. Maybe it is just that as we get older it seems that everything is moving faster, but in reality everything is the same, but we old guys may be the ones that are moving slower. It could be critical if you have to punch someones time clock but when you are on your own, retired, and living one day at a time, it is a totally different story. Don't for a minute think that there is nothing to do, because XYL's always have something for you to do [at the wrong time], and if you don't do it right the first time, well you know ... these days it is not the rolling pin [ours are made from marble], they know where to find the switch for the surge protector. Before I tell you about today, I have come up with the solution to a problem that some of us could have. The most portable HF rig in the world may be the Flex 1500. It is powered from the Laptop USB. I could see

The long holiday weekend is coming to an end, and the best laid plans were shot to bits not by the weather, but by the Caribbean holiday spirit. It is party time across the Caribbean. Some call it Carnival, and some call it by other local names, but the bottom line is that it is party time in some Caribbean islands, and some parts of North America too. The cell phone and Internet provide those who cannot be there in person with a front seat and center stage view to all the action, whether it is Carnival queen pageant, calypso king competition, calypso queen show, queen of the bands, jouvert, or whatever. On the local scene, the party will be held at the house[s] with the largest plasma screen, and space to accommodate the noisy gathering. Some of it also spills onto facebook too. I too had my own little party [rum less] and was in no mood whatsoever to be in the hot sun dealing with antennas. Every day is an antenna day, but every day is not a party day, so you have to kill it when yo

Let me first thank the Creator for another bright and sunny Saturday and I pray that it remains like this all day long. This weather is great for antenna work and I think quite a bit may be planned for today at more than one [1] QTH in V4. This morning I expect to do some more work on the dual band, single feed line 40/80 top and bottom load vertical dipole antenna. I now have the SWR down to around 1.5:1 on 40 and 80, but it is not at the frequency that I prefer. On 40 meters it is around 7.165 MHz and on 80 meters it is around 3.613 MHz. It looks like I am getting there, and I have not yet deployed the Autek RF1 analyzer. This morning I checked into the 80 meter weather net on 3.815 MHz, and only when the net controller said I was a bit light did I realize that I was running only 5 watts, and I had not even adjusted the matching between the rig/coax feed line/antenna with the built in antenna tuner. Reception also seem to be better than usual for most of the participating station

Tempus fugit. I have not touched the antenna in the last week. I am still on vacation. The XYL is out visiting so I am enjoying being a bachelor again to the max. It feels good. No chores today. No housekeeping. Just me and my ham radio, my photography, my bicycle, my microwave, my wok and my TV. I get some exercise walking from the bedroom upstairs to the kitchen and shack downstairs. This is the good life. However, I have touched the antenna project as I found some antenna wire and nylon guy ropes all balled up in a corner of the yard where my landscape engineer had secured it, so today I will add some more wire onto the antenna and see where we can go. The antenna analyzer is back home so that will be deployed too. The antenna is tuned up just below 3.8 mhz with a 1:1 SWR, but the SWR on 40 is over 2 but under 3 at 7.135 mhz or so, totally unacceptable, since I never use antenna tuners. I have to remodel the antenna further to satisfy my requirements. The overall height of the ver

The short 40/80 meter top and bottom loaded vertical dipole fed with one single feed line is finally up, but the bottom loading wire for 80 meters is to be replaced with real antenna wire which will be recycled from the existing single band 80 meter T-cap antenna. Nothing went according to the plan laid out for Saturday. First it rained, next it was windy, but the rain was the real show stopper. Negotiating wet grass and wet bamboo stalks across a dry river bed are not my idea of ham radio fun on a Saturday. So like the shuttle, take off was rescheduled for the next 24 hours. The self resonant frequencies on 40 and 80 were in band for starters, so I was not far off with my assumptions. The feed line is not the real length but should be close by about 4%, pretty significant but workable. The local signal reports indicate that I am not as strong as before, and I expect that, since both the vertical and horizontal radiation pattern should now be different, and the antenna is not yet tun

All systems are go to install the 40/80 meter vertical dipole antenna today, if no rain. Rain is the one thing in the Caribbean that upsets everyone. Personally, I like the rain and it slows down, but does not stop my show. For some people it is the opposite, just the thought of rain totally stops their show. Rain to some people is like fire and brimstone. Of course for the Rastaman rain is quite something else. After serious consideration and contemplation I have decided why and where I will place, as in orient, the top and bottom loading wires for both the 40 and 80 meter antennas. It is not really critical because as long as you are 'out of plane' it is good bye to the high angle suppression. In this experiment I want to see if the allowed 'high angles' will give my antenna 'more ears' for local contacts. In theory it should, while maintaining the original low angle. I need to make up a new feed line, but I will use the old one which is good for 40 meters, bu

Most hams should be acquainted with the Sherwood Engineering Inc's Receiver Test Data Table found here , with an update stamp of 2 July 2009. This table can prove useful and helpful to most hams who are out shopping for a first, second or third rig. It could also set up some of us older hams for a little peer pressure. When we acquired that rig which is now down at number 45 in the Receiver Test Data table, we were unaware of the existence of this table, so we should not take it personal, nor should we let our ham buddies give us any unnecessary static. In days gone by the average ham could strive to buy the 'the top of the line' rig of the day for 2K, 3k or 4k uncle sam, sometimes with a mild stretch. It is a whole different story in 2009, and some hams may not be in a position to stretch, even though some of the eBay rig prices may seem quite reasonable to some of us. The 'new' top of the line ham rigs may now be well above 10k, and I would expect all of them to

Getting Murphy out of the way was easier than I thought, but I am not taking any chances and have activated plan B, just in case. A week or two is much to far away to work on a simple antenna like this, so at lunch time today I am half way completed. I am converting my 28-foot 40-meter top and bottom loaded vertical dipole to this single feed line 40/80 vertical dipole. I had a vision of an alternate layout of this 40/80 single feed line antenna, and this will be tested later down. I envisage this present antenna experiment to be more labour intensive than usual, and I have installed a tilt over base, so that I will not have the hassle of 'storming' the mast/antenna, and 'lashing' it onto the fence any more, nor solicit any XYL assistance when it is breezy. I now have three [3] tilt over masts installed, and they are all spaced 34 feet apart and in line. Coincidence? Maybe not. In line the three [3] masts/antennas point to Japan and you can compute the broadside directi

It pays to revisit supposedly old documentation. Stuff that we have once read and sometimes consciously think that we may never need again in this lifetime. Fortunately for us, our subconscious does not subscribe to that line of thinking, and like the good computer it is, even though we may not appreciate it, continues to update and compile data on our behalf. When the time is right we get a flash of inspiration, a burst of knowledge, or whatever we want to call it, because all the pieces just fall neatly into place. It is not by accident, but many of us don't know that and maybe even more don't really care. I just had that experience a few moments ago, and my next vertical antenna experiment is shaping up. Some time ago I viewed this website and did not give it a second thought because I could not handle the center feed point for the antenna, nor the 70-foot vertical section. Today, some months later, I am on the web page again , the data is still the same, but I now see it fr

I think I am on to something and I need to share it with everyone. It will do me no good to keep it to myself. I am of the view that I will be a better person if I can help someone in some small way to see the light at the end of their tunnel, and that has nothing to do with whether or not they can help me to see the light at the end of mine. Life and living is not about ME, but about YOU, and how I can help YOU to realize your full potential and maybe your destiny. In relation to our hobby of ham radio, it did not take me 40-years to recognise that it is all about basic principles, and the application of those basic principles. Some of us try to get as far away from the basics as possible, but if the "sophistication" sought after is not rooted in proper basic principles, you are wasting your time and money. I am no big time engineer, but I have recognized that most of the ham transceivers of yesteryear were built to great specifications, and some still fetch a good price on

Every day in V4 land is great, but today was significantly different. I started the day off with my usual 05.30 AM bicycling exercise ride around the City, up to the Robert L Bradshaw International Airport just outside the City limits, and back home along the West Basseterre Highway, which is still under construction. A nice and easy 45 minute bicycle spin with only just enough pressure to break a mild sweat. Before leaving home at 05.30 AM I visited the 7.195 MHz frequency to see if any of the local or US ham were up this early. A few months ago there was a regular early morning wake up call on the 146.82 MHz repeater, but that net now seems to be on summer vacation. I have on a few occasions bicycled pass one of the wake-up-callers on his way to work, but I am not bicycling with a 2-meter handy, because that could be a hazard, given the early morning "highway speed-demons", et al. At 05.30 AM I did not hear anyone on 7.195, and I put it down to no propagation to certain are

One whole week has gone by and not one single stroke of work was 'chopped' on the portable antenna construction project. It is not unusual that whenever you seem to plan something constructive all sorts of things just seem to elevate themselves to a priority status, and before you know it, you are back to square one, or maybe even outside the square. I did one thing however, and that was take up the slack in the guy ropes on the antenna ... so the antenna now looks more stately and majestic instead of slightly tipsy or drunk. Some of my V4 ham buddies also have vertical antennas under construction and I keep getting on their case to complete them, and I have even suggested that them bring them up to my lawn so we could work on them there, but they claim that the antenna is too big to transport. Well I have to run with what the man say, but I am yet to see a vertical antenna that is "too big" to relocate, but I have to abide with the response, so I have taken to droppi

The 80 meter band was very noisy last night and no contact was established with 2E0KXD. We will be more scientific about making the next contact. Scientific because one has to ensure that everything is in place to support the contact between two stations so far apart like over the ocean. Just down the road say 500 miles it is no problem, that is only 8 degrees away, and most likely still in the same time zone. I am no big time DXer, but I suspect that most hams with a little seriousness about working DX, on another continent, would have a copy of the Sunrise Sunset book and tables. My copy is by ON4UN / AA401 - 1987, and I consult it occasionally. This puts you right on the money, but still does not guarantee that you will have a contact, but it puts you squarely in the game. Other tools like the clusters also help the bottom line. According to the SS SR table the UK SS is around 20.40 and the V4 SS is about 22.46. The UK SR is at 03.39 and the V4 SR is at 09.37. I know historically th

At my sunset, in the next few hours, I am going to be looking for my ham buddy 2E0KXD on the other side of the Atlantic, to see whether or not we can make a contact with his GAP antenna on 80 meters. I know that in times past before the sun drops over my horizon in the West I can drop an R5S9 signal into Europe. After the sun sinks over the horizon some signal improvement to S9+20 is the norm. Most time signals are stronger on my receiver, but I find that most EU hams may be transmitting at their legal limit. I have not found any reason to go to my legal limit here as yet. I have not used my 80-meter antenna for a while and had to effect some emergency repairs to be ready for tonight. My antenna is positioned above my chain link fence. The parasitic vines running on the fence always project appendages to entangle the bottom loading wire running parallel to the fence at a height of about 1-foot above it. Above the perimeter fence seems like the most unobtrusive place to place a top and

A vertical antenna is the easiest of antennas to make and install. You only need one point above the ground from which to let it hang down, or one point on the ground from which to let it stick up in the air. Wire is used for the hanging vertical and self supporting aluminum tubing for the other. With any other antenna material between these two extremes, of flexible wire and hard tubing, I believe that you will be on your own. Of course, I am addressing the home brewer who is going to use 'junk yard' material to fabricate a vertical antenna that will rival the ready made product in performance. Price is not even considered here, because the cost of the shipping alone may exceed the cost of the locally found raw materials used. In an earlier blog I mentioned that antenna grade aluminun tubing is usually unavailable on the island and nobocy is making any effort to import the tubing that they need. However at the end of the day the verticals are built from materials available loc

I have just realized that some hams have a morbid fear of embracing the new technology. I am so busy doing my own thing that I somehow missed this, not that it would have any impact on how or what I do in respect to my own embracing of the technology. Fortunately for me I was forced into this embracing and appreciating the technology as a Switching Technician / Engineer in the Telecoms industry back in 1983, when we moved from mechanical telephone switching to Digital switching. Working in and with digital technology 24/7 grows on you, and together we become like one, and practically inseparable after 20+ years. So tech is like a way of life and it is sometimes difficult to appreciate that other people may not feel it like you do. However having retired I have made a clean break and do not wish to see another switch ... but that is just idle talk, because the tech is in the bones and really pervades every cell of the body. Other hams who have not been engulfed, absorbed or involved wit

Hurricane Season 2009 is with us, or maybe more correctly, we are with it. It is the way of Nature. "We come meet it and we will go leave it", as the old people have a way of saying. This season means something different to everyone, and I may take the liberty to say, that it may not mean the exact same thing to everyone, something like fingerprint. Some of us look forward to experiencing the high winds blowing, some the water falling and ghauts running, some the calm before and after the storm, and some to the after effect, the mitigation and restoration in the wake. I believe that most of us would prefer that the weather just stayed over the sea and went away early. There is nothing we can do about storms and hurricane, but Pray before and after. History has shown that praying can work, but it seems that we only pray for storms to come. We provide names which determine the category and intensity, and we even go so far as to suggest to Nature the quantity of storms that we w