It is that time again ...

Two months has gone by rather quickly, but that happens when you are having fun. I had too much fun in the last 60 days and had to throw some of it away. So sorry that I could not just pass it on to some of our local hams who may not have had enough fun for their season. But then again some people do not like to get anything that appear to be "left over", but I do not have that attitude, so when you have left over Coax Cable, PL-259 connectors, antenna wire, and maybe even an HF transceiver or 2-meter base radio, just bring them by me. If you have two, so much the better. Don't blame me, I am not being greedy ... but anything free ... take two.

I was too busy over the season to follow whatever ham radio action that was going down in our V4 Federation. I know for a fact that if it was only one thing that did not happen, it was that the St Kitts Nevis Anguilla Amateur Radio Society, the Ham radio organization with responsibility for the furtherance of ham radio in our Federation, did not have its annual December party, get together, social function, or whatever, for its members. It is not to say that we expect the entity to foot the bill, because historically it is the members who supply the vittles and the drinks. I hear that maybe that action could move to February. So we waiting to see. And I hope it is not because of what I said in my last blog.

We are into a new year, the past is gone, but not forgotten, but we have to leave a lot of it there in the history. We should step forward out of the rubble, making sure that we step on some solid planks, for this year is filled with challenges, the likes of which we may not have imagined possible. I am however confident that if we put our collective learning at the disposal of our Radio Society or Radio Club, there is not difficulty that will stand in our way.  I will say again, that we have to think and operate outside the box. Nothing in this year should be business as usual. That seems not to have worked in the good times for 30+ years, and now in these apparently lean times, I believe we need a new approach and strategy.

I believe we have to take our eyes and focus off the money. If we do not wish to, then we need to consider converting our organization into a money making enterprise, because as a friendly society we cannot engage in that as we would wish. I suspect that there are some financial laws and principles that we as a friendly society are unaware of and have therefore not applied to our situations and circumstances. Another option is to reorganize and reform the entity into a Club, which allows us to be more like that we would wish to be in these times. To my mind, this ham radio entity could be at a crossroad, if we begin thinking outside the box. Are we ready to move in any new direction, or will we try to fix what we already have?

I get the impression that some hams may not be willing to change the constitution that is screwing the entity to death, probably because they may have been related to the architects of that process. So what if things have to change for the common good of all? Some may rather we further compound the the difficulty, instead of radically cutting it out. Anyway that is how some old people may thing, but if the youths get really frustrated there is always the possibility of forming another radio organization [AGAIN] more suited to their needs and desires. I have spent too much time on this, but we will see what will happen down in this year.

 I am back in the ham radio business again. I only left for the post hurricane season vacation. This is the activity which I do not like .. having to take the antennas down for hurricanes or storms. It sometimes take some serious motivation to put the antennas back up, especially when the band activity to which one subscribes is low to sometimes non existent. Sunday morning provides some music if you have access to that time slot, earlier and later, nothing is happening. Nobody has anything to discuss like once ago. Is it that ham radio has really gone to the dogs? It can't be the season, because we have that every year, so maybe it is the interest, or the necessity, maybe it is just a reality we do not wish to face. But while some hams are crying that ham radio is dead, some hams are contesting like crazy and still creating DX-expeditions to remote places.

I do not have a problem with ham radio activity, because I am interested in working DX. It is known that my antennas are not built to cater for contacts in my country or region. From my very first day in ham radio I had interest in making contacts on the far side of the planet, and to do that with low power. Those days there were "serious" constraints, but things were still made to happen, given the resources. Today many things are significantly different to 35+ years ago, so DX-ing has a new meaning, and this year could be quite a fun year for me given life and strength, and for that matter, any ham who wants to extract the fun out of their ham radio operating.

I have entertained thoughts of replacing my 1985 Kenwood transceiver with more up-to-date technology like the Flex radio. I must admit that I am closer to home, having decided, against my better judgement, that the Flex Radio is the way to go. I spend a lot of time on my workstation [when I am not outside taking photos], so the Flex Radio is a logical choice. Were it not for that I could be still searching for a rig. My ham radio year is going great so far, and I expect that maybe around the upcoming Easter holidays it could become even more interesting for me and my ham radio operating from V4 land.

Move your ham radio forward every day, let nothing stand in you way. If you need a tow or a pull I may be able to help, so don't hesitate to call ....