Press On
wow!! The plane landed, the boat docked, and my radio station components are on the island. This is a difficulty that we learn to live with. No hardware store around the corner, or on the next street, that sell over the counter aluminum tubing which we can use to build antennas, and the cord is not rated at 500 pounds or more to hold up our expensive antennas, but we improvise and live with that. After a while you get accustomed to making decisions in faith. I still do not understand why a 100 pound test cord can be used to guy an antenna costing over a thousand dollars. Some things you just close your eyes and whisper. These things and more add to the exciting quality of LIFE in the Caribbean, and it works for us.
Countdown to the start of the 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season continues. Now is the time to get prepared for anything and everything. Do not wait until the people who think that they know, make their predictions. They are doing their best with what they have, and I do not fault them for that, because they have to give it their best shot. We do not know what the future hold, so we need to be prepared and ready, as best we can be, for the worst that can happen. We have been here before, but many "things" were different then. We need to make everything that is outside "heavy duty", or relocate it inside.
Many people will just take down the antenna, with a view to putting it up again after the weather pass. That is good, but it removes the ability of the radio station to function [hear] during the passage of the weather system. V4 is outside the usual path of the weather systems. Some come closer, but rarely overV4, historically. But we cannot predict the future, and it is always wise to be prepared, ready and safe. Some of us may feel that it is way to early to talk about severe weather for V4, but we know that most of our people are hard of hearing, so it is necessary to talk early, and hope that the message gets home. It is time that we get rid of this last minute scramble and dash mentality.
The sunspot cycle is performing as designed. The bands 20 meters to 6 meters are most affected by sunspot activity, and one just has to be ready for the openings. I hear that 10 meters and 17 meters are the favourites. I have listened and 15 meters and 17 meters were my best bands, but that could be the propagation at that period. I heard contacts being made after dark on 17 meters, and I am listening to them on a simple sloping dipole antennas, most likely sloping in the wrong directions.
The bands are all noisy now. Noise which was unique to 40 meters is now on 20 meters and 17 meters. Some hams say it is local, some say maybe not. I hear hams in the us talking about similar interfering signals. I assume that the local Telecommunications entity are policing the spectrum and taking the active steps to address any interference emanating within our borders, and even outside if they are causing interference inside our borders. This used to be done some time ago, I am told, and external interference was spotted and ceased.
I am told that the NTRC is again agitating for the electricity company to stop generating the RF interference that affect local and legal services. I am of the view that the NTRC need to press and press hard to force resolution to this problem. It is about 5 years now that the electricity equipment has generated interference that broke the laws of the land, and even with help from their supplier overseas, they refused to comply and fix the equipment. Total disregard for the Telecoms authority and the law. Everything takes time to fix, and I expect that this illegal problem will be fixed real soon. This RF interference generated by the electricity company is an embarrassment to the Government and People of Saint Kitts and Nevis in the Telecommunication circles of the world. Refusing to uphold an international agreement in relation to RF interference in the territory.
Recently I came across information from 2020, that I think is a good read for prospective ham radio operators, and a reminder and refresher for experienced ham radio operators.
If you have an interest in DX and making DX contacts, this is the season to do it. Many people are traveling to foreign places again, and DX expeditions are now coming on stream. One of the places to follow up the DX action and activity news is at https://www.dx-world.net/
Follow the activities every day, and one day you will get the opportunity to make the contact, being in the right place at the right time. In the meantime, if you have to improve any part of your radio station, think about it seriously and then do something about it. Most times an improvement in antenna will usually make a big difference in working a DX station. I have been there, so I know. Experiment with different antennas. If you have the space experiment with the quad and delta loop antennas. Experiment with wire beam antennas, Google. You can find one that suits you perfectly.
A couple years ago I found an antenna that suited me well. It was a top and bottom loaded vertical dipole. I have not found an antenna simpler nor better as yet. It is more suited for the low bands like 40 meters and 80 meters but I suspect it can work on the high bands too.
https://www.qsl.net/ei7ba/low_band_antennae.htm
As a matter of fact I think I will experiment with that top and bottom loaded vertical dipole on the high bands next. That design worked for many hams and set many world records. If it worked for the original Force12 designers years ago, it can also work for us today. Here is information on one of the commercial products
https://dxsupply.com/produktfiler/G1FON%20Sigma-5%20review.pdf
There is one piece of ham radio equipment that I believe all amateur radio operators should invest in, and it is an antenna analyzer. I have only had two [2] antenna analyzers, and only after much research. I never had any regrets. The antenna makes a difference with what we hear, and if we are heard. Ensure that the antenna is perfectly tuned. The antenna analyzer can help you better than you know. I recommend to everyone the RigExperts antenna analyzers. This is one piece of equipment that all amateur radio stations should have.
https://rigexpert.com/products/antenna-analyzers/
Let us always remember the ham radio brothers and sisters in UKRAINE, home to RigExpert, and the engineers who make and maintain these fine antenna analyzers. We hope that this war would end now, and this region of the world would return to normal. But ham radio and DX continue, let us make full use of the opportunities provided, to catch the band openings, and to make all the DX contacts that we can.
[to be continued]
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