Start Now
Happy New Year.
Welcome.
Wow!! Four days gone already, there is no time to lose. In this year, what we need to do, we need to do quickly. Gone are the days when it would be tomorrow, because tomorrow never comes, is a wise saying. Something always takes it place, so with the best intentions, it never gets done. Be smart, be wise DO IT NOW. "DOIT NOW" has been a "success motivation" strategy for some of us, it always work, and helps us to be ahead of every game, all the time. Not doing it now is what keeps many of us out of the game. In hind sight many of us, if we are honest with ourselves, will recognise that we are the ones responsible for "us" not being at the head of the class. We need to adopt a "DO IT NOW" mentality if we do not yet have it.
For those of us who are already there, if we rest now, we shall be overtaken and fall behind. No overtaken by our brothers and sisters, but by the negative mentality that now exists in our world today, post recent and ongoing pandemic. Some of us are affected by every wind that blow, and we need to rise above that. We need to associate with positive thinking people all the time. We need to develop an EAGLE mentality. Rise above any storm of life. Know that it will pass sooner, the faster and higher that we rise.
Ham radio operators are people who go through the trials of life too, and the ham radio fraternity should always be there for the brothers and sisters that need our LOVE. It is a hard fight sometimes, given the culture, but we can get around and over that, if we are serious and we try. That said how can we now help our ham radio brothers and sisters? How do we know that they need help? Everybody needs help. No matter who you are, or how much you have, every ham radio operator needs help in some area of the ham radio hobby and their life. Some ham radio operators just need another understanding ham radio operator to sit and talk.
Many of us have lost the ability to just talk. I must say that my ham radio buddy V44HE and myself spend most time just talking. There is a lot to talk about in recent times. Talking help us all to get back to normal. Over the last few years ham radio operators were talking because we were "locked" down, but by the nature of our ham radio hobby, many of us did not feel the restriction and pressures exerted on the world. Irrespective of the times, we need to talk to our ham radio brothers and sisters at home and overseas.
We are experts at talking to our brothers and sisters at home, and we are comfortable with that. I do not have a problem with that at all. There are some of us who will prefer and stick with local communication, but ham radio also has a component of international communication. That is called DX, where we talk with and to ham radio operators in countries around the world, and some operators even share the proof of the contacts made, and that is called a qsl card. I am one of those operators who prefer to focus on making international contacts, maybe to see how far we can reach with our transmitter and antenna systems, or to see how many international ham radio operators and their countries that we can contact.
I am hopeful that in 2023 a contingent of the ham radio operators can focus on making DX contacts around the world. There are many ham radio operators in many countries, who still have not contacted Saint Kitts no matter how popular V4 may appear.
We thank the ham radio operators who visit our islands and create the V4 ham radio activity for the rest of the world every few months. I am of the view that we need more ham radio operators who are resident in V4 to develop an interest in DX activity, to help our "few" ham radio operators who have been making this happen over the years.
Thanks to the indigenous V4 ham radio operators who have been active and making DX contacts over the years, and kept ham radio alive inV4. We hope that in 2023 the indigenous contingent of ham radio operators would triple and quadruple, not just double, on all bands and all modes. But for this to happen there need to be capable radio stations. A capable radio station is one fitted with equipment and antenna that meets the minimum DX standards. Fortunately at this time that is easy given the sunspot maximum we are approaching, and all present day radio stations boast a transceiver of modern technology and design. The antennas are usually good but may need adjustments and upgrades.
But this only cover the ham radio operators with ham radio equipment. What of the ham radio operators with no ham radio equipment, but a desire to make DX contacts like the rest of us? The reply is indeed a hard one. It falls the responsibility of the local Radio Club or Radio Society to provide the functioning radio station facility for their members, and visiting ham radio operators. A quick look around the world would show that this is what is done by all amateur radio clubs and societies. Over the years I have contacted DX club and society radio stations, mainly from the North East of V4 and across the ocean engaging that strategy.
There are serious limitations with the use of any ham radio station unless it is under the full control of the ham radio operator. That is, he or she is the owner of the amateur radio station. We need to find, invent or create a mechanism where we can provide ham radio equipment to our V4 ham radio operators, who do not have any equipment, but are seriously interested in making DX contacts. How can we make this happen in V4? This has happened in other parts of the world, why can't it happen in Saint Kitts-Nevis too?
[to be continued]
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