V44KF

 We are in the middle of July, continuing to prepare for the hurricane season, but ham radio continues to thrive and flourish, irrespective of the doom and gloom mouthed by some hams who I suspect should know better. I do not know what is wrong with them, but it seem to be a phase that some people go through. I notice that the fallout of the pandemic has sent many hams into retirement, and health care facilities that do not allow them to be as active as they once were. It is a dramatic lifestyle change, and I do empathize and hope that the ham fraternity could fabricate a system that would allow this growing number of ham radio operators, to remain active on-the-air for years to come. This does not happen in the Caribbean with a different culture and geography. Ham radio is taking off as the world continues to embrace the passing of the pandemic, and everyone gets more comfortable accepting their new normal lifestyle. Last week Yaesu introduced the world to their third transceiver in t

  WOW!! It is July already, so let us get this show on the road. Welcome to all amateur radio operators, well wishers, supporters, all. A few matters passed by my shack, as we call our amateur radio station, last month which I will briefly touch. This is my view and you are advised to seek the views of other ham radio operators, draw your conclusions and make your decisions. All ham radio stations need feedline, and most radios and antennas use coaxial cable. Some hams use 50 ohm coax cable some use 75 ohm coax cable. Personally, I prefer the 75 ohm coax cable, because it works good for me and it was available. There is much more to it, and you may be lucky to find it in the right text book. Remember that dipoles are 72 ohm. I suspect that  most hams used the coax cable that is available to them, and the radio manufacturers just designed the radios to match it. Check to see if your radio can only use one cable or if it can use a range of cables, then you know how to proceed.  It does n

  WOW!! The second quarter of 2022 is upon us. Amateur radio may not be rolling out as some of us thought it would. Question is, what can we do about that? There is always something that we can do, but many of us most times FOCUS on the apparent problem and not the solution or the possible solution. In this time as we get our lives, and everything else back together, we need to be perpetually proactive in every area of our life. We need to erase the word impossible from our vocabulary, because in reality, everything is POSSIBLE, no matter how it may look. What I have discovered over the years, is that when you begin to move towards the goal, it seems to meet you halfway. Some people call it luck, but it is just the way that "things" work, but you only find out IF you try. So to all Amateur Radio operators, everywhere, make your wish list of EVERYTHING that you need to take your ham radio to another level. I will not tell you to meditate  on it daily, or do any such thing, but

All amateur radio operators are affected by the present pandemic in many ways. We stand with all our brothers and sisters as they go through these changing times. Let us keep our ham radio operations active, and keep our mind focused and head level as we weather our personal storms. We hope that we can assist each another when help is needed. A new season is coming , we do not know how it will pan out. Let us keep positive and focused. I follow a few amateur radio groups on Facebook, and view some of the issues and questions raised. I suspect that some of these issues and questions may also be raised by the new ham radio operators who may read this blog. In 50-years of ham radio I have seen and proved a few things, which may be helpful to someone willing to experiment. I am still learning, as we all are. We never stop learning in ham radio. Antenna experiments are fun, if you have the correct tools. In 2020 I got a RigExpert antenna analyzer, which opened up a new world of antenna expe

I just saw the latest DX-World Weekly Bulletin #388, and I am minded to draw it to your attention, and to encourage you to take a browse. In case you have not seen the DX-World Weekly Bulletin #388 as yet it can be found here   Thanks to the DX-World bulletins amateur radio operators can know what is happening and where, and get to know what is going to happen, and when. Amateur radio operators also have the opportunity to list their operation's activity. This is a tremendous service to the amateur radio fraternity and we must be eternally grateful for it. Let me encourage all of us to bookmark this DX-World website and let be one of our first go to websites for amateur radio. If you are like me, you will have a bookmark folder entitled "amateur radio" and this link could be in the DX folder. A quick scan of this latest dx bulletin shows future activity from V4, St Kitts, to wit, V4, ST KITTS John, W5JON will once again be active as V47JA from Calypso Bay between June 12

We are looking at the new year in days. The question is, what did you achieve in 2020?  And the next question could be, what do you plan to achieve in 2021? From the amateur radio operator there is always a positive response. The past we can speak about, and comment in "hindsight", but the future is not given to any of us, we could [1] make a physical determination based on our present knowledge of our circumstance, or [2]  just create a wish list of everything we would like for ourselves. Most of us prefer the second option, and spend quite a bit of time day dreaming in this mode. That is quite natural and necessary, because all we need to do is to convert every dream into reality, and we have the GOD given ability to do just  that. We also call this day dreaming imagination. Everything begins there. FAITH. If you need the scriptural data we can discuss that later. Over the years I have been encouraging amateur radio operators to create their personal wish list of everything

Bay Road, Basseterre, Saint Kitts. West Indies Today is a great amateur radio day for me, V44KF, in the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. The Saint Kitts Nevis Anguilla Amateur Radio Society in its 46th year held its AGM on Tuesday February 4th 2020, and elected a new Executive. First, CONGRATULATIONS to the new Executive, and I expect that they would seek to carry our Amateur Radio Society to a new level. I know that they will, and I expect many FIRSTS  for our Society. Going forward our Society has to incorporate modern business practices if we are to avoid the problems we have weathered over the years. We all need to come to grips with the fact that our Amateur Radio Society is a non-profit organisation, and amateur radio could be a very expensive hobby. I think it would be helpful if we can think about the many ways that we and our Society can attract the assets that we need to make our Amateur Radio the best in the world. I am a senior citizen and I am willing

Today is another nice, bright, beautiful sunny summer day in Saint Kitts. The ideal visitor destination this time of year, for guests of the Anthem of the Seas, the Norwegian Epic and the Viking Sea, three cruise liners berthed at the Port Zante Cruise Piers in Basseterre, the Capital City of the Federation. Amateur Radio Operators frequently visit our island on cruise liners, but I am told that ham operators cannot use their amateur radio equipment on the cruise liners. It is their liner and they make the rules, but smart amateur radio operators get a license from the countries that they plan to visit, so that they can operate their amateur radio equipment, mobile, portable or otherwise, when they are on the island.  I am happy for these visiting amateur radio operators because there is practically no RF interference, noise or frequency jamming on their signals when they operate from the beaches, or the hilltops in Saint Kitts. View of Port Zante cruise port from the lawn up on th

Greetings to all Amateur Radio operators and all persons interested in the Amateur Radio hobby at home and overseas. Do you know that the country of JAPAN has over 1.29 million Amateur Radio operators? Is it that they know something that we do not? Why do the Japanese people take Amateur Radio that seriously? Nobody else in the world is that serious. I suspect that if we get serious about Amateur Radio we can learn something that we can adapt to our SKN environment. No point trying to invent the wheel again. Can I give you an exercise, find out why over one [1] percent of the Japanese population are Amateur Radio Operators? You may discover something that we can scale down and apply to our Saint Kitts and Nevis. http://www.n0hr.com/ham_radio_population.htm For 2020 I am still into trying to develop and grow Amateur Radio in Saint Kitts and Nevis. This is what an Amateur Radio Society is supposed to do. Saint Kitts and Nevis is a member of the IARU, who is about developing

Greetings, welcome to another ham radio blog from the shack of V44KF, on St Kitts-Nevis, the most beautiful islands in the Eastern Caribbean. This blog will be brief as I am only permitted a few minutes on the computer every day. Christmas is coming as usual. I do not know how many ham radio operators will get the 'santa syndrome' this year, given the global situations and changes. I am of the view that irrespective of the global conditions a real ham radio operator will always produce his dated 'santa list. This is something that I have done every year and it has always worked for me. Santa may come early or late, maybe the next year, but 'santa' always comes. This works for my ham radio and my photography to, and it may work for you ... anyway, you have nothing to lose, so give it a try. Early in 2016 Amateur Radio in St Kitts and Nevis experienced a boost when members of the St Kitts Nevis Anguilla Amateur Radio Society decided to rebirth their Society with