V44KF

  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

The "new normal" continues to roll in for November and it may not be as bright as imagined. Every country has its version of 'new normal' for the citizenry, some are easy and some are hard, and it depends on whether you are old or whether you are young. No matter your status, everyone will be affected by the 'new normal' and its mentality. This is driven by the people in authority, some who do not understand but think they do, and others who understand but are totally excluded from the process. This is not unique to any place but just the way that globalism rolls in these times. Our world has changed irretrievably, we cannot go back, so it is forward ever, for all of us and our amateur radio, and that applies to every amateur radio operator and for every country on our planet. This is not the first time that we are adapting, so this should not be difficult unless we make it so. There are always people who resist change, including even some amateur radio operat

  "The rewards of life come to those who DO, not to those who merely read, talk or day dream. ACTION is The KEY" .  I don’t know where that quote originated, but it is on my wall, in my face as I sit at my computer. This  continuously galvanizes me to ACTION. Yesterday was for talk, and day dreaming, but today is for ACTION. I do not know who this is for, but I hope that it can help someone put that DX station in their logbook. If you can hear it, you can work it. True, but sometimes you have to try a wee bit harder to make it happen.  The antenna is the secret to pulling in real DX. My DX band is 40-meters with 80-meters a close second. Right now things are tight with the electricity company generating RF interference on these bands DX bands, from their smart meter equipment. By now most of the world should know about this RF interference, noise and frequency jamming problem that exist  in V4 land, as it sabotages ham radio DX activity.  The RF interference is illegal, but i

Welcome to another month end. Things are happening, and seem to be moving fast in certain ham radio areas. Let us keep the momentum, continue hardening the foundation, so that our energy fail not. Always remember that there are negative elements working overtime against us, but we on the right side of history, helping our brothers and sisters, all over the planet, in times of their greatest need. That is the serious nature of our commitment to amateur radio. In peace times, like now, we prepare for the Atlantic Hurricane Season, starting up in less than 100 days time. I suspect that V4 will be better off this season as I heard through the grapevines that many more ham radio operators have acquired an HF radio. Everyone already has a VHF radio or two, the 2-meter net is active, so we are good to go. But while we wait for the season to change let us enjoy today to the max. For some of us that is making contact with ham radio operators on the far side of our Earth. In my case the focus is

 The following was a post I prepared for one of my Facebook groups, but it became longer than I intended, so I am posing it here on my ham radio blog and will link to the Facebook group. Kindly permit me a minute to share a few items with you. Amateur Radio on a budget has different meanings to every ham radio operator. When you live on an island like me,  V4, you have to use what is made available by the hardware suppliers. I cannot run across town to get aluminum tubing to build an antenna, or to buy coax cable, nor antenna wire. These items are just not available in any store.  I have to use and recycle whatever I have. If I can get pass the amateur radio coax cable discussion I may be able to find a piece of TV coax cable that I can use on my QRP radio. Many local ham radio operators frown on this but it work for me. The largest investment one makes in ham radio is determined by the seriousness taken in the hobby. It is always best to get the most affordable brand name radio equipm

In this season we cannot afford to be left behind, no matter your reason or excuse. This is not a heartless viewpoint as some may see it, but one of reality and optimism. I am following the established protocols remaining in place, and tremendously enjoying myself. Amateur radio is my hobby, and communicating with people around the world is what I do. I suspect that over the last six [6] months, many people have taken the opportunity to change their hobbies, pastimes, even though some never tire at watching TV reruns and playing video games. I suspect that a few of them may even have tried various aspects of amateur radio. I am informed that two [2] new SDR radios were imported into V4 land for two established amateur radio operators. I am pleased to see that operators are embracing the SDR technology, and are serious enough about amateur radio to continue growing the art and hobby, even in the face of the covid-19 and its alleged hardships. Smart people will always recognize the impor

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

V44KF shack under construction In the last six [6] months since my last blog many things have happened to Amateur Radio in Saint Kitts and Nevis. The most important was that of the NTRC, the Telecommunications regulator, in early October 2019, notifying the electric company that their smart meters system was causing RF interference, and that they should "cease and desist" from causing that radio frequency interference immediately. That give me hope, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The notice that I saw also instructed the amateur radio operators to inform the NTRC as to the RF interference experienced at their radio stations. To date the RF interference at my radio station V44KF has not gone away. I am encouraging our amateur radio station operators in Saint Kitts to kindly update the NTRC as requested, so that the NTRC can continue to do their job effectively, providing us with frequencies that are free and clear of any RF interference. The picture a

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