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....

  The end of the second quarter in 2022 is almost upon us, ushering in another year of the Atlantic Hurricane Season. In Saint Kitts and Nevis no one is considering the season seriously as people are engaged in the excitement and heartbreak of an election campaign two years ahead of schedule. This campaign ends in the next couple weeks and we get back to living. In the picture above is one of my vertical antennas due a makeover as we prepare for the next Atlantic Hurricane Season. June to November, with the peak around August to September, and most of us hope that this year will be like those of recent times. However this year could be different and we still need to be ready and prepared early. Most people let the storm and hurricane preparation run from year to year, and just touch up and improve durability as necessary. That is a strategy that I see practiced in another island, and it seems to work for them. In Saint Kitts and Nevis this is not the norm, as most of us build ...

  There comes a time in life when we just need to have patience and endure a little bit longer. Another year is ending and I am still unaware if the interference, noise and frequency jamming of frequencies, which include a critical section of the amateur radio spectrum, has been officially removed, gone away, as in permanently stopped as ordered by the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission [NTRC] some four [4] years ago.  The electric company in Saint Kitts, installed smart meter equipment, which generate significantly high levels of RF signals, which interference with duly authorized and  licensed Telecommunication services, including amateur radio. After four [4] years the electric company still has not complied with the NTRC's order, and the laws of Saint Kitts and Nevis, that govern the illegal generation of interference to licensed Telecommunication services. A whole lot of politics is being played out here, as the Government, who owns the electric compan...

 We are moving on. A couple weeks out of lockdown and we are full speed ahead. Lockdown should not slow down or stop our ham radio, but everyone has a different recaction to the same stimulus. When our mobility is under threat we all experience adverse reactions. At V44KF, I got into the planning and building mode. I developed an interest in the EFHW, "end fed half wave" antenna. Many people seem to build it like an inverted "VEE" or a long wire of sorts, but I am interested in it as a vertical. Vertical antennas, installed correctly and properly, posses the lowest signal take off  angle. The half wave vertical has a lower take off angle than the quarter wave vertical. Check your vertical antenna handbook for take off angle data, or knock yourself out with a 'Google search' for "vertical antennas take off angles". 40-meters is my favorite band, 7.0 mhz  to 7.3 mhz, but that amateur radio band is not useable for amateur radio communications because ...

  All Is Well, as this week V4 takes new steps in addressing the covid within our borders. Let us be there for our brothers and sisters who are part of the covid teams. Our PRAYERS are with them 24x7 as they provide National Service with undeniable and undisputed distinction. Amateur Radio has a unique role to play in any aspect of Emergency Disaster, and is almost always on alert during this season. A few miles down the road the V88 amateur radio operators of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are dealing with an active Volcano, and in a few days the 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season begins on June 1. All amateur radio operators in this Caribbean region is undergoing practical training, whether we like it or not. We do not know when covid will end, neither the V88 volcano activity, let us PRAY that this is a quiet hurricane activity year. This is a testing time for amateur radio in this region.  In recent times I suggested that all amateur radio stations should have, and that all ...

2020 New Years Day Sugar Mas Carnival Parade Welcome to 2020 and my world of Amateur Radio. As I begin a new year I like to take a minute to briefly reflect on my amateur radio, and on amateur radio in our Federation, as far back as I can recall. Amateur Radio in St Kitts and Nevis is due in part to the Amateur Radio activity of Amateur Radio Operators, past and present, who dedicated their time and effort to the hobby. There comes a time when we need to give THANKS to all the Amateur Radio Operators and their Families. Amateur Radio Operators are unique, and Families have to develop unique skills to live with people who talk a foreign sounding language and exchange coded messages with other amateur radio operators across the world. This activity sometimes go on for hours, and into the darkest night, when the long distance communication is best.   This is a short list of Amateur Radio Operators who have helped me, and some of our present amateur radio operators, ...

It is a very bright and beautiful day in St Kitts and Nevis. I wake at sunrise and see that the grass on my lawn still display rain drops from the early morning shower. The sky is blue and cloudless, but the mountain just West of North are covered with thick clouds. The base of this mountain is only two miles up the hillside from my home, which is less than a mile up the hillside from the beach, and overlooks the Basseterre Bay. There is nothing better in the world than living on an island. Just think about it. If you miss this, you miss one of the secrets of living the "American Dream" on the best islands in the Caribbean. Why is St Kitts and Nevis the best, because the word impossible does not dwell in our vocabulary. Time and again we have proven that the size of our landmass and population does not decide where we can go, nor what we can do on our islands. We all know what happens here, just Google "St Kitts and Nevis" and find out. Among ot...

Greetings ham radio operators, all Ham radio is alive and well in V4 land. From my ham radio station V44KF in St Kitts at #35, I wish all ham radio operators, supporters, friends and even haters/enemies, continued prosperity and great health for 2018. This is my first post for this year, so permit me a minute to express my thanks to all who helped to carry my ham radio up to another level in 2017, and to express condolences to the family and friends of those ham radio operators who have passed to the great beyond. Ham radio in St Kitts and Nevis rose to a new level in 2017. Many of us were lucky to be part of the process. Ham radio continue to rise in 2018, but there are a few issue that want to threaten our sanity. Over the years I have seen many issue like this,  so I can tell you that we just have to dig our heels in, maintain our focus and any insanity will find its way out through the door. The picture of the St Kitts Nevis Anguilla Amateur Radio Society [SKNAARS]...

Greetings Ham Radio Ops, all, This is just a coincidence, that this blog is now an annual event, but going forward I will change that. There is a lot to say about ham radio, as we seek to introduce our ham radio operators to the world, and the world to our ham radio operators in V4, St Kitts and Nevis. Since my last blog many things have happened, and you can catch up on all the action, and get up to speed on the amateur radio society's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ST-KITTS-NEVIS-ANGUILLA-AMATEUR-RADIO-SOCIETY-146131718557/ The amateur radio society is moving fast forward, working to put many things in place, as quickly as we can. Working fast is the order of the day, because we have to be as safe as possible soonest. No one wants to be caught pants down between June and December. Hurricanes are not like before. Irma and Maria did not adversely affect St Kitts, Nevis or Antigua in 2017, so we are not taking any chances in the years ahead. It is regrettable tha...

Ham radio is still alive and well at V44KF. Time slips away and before we know it 16 months come between blog posts. Ham radio is one of those hobbies which have very deep valleys and even steeper hills, as I have learned over the past 45 years plus. I do not know if ham radio on a Caribbean island is any different from ham radio in the metro. Hams  operators are the same all over, but conditions are different, given the economics of every country and how people feel they should face their future. In some places the future is determined by the people and in some other countries it is not. Some people believe that each one of us is responsible for ourselves and have the ability to chart our own course, as we wish. I am not getting into that, but as far as my ham radio vision can see is has always been up to us in the past, and so it is in the present, and all things being equal, so to in the future. I think many of us have to retract that pointing finger of blame. Ham ra...

It is time for ham radio again. This year seems to be going so fast that there is no need to complain, but just go with the flow. These are the days when you go to sleep on Monday and seem to wake up on Friday, in time for weekend. No point in trying to explain what did not happen as planned, just reschedule and hope for the best. These are different times and call for a new approach and even a new attitude, if one is to remain sane and prove to be the dynamic person that one is supposed to be. I missed some days and weeks, but I am not judging and holding myself to account for something that I elect to do in and on my own time. We are into another hurricane season. This is something cast in stone. And when dealing with these "stones", one has to be permanently on the ball, and there is no getting away from anything. I have not been close to the local ham radio hub for a few weeks and I am not in a position to determine whether the ham radio product in V4 is in a state of...