V44KF

  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

  Greetings. Happy New Year. Congratulations and Welcome. Let us take a moment to observe the "silent keys", our ham radio brothers and sisters who left us in 2022. Just a few days ago we lost V44KO, Lawson, a senior ham radio operator. We will all miss him for the invaluable contributions he made to ham radio and the Saint Kitts Nevis Amateur Radio Society in V4. He will always be remembered by the ham radio brothers and sisters. I am certain that much will be written about his ham radio life and style in the days to come.  A new wave of ham radio begins now. Many ham radio operators will make the usual resolutions to do more about their ham radio this year, but truth be told for many of us only the spirit is willing. I have been there so I know. Take action on your ham radio, do something because talk is cheap. Make an investment in your ham radio if you can. Show yourself that you are serious. Only practical ham radio will get us anywhere, resolutions and talk do not. For

It is the middle of October, Christmas and Carnival are shaping up nicely. People are pleased to have the return of the customary Christmas and Carnival activities and festivities which the last government had stopped. Of course that only stopped people from going onto the street, but everyone had their own personal Christmas and Carnival. Long story short, things have changed, and we are back to normal. It is expected that we will act responsibly in everything that we do, and institute and maintain our own protocols, because we are a serious people. I am still awaiting the official announcement from the regulating authority of amateur radio, with respect to the interference generated by the electricity company, which blocks and jams transmissions in some of the HF amateur radio bands. I see that the Minister of Telecommunications, and of Electricity was quite busy overseas attending conferences. He has returned but still conducting his familiarization exercises within his various mini

 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

  Looking North West from the gallery of V44KF Amateur Radio Greetings from the QTH of V44KF. In the picture above is the 34-foot tall vertical used for the experimental 20-meter EFHW [end fed half wave] antenna. While testing the antenna my ongoing research indicated that the EFHW was not as good, by a long shot, as the half wave vertical that I used over the past few years. Not saying that the EFHW is no good, but compared to what I have it it just not as good, and in most cases by 2 or more 's' units. The EFHW seems to be a great antenna if you can't get up anything better to work DX. I am into working DX, that radio station on the other side of the world, not rag chewing with the hams down the block. As a DX station in V4 land this is what it is all about. All amateur radio transceivers are great in their own right, but the station antenna is what makes the ham radio station tick. Antennas seem to be the biggest problem for radio stations, because there seems to be the

 A few months ago I decided to reduce making comments on the lawless approach of the Government in relation to our amateur radio problem of RF interference caused by a business entity owned by the Government. I believe that twelve [12] comments a year is enough to remind ourselves that we are fighting injustice and lawlesness in our amateur radio hobby.  Some people would feel that a weekly reminder might be more helpful. Nevertheles, the plight of amateur radio operators in our country have attracted the attention of amateur radio operators around the world. Our country Saint Kitts and Nevis [V4], is still a much needed country contact for many amateur radio operators around the world. The amateur radio operators resident in our country [V4] are not active enough at any time, and amateur radio operators from various foreign countries visit Saint Kitts an Nevis in order to provide the much needed contact that is needed. There are some amateur radio operators who visit Saint Kitts and N

 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

We are moving again. The first weekend out of lockdown. I have not seen my ham radio buddies, brothers or sisters for a while, but I suspect that all is well with them. Some ham radio operators do not experience any difficulty with lockdown as they use the VHF radios to talk to each other, and release any stress built up. I am not active on 2 meters at present, but I can hear the repeater actively keying, and even involved with dx contacts at times. As long as most ham radio operators can communicate, they are happy. It becomes a problem when anyone restricts or stops ham radio operators from talking on their radios. However, the exception to this is the present situation in V4, where the Government sides with the Electricity Company to break the law, allowing them to use equipment that generates illegal Radio Frequency interference in the HF radio spectrum. Some of these frequencies are legally allocated to the Amateur Radio Service, and because these frequencies are noisy and jammed

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

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