V44KF

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

  "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

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

Greetings ALL,  [a] Happy New Year.  We are all pleased that 2020 is now behind us. [b] Please excuse my treating this blog as a business document. I am of the view that we need to treat all that we do very seriously until the world is rid of this "pandemic". Ham radio is still our hobby, we still love doing what we do in our spare time, but I am just taking my ham radio more seriously than before. Everything around us are not like before. In our Caribbean there is an active volcano just miles down the street in Saint Vincent, J8 land. Things are not like before, and we need to be aware, and ready for any eventuality, anytime. We must know what we can do, what is expected of us, and how to do it effectively. I am getting the impression that we are just watching the movements. If that is true then that is bullshit, and every Caribbean ham radio organization should be on alert, even though nothing blows yet. Of course, this is my personal view,  and everyone is free to disagree