V44KF

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]  HQ/EOC

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

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

Greetings ham radio operators, all is well in V4 land, and getting better. Ham radio is alive and growing. Earlier this year ham operators agreed to establish a brand new executive in the ham radio society. The new management is guided by the revised constitution which took some years to complete and implement. Under the new constitution the society should grow into the entity that is required in these new economic and technological times. I believe that as long as the membership set their sights on the goals they seek to achieve nothing will stand in their path. In these days creativity and innovation are key ingredients when you live in these Islands of very limited resources, but nothing is impossible for the people in our St Kitts and Nevis. Ham radio on personal and individual levels in V4 continue to grow up slowly. Motivation is provided by the older ham radio operators who have their own ham radio stations. In the past the driver to ham radio was the club radio station and

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 radio

It is coming up on that time of year when we can have our ham radio emergency operations tested by some of the elements. We always expect to past this test with flying colours. I am not privy to the postmortem results but the conclusions that we are told to draw afterwards always seem to indicate that we were at the head of the class, again. That is commendable since we know that our works and documentation is what was used to form the backbone of the regional system, pertinent to disaster and emergency, bringing some light into the darkness of the communications that existed back then. Over the years nothing has really changed, except the people, and nothing needs be said, because what we may now have is a result from the progression of people and place, and it is not anything short of what was to be expected. I see this from my elder ham perspective. Many new hams may tend to disagree, because they do not believe in what I believe in, and they refuse to see the reality of the times l