V44KF

 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

Welcome to the new month. All Thanks and Praise to GOD for allowing us to see another month. Condolences to the family and friends of the Silent Keys, their contributions to ham radio locally and international will never be forgotten. We will keep building on our amateur radio to the best of our ability. We thank those amateur radio operators who daily work overtime for us, making amateur radio possible especially in the remote parts of the world. There are people still coming against amateur radio, and we must never, ever forget that. Regrettably, everybody in this world is not our friend. Enough said. So, how did ham radio turn out for you in January? Don't beat up yourself if you did not move it along, that  happens to all of us. Take a deep breath, refocus and plan that you will take your amateur radio another step this month. One step at a time. I met an amateur radio operator a couple days ago, and he was excited, because he had ordered an HF transceiver, which he expected to

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

Season's  greetings. I hope you started today right with a word of prayer to GOD, seeking forgiveness, and thanking Him for His love, wisdom, protection, guidance, and more. Always remember to ask GOD'S Blessings and Help for our brothers and sisters, at home and abroad, who are going through difficult times. There is always someone in need, somewhere. As we get ready for the new year, I wish to suggest that many of us who are seeking to move ahead in every area of of our life, give serious thought and consideration, to becoming an Amateur Radio Operator, also called a Ham Radio Operator, especially if you had any previous contact with or interest in the hobby. Even if you are just inquisitive. There is always something NEW that you can learn. Many of us have gone through a lifestyle change in 2020, and 2021 should see us coming out of this somewhat 'unwholesome' atmosphere. Amateur Radio, when you get involved, will take you to another level.  There are many new things

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

 It is necessary in these times to keep reminding ourselves, and those around us that we need to keep our mind thinking forward. Many of us may need  more than a daily dose of motivation, inspiration, and what  ever that 'thing' in the bottle is labeled as, just to get though today and go from week to week. In V4 land some of us are going through a second wave, even though no 'covid' is walking the streets, but since our ports are now opened from Halloween day. I have not been interacting in person with many amateur radio operators, but they are all very active on the ham radio bands, that we are allowed to use. I say allowed to use, because we have not been informed by the NTRC, the local authority for Telecommunications, that the amateur radio frequencies are now free of RF interference, generated by the electric company in Saint Kitts, since before 2018. I was pleased to hear last month, October, that the NTRC now seem to be collecting real data and information that