V44KF

  The great outdoors where an amateur radio operator in our Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis can experiment with any antenna design so long as it does not cause any interference with anyone else. However, there is no protection for the amateur radio operator from RF interference generated by certain business operations  in Saint Kitts, even though the law of the land declares that the interference is illegal, and the authority charged with upholding the law has requested the entity to cease generation of  the interference. This interference has  been going on since about 2017. It is all about talk, talk and more talk, and nothing is being done. Occasionally there seems to be some sort of activity which could give an impression that something good is happening, but then the noise seem to get worse. Personally, I have stopped stressing over this interference situation, but I am leaving this matter in the hands of the Master who I believe will fix this in due time. I...

We should be well pleased that the St Kitts Nevis Anguilla Amateur Radio Society, SKNAARS,  has come out slugging for 2021. I get the impression that the Executive is fired up on ham radio, and plans to leave no stone unturned, as they continue the forward and upward march of bringing the joys of amateur radio to the people of our Federation. We should also be pleased when we recognize that almost all of the Society's officers are very recently licensed ham radio operators. That is indeed record setting. It therefore behooves all of us, who have been ham radio operators for some time, to give SKNAARS our fullest support in every area of amateur radio. I have been an Amateur Radio Operator since 1968, and a founding member of SKNAARS in 1973. So, I am very pleased to see SKNAARS still going strong and expanding membership every year. I recall the days when ham radio was down in the valley and just a few of us kept the hobby going. Ken Mallalieu, Keith Govia, Erick France, Karl Rey, ...

  "The rewards of life come to those who DO, not to those who merely read, talk or day dream. ACTION is The KEY" . This is the Action beginning month. Begin the MARCH, one step at a time, even if you only touch the radio daily, don't stop and accept defeat. At the ham station many things are accelerating. I am not at liberty to share liberally. It is interesting to note that I am also looking into YB land for DX. This is DX when you are in V4, and if you can get into YB, all the DX in this area is fair game. Unfortunately in V4 we are still suffering from RF interference on the DX bands 12 MHz to 2 MHz and here is what is going on.   https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2859016311009957 We are all hopeful that this interference matter is resolved soon. The local amateur radio society which has been talking with the authority about the interference for some time, seem to be using all its power to bring about a resolution, but nothing is happening. It has gone 4 years and th...

  "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 interferenc...

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 nam...

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...