I packed up the rig, some wire, and an antenna turner and headed off to this beautiful island nation.
You can see from the photo that I set the antenna turner out the window. I had a big problem with RF in the shack. I really didn’t have a good ground nor resonant antenna.
Packing for the trip, I just grabbed the MFJ Tuner out of a box in my garage without testing. On the island it would not work. After opening it, I saw that it had been modified. Almost simultaneously my memory came back that I had burned this tuner out on 160m during my trip to North Caicos (VP5) 10 years ago! With a few more heavy modifications (I didn’t bring a soldering iron) I was able to make it somewhat useful.
Also, forgetting to bring any ferrites, I could not arrest a lot of the RF from affecting my electronic devices. I could make this story shorter by simply saying that I did not have the best set-up on this trip. However, considering all the things that could go wrong, I did alright.
Packing for the trip, I just grabbed the MFJ Tuner out of a box in my garage without testing. On the island it would not work. After opening it, I saw that it had been modified. Almost simultaneously my memory came back that I had burned this tuner out on 160m during my trip to North Caicos (VP5) 10 years ago! With a few more heavy modifications (I didn’t bring a soldering iron) I was able to make it somewhat useful.
Also, forgetting to bring any ferrites, I could not arrest a lot of the RF from affecting my electronic devices. I could make this story shorter by simply saying that I did not have the best set-up on this trip. However, considering all the things that could go wrong, I did alright.
Flying to St. Barts
St. Barts from the Air.
Getting closer.
Coming into the landing
Looking down the runway.
The tarmac side of the airport.
Dave, WJ2O at the airport.
The Villa
Villa back porch
Touring Around The Island
WJ2O with His hot rod
Pausing for a moment on the south side of the island
I took my little outboard for a spin.
Cool car parked in the downtown shopping district.
Ham Radio
General antenna and shack setting
Going Home
The cockpit. load back in the plane ready for take-off.
End of runway. You´re either airborne or fishing
With the understanding of how the CEPT Licensing Agreement works, I assigned myself the callsign FG/WJ2O.
I made just shy of 5000 Q’s during the 8 day visit. I was located on the side of a hill that favored Europe. I am very sorry that JA was almost impossible.
During the contest it was not that unusual that a quick recess found me here in the pool cooling off before going back to the rig and upping my Q rate.
During the contest it was not that unusual that a quick recess found me here in the pool cooling off before going back to the rig and upping my Q rate.
St. Barts is a beautiful island with lush vegetation and astonishing beaches.
Every time I get in a pool my feet shrink and my stomach bloats.
To get to St. Bart’s you need to go through Phillipsburg, St. Maarten. This country has been remembered from a vacation 20 years ago as my least favorite Caribbean nation. They didn’t let me down on this trip either. The Dutch side of St. Maarten, in my opinion, is one pain-in-the-butt place to visit. Even when you’re just passing through.
My apologies and sympathies to the fine French citizens who are unfortunate to have to share this island on the northern half.
It’s a sad day when we have to board this plane from St. Barth’s and return to the U.S. They did a good job cramming 8 of us into this 8 seater for the 10 minute flight back to St. Maarten. I was disappointed when I learned that no cocktails would be served on this flight.
My apologies and sympathies to the fine French citizens who are unfortunate to have to share this island on the northern half.
It’s a sad day when we have to board this plane from St. Barth’s and return to the U.S. They did a good job cramming 8 of us into this 8 seater for the 10 minute flight back to St. Maarten. I was disappointed when I learned that no cocktails would be served on this flight.