Land Rover Radio Vehicle
From 1985 till 1993 I used to drive Land Rovers suites a radio vehicles while serving in the Royal Dutch Marines. Now 20 years later my company has bought one of these vehicles I used to drive (KM-26-95) and we are using it to do safaris for tourists visiting our island. This vehicle is still "ready for radio" so maybe one day we will do a little expedition.

Worked Saint Peter Island CW 20mtr
In 1996 PJ7SV of the geologist university began doing researches in PY0S island (Saint Peter and Saint Paul), and as a good ham, he carried his radios with him. During his of time from his work he makes contacts but so far I only have heard him in CW. (Thanks to the cluster, HI). Today (2005) Jaco finishes his master degree in a research about PY0S island geology. I worked Joca in CW on 20mtr's. Some QSB.

New Daiwa CS-201 switch
Today, while working on the Landover's, Geoff, PJ2DX, walked onto my drive way. He was on the Island to work do maintenance at the contest station PJ2T and drove over to deliver a new coax switch. Thanks Geoff! HAM materials are very hard to get on the island so I am very happy. I can now switch easy between the A3S for 10/15/20 to the 40/80M dipole, instead of climbing over the amplifier to change coax.

T-Day...Termite invasion
Unfortunately last week I had to find out that "The Ultimate Shack" which I build in the summer of 2004 has been invested by Termites, or as we call them "Witte Mieren". The suckers had put their minds on eating away my table just under the FT-990! Also a nest though the area of a power bar with a light was a nice and warm home and started laying eggs. Fortunately I had pest control in later that day and the PJ2GT shack is now ready for QSL.

R0K, Shalaurova Island
Tonight I worked R0K, on CW 20 mtrs... wow he's fast. But OK, it worked. Lot's of stations calling but with that speed... no problem. Funny to listen to. Shalaurova Island is the latest IOTA in Russia... Jest opened as IOTA AS-174. Hope the card gets in soon. Within a year or something, HI.

Hurricane Emily passed without damage
Last night, hurricane Emily past our island 280 km north of us. I did check the dipole and of course the A3S, but decided not to take the radials off. Luckily, since Elaine past without any strong winds or the expected rains. PJ2 is spared another hurricane, again.

Worked S9SS on 10 Meters
Worked S9SS, Charles Lewis on Sao Tome Island. Wow... impressive pictures. The S9SS QTH is on the 346 acre site of the transmitting station where Charles serves as station manager. That makes him somewhat of an "alligator" much of the time. Sharing a QTH with five 100 kW shortwave broadcasting transmitters, a 600 kW transmitter on 1530 Khz, and another on 945 kHz with 20 kW results in very poor receiving conditions much of the time. But it looks cool! After 24 years working in commercial radio broadcast engineering in North Carolina, Charles entered the Foreign Service with the Voice of America in 1989. Over the years he has held the DX call signs A22AA, S92SS, SV0LM, A25/KY4P, and now S9SS.

5.000 PJ2GT QSL cards arrived
April 5th the big box with QSL cards did arrive. This means I have to write out hundreds of card and send them out. Since I have started operation in October 2004, I had no card to send out. Being a PJ2 you mostly generate a pile up, the moment you switch to TX. This means the a lot of HAM's are waiting for a card. But no worries... I will return everyone's request for QSL. (Pffff) It will take me some weeks but it will happen. If you want to check if my QSL to you is on it's way, just send me an email, and I let you know.

Rotator on the roof
Finally I am calling 360 degrees. The Hy-Gain HAM IV came in and I got it under the beam. What a difference... The beam is more directional then I though and it is so nice to work pile ups in al areas of the world now. Even loosing the stations that are on the side of the beam is a pre once in a while, (HI).  The HAM-IV is the most popular rotator in the world! It is designed for medium communications arrays of up to 15 square feet wind load area. New low temperature grease permits normal operation down to -30 degrees F. but here in Curacao with temps op 83 F / 30 C I will not need that. The new alloy ring gear gives extra strength up to 100,000 PSI for maximum readability and the new indicator potentiometer, new ferrite beads reduce RF susceptibility, new cinch plug connector plus 8-pin plug at control box. I hope I will use this setup for many years.

QSL's received
To all HAM's who did send me a QSL already... please be patient. I am busy to get my QSL cards printed. It is kinda difficult to get my cards printed locally on the isalnd so I am busy to get it done through Franklin Printing Company, a HAM in Ohio who is a professional printer.

I am afraid this will take some time, but don't worry. All QSO's are in the log and as soon as I have my cards in I will start sending out immediately.

Beam me up Scotty... Scotty... beam me up
I got the beam up. The Cushcraft A3S Three Element Beam for 10, 15 & 20 Meters is ready to rock and roll. Finally I got an "Adult" antenna for the station. This week I will get the coax connected I hope, so I can start. If everything goes well the Hy-Gain HAM IV, will get in this month so I can start calling 360 degrees.

40 Meters is great
40 Meters is weird but great these days. Worked some nice calls over the last week. VP8KF, Base Marimbio Antarctica, A71EM in Quatar. CU5AM Azores, 7X5JF Algeria, ZL3GS New Zealand, FO5MRE French Polynesia. And that with that little wire!

Opening to Asia Pacific
January 2005 - The last couple of days, there has been some nice openings to Asia and Pacific on 40 meters. With HL5UAF as net control, I worked some in his area, however also YC was really strong.

The A3S beam is in
Thanks Geoff! Geoff, PJ2DX of the Curacao Contest Consortium, the world famous PJ2T, brought my beam in! I will be happy camper very soon. The Cushcraft A3S Three Element Beam - 10, 15 & 20 Meters. The A3 World Ranger, has become the A3S with all stainless steel hardware. It's a real powerhouse in small space and lets you work all the pile-ups with confidence. It can handles full power from my linear. I am also looking into adding on the 40 meters with A743 kit. The rotor will come in next month so in the upcoming weeks I will set up a mast.

New balun for the dipole
In December 2005, the SB-221 worked well. To well. I fried my CLB-30 balun on the dipole. A 'funny fumes' action and of course my own fault. I was forced to build my first home brew balun. With some left over building material I rebuild from an example with very good technical description found on the internet. Let's see if the thick coax I used will enjoy the 2KW's going through. (HI).