Archive - November 2025

All antennas here at J38W are up. This includes a Hexbeam which sits around 7m high, an elevated radial vertical for 40m, and a combined 80/160m vertical/Inverted L.  I have also put a BOG out for RX on the low bands. Up to now, I have tested all antennas and bands haead of the contest making 3200 QSO’s so far.

There has not been much on air time for me today. I have taken the day ahead of the contest to be a “normal” tourist where I drove to Grande Anse to spend some time at one of the beautiful resorts for soem much  needed Rest and relaxation. I then drove 15 minutes North to the Capital, St George’s where I enjoyed lunch as a small local cafe and took in soem of the scenary.

Friday will be a day of mostly resting, with some short and sporadic operating throughout. CVQWW CW started at 20:00 local time here In Grenada, so that first night shift is a long one and I need to be well rested and prepared to operate.

73 Jamie J38W

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Since my arrival on Sunday I have been non stop. First, having left the airport was a 2 hour drive to my accommodation in Sauteurs in the dark. The journey should only take 1 hour and 30 minutes but it was worth the extra time to drive slower and arrive safely. When I arrived at the QTH, I immediately unpacked the shack, moved the furniture so my table faces the window (for the ocean view), and then got the shack wired up and ready to go.

The following morning, I woke up at 5am to be sure I could be outside as soon as the sun came up, and when it did, I had the hex beam up and ready to go within around 2 hours. I made some test QSO’s and went to a nearby hotel and restaurant for some breakfast. After breakfast, I made the drive down to St George’s to do some grocery shopping to get the supplies for a week. Once I got back to my QTH, I put the 40m vertical, and put out a beverage on ground system from HamParts.shop. 

This morning, I started work on the 160/80m vertical antenna. This was not without challenges, but with the help of the gardener who did some pruning of nearby tree’s, the pole is now vertical. I still have more work to do with this such as radials and tuning which I will work on this afternoon.

Band conditions are good. I have had reports that I am loud pretty much everywhere which is a good result. The QTH is around 200m from the ocean, so not close enough to have any real effect, but the ground slopes down for the entire 200m until you get to the sea. This means I have a clear take off across the ocean towards Europe and North America. I’m also pleased to have worked some far east, JA’s and VK’s.

More updates to come.

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