Here for all to see is a re-creation of the highlights of the tower-related mass-emails flying crazily all around. Geoff W0CG has spearheaded this project with seemingly boundless energy. Seemingly tirelessly. But let’s the rest of us do a reality check, and confess we know full well Geoff’s energy is not unbounded and that we know full well how tired he must be. Heck, a lot of us are getting tired just watching Geoff work.
The outside lights had been down for months. Geoff, W0CG reports that it took about 3.5 hours late yesterday afternoon, but he succeeded in getting them finally working again. This is the inside of the J-box on the wall for that system:
Geoff, W0CG passed along that he got stopped at the Curacao airport last week and had to pay duty on the stuff in his bag. “I had a ton of replacement parts for linear amps, and a lot of tools and hardware. I gave the guy my understated invoices, kept smiling and chatting, and he charged me the outrageous duty of 13 bucks. The Red Line was closed, so there were no hard feelings when they searched my bag.”
If you get stopped, just cooperate and smile and explain that anything you are bringing in goes right back out a week later. If they insist, just pay the duty.
Thanks to Gary, K9SG, who is a past member of the CCC, we now have a newer, better antenna to use as a fixed tribander at PJ2T. If you’ve operated at PJ2T you know we have Really Big Arrays to use in the very high-traffic directions – pointed at the United States and Europe. (In fact you’re probably aware by now that we are completely upgrading the Europe Array). In order to cover other important directions, we use a selection of other fixed and rotary antennas which require care and feeding too. Gary, who was active at PJ2T from 2003 to 2011, has given the club a Bencher Skyhawk.
You may wonder why the h3@! we have not fixed or replaced several nagging problems at the QTH, including hard to slide doors, shaky sliding screens, or any of a handful of other aggravations. The fact is that it is nearly impossible to get the needed parts, and also pretty nigh impossible to find local contractors who can or will do this work. We have done 98% of our maintenance on our own for all these years, and most things at the house are in good shape. But some of the work, such as getting new sliders, is almost impossible. Many such things are extremely difficult on the island. Thanks for being tolerant of the stuff that does not work right. We know about it and are trying very hard.
K8ND writes:
One of the benefits of membership is a free set of badges. The last order was sent a year ago. As a newer member, if you have not received your badge set yet, or if you have lost one or more of the PJ2T badges, please let me know via email, and I will assemble a new order. The first set is free. Replacements are at your expense, including shipping.
Each year we draw from a hat at the Dayton meeting to see who wins a $200 trip subsidy to Curacao for the coming season. This year Keith Wishmeier, WA9S, was the lucky winner, and that discount will be applied to his trip in February 2019 for ARRL DX CW. This is funded half from the PJ2T general treasury and half as a donation from the W0CG real estate fund.
This year we are trying something different – turning our newsletter into something more like a web site. It’s a grand experiment. We don’t have the time or resources to roll it out and beta test it and all that. We figured we’d better just get it out there and see what happens! So there will be bumps and flaws, starts and stops. Thanks for bearing with us. Anything you want to comment on, well, we can do that! Make an account for yourself, and make your comments. Let us know what we can fix or improve!
Thanks in advance.