Categories
Equipment Governance Membership Overview

A Day in the Life

It’s 10 minutes past 9 in the morning.  I hope to go to my radio station (8 miles from home) and get on to work my friend Rus, K2UA, as he puts his first ever summit on the air.  But before I do that, I wanted to share a slice of my life if it will help anyone relate to me better.

We are all busy.  I get that.  I am not writing this to show you how much busier I am than you are.  But I do know that some will find it helpful to know exactly what chainsaws I juggle.

I woke up to emails from Tim, K3LR, about some mutual tower/antenna stuff we have going on at a personal level.  Completely different from anything PJ2T has going on with DX Engineering, where as you know, Tim is a major player.

Continue reading “A Day in the Life”
Categories
Overview

This New CCC Newsletter

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.

Categories
Overview

Mountaintops at Sea Level

The luckiest guy in the world just got luckier. I got elected president of the greatest club around. Truly it’s a great time to be president of the Caribbean Contesting Consortium! All that we’ve got going is unprecedented in just about every way imaginable. If you’re as passionate about our game as I am –and I know you guys and I know you are– then you know that what Geoff Howard, W0CG and all our founders have built on Curacao is something to crow about!

Unprecedented? Well yeah! We have more members than ever, yet we all still get along. That’s worthy of note, I think. We finally won the world in CQWW CW after years of chasing it. We have more cash in the Till than ever, and at the same time it’s dedicated to greater plans than ever.

We are on a roll at Signal Point – that is all there is to it. If you’re not on the train, then GET ON IT, quick!

So this is why I say it’s a great time to be a part of it all, for each and every member and friend of this group. If you’re reading this, well, you are on the fast track to some of the most fantastic radiosporting anyone can find anywhere. Welcome to our newsletter. Click around. Make yourself comfortable. And for sure, if there is anything I can do to make your stay more comfortable, feel free to ask. I love Signal Point and I am absolutely convinced there is room for anyone who shares the enthusiasm.

Mark Beckwith, N5OT

Categories
Membership

Membership is on the Rise

This Spring we have been fortunate to reach our highest ever CCC membership count. Assuming that everyone renews in the coming weeks, we will have a record 25 members. This is a compliment to the club that so many contesters believe that PJ2T is a good thing and are willing to tangibly support the group through membership. It also provides an ever-growing pool of top ops to staff our contest operations without the need to seek help from outside the club. We welcome and thank Egon Behle, KF4DX/DK8FZ as our most recent new member of the PJ2T family. As much an advantage as it is to grow, we need to be a bit careful not to over-grow to a point where there is contention for seats at radios at Signal Point. So far that has not happened, and a larger club relieves some of the relentless financial stress we have experienced in recent years.

 

Categories
Finance

Word from the Treasury

There is time. There is talent. Then there is money. Each one requires the other two in order for goals and dreams to get accomplished. Thanks to the diligent, nose-to-the-grindstone dedication of largely unspoken guys who get this better than most, the Caribbean Contest Consortium’s treasury is in better shape than ever.

With bigger goals and greater requirements than ever before, although we still have to go the whole distance, we can report we are on track to meet the goals, thanks to the support of our dedicated and passionate membership.

Our immediate past-president Jim Galm, W8WTS, took up the non-glamorous reins of shepherding the club’s digits and decimals so all members can see the state of club finances from 30,000 feet. In the interest of transparency and disclosure worthy of any well-running non-profit organization, here are Jim’s reports detailing the state of our club’s finances.

EU Tower Fund

Balance Sheet

Profit and Loss

Categories
Finance Fundraising

Major Gift Received

Pete Gladysz, K8PGJ, recently joined the CCC after enjoying successful contest operations at Signal Point, and stunned the club by making a $5000 donation to the Europe tower project.  This foundational support at our time of great need is in addition to other donations of equipment and cash since Pete began coming to PJ2T. Pete’s gift appears to be what brought us to critical mass, putting is over the threshold and prompting the decision at our annual Dayton meeting to go ahead with the tower project. We’re also grateful to Marty, K2PLF and Bill, W9VA for their large donations to the tower fund, as well as several other members who have made four-figure donations each. It’s VERY important that everyone realize that while donations of any amount add up, we all remember other members may not be able to donate this kind of cash. PJ2T is a team, and everyone supports what we do in their own way.  Thanks Pete!

Categories
Equipment Finance Towers and Antennas

Europe Tower Project

It’s on! The quorum present at the Dayton meeting voted to authorize W0CG to proceed with this project. We don’t have all the needed funds yet, but thanks to several very generous donations we are about two thirds there, so it was decided to proceed, counting on the balance of the needed funds to come along when the time comes. The plan is to arrange for the tower and lots of associated hardware and equipment to arrive at the QTH in mid-October. We’ll immediately begin painting and assembling the sections. First will be a coat of epoxy primer, which is light tan. Over that there will be a coat of epoxy white finish paint. Using white will make it extremely easy to assure that we don’t miss even the smallest spot. The third coat will be epoxy machine grey, also very easy to manage on top of a white coat. We’ll assemble the tower with all stainless steel hardware (not the galvanized stuff provided by Rohn). It will be laid in the back yard on wood blocks in place for the crane to pick it up and into position on the tower base in early 2019 once all the other needed prep is complete.

We’re hoping to be able to take advantage of DX Engineering’s very competitive domestic freight rates and piggy-back shipment of many of our own packed boxes (such as the newest AL-1200 and lots of tower parts) onto the shipment of the 10 tower sections to Miami. DX Engineering specializes in domestic freight prep and shipping, and I’m friends with most of the guys who work there. More on that as it develops. Once we get the stuff to Miami, the ocean freight portion is easy and less costly than the domestic freight. We have considerable experience doing this.

Concurrent with the tower prep we’ll assemble our new 40 meter yagi and reinforce it on the island for the Curacao harsh conditions. We have bought that XM-240 and it’s presently in the shipment staging pile at W0CG in Ohio. We’ll also do considerable prep work on the guy wires. See the comprehensive plan for the tower replacement for full details.

We learned from experience, and this tower will be done in a way that eliminates as many of the salt and corrosion vulnerabilities of our location as possible. There will, for example, be NO ELECTRICAL TAPE on the legs, as that is the number one source of corrosion. Many other lessons we have learned will be applied in the new installation.

Much of this Phase I work will be done by the CQWW SSB and CW crews. We’re hoping some ops will be able to come a bit early and stay over to help. We’ll also have professional climbers involved. Again, all the detail is in the plan that you already have in hand.

Our hope is that everything will be ready to raise the new tower in early 2019.

The Rough Numbers

We presently have about $15K in the tower fund and about $5K (after membership renewals) in the general PJ2T operating fund. That tower money will be spent VERY quickly in the coming weeks, but we’re at least not in the financial crisis mode that has characterized so much of our PJ2T operations in the past.

Categories
Equipment

Attention to Detail Pays Off

A year has passed since I agreed to take the job of “station equipment lead” in the CCC. What this job entails is the maintenance and development of the club’s radio equipment. This responsibility does not include the outside assets (antennas and towers) nor the computers. Geoff is still the lead for outside maintenance and Gene runs the IT department. The division of labor was designed to allow Geoff some breathing room so he can eventually return to something resembling a normal life.

Over the past year I helped to dispose of some surplus equipment that the club had accumulated, initiated the purchase of new equipment (including our third Elecraft K3) and acquired parts to maintain our workhorse Ameritron AL-1200 amplifiers. However, many other club members had a hand in all of these endeavors. Without each of us volunteering our time and expertise we will not be able to maintain this station in the long term.

I am the “lead” for station equipment maintenance. That does not mean that I will be able to do it all myself. I can afford to go to the station once a year. For the present that trip is scheduled during the CQ WW CW contest. During that trip immediate priority is given to those repairs that are critical to the success of the contest effort. After those items are taken care of I can attempt to work through the list of other repairs that have accumulated. Last year I ran out of time before many of those additional items were done. Fortunately Geoff and Gene took care of amplifier maintenance in March. As a result, we are now in very good shape with respect to amplifiers. We have six amps operating at full power and one easily repaired AL-1200 at the station. Another refurbished AL-1200 is awaiting shipment.

Club members or other users should communicate precise information about equipment failures as quickly as possible to either Gene or me, depending on whether it is computer or radio-related respectively. The exception to radio-related failures is Gene will deal with all remote-control issues. Ideally we should be informed while the reporting party is at the station, so we can begin trouble-shooting the problem with them. Team work is the key to success here.

My final comment is about our inventory system and its maintenance. We have a large amount of spare parts and equipment in storage at the station. The small items are stored in labelled bins. If you take something from one of the bins please return it to the same bin when you are through using it. Team leaders will be supplied with a copy of the detailed inventory spread sheet to help them locate needed items. If you repair a piece of equipment on the island and use a spare part then let me know the identity, quantity and original location of the item so that the inventory can be updated. This information will also tell us if we need to order more of that spare part.

I am looking forward to another successful contest season from PJ2T and will be happy to assist any member who needs help with our club equipment.

 

Gary Hembree, N7IR

Categories
Equipment Overview Remote Operation Towers and Antennas

Nobody Was More Surprised

Nobody was more surprised then I was, when word reached me here in Montana that I’d been elected Vice President of the club. I’ll keep doing my best to help us be ready, willing, and able to be competitive in contests going forward, and have maximum fun along the way. Here’s a brief update what I’ve been doing recently to extend the benefit of your club membership.

I was able to spend several weeks at Signal Point last winter helping Geoff repair and evaluate all our amps, spare transmitting tubes, and get our 16 computers contest ready. I also performed some upgrades to our three K3 transceivers to improve SSB contesting.

In addition, I learned all about the care and feeding of the house systems, and after Geoff left for Idaho Joyce and I hosted two young hams (DK6SP, and M0SDV) for a short visit, and the WPX SSB contest group from Georgia lead by K1ZN.

While on site I was happy to serve as the control op for our remote station. Before I departed, I even managed to squeeze in a test of the Elecraft KPA500 solid state amp that K8ND has loaned the remote operation to give us some QRO watts. More on that going forward as we work the kinks out – but I can tell you operating the remote station is a hoot and a half. Let me know if you want to give it a try, I have comprehensive documentation available.

On the purely fun side of things I was able to put PJ2T on 2M moonbounce this past February and make 242 contacts. I was shocked at how well the single 12 element Yagi and 900 watt amp I brought down worked. It’s good to be the DX!

We all know that many times it’s the small things that can add up to Signal Point operating improvements, so I’ve been working that. I found three replacement porcelain base knife switches on eBay for our 80/75 meter EU wire beam that we use to changing the tuning from CW to SSB and back. The salt air has pretty much destroyed the units currently in place. I just donated a Pelican 1550 case to be used as on site K3 transceiver storage. I also finally got around to making up the 80 meter stub to complement the 40 and 20 meter units I made previously.

In closing I would like to thank all of you who have generously donated to the European tower replacement project. This is a major, and necessary undertaking for the club this year. I can’t stress enough your support is critical right now as we muster the myriad of items and get them on a ship headed to Curacao. Don’t hang back, everyone of us needs to step up where we can. Thank you.

Gene Shea, KB7Q