The image at far right is the harbor front at Marigot, the capitol of the French side.
High atop the hill overlooking the harbor is historic Fort St.Louis built in 1767. The red-hulled boat at
the pier is a water taxi used to get to the neighboring island of Anguilla.
The Dutch side of the island is more international in flavor and is home to
several Casinos and the major airport, Juliana International. There are 35 beautiful beaches surrounding this island
and all are public access; private ownership of the beach is not allowed. Dutch is the official language
on the Dutch side of the island but it is very obvious that English is the preferred language. In all the years
going to the island I have rarely heard conversations in Dutch.
The Wyndham Sapphire Beach Club, where we own
time-shares, is located in the Lowlands section on the Dutch side, at Cupecoy Bay. The Sapphire is a deluxe
9 story structure situated northwest of Juliana Airport.
The photo on the left was taken from the top of Pic Paradis 424 meters (1390 feet) above sea level.
Quartier D'Orl�ans is seen left center and Philipsburg is seen upper right. Two cruise ships are at
the pier. Barely visible on the horizon is the island of St. Bartholomew (St. Barth's).
In the photo on the right are the gorgeous cliffs of Cupecoy Bay, a favorite photo spot on the island.
Both antennas break down and fit into a single hard-sided golf bag case. The reflector of the MA5B
was too long for the case, so my friend Roger (K8RS) cut the reflector in half, reinforced the element
pieces where they join with proper sized aluminum, then fashioned a connector out of solid aluminum.
Thanks for a great alteration Roger! Random size blocks of foam rubber are used in the case to stabilize
the aluminum to prevent shipping damage. The two antennas and the golf case weigh in at 53 lbs. With the new
airline limit of 50 pounds for a checked-in bag, the fastener container and a couple of the heavier pieces
had to be transferred to our other bags. The new weight requirements really present a challenge to mounting
a vacation ham radio experience but can be done with careful planning.
A consideration for temporary antennas, unlike permanently mounted antennas, is that they will go
through many cycles of assembly/disassembly. After tuning the antenna to my satisfaction, I used a scratch
awl to mark the aluminum for consistent reassembly. I also labeled the parts as L1/R1 (left element one,
right element one), L2/R2 etc., for the antennas to speed up identification. A very important consideration
for stainless steel hardware is anti-seize prevention. Petroleum jelly applied to the threads works well for
this and isn't as messy as anti-seize compound, although anti-seize compound is a better choice for home installations.
Carrying extra heavy-duty zip lock bags for small parts is also a good idea as the shipping process takes its toll.
My vacation shack from left to right
QSOs | MULTS | |||||||
BAND | 2006 | 2005 | 2003 | 2002 | 2006 | 2005 | 2003 | 2002 |
160 | 271 | 172 | 110 | 237 | 48 | 43 | 32 | 41 |
80 | 516 | 433 | 405 | 325 | 54 | 51 | 53 | 50 |
40 | 538 | 622 | 593 | 378 | 51 | 56 | 54 | 48 |
20 | 486 | 625 | 605 | 239 | 51 | 54 | 50 | 48 |
15 | 699 | 538 | 733 | 531 | 55 | 53 | 54 | 53 |
10 | - | 646 | 427 | 550 | - | 52 | 53 | 56 |
TOTALS | 2510 | 3036 | 2873 | 2260 | 259 | 309 | 296 | 296 |
SCORES | 1,950,270 | 2,814,372 | 2,551,224 | 2,006,880 | 123 | 123 | 123 | 123 |