HAM RADIO AT THE ANDROS BEACH CLUB

Are you planning on visiting the Andros Beach Club?  Are you also a Ham Radio Operator?  Do you want to combine your beach time with a little radio fun as well?

If the answer to these questions is “yes” then read on, because the Andros Beach Club is very Ham Friendly!

Working with another visiting Ham Radio operator, Harry Edwards, W6DXO, the Andros Beach Club now has some very basic components to help make Ham Radio operations very easy. 

When you arrive you will find the following available for your use:

(1)   13.8VDC 25 amp medium duty power supply with standard screw terminals.

(1)   Super Antennas MP-1 portable vertical antenna.

(1)   PAR Electronics End-Fedz wire antenna tuned for aprox 14.220 mhz.

Approx 75' of coax cable with connecters.

When not being used by guests, these antennas are taken down for safety and to minimize wear and tear from our tropical location.  You will need to devote about an hour getting the antennas set up for your operations.

To complete your station you will need to bring a suitable radio such as an IC706 IIG and your reciprocal C6A license.  Reciprocal licensing for the Bahamas is very easy.  Here’s a link with information:   http://www.qsl.net/oh2mcn/c6.htm

The current license fee is $25USD payable by international money order (get it at the local post office).  Allow up to 90 days for processing, though W6DXO received his license in less than a month.

How does this location work for DX?  The Andros Beach Club has an unobstructed easterly exposure and is about 100 yards from the water’s edge.  Working Europe is very easy as is the east coast of the US.  W6DXO reported that he averaged over 100 contacts per hour during band openings with 46 countries worked including countries in Africa during his one-week stay in March 2009.  (He was only active for 4 days.)

South Andros is a rural setting and we occasionally experience temporary power outages and local RF noise.  The power outages are infrequent and completely random.  Local RF line noise may be present for short periods during the early morning and very late evenings.  Otherwise you should expect a very low noise floor.

The Andros Beach Club’s location would be ideal for antennas such as the SteppIR verticals and our numerous palm trees surrounding the house could easily support a G5RV wire antenna.  Feel free to bring along additional antennas to use and experiment with.