Thinking of a winter vacation that includes a little DXing? This ham's been there, done that. W6JHB shares some tips on planning for a successful vacation and QRP operation.

Taking a QRP rig on vacation to a DX country doesn't have to involve thousands of dollars of additional equipment, exhaustive logistics planning, and extra-baggage charges. A quick peek at a map of the Caribbean islands reveals quite a few DX countries just ripe for a relatively inexpensive DXpedition. Not only will you be heading off to lands of fantastic beauty, friendly people, and usually excellent weather, but also you won't be spending half a vacation on an airplane.

Before we go much further let me tell you that my wife Anilea is also a ham--KF6ZNT. Believe me, it's much easier to do a trip of this sort if one's spouse is a ham. If your spouse isn't licensed or has no interest in ham radio you may have an additional hurdle to overcome when you bring up the subject of taking a radio with you.

Jim Bennett, W6JHB, and his wife Anilea, KF6ZNT, pose for a self-portrait at Oyster Bay Resort, St Maarten.

We own timeshares in several states, including one in Maui, Hawaii. Last year we spent a week there and I did take my Elecraft K2. My antenna left a lot to be desired, and I was able to work only a few stations. This year Anilea suggested we go somewhere different--perhaps the Caribbean. Instantly I had thoughts of operating from any number of exotic little islands. We gave the timeshare-trade folks a list of places that interested us and were promptly given an exchange into Oyster Bay Resort, St. Maarten. It's one of a small handful of multi-national islands. The northern half is administered by France and the southern half by the Netherlands. Oyster Bay Resort (now owned by Radisson Hotels) is situated on the eastern end of the Dutch side--right on the Atlantic Ocean.

My first step was to inquire about licensing. A quick tour of ARRLWeb revealed that because the Netherlands--a CEPT country--administers St. Maarten, nothing special was required. The FCC memorandum and a few photocopies of our licenses would suffice. I suggest that you look at ARRLWeb first.

After we confirmed our plane and rental car reservations, the next item to consider was radio equipment. I had the K2 and a lightweight three-ampere Radio Shack power supply. Now I needed an antenna that was lightweight, covered 40-10 meters, and was as inconspicuous as possible. It didn't take long for me to decide on a half-sized G5RV. Commercial models are available, but most are built with the kW operator in mind. I had no need for an antenna made from #14 wire since I'd be putting out no more than 5-8 W. So I built my own, using #20 insulated wire, some ladder-line and 100 feet of RG-8X. Wanting to avoid the antenna problems I encountered in Hawaii, I tested the G5RV in my back yard and carefully pruned and adjusted it using an MFJ 259-B Antenna Analyzer. The antenna was resonant at 14.100 MHz--right on the mark.

The glass table on his balcony is an ideal operating position for PJ7/W6JHB.

I had recently purchased a digital camera and wanted it in my carry-on luggage. The K2, power supply, cables, headphones, home-brew keyer paddle, a few pens, compact logbook, and a few sheets of paper would go into a travel case. I packed the antenna and coax into my suitcase, along with the snorkeling gear and what limited clothing I thought I'd be wearing on the beaches.

We arrived at the resort in the afternoon of Sept 15, after taking a red-eye flight from San Francisco on Friday night. There wasn't much time for hamming that day. We were tired from the flight and wanted to take a cool, refreshing dip in the pool. Saturday found us exploring the area, the resort and the beaches, and discovering the plentiful rum punch drinks at poolside. Our unit was directly on the ocean, on the second floor of a three-story building. There were no trees anywhere. In fact, the building itself looked as if it had been deliberately made antenna-proof. I managed to hook up the G5RV in a very crude fashion. I attached one end under the ceiling of our outside patio and the other end, in a sloping direction, to the building next to us. Only six feet of ladder-line hung vertically from the center of the antenna. The remainder lay on the patio floor. Of the 100 feet of coax connected to the ladder line, 95 feet was in a large coil next to the operating table.

Given the sad state of my antenna installation, I was a little dejected and expected that I'd be having a repeat of my Maui experience. However, the radio gods were smiling on us this time. When I powered up the K2 that evening I heard signals. More good news: the K2's internal antenna tuner was able to get a 1:3 or better SWR match on all bands from 40-10 meters. Well, how about transmit? Would I be able to work anyone? Great news. On my first try I was able to get through to W3FM on 30 meters--no sweat. In fact, during the next six days I was able to work 42 stations in 21 countries and six US states. Furthermore, I made at least one QSO on each band from 40 to 10 meters. Unfortunately, the events of Sept 11 weighed heavily on us as with all Americans. We spent a lot of time that week watching TV. We didn't have nearly as much time for vacationing and ham radio as we had planned. Still, considering the circumstances, we managed to have a very good vacation.

The difficulty in making US contacts was probably due to several 1500-ft mountains directly west of us. Europe was a direct shot across the salt water. QRP-CW QSOs with Europe were quite easy. We're looking forward to another trip like this--soon. If you're planning a vacation, take a small HF rig with you. You too can make QSOs with a QRP rig, a wire antenna and an exotic call sign prefix.

Oyster Bay Resort, W6JHB's vacation QTH, is the building in the center of the picture.

Here are some suggestions that will make your ham vacation better: Be prepared--unless you've been to the place before, you have no idea what antenna-stringing challenges await you. Take lots of thin, strong support line (I brought a 200-ft spool of nylon-poly line). Bring a knife, needle-nose pliers, and some screwdrivers. Don't expect propagation to be just like it is at home--you may be in another time zone and may be lots closer or further from the equator. Expect QRN--you'll be sure to encounter vehicles near your station that haven't seen a tune-up for a long time--the static they can generate is amazing. Expect QRM where you wouldn't normally expect it (I tried copying WWV on 10 MHz, only to find some sort of local SSB communications completely obliterating it). Don't forget that the trip is a vacation--spend time with your family. Enjoy yourself and relax--there's no need to spend every minute with headphones glued to your ears.

ARRL Life Member Jim Bennett, W6JHB, lives in Martinez, California. He holds an Extra Class license. Bennett supervises a staff of nine Computer Network Technicians at East Bay Municipal Utility District in Oakland, California. You can reach Bennett at W6JHB@arrl.net.

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