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PJ4/K5YG - Bonaire
June 4-11


We stayed at the Plaza Resort located on the west side of Bonaire from June 4th to June 11th. This is a large operation catering to about 500+ guests. The accommodations and meals were outstanding. The hotel staff was very friendly and helpful. We would have been better off not signing up for the meal plan as the portions were large and we limited ourselves to a set time schedule. We could have easily split the meals as one portion was enought for the both of us. 
The DXpedition: A month prior to departure I applied for a PJ4 license. A week prior to departure I received a letter from the Netherlands Antilles Bureau of Telecommunicatie stating that "in accordance with the CEPT Recommendation T/R 61-01 concerning amateur radio licenses, radio amateurs from the United States that will stay for a period of no longer than 3 months in the Netherlands Antilles do not need to apply for a reciprocal amateur radio license". Therefore, I could operate as PJ4/K5YG. I brought the following gear: IC-706 MKII, HAL DXP38 TNC, Astron SS-25M Switching Power Supply, MFJ-971 Portable Antenna Tuner, Rigblaster for PSK31, Notebook Computer, MFJ Low Pass Filter and my 20M Dipole "stealth antenna". Things got off to a bad start when we were told we had a first floor room! We requested and were assured we had a second floor room when we signed up for the package. They told us a second floor room would be available in a few hours, so we did not bother unpacking our stuff. One big problem going to a hotel for the first time is having no idea where to hang an antenna. This was the worst - after looking over the layout it appeared almost impossible. I knew before I left that a wire antenna was the only way to go. We moved to our 2nd floor room but after looking for places to hang the dipole, I thought I had carried the rig all the way for no reason. Susan came up with some ideas and that kept me from giving up. There was a 25ft palm tree about 20ft NW from our balcony. The balcony was set in about 7ft from the outside cement wall of the building, with the railing even with the outside walls. In the dark of the night I threw a piece of 20lb mono filament fishing line, with a 2 oz fishing weight on the end, over the palm tree. I went below and threw the weight back up on to our balcony patio. I pulled one end of the 20M dipole up into the palm tree - that left the center coax feed about 1ft out from the balcony railing. I attached the other end of the dipole with a paper clip to the far corner wall inside the patio, the remaining 2ft of the dipole hanging straight down the wall. I thought -- Is this thing going to work?? The first order of business was to check the VSWR - WOW! less than 1.5:1 from 14.000 to 14200 -- now I thought I had a good dummy load! My first contact was with Glenn, K2FF at 0200z on Tuesday night! Well, surprise, surprise, the antenna actually worked! 
I had 500 CW, 175 RTTY, 25 PSK31 and about 20 SSB contacts. Some contacts to remember were VK6, Cambodia, and of course contacts with MDXA members. I am glad that I did not give up on putting up the dipole. 
SCUBA Diving: The first order of business is a mandatory dive briefing and beach dive (Required by all dive operations on Bonaire). The briefing was excellent and the shore dive was not bad, even for us old folks. I believe the checkout dive is required because the majority of divers dive on their own from the beaches. The one beach dive was enough for us. We stuck with boat diving. We dove with Tusan Divers, located at the Plaza Resort marina. They have 4 dive boats, which were full most of the time. Plan on doing a lot of walking as the dive operation is a good walk from most rooms. They do have a golf cart roaming the property most of the time, so you can hitch a ride. There are storage lockers dockside. We stored all but our wet suits in the locker. The boat diving was good, with an abundance of small fish. The divers got very little help from the dive boat crew. On one trip a divemaster did help Susan back onto the boat. Noticeably missing was a fresh water camera rinse container and mask rinse bucket. The next day, after our request, they brought an Igloo cooler full of fresh water for cameras. If you are looking for wall diving Bonaire is not the place to go. Bonaire is well known for excellent beach diving. The dive sites are clearly marked along the roads, but some require climbing over coral rock. If you are athletic, (being young helps) try the dive site "1000 steps" There are actually 77 steep steps down the side of a sheer cliff. But going back up, with your SCUBA gear, seems like 1000 steps. That is where the site gets its name. We did it the easy way and dove "1000 steps" from the dive boat. We signed up for the 2-dive per day package. We left at 8:30AM and returned by 2PM. Then it was rush to get lunch. In retrospect a one dive per day package would have been much more relaxing. However, We highly recommend the Plaza Resort, as it is one most beautiful places we have stayed at. It is a 5-star hotel. The service was excellent, everyone was friendly, helpful and polite. The topless women sunbathers were an added attraction for Bill (It actually got him away from the radio for a few minutes). 

 

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Date Last Modified: 12/29/00