Art Blank VP2EAB
It all began with a simple email later followed by a phone call in March of this year. Experienced American amateur radio operator Arthur Blank (WA7NB) indicated that he was contemplating making a return visit to Anguilla; this time for a much longer period having made a fleeting stop with his wife Heidi a few years ago during a stopover on St Maarten. Full disclosure- Art and I have been friends for 23 years; having first met on my home island of Montserrat during one of his many trips to the Caribbean’s ‘Emerald Isle’ for his ‘ham’ radio Dxpeditions. So this 2018 CQ Worldwide CW (Morse Code) contest on November 24-25 was indeed old buddies ‘catching up’ and reliving some of the fond memories and also celebrating Art’s 60th birthday with some of his best friends on November 22 – Thanksgiving Day in the United States.
New era for Anguilla’s Amateur Radio Tourism
Planning for the nine-day visit to Anguillawas being conducted from two locations Arizona, on the west coast of the US and also from South Hill in Anguilla. Frenetic emails and skype chats were not only frequent but very detailed between Art WA7NB and myself VP2EKG. While Art – who is now the proud recipient of the Anguilla callsign VP2EAB – browsed through the villa rental listings on Anguilla, I was kept busy sorting out local amateur radio licenses for the team. Thanks for Damien Harrigan, the government of Anguilla (GOA) Telecommunications Officer this proved easy and seamless. Copies of foreign licenses submitted with passport information, application completed, all the information is processed electronically, fees paid to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) and bingo! Your license is ready. It’s like cool afternoon stroll in Webster’s Park.
Key to the success of this DXpedition was the critical behind the scenes roles played by Dr Aidan Harrigan, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Travis Carty, Comptroller of the Customs Department. Both Dr. Harrigan and Mr. Carty quickly latched onto the idea of promoting Anguilla as an important destination for amateur radio operators from around the world and used their respective offices to underscore and concretize the fact that the local government was firmly on board. Art and his group express their profound gratitude to the government and people of Anguilla.
The US hams after some searching on the internet eventually settled on the breathtakingly beautiful and marvelously picturesque White Cedar villa in the Long Pond area with its captivating views of French St Martin and St. Barths. Amateur radio operators around the world are a special breed. Very picky and meticulous – they always look for and chose locations that are advantageous for their operations – such as land space carefully suited for antenna installation and maintenance. White Cedar villa turned out to be the perfect spot. It is situated a short distance from the Atlantic Ocean, with obstruction free compass markings for yagi (beam) antenna directivity to North America, Europe, Japan and South America – key facets for good Dxing or long distance amateur radio communication. Additionally, White Cedar villa which the group highly recommends for any visiting hams – also offers all the amenities to make the stay most enjoyable including its friendly, efficient and helpful staff and maintenance crew.
This provides the ideal backdrop for the tourism authorities to look more closely at amateur (ham) radio tourism as another key cog in the vitally important tourism revenue stream and proverbial wheel. According to Wikipedia, there are over three million amateur radio operators globally. At the end of 2014, the total number of hams in the FCC ( Federation Communications Commission) database was at an all-time high of 726,275, according to the ARRL –American Radio Relay League, the US national association of amateur radio operators. Japan accounts for over 400,000 ham radio operators followed by Thailand with close to 200,000. Each year, scores amateur radio operators travel to exotic locations around the world to operate in the major international competitions; shelling out large sums of money on airline travel, accommodation and food. Anguilla is ideal for radio communications. It has many positives – centrally located, multi-entry points by air (namely St Maarten, Puerto Rico, Antigua, St. Kitts), flat open space, and proximity to the sea. Anguilla’s flat, open landscape, friendly people and being surrounded by salt water are among the ‘secret’ weapons that makes ‘Rainbow City’ so attractive to visiting amateur radio operators. The word is now out; Tourist Board staff, villa owners prepare yourselves for the enquiries!!
And speaking about enquiries; they’ve already started. According to Art, in the nine days that he has spent here he has received more than dozen emails from ham radio operators requesting information about the island and suitable accommodation to facilitate ham radio operations in Anguilla.
The Anguilla ham radio experience – 4 million contest points!
So Art – a retired Air Traffic Controller with the US Federal Aviation Authority FAA and his old school friend John Schreiner N2LK (VP2EJS) spent 48 hours (changing shifts at four hour intervals) racked up DX contact after contact using a Morse Code (CW) keying device. They made contact with 4,110 different ham radio operators around the world. Their combined total amounted to 4 million points in the global event, one million points short of the record number of points for Anguilla in the CQ Worldwide CW contest for a dual operation. Overall, Art and John made 5,500 CW contacts during their short time on the island. Only three DX contacts were made using single sideband (SSB) mode – commonly referred by hams as phone.
“ We made contacts with every continent and in total worked 150 different countries using our Anguilla (VP2E) callsigns,” Art commented on Monday following a good sleep and hours before boarding his Seabourne flight from the Clayton J.Lloyd International Airport to San Juan, Puerto Rico enroute to Dallas, Texas and his home state of Arizona.
“Anguilla is a beautuifu place. Wonderful people. The staff at the villa (White Cedar) very good. I would recommend this place to anyone. Chef Tyrone, astoundingly great,” Blank commented further.
“Hopefully, I will be back. We visited at least a dozen restaurants…the food and service very good.” Chef Tyrone prepared a sumptuous Thanksgiving Day dinner for the group – courtesy of Art’s wife Heidi to celebrate his birthday. Art also invited two of close friends to join the team on this trip – Bob Whitworth, former senior FAA Administrator and retired Air Traffic Controller from Connecticut and Alan Summerhill and his wife Lindsay from Oregon. Alan – also a retired Air Traffic Controller – worked alongside Art during his days in the control tower in New York.
Art and Bob met briefly with the Hon. Communications Minister Curtis Richardson at his office on Wednesday (November 21); while Art and Alan paid a courtesy visit to the Governor’s Office on November 23 and engaged Governor Tim Foy on the issue of amateur radio tourism and suggested how it could be promoted and marketed as another major revenue earner for the Anguilla government and people.
Anguilla – open to the global ham radio community
Anguilla has a small group of local ham radio operators who continue to actively promote and keep the hobby alive. Members of the group see the big picture and how it can act as a catalyst in attempting to lure visiting from other countries to the island. The mission of the Anguilla Amateur Radio Society is to a provide a top rated service to the island especially during disasters and emergencies and also to build friendly relations/bonds with other hams around the world. Early in 2019, Anguilla is expected to host a group of amateur radio operators from the Netherlands (Holland). Over the years, the island has hosted amateur radio operators from countries such as Japan, Finland, Germany, Norway and Canada. The majority of visiting hams however, have been from the United States. We welcome them all. Spread the world. Our doors are open.
The visiting US hams and friends wish to record their sincere thanks to local ham radio operators Teddy Edwards VP2ETE, Elrick Paul VP2EP, Keith VP2EKG and Rondie Webster (Broadcast Engineer) for all their help and support. Also thanks to officers of the Customs Department, UPS, DHL and Fedex.
73 ( ham radio language for goodbye –until the next time).
