Operating radio in the Tropics

g0utb writes "Operating in the tropics has a set of problem not met when operating in temperate climates.



Insects are a great hazard. One particular wasp builds an earth nest. If it decides to do so in your antenna, you could find that half of it has been insulated from your radio. Great care must be exercised in removing the nest as the bees act together and can deliver a vicious sting. Removal is best done after dark when the bees are less active. Yet another insect builds earth nests in any small aperture. For example floppy disk drives, and phono plug sockets are a favorite.
As one would expect the climate also presents problems. Heavy rain, intense sunlight and heat mean high quality cable must be used. Good grounding as a first line of defense against violent thunderstorms is essential. My home in the northern mountains of Venezuela is not a hurricane area but the winds can be strong. I have a wire antenna so a bucket containing large stones attached to each end of the wire makes sense because I have it mounted in the trees. The swaying trees have incredible power and can easily snap even the strongest antenna wire.



Data media is very vulnerable. Floppy disks left exposed for more than a few days will be ruined. A film of mildew, which cannot be removed, will form. I keep mine in a hermetically sealed bag.



Now monkeys like antennas. If you have tribes of monkeys living in the vicinity then you have one more problem. We have both red howlers and capuchin monkeys and they love nothing better than swinging on my antenna feed. There is no cure that I know of. They don't like grease being very clean animals. If you want to risk the possible ill effects of applying grease to your feed line you can stop them. For myself I am patient and just wait for them to play in another part of the forest. When I first came here 6 years ago I was very worried about monkeys climbing the high-tension electricity poles that bring current to the farm. I had seen a dead rat stretched between earth and the live cable and I explored ways of preventing this occurring. I know that in Australia they use a large metal disk to prevent possum climbing electricity poles. However a friend suggested to me that if I regularly greased the poles with a heavy grease, that this would work as well. I am pleased to report that it worked perfectly. No monkeys up our poles.


This exert from my diary tells of another animal problem.



It was 18000hrs in San Carlos, Venezuela, my home and 23000hrs in Exeter, United Kingdom.
I had just installed a new MFJ-989C ATU to allow me to tune my Superloop80 and use more of the power of my Yaesu FL 2100B linear. All was going well and my friend in Exeter was impressed by the improvement in my signal. Suddenly the needles on the ATU went crazy, ending up showing SWR dangerously high and power fallen away. Could this solid piece of work the 989C have buckled so quickly on the very moderate 200 watts? I apologized to my friend and went outside to examine the antenna. There was the cause. Three multi coloured macaws were busily knawing my antenna feed. Although light was beginning to fade, I could see that they had stripped about one foot of cable down to the core and a short circuit was the result. I managed to get them to abandon the cable and I carried out emergency repairs. The following morning it was clear that they had returned in the night because yet another foot of cable had been bared.



Much against my better judgment, I had to bury my feedline underground inside some thick garden hose.



My farm is nestled on the side of a small mountain. A cool breeze passes down the valley late in the afternoon, blowing away the heat of the day and making it pleasant to eat the evening meal in the open. The farmhouse is on the edge of fairly deep forest.
The house is surrounded with mature mahogany and mango trees, which make excellent high anchors for my antennas. The highlight of my day happens very early, when I walk either in the forest or in our arboretum to collect fruit for breakfast. Only one thing compares with eating fruit still warm from the trees and that is to operate in the clear air with no nearby electrical source, no neighbors, and no one to be offended by our beautiful antennas.


I am active on HF, CW, PSK31, and packet radio. I would love to hear from any other hams that have experience of operating in the tropics or any site that needs special caution."

 

Most interesting post and brings many memories flooding back! Most of your observations and miseries (due to the climate and insects), are EXACTLY the same I have experienced in Sri Lanka, the land of my birth. The little fella who fill up holes in equipment and stuff is called a "potter wasp" for obvious reasons.

Black ants also like wet and humid places and are known to have built colonies and laid eggs inside unused gear! The garden squirrel also is a villain who loves to gnaw at nylon ropes used to hold up wire antennas!

Don't also forget that the tropics also experience terrible bolts of lightening, which in the case of the Indian Ocean, is in the monsoon season.

Ahhha...but the tropics also have all those nice, often straight, "organic towers" called coconut palms. However, not even many of the "natives know the fine art of climbing a coconut tree anymore! If you are lucky to find the village tree climber and he is SOBER, they usually charge about 20c (US) to climb a palm! Another advantage of living in the tropics is the abundance of different types of bamboos -- for makeshift "organic" masts and quad and wire antenna spreaders.

I even remember making a yagi that had a bamboo boom and aluminum elements! Prior to that, me and my brother Victor/4S7VK, used to make wire Yagis using bamboo spreaders to space the elements apart. We used to call them the "3rd World Bamboo Curtain" !!!

You are right, Audio/Video tapes, floppy disks, photos etc. all get attacked by fungus in a matter of a few days outside. In 4S7, the humidity can reach the 90s!

In many such countries, the power supply often fails. If the monsoons have been bad, the catchment areas run dry and the hydro power generating plants run low capacity and needs power shedding to conserve electricity! In Kerala India, I was told that houses in certain parts of the state use 110V bulbs (even though india is on 220v&#33. That is because the voltage drops can be so bad! If you are lucky, your house will be closer to the transformer!

Not many hams in the West realize how difficult it is to operate from the tropics/3rd world. K5OVC once sent me a "stinker" claiming I robbed his 1$ bill (which his friend said he never sent me anyway&#33 ! I used to work in the Merchant Navy and return home once in six months, to answer my mail. If he expected my family to forward mail to the various ports I went to, he was mistaken! In the end, I was so disgusted that a man would try to buy my "soul" for a dollar bill and I decided to stop QSLing. However, my dear pal DJ9ZB, has always handled my cards and continue to do so. The annual income of a person living in the tropics is not much more than what it costs to buy a new radio! So, please think twice before accusing anyone of stealing your 1$ bill ...believe me, even out there it hardly is worth much! Besides, some places have a bad postal service (4S7 is good) and bureaus that hardly function.

73, Rob, 4S7RO/6Y5