Contesters in Aruba

Many well-known contesters have operated from Aruba. These include:

P40L, John & P49Y, Andy

John (W6LD) and Andy (AE6Y) are the co-owners of the cottage.

About John

About Andy

Email John and Andy

P49X, Ed

(W0YK) Ed has turned into a world leader in RTTY contesting from the cottage, and also has participated in CW contests, and was our chief tower climber in the 2008 antenna refit party. Dismantling tower A retired HP engineer, he now is a master vintner and winemaker. Check out Muns Vineyard. Here's more info on Ed.

P40V, Carl -- SK

AI6V, also P49V, developed our station, and then another one on Aruba along with wife Sue , P40YL. The second station is now owned by Ben, DL6RAI, rental info.

P40W, John

(W2GD) With a QTH shared with K4UEE just north of us, John has been winning contests from Aruba for two decades. On our towerAt entrance to his shack Contemplating Life at TR's

P43A, Jean-Pierre

With a nice antenna farm close to P40W, J-P has been more contest-active recently. He was very hepful in our antenna rework party. Picture He and his wife Chris, P43C, also look after the cottage.In his Yaesu museum

P43E, Emily -- SK

The QSL bureau manager and a WRTC 2006 participant. Her website has lots of Aruba info. At the QSL Bureau

P43JB, Joop -- SK

We are very sad to report the passing of the dean of Aruban contesters, the "Last Colonial", and a dedicated CW operator. Joop had a tower visible from the cruise ship harbor and he and Yvonne always had a ready supply of Heinekens to welcome visitors. His enthusiasm, graciousness and hospitality will be sorely missed. With key collectionIn shack

P43P, Jackie

Temporarily inactive, Jackie has posted many top scores from his north-shore QTH and hosted world class contesters like CT1BOH and I2UIY (SK).

P40A, John

(KK9A) Winner of many events, mostly low power, unfortunately John has sold his house at Tierra del Sol and dismantled his station. John and Andy in O'stad.

P40E, Jose

(CT1BOH) Jose has had top scores in CQWW from many QTHs, including ours and Jackie's. website

P40Q, Scott

(K0DQ) Admiral Scott has posted top scores from several Aruban stations, including ours. Running Rate in CQWW

P40N, Ed

(N4OC) The other admiral, Ed, has multi-oped from P49V and in CQWW in 2010 from our house with Scott, Andy and JP. Ed and JP

P40LE, Andy

(K2LE) Andy normally operates from his sixth-floor time-share in Playa Linda overlooking the water, but comes to our station when he feels the need for better antennas. In our backyard

P40P, Robert

(W5AJ) Robert has operated from our QTH and also from Carl's new one. He's even braved CQWW SSB LP! Robert as a CW Op
Robert in a phone multi-op

P40TA, Ken

(K6TA) Ken and XYL Kay often come down in December. Ken specializes in the ARRL 160m Contest.

P40K, Kay

(K6KO) Ken's better half, Kay prefers the ARRL 10m Contest. She usually leaves behind a jar of Amador County Fair prize-winning preserves!

P49MR, Martin

(VE3MR) Martin and XYL Truus (P49MRS) hand out winter-time contacts from the beach at Malmok.

P40AA, Mat

(DL4MM) Mat has enjoyed great success operating the station in the CQ 160 CW Contest.

 

Ham Social Life on Aruba

One of the delightful aspects of visiting the island is the getting to spend time with a number of really interesting and friendly people, both visitors and Aruba residents. Here are some pictures showing some of our island friends.

A tradition that may be unique to the Aruban contest community is the "post-contest dinner," generally occurring Sunday evening after each major contest. When we first started contesting there in 2003, the traditional watering hole was Brisas del Mar ("Breezy's" as AI6V called it) at Savaneta, but many other resaurants have been enjoyed, including Tony Roma's (W2GD's perennial favorite), Texas de Brasil, Don Carlos on the Wharf, Joop's (P43JB) and Yvonne's most excellent private Heineken-serving patio in Oranjestad, and other local eateries.

Here are some pictures of the local community, some of which were taken at various post-contest festivities. Click on any picture to enlarge, and note that the ID's all go left to right.