Emergency Communications Center - Dominica Amateur Radio Club Site

Dominica Amateur Radio Club Inc. DARCI

Restoring the Club Site after Hurricane Maria

January 2020

David and Gaynell Larsen - Directors of the "Foundation for Amateur International Radio Service" (FAIRS) visited Dominica to assist DARCI in late January 2020 and  here are some of our activities. Many have assisted DARCI in recovering from Maria . A lot of amateur radio work is still needed - if you would like to help give me a call 540-392-2392.

click on photo to enlarge

DARCI  club members holding
donated equipment in front
of club house

Club members David J79USA, Tony J73TP, Gilbert J72GPG, Clement J73CPL - holding talkies and other equipment donated by Jay Wilson at Disaster Emergency Response Association (DERA). Photo taken in front of restored club house.
The building is made from two shipping containers with a truss roof  and a nice room between the containers. The roof was also destroyed by hurricane Maria.

Inside club house used for meetings
and teaching ham radio classes.
Gaynell J79WW & Clement J79CPL.

You can see the 2 containers with roof overhead with the room between containers. The room is very useful for meetings and other gatherings.

Solar panels are on the roof for off the grid operation during storms and power outages. The battery backup charged by the solar panels is below ground in a hardened container. The club also just buried the main power connection to the grid for a better chance of main power not failing.

Outdoor shelter at DARCI
 received heavy
damage from Maria .

Wood was salvaged from this shelter and used to repair the roof of main club house. The repair of this shelter will have to wait until the club has funds to do the work


You can see that the outdoor shelter was also damaged along with part of the security fence being blown over.

New  beam antenna
just installed on tower
at club house.

Gilbert J72GPG is the maintenance officer and he and Tony repaired the rotator  and a new triband beam. New coax feed line was installed making the antenna system operational as new.  The tower did withstand the hurricane so it did not have to be replaced.

The 50 foot tower at the home of J73CPL where Gaynell and I stay while in Dominica was totally destroyed by Maria. We need some help to get a new tower and beam up at that location in Wotten Waven.

Adding a dipole
antenna to club
house.

Gilbert with Gaynell J79WW holding the ladder for Gilbert to install a dipole antenna over the club house.

Operating Position  J73Z  at
 the club house in
the container.

Gilbert using his talents to repair the antenna rotator. This is also the operating position for club call J73Z. This is the container on the right side of building. The container on the left side is used for equipment and supply storage.

The club house also has bathrooms and  showers built into the building just to the right side of this container.

Clement J73CPL president of the
DARCI with three club members.

There is a lot interest recently from members of  the Dominica Association of Persons with Disabilities (DAPD) to become members of  DARCI  and assisting with emergency communications.  Several DAPA members have already joined DARCI and are helping to operate as net control for the regular morning mobile net.
The club has been asked to do some amateur radio training for DAPD in Dominica and I am sure this will result with more DARCI members.  These members can make significant contributions to the Radio club.

David Larsen
 Blog Author

"by David Larsen"  Chantilly Farm owner, Computer Historian, and amateur radio operator -KK4WW   & N4USA .  I work out of one of the Tiny Homes at Chantilly Farm. A great place to work if you like the to be out in nature. I am 81 and ready to sell Chantilly Farm - I have a few more  projects I would like to do - if you have an interest to know more give me a call. 540 392 2392

Amateur Radio Friends from Dominica Visit Floyd Virginia

Dominica Flag

It is a pleasure for my wife Gaynell and I to have Dominica friends visit our home in Floyd Virginia for 2 weeks. Gaynell and I have known Clement and Hetty Pierre Lewis for nearly 18 years. We stay in there home during our visit's (about 20 visit's during the last 18 years) to the  Island of Dominica in the Eastern Caribbean. The main purpose of our visiting is to assist the Island amateur radio operators establish & maintain a good emergency disaster radio communication system.  Our volunteer radio effort is with "The Foundation for Amateur International Radio Service" (FAIRS) located in Floyd Virginia. We feel at home when we visit Dominica and  leave our clothes and other items in the Pierre Lewis home from visit to visit. Clement and Hetty have a nice amateur radio station and we do a lot of ham radio DX operating  while on the Island. I could say a lot of great features about Dominica however to keep it short -- the Island is a beautiful natural  tropical Island.  It is small 15 x 30 miles and a population of about 75,000 folks.  Great place for you to visit if you like a real nature Island. Clement & Hetty do have a guest cottage they rent to Island visitors. Here is video of Hetty's cottage.

Dee KG4VMI interviews Hetty & Clement about Amateur Radio in Dominica - Video

LR Clement & Hetty Pierre Lewis,
David Larsen in
Bugbook Historical Computer Museum
Floyd Virginia

LR Hetty Pierre Lewis , Gaynell & David Larsen
Gaynell operating amateur radio DX from
Dominica as J79WWW video

LR Gaynell Larsen, Clement & Hetty Pierre Lewis
on the deck of our Chantilly Festival Farm Office





Clement Pierre Lewis amateur radio J73CPL operating
ham radio station N4USA at the Chantilly Farm Office
Floyd County Virginia.
Here is Clement in his tropical Garden Dominica Video


Gaynell KK4WWW tells about our visits to Dominica with Clement & Hetty- Video

^{"By David Larsen" KK4WW Computer Collector Historian}  

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