5X3L - Uganda

Having been in Uganda before (see below), my previous callsign was 5X7JD. I am here now (April and May 2024) with a new location and anew callsign. I have set up my shack this time at the Equator Village, Kayabwe, Uganda, just a few steps from the equator line. The Uganda Communications Commission assigns call signs according to the location specified on your license application. The Uganda prefix is 5X. The location indicator for me in Kayabwe is 3, and the L is a randomly assigned suffix. 5X3L is mine for the next 12 months even though I don't plan to be here that long. 

On Saturday, April 20th I will be joined by Don Jones, 7Q6M, an American currently residing in Malawi. Together we will be laying the foundation for 2 of our young men (www.Aidchild.org) who, thanks to Don, will be traveling to Prague, Czech Republic this August for a "Youngsters On The Air" event and getting their licenses. The young men we are able to send have been with ouir project for many years and are both well-prepared for the world of amateur radio.

There is no process under Uganda law for a Ugandan resident to get an amateur radio license. One must be licensed in another country and then submit an application using that license as the path ot one here. Under US law, someone here can test over the internet by the VE's. Don's home radio club is in Washington, D.C. Don is a VE, the other two required VE's are in DC and the applicants here can use their mailing address for a license. It's a convoluted process but has been done many times. 

I brought an Icom IC-718 transciever, an Astron power supply, and a MFJ-974 Balanced line tuner, the same gear I brought with me many years ago. We are erecting a Chameleon 17' whip and an end-fed wire antenna.

In 2009, my wife and I moved to Uganda from St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. I sold my woodworking business there and have accepted the responsibility as the Senior Management Team Leader of Aidchild, a project with homes and clinics for orphans living with Aids. See www.aidchild.org for more info. We now reside in southwest Florida. My US callsign is NP2OR.

I received my General Class Amateur Radio License in the States in February of this year. I applied for and received my Uganda license in November of this year. I brought with me an Icom IC-718 transciever powered by an Astron SS-30M power supply and fed through a MFJ-974 balanced line tuner. The signal feeds into a Hy-Gain multiband vertical which I dismantled from my shack in the islands then cut down so it would fit into my suitcase. I reassembled it and installed it on the metal roof of my office.

Source: https://www.qrz.com/db/5X3L