Strewn around my office are coils of guy wire, antenna connectors, lengths of ladder line and coax cable, wire, a transmitter, an antenna tuner, and a power supply. These have to be packed along with my clothes and personal requirements for an eight month stay in Uganda, East Africa. And everything needs to fit in three bags weighing no more than 50 pounds each.

I can buy more clothes, adapt to locally available toiletries, but the radios and radio parts will be difficult to find.

Having been a resident of St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands for the past 6 1/2 years, I have grown somewhat accustomed to the challenge of getting items shipped here. Because this is a US Territory, the parcel shippers consider this an international destination and charge accordingly. But the Postal Service does not so their charges and delivery rates are equal to stateside destinations. It takes a little getting used to, but I have been able to get just about anything I need delivered With a minimum of trouble. When I first earned my General Class Amateur Radio License earlier this year, I ordered radios, test equipment, even a vertical antenna, all of them delivered within a few days. Uganda is not so easy.

I had to, have to consider everything I might need in the next eight months. In the islands a phone call or email or fax will place an order resulting in the delivery of whatever I need in just a few days. Not so in Uganda. I have to consider what I might need and whether I should get it in my luggage, even if it means extra baggage charges, or risk trying to order later. 

International shipping is pricey, but the biggest hassle is customs. If you don't know exactly how to define the contents of an incoming package, it can provoke an expensive duty charge or tie it up indefinitely. For example, when shipping clothing to our project (www.aidchild.org) the customs form must say "attire." If it says clothing, a hefty duty will be imposed. Having never shipped any radio components to Uganda, I have no idea what the secret word should be.

So pack it radio is the task at hand.

As the plans for a move to Uganda began to solidify, I had to consider what radio gear I would take and how I would get it there. I am a fan of vintage gear and own a Drake TR3, an older Heathkit, and a slightly more modern hybrid Kenwood TS820s. At first I intended to take the Kenwood with its matching external VFO and antenna tuner. But their size and weight have made me reconsider. I exceed the weight allotment for one bag in just the radio (it weighs 45 pounds, the VFO, and the tuner plus the weight of the suitcase).

Some months ago I helped a friend and, at the time aspiring ham, buy a smaller and lighter Icom IC-718 transceiver, an Astron SS-30M, and a MFJ-974 balanced line tuner from a departing VI ham. Nearly a year later, said friend had made no progress towards getting his ticket so I asked if he would sell the gear to me. We made a deal, and the three pieces became part of this trip's cargo.

The radio, tuner, and power supply will function as the heart of my African station. I have to consider everything else - a microphone, log books, antennas, cable, ladder line, connectors, a few spare parts and whatever else I can think of I might need that could not be readily obtained in Uganda.  I have to distribute the pieces among and within my personal effects and hope for the best at customs in the airport.Everything must go in a suitcase. A box is out of the question. Boxes are a sure trigger for customs inspection at the airport in Uganda. East Asians, who comprise the merchant class in the Ugandan economy, bring in things in boxes to sell in their stores for which the customs officers are keen to collect duty.

SO the various and diverse components of ham radio Uganda sit around my office waiting for their berth to open up and they find transit to another hemisphere. All in all though, the selection of gear and the process of packing only adds to the adventure. Transmitting from St. Croix is exotic enough. Transmitting from East Africa is a privilege very few people ever experience. This is, after all, not just an African safari, it is ham radio safari.