Caribbean Contesting Consortium Signal Point Visit Information

Signal Point Area - 2 Jan 2002 by NW0L

|  Usage Schedule 2023 | Usage Schedule 2024 |

| House Photo Tour | Station Photo Tour | Mini House Photo Tour |

| CCC Member Contribution Rates |

 | The PJ2T Station Home Page | Ham Licensing |

| About the House | Overflow Lodging | General Curacao Information |
| Flights and Airfares | Customs and Immigration | Rental Cars | Maps | Archived Rental and Operations Schedule - 2000-2018 | Driving Directions |

| Important Arrival and Departure Checklists - Print This |

Who Can Visit?

Signal Point (click here for a brief photo tour of the house) is presently available only for use by to hams, and only in situations when at least one of our CCC club members can be on site to support you. This does not mean you can't bring your family and friends, but the actual leader must be a ham.  CCC members get first priority on scheduling dates because they contribute to the monthly operating costs of the place. Click here to read about how CCC membership works.

CCC Member Contribution Rates

• Normally your visit  must be for at least one week, normally Tuesday - Monday, to accommodate contest weekends. Additional days after the first week are no problem.
• Your cost consists of Real Estate Contribution (covers use of the house), plus a Utilities Surcharge, plus Station Support Contributions (used to support the operation, maintenance, and improvement of the station) plus an Outside Maintenance Surcharge for tower maintenance plus an Internet Access Fee. Your total cost is the sum of these three figures, appropriate to your dates and the size of the group.
• Remember, if you have rebate credit on account, you can apply as much as $300/trip, dropping the real estate contribution to $800 or to $1200 for larger groups.

• Additional days are 1/7 of the weekly rates.

Explanations of Rates

• The real estate contribution is higher for parties of three or greater because the utility costs for water and electricity are very high on Curacao, as is typical of most Caribbean islands. Water comes from a desalination plant and is very VERY expensive. One load in the washing machine uses almost $4.00 worth of water.... Electricity costs about 7 times that in Ohio.
• In January of 2006 the club voted to impose a $100/week "Utilities Surcharge" so that we could afford to convert from dial-up Internet access to DSL, for the digital TV subscription, and to help defray the cost of running the air conditioners in the bedrooms for night sleeping only.
• The "Station Support Contribution" money goes into a pot that is used exclusively for the ham station and antennas. A reserve is held for maintenance costs, and any extra will be used to buy better and more equipment and antennas. Over time, this concept benefits us all in making the station better and better.
• In May 2007 at the CCC Dayton Annual Meeting we voted to impose another surcharge on ourselves and on all visitors. The "Outside Maintenance Surcharge" is $175/week to help pay for professional tower work. 

Facilities

The QTH consists of two bedrooms (click for photo of west bedroom, photos of east bedroom) with two queens in one room and a full and a queen in the other, a full bath each, and a full-function (but ugly) kitchen in the common room, except there is no dishwasher. (An additional room, the "East Sunroom," is reserved for the owners' use only.) The bedrooms are air conditioned. There's considerable American programming available on the wireless digital cable system at the house. The shack is in the common room. There are two large covered outdoor porches facing the ocean and a covered eating area at the edge of the ocean cliff. Click here to see a floor plan of the house. The home is clean, but very basic and utilitarian -- not luxurious -- in order to keep ours and your costs under control. There is a Maytag washer, but you must rely on the clothesline and the unceasing tradewinds for drying. There are no Jacuzzis, no hot tubs, no pool, but the QTH is on the oceanside, atop a beautiful 36 foot high coral cliff overlooking the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea. In contrast to the pedestrian house, the amateur station is of world class calibre. Click here to go to the PJ2T Station Home Page. There's a sizeable library of ham radio books, "guy" novels, "gal" novels, and scientific books.

Curacao as viewed looking southwest, 29 October, 2001. Photo by W0CG

PJ2T's  "Ocean Pavilion" built December 2003.  Click for larger photo.

Signal Point Usage Schedule 2023

Signal Point Usage Schedule 2024

Overflow Lodging

When there are more operators than the PJ2T house can handle, we either rent a house close by in our neighborhood or refer visitors to a B&B or resorts in the area. One very close house (Vista Mar) is listed on airbnb https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/10655171?checkin=11%2F22%2F2016&checkout=11%2F29%2F2016&guests=2&s=IP0KBBN2 . The Natural is also a good possibility, only an 18 minute drive from the station. See http://www.thenaturalcuracao.com/nudisme-curacao/ . The Bahia Inn in the village of Lagun is about a 15 minute drive from the QTH and is clean and reasonably priced. You can click here for lots more general info about Curacao.