Suriname (PZ) 2003 CQWW SSB Expedition


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Our Host, Ramon, PZ5RA





Ramon Kaersenhout, PZ5RA

Ramon was born in 1948 and raised in Suriname, and Erni (XYL) is a native of Hong Kong. Ramon has a 22-year old son, Dean, who is studying at the local university. Ramon finished school at the age of 19 and started to work as a teacher on the island of Curacao( Netherlands Antilles). In 1975, when Suriname became independent he returned to PZ and started studying again. He then became a headteacher and received a degree in Geography. In 1981 he quit teaching and was employed by IBM Suriname. He started as a Sales Representative in office equipment and later was in charge of selling PCs, main frames and the guided learning center. He worked 9 years for IBM. He and Erni then decided to go to Holland, where they stayed for about 9 years, until 1999. For the past two years he has been co-owner of a shop with his brother-in-law. The shop is located in the center of town and specializes in clothes, parfumes, cosmetics etc.
His interest in ham radio started in the 70's after seeing several demos by PZ1AC during fairs where they promoted ham radio. He started with CB on 11 meters. In 1996 he received his ham license and quickly developed an enjoyment of digital modes. Upon his return to Suriname, he received the call PZ5RA. He has also held calls PA3HGS, PB7RK and PZ/PB7RK. His first antenna was a multiband dipole but after a year he installed the Mosley Pro-67-B beam, with 7 elements covering 10-40 meters. In Suriname there are just a few hams and only two of them are very active. Up to now Ramon is the only one in the country running digital modes( Pactor, Amtor, RTTY, PSK31 and SSTV ) in DX. He also enjoys CW.