Converted Digital Footage from the convention will be posted here as becomes available. You will need to have Real Media Player installed on your computer in order to view these clips. I'll try to create multiple speed clips to compensate for those running 28.8kb versus 56kb.
We'll start out with copies of the TV interview with Frank Jennings and Robby Goswami mentioned below, and then add selected footage from the convention itself. Click on the following links for this interview using Real Player.
TV-6 Morning Edition Interview, starring Frank Jennings & Robby Goswami	Real Media 28kb Speed	Real Media 56kb Speed

Following is a narrative of the convention, which includes some of the material published in the September/October 2001 issue of the REACTer magazine. Another REACT International Convention has come and gone, with new friendships created in its wake. This year’s convention which was recently held at the Emerald Plaza, St. Augustine, Trinidad, West Indies. If there is a single word or phrase that wraps up this convention, it will be “friendship” or “hospitality”. This convention set a new high standard that future convention hosts will struggle to exceed. The Trinidad and Tobago Council worked diligently around the clock in some cases to make sure everything was as perfect as they could make it.

The last four attendees from the USA arrived in Port of Spain at 11:30pm, the night before the convention began. After missing connecting flights, nerves were frazzled and tired. We arrived at the immigrations area, the officer asked for our passport, looked up and saw the REACT logo on the caps that two of us wore, smiled and said “Ah, you are here for the REACT Convention! Welcome to Trinidad!” Multiple rubber stamps later, all of our passports and paperwork were approved for our visit. As we looked up, we saw two more smiling faces waiting on the other side of the exit door, Julian Wyllie and Anawar Mondol from Team #6007 wearing their REACT shirts for easy identification. They waived us forward, showed the way to reclaim our luggage and escorted us through T&T Customs and out to the waiting vehicles. A brief delay caused by missing luggage for one of the attendees, and we were on our way to the Emerald Plaza, driving down the “wrong” side of the road.

Wednesday morning, we all wandered downstairs to find that the restaurant next door had run out of food because most attendees had waited until arrival to make arrangements for eating meals during the convention. But not to be confounded for long, the local REACT members rounded up their personal vehicles, loaded us aboard, and drove over to the La Sportel Inn’s restaurant. They also were out of food, but after waiting a few minutes, a young man showed up on his bicycle with a crate of eggs strapped on the back. We had a choice of scrambled or scrambled, but we did not leave hungry.

Registration was always a busy place as everyone scrambled to get their credentials confirmed and fees paid. In the photos shown, board members Chuck Thompson and Jack Murrell get their paperwork straightened out. The relatively lower attendance actually helped in this area, making for very short lines.

This convention had more “first timers” than any other convention in recent history, with only 17 attendees from the USA and Canada. Nearly half of the membership in Trinidad were present at the convention, and most of the remainder were working in support functions. C.C. “Rob” Roberts (Hawaii) conducted the “first timers” meeting.

While we were waiting for the afternoon’s opening session to begin, I asked Kenny Jagdeosingh (T&T REACT Chair) if he had been able to apply for the reciprocal amateur radio licenses for my wife and me. He smiled and introduced me to the man sitting next to him, Mr. Balchan Gunness of the Telecommunications Division for T&T, the person who signs and approves all amateur radio licenses in the country. Mr. Gunness was one of the speakers during the opening session. There were three government representatives, the Honorable Minister Ralph Maraj of the Ministry of Telecommunications , Superintendent Louis Mark representing the country’s police department and Mr. Gunness.

Superintendent Louis Mark (left) Minister Ralph Maraj (right)

Balchan Gunness Click here for all Wednesday Photos

Click here for photo tour of opening session The programme began with the anthems for Trinidad, USA and Canada, Invocation, and a minute of silence “for World Peace and the memory of departed REACTors.” The entire session was video taped by both national TV news crews, plus coverage by numerous newspaper reporters. Speeches were made by Author Maul, Trevor Brathwaite (Convention Chair), Kenny Jagdeosingh (T&T REACT Chair), Charles Thompson (RI President), Lee Besing (RI Secretary), the speakers mentioned above, plus Sylvan Crichlow (9Y4SC) representing the Central Amateur Radio Operators of TT (CAROTT).

Irvine Niffikeer (9Y4IBN) from CAROTT set up a special event Amateur Radio Station {Photo} next to the convention’s VHF control station. The HF dipole antenna was suspended from the rear of the hotel where the pool parties and other entertainment were held.

Click here for All Thursday photos. Thursday morning began with the traditional Amateur Radio Breakfast, but this time we had a special guest speaker. Captain David Clark (KB6TAM) who is sailing solo around the globe at age 77 in an effort to set a world record. Captain Clark is laying over in Trinidad until the hurricane season has passed before completing his journey back to the USA. {Photo L-R, Lee Besing, David Clark, Kenny Jagdeosingh, David Alexander} Click here for more photos

Lopinot Complex... Five miles off the Eastern Main Road, up the Lopiniot Valley, is the restored estate house of French Count, Charles Joseph de Lopinot, who arrived in Trnidad in 1800 and planted cocoa on this magnificent site. His ghost is said to reappear on dark stormy nights. His house has been turned into a small museum. Lopinot is one of the main centers of parang, the tranditional music of Christmas. Thursday afternoon was a special tour to Lopinot, traveling along narrowwinding mountain roads with a ride as wild as any Universal Studios attraction. This town was a former French cocoa bean plantations. We toured the exhibits and viewed the neighboring church, community center and other attractions. We gained an appreciation for the need to have radio communications in place because it was apparent that areas of Trinidad could be easily isolated by a storm or mud slide. Click here for more photos.

The $95 pizza? Later that night, we return to the hotel. We made arrangements for dinner, including ordering a large 4 topping pizza from Mario’s Pizza. When the motorcycle delivery guy arrived, we discovered the cost of the pizza was $95. Of course with the exchange rate being in excess of 6:1, we were able to pay for it with a US $20 bill and still receive $25 TT in change.

Click here for all Friday Photos Amateur Radio Seminar... Friday started out with a presentation by Irvine Niffikeer (9Y4IBN) {Photo} who talked about Amateur Radio use in Trinidad. He explained the differences between obtaining a license in TT versus the USA, and the role played during disasters by Amateur Radio. He encouraged local members to study and obtain their Amateur Radio license to expand their communications abilities.

National Emergency Management Agency... This theme of emergency communications was continued in the afternoon by Colonel Williams of the T&T National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). Col. Williams talked about the need to establish trained radio operators in all areas of the country on both islands. He mentioned a problem getting local governmental entities to conduct practice exercises in preparation for the “real thing”. Some of the attendees told him that his presentation could have been given in any USA town by changing the name to “FEMA” because his story was the same as back in the states. Later, when we told him about the new team just chartered on Tobago, he surprised everyone by telling us he already had plans to make a new VHF NEMA repeater available for REACT use on Tobago within the next year or two..

Pool Party... Friday night was time to have a pool party, complete with more of those famous Marios’ Pizzas. There wasn’t much action in the pool, but the pizzas were a big hit and disappeared quickly. Later, the traditional steel pan drums were brought in for our musical enjoyment. The bamboo rods were used for those wishing to test their Limbo skills. The music was fantastic, vibrated the entire hotel, and nobody was taken to the hospital with a bad back. {Photo at left, Director Ron Faulkner talks with members of St. George (T&T) REACT}

Click here for all Saturday Photos Maracas Bay... Saturday’s special event was a bus tour to Maracas Bay, up on the northern coast of Trinidad. We started off with a tour of a shopping mall in Port of Spain {Photo L-R: Dick Cooper and Robert Palmer}, then we cruised northward to the coast, stopping at a scenic over look where local singers entertained us by making up the lyrics as they went along to suit the passengers on the bus. The singers worked for tips from tourists. We ended up on the beaches of Maracas Bay where some members from St. George (T&T) REACT were already enjoying the beach. We didn’t really come prepared to go swimming, but that did not keep most of us from rolling up the pants legs and wading out into the ocean to take pictures and look for seashells or rocks. Photo of Ron Faulkner (Ontario) with Mary and Dick Cooper (New Jersey) seeing how far out they could go without actually getting wet.

Banquet... Saturday night was time for the traditional Banquet, filled with good food, good company, good speakers and special presentations. A list of all the awards will be included in a separate report, and listed on the web site with photos of most recipients. Some of the highlights included getting to meet Miss Port of Spain, Patrice Bradley, who was a Junior REACT member of St. George (T&T) REACT {photo at right}, and being told that the guest speaker was also the man who signed the country’s currency? Winston Dookeran is the Governor of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago and he gave a wonderful speech based in part on information pulled from various REACT web sites which his staff found for him. {Photo L-R: Governor Dookeran, Kenny Jagdeosingh}

Click here for all Saturday Photos The Annual K-40 awards were presented by President Charles Thompson to Mary Cooper of New Jersey who won the annual “REACTer of the Year” award and received the plaques for “REACTer of the Quarter” plus checks for the two awards.

Awards were presented by RI Secretary Lee Besing to all former Board Members since 1994 who had been over looked by previous award committees. President Chuck Thompson accepted his plaque and the other ten on behalf of the absent former directors and officers. Names of all recipients are shown in the table below. Plaques will be mailed shortly to all recipients, along with a personal letter of thanks from President Chuck Thompson. Name Term Position Russell Willis 1991-1994 Board Member Ken Green 1994-1997 Board Member Bonnie Zygmunt 1995-1997 Board Member Chris White 1996-1998 Board Member Bob Riechel 1997-1998 Board Member James Bear 1994-1998 Board Member Charles A. (Chuck) Thompson 1998-1999 Board Member W. Robert Stone 1997-2000 Board Member Jesse Mauk 1999-2001 Board Member George Holmes 1999-2001 Board Member Harry Hawkins 1999-2001 President

Click here for all Sunday Photos Road Trips... On Sunday, those of us staying over, were “kidnapped” by various local members and treated to personal tours of the island. Florence Hedges, Pat Knight and Lee Besing were “napped” by Mr. and Mrs.Wahid Ali and treated to personal tour and their daughter-in-law fixed us a home cooked meal in their home. We drove south down the central road that crossed over to eastern shore area. The photo on the left was the road that followed the shore north from where Wahid Ali lived. The palm trees and beaches were a big attraction for those living inland or in the cities on the northern part of the island.

Click here for all Monday Photos Radio 90.5 FM... On Monday, the same three of us went with Anawar Mondol to visit his girlfriend, Zanifa Ali, while she worked at a local Radio station, 90.5 FM. (photo left) In the photo to the right showing the station's name and frequency, Florence Hedges (Indiana) waits while we receive clearance to enter their station. After she got off work at 9am, we went to visit Kenny Jagdeosingh at his place of business, Automatic Transmission Service and Supply, followed by a visit to his house high in the hills over looking Port of Spain. There are more photos included if you visit the link above.

Pokemon was here... Pokemon was as big of a hit with the younger age group in Trinidad as it has been in the USA. Pat Knight found a store just outside the 90.5FM Radio Station entrance that was selling Pokemon memoriabilia.

Birthday Party... Pokemon was here too... On Monday night, all remaining visiting attendees, eight of us, were invited to Jai Ramroop's residence to celebrate his two son's birthdays (Vijai and Sanjay), along with many of the local members. While the food was not what many of us from the USA were accustomed to eating, nobody could fault the cook for the good flavor and appearance, nor quality and quantity of the food served. (photo left shows Mrs. Ramroop standing beside the dining table before we did it justice.) Once more "hospitality" and "friendship" were the guiding words for this event ...and yes, the birthday cake was in the shape of a Pokemon character, Pikachu (pronounced peek-a-choo). There are more photos included if you visit the link above.

Click here for more photos about the Hotel Ham Hotel Ham 9Y4/AD5BR... If you look down at the bottom right corner of the map shown in the photo to the left, you will see a "9Y4" indicator just to the left of the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The strange looking letters and numbers are the assigned Amateur call sign prefixes. One of goals that my wife and I had set for ourselves, was to operate a DX Expedition from another country. As mentioned earlier, we obtained reciprocal Amateur Radio licenses (9Y4/AD5BR-Pat, 9Y4/N5NTG-Lee) to allow us to legally operate while in Trinidad. When the CAROTT station was shut down on Saturday at the conclusion of the convention proper, we moved the radios to our hotel room and strung a wire dipole antenna along the ceiling of the room. See Photo below on the left. One of the first contacts Pat made during the IOTA contest was Volker Stobbe (9Y4/DL2YY) from Germany operating on Trinidad. On the night before we packed up to leave, Pat got on the radio to make one last contact and guess who answered? Yep, Volker was on the air. As it turned out, he was spending a few years on Trinidad while his wife was worked for the Seismic Research Institute. He was living just a mile or so down the road from the Emerald Plaza. Volker rode his bicycle down to the hotel at midnight and spent almost two hours telling us about his experiences on the island and how to build antennas using copper wire and bamboo poles. {Photo L-R: Pat Knight, Volker Stobbe}

TV Interviews... As a result of the multiple appearances on national TV prior to the convention, plus the fantastic coverage they provided of the convention itself, REACT in Trinidad and Tobago is now experiencing a much greater demand for its services and a rush of new members. The RI Convention host had been working the Public Relations angle several weeks before the convention to build public awareness. Frank Jennings, RI Chairman, was invited to appear on one station’s morning show, along with Robby Goswami. Frank and Robby spent nearly 1/2 hour live on the air being interviewed and talking about REACT in Trinidad and elsewhere. One of the topics Frank mentioned, was RI’s participation in the formation of Neighborhood Watch programs in the USA. {This interview will be available on the website in digital format.} Possibly because of this TV interview, the Port of Spain City Council (capital of T&T) has since contacted T&T REACT to ask for their help to plan and implement a city-wide Neighborhood Watch Program. Government officials are now more aware of what T&T REACT can do, and our holding the International Convention in Trinidad has given the local council more credibility and respect from those officials. In addition, the new working relationship that has been built between CAROTT and TT REACT should help benefit their nation by providing better cooperation during emergency communications.

Converted Digital Footage from the convention will be posted here as becomes available. You will need to have Real Media Player installed on your computer in order to view these clips. I'll try to create multiple speed clips to compensate for those running 33.6kb versus 56kb or Cable/DSL.
We'll start out with copies of the TV interview with Frank Jennings and Robby Goswami mentioned above, and then add selected footage from the convention itself. Click on the following links for this interview using Real Player.
TV-6 Morning Edition Interview, starring Frank Jennings & Robby Goswami	Real Media 28kb Speed	Real Media 56kb Speed
Last update 2001-0902 (lwb)