*RENTAL SHACK* Roatan DX Lodge, Honduras

Belonging to the Bahia Islands IOTA Group (NA-057), Roatan Island — situated off the coast of Honduras (28 Division) in Central America — is regarded by locals as one of the last pieces of paradise on earth.

Endless summer, beautiful beaches, friendly people, great inexpensive food, fabulous snorkeling, world-class diving, great fishing and other water-related activities are just a few things that come to mind when thinking about the beautiful Honduran island Roatan.

There’s also the incredible Roatan DX Lodge (Chillax Radio), on 1.5 acres, overlooking the Caribbean Sea, which is everything an IOTA Dxpeditioner could ever ask for in ham friendly accommodation!



A world class ham station, cable tv, 5 air conned bedrooms sleeping up to 10 team members, a private pool with beautiful landscaped gardens, and access to an astonishing range of leisure activities away from the shack, make the Roatan DX Lodge a MUST for the serious dx adventurer.

Imagine sitting on one of the 2 decks at sunset and enjoying the stunning colours of the ocean in front of you as the sun goes down, with the transceiver purring away in the background with pile ups of hungry Island Chasers!

Pictured below right, a fully appointed kitchen has everything you’ll need to prepare shack snacks, breakfasts on the terrace, picnic meals, or a fancy dinner after a day of fun in the sun.

There are plenty of activities just around the corner, such as snorkeling, dolphin and monkey encounters, ziplining, horseback riding, scuba diving, to name a few.

Wi-Fi Internet is available throughout the entire property for access to essential DX resources such as Clusters and logging software and so you can stay in touch with friends and family back home.



OTHER FEATURES:

  • 5 bedrooms
  • 4 bathrooms
  • Covered outdoor deck/dining
  • BBQ
  • Air conditioning
  • Free Parking
  • Fast WiFi
  • Fully equipped kitchen
  • Private pool
  • Laundry


THE STATION

The home of HQ9X, Roatan DX Lodge is a competition grade ham radio station designed for top performance, reliability, and flexibility.

Sufficiently rare DXCC entity and WPX prefix to drive endless pileups, yet not rare to the point where pileups are unruly and difficult to maintain good run rates.

High above the residence, a DX Engineering Skyhawk on a 50’ tower (200m ASL), controlled by a G-1000DXA rotator, offers outstanding pileup busting potential on 20, 15, and 10 meters.

This is a high performance 10 element tribander, with no traps or loading coils, and 3 full-size elements on 20 and 15 meters and 4 elements on 10 meters.

The Skyhawk tribander’s feedline is separated into 3 individual feedlines for 20, 15, and 10 meters using a high power VA6AM triplexer.

This allows the tribander to be shared by both radios at the same time on two different bands.

Additionally, there are full size verticals on 80 and 40 meters, each with 32 radials and an inverted L on 160 meters.

Producing a clean 1500W, two Alpha 99 linear amplifiers with PTT control cable complete the station.



DXPEDITION DOWNTIME

Unlike most other popular Caribbean tourist destinations, Roatan doesn’t have any giant hotels, pushy street vendors and obnoxious timeshare sales people.

Instead, this picturesque island dxstination offers small, cute, privately owned stores, restaurants and bars that are hidden away between tropical fruit trees and Hibiscus bushes, and the opportunity to truly relax or be as active as you want to be in your dx downtime.

In fact, Roatan Islands offers fun and excitement for the entire family.

A beautiful coral reef is easily accessible by water taxi where you can snorkel or dive.

Other activities include dolphin swimming, fishing, parasailing, paddle boarding, kayaking.



West Bay beach offers an inflatable water park which is a smashing success with the kids, should you wish to bring the YL and kids along with you.

Nature lovers and outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy island tours, botanical gardens and arboretum tours that not only teach you about various plants but also offer fruit tours where you can sample a number of delicacies that grow on the island while enjoying spectacular views of the island.

There is also a butterfly garden and an underwater museum.

For a summary of key information, please see below…



SUMMARY