Author: Alan, 5B4AHJ


This article documents the DXCC status of the various islands in the Caribbean which are, or were, Dutch administered, and which have, or have had, a PJ prefix.


Aruba

On January 1, 1986, Aruba gained its Status Apartus status. Aruba separated from the Netherlands Antilles, and was added to the DXCC list as a new entity. Aruba remains in the Dutch Kingdom with close ties to the Netherlands, and the Netherlands Antilles (tnx Aruba Amateur Radio Club).


As a result of Aruba becoming an entity in its own right, it was allocated its own IOTA reference, SA-036.


Netherlands Antilles

Following the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in October, 2010, the political status of the various components of what had been the Netherlands Antilles changed:

  • Curaçao and Sint Maarten became countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
  • Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius became special municipalities of the Netherlands proper.~

From a DXCC perspective, the following changes took place:

  • The DXCC entity of Netherlands Antilles (Curacao, Bonaire) became a deleted entity
  • The DXCC entity of St. Maarten, Saba, St. Eustatius became a deleted entity
  • Four new DXCC entities were created: Curacao, Bonaire, Saba & Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten.

These changes took effect at 0400z on 2010-10-10.


From an IOTA perspective, the creation of Curacao as a new entity resulted in Curacao being allocated its own IOTA reference, SA-099.


The DXCC mapping is summarised below:


Island ADIF DXCC Name ADIF DXCC No DXCC status Date Prefix IOTA
Aruba Bonaire, Curacao 85 Deleted 1951-68 PJ2A, PJ5A SA-006
Aruba Bonaire, Curacao  85 Deleted

1969 until 1985-12-31

PJ3 SA-006
Aruba Aruba 91 Current From 1986-01-01 P4 SA-036
Bonaire Bonaire, Curacao 85 Deleted

1951-68

PJ2B, PJ5B SA-006
Bonaire

Bonaire, Curacao

85  Deleted 1969 until 2010-10-10 0359z PJ4, PJ9 SA-006 
Bonaire Bonaire 520 Current From 2010-10-10 0400z PJ4 SA-006
Curacao Bonaire, Curacao  85 Deleted  1951-68 PJ2C, PJ5C SA-006
Curacao Bonaire, Curacao 85 Deleted 1969 until 2010-10-10 0359z PJ2, PJ9 SA-006
Curacao Curacao 517 Current From 2010-10-10 0400z PJ2 SA-099
Saba

Sint Maarten, Saba, St Eustatius

255  Deleted 1951-68  PJ2S, PJ5S  NA-145 
Saba Sint Maarten, Saba, St Eustatius 255 Deleted Until 2010-10-10 0359z PJ6, PJ8 NA-145
Saba St Eustatius and Saba 519 Current From 2010-10-10 0400z PJ6 NA-145

Sint Eustatius

Sint Maarten, Saba, St Eustatius

255  Deleted 

1951-68

PJ2E, PJ5E  NA-145 
Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten, Saba, St Eustatius 255 Deleted Until 2010-10-10 0359z PJ5, PJ8 NA-145
Sint Eustatius St Eustatius and Saba 519 Current From 2010-10-10 0400z PJ5 NA-145

Sint Maarten

Sint Maarten, Saba, St Eustatius

255  Deleted 

1951-68

PJ2M, PJ5M NA-105
Sint Maarten Sint Maarten, Saba, St Eustatius 255 Deleted Until 2010-10-10 0359z PJ7, PJ8 NA-105
Sint Maarten Sint Maarten 518 Current From 2010-10-10 0400z PJ7 NA-105


Notes (tnx LNDX):

  • PJ8 was used for visitor callsigns for Sint Maarten, Saba, St Eustatius (ie PJ8 = zone 8).
  • PJ9 was used for visitor callsigns for Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire, Curacao). (ie PJ9 = zone 9).
  • In the 1960s and before, there was no specific allocation of prefixes to islands - ie PJ# could be any island. PJ[0-9] prefixes were all used.

Also:

  • Prefixes P40-P44 and P49 were allocated to Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire, Curacao) before 1986 (this DXCC entity also included Aruba at that time).
  • Prefixes P45-P48 were allocated to Sint Maarten, Saba, St Eustatius before 1986.
  • The PJ1 prefix was allocated to Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire, Curacao) before 2010-10-10, and was used from both islands., and also from Aruba before 1986.
  • Currently, visitors to Aruba are assigned a callsign of the form P40x or P40xx.
  • There are other exceptions to these rules, which Club Log handles with exceptions.
  • Amateur Radio was officially approved for the islands in 1951. Callsigns issued were in the series PJ2Ax (Aruba), PJ2Bx (Bonaire) and PJ2Cx (Curacao) - tnx K8ND/PJ2MI.  Also, PJ2Ex (St Eustatius, PJ2Mx (Sint Maarten, PJ2Sx (Saba). PJ5Ax, BX, CX, EX, Mx and Sx were used for visitor licences. These PJ2 and PJ5 prefixes applied until 1968.
    Prior to 
    that, there were some "Experimental Stations" authorizations to Amateurs from The Netherlands,
    apparently military members assigned to one of the 
    islands (tnx K8ND).
  • See K8ND's QSL collection old Curacao QSLs (over 330 cards).
  • Current Amateur visitors to Bonaire and Curacao from CEPT-signatory countries are authorized to operate under the terms of CEPT without further authorization, and operate with callsigns of the form PJ4/homecall’ or ‘PJ2/homecall’. A special callsign of the form ‘PJ4x’ or ‘PJ2x’ (suffix can be one, two or three letters) can be obtained by application and payment of a ~$60 fee to the licensing authority for a short time period, usually less than 48 hours. PJ2A, PJ2R, and PJ2T are not available for issue. Aruba is not a CEPT signatory, and visiting Amateurs must apply for a “P40” callsign in order to operate (tnx K8ND).
  • The absolute authority on all things Amateur in the Dutch Caribbean is Jose “Jossy” Cyntje PJ2MI. Jossy worked for the BTP (licensing authority), and was in charge of Amateur licensing for a very long time starting in the 1950s. (tnx K8ND). Sadly,  PJ2MI became SK in February, 2014.
  • CQ Magazine, dated December, 1957, reports: "To those of you who have recently worked PJ5AA & PJ5CA we wish to advise that this prefix is a new type of visitors or vacation license granted by the Netherlands West Indies Government. PJ5AA, Aruba, and PJ5CA, Curacao, is the first in this series and both are held by Louis Varney G5RV/VP7RV/VP6RV/VP5RV/VP4RV. This license is renewable yearly and is valid for 15 days of each year. Appicants can apply via the consul of their country. Visitors must take a local exam for the operators license (25 guilders) which is good for life. This enables one to operate as second op at any NWI ham station with no time restrictions". 
Related Articles & Acknowledgements
CQ Magazine, December, 1957
Jose “Jossy” Cyntje PJ2MI - The history of Radio Amateur call signs  [Netherlands Antilles]  
K8ND Curacao QSL Collection

K8ND Curacao QSL of the Day on Facebook