Just curious what the differences/characteristics are between 6m and 2m.

Does 6m have better simplex/local range ?

I see there are several 6m repeaters in my area also...

I'm smack dab in the middle of Reading and Allentown...

I never played with 6m around here



in theory it should have better "in the open" simplex range


then there's the whole aspect of it being a magic band and randomly hitting half way across the country on it.....






also, btw - I was on .880 for a week - I don't reach from here.....


I'm going to keep looking

Can you hit the Philly machine ?

147.030 / plus / 91.5

I can hit that machine pretty solid.

147.285 / plus / 141.3 ......  I hit that Jersey machine decent too. Depends on the weather. Right now it's only reaching me at S5-7. Sometimes it booms in here at S9+.
At 109 miles away, I usually use the amp @ 160w when I try to get into it though.

oh yea, I can rock PhilMont

that's like cheating - it's in Roxboro

That's 57 miles from me.

I just keyed up that repeater and it comes back between S7-S9 with a little static.

Can you reach Mt Penn ? There's two pretty hot repeaters up there.

147.180 / plus / 110.9
and
145.490 / minus / 114.8

I really have to check my antenna


so, do you have a 6m radio? mine is being borrowed (and is only a T90a)

Not yet.
I'm looking at the Alinco DR-06T

http://www.mtcradio.com/dr-06t-6-meter-mobile-free-ship/

6 meters in theory does a little better in rolling, rural terrain and does well over flat ground.  Wavelength is obviously much longer so mobile flutter is very long duration and prominent.  Higher noise floor in most places, particularly urban areas.  Practical antenna performance is less with common size vehicles (ground planes) and antennas - a quarter wave in the center roof of a full size van does noticeably better than on a small car for example, then again you can see that also with a 2m 5/8 wave.

For over-the-horizon, the frequency is too low to get tropospheric refraction most of the time, but this effect usually doesn't play in to typical FM use.

In practical terms 6m usually suffers when compared to 2m (or 220) for mobile FM.  It's usable and fun but if you're looking for a noticeable improvement over 2m it's probably not going to be there.  You can and do get E-skip enhancement for long range propagation on 6m which can make simplex fun, you never know when someone 500 miles away is going to pop up.


If you want to play around on 6m FM you can get a used LMR low band that's usable on 6m for about 1/3 that cost usually (example).  If you happen to find an old Azden PCS7500 that's in good shape at a good price those are usually pretty good radios with smoking hot receivers... they are really wonky to program though and have a mechanical TX relay.

I'm in the wrong part of the country apparently but I've still yet to find a single 6m repeater that's actually on the air, including at Dayton.

I've been a ham for 20 years and I've never talked on 6m FM
Just accasional SSB CW and data

2meter FM is much more popular and common

6 meters is dead 99% of the time

10meters is much more fun for a new tech class ham
With a trimmed CB antenna,...you can work tons of DX with a basic 10m
station

I think the biggest difference is the amount of local activity and repeaters on 2m vs. 6m.  That said, I believe 6 provides a little better range than 2m.  But then again, 2m equipment is more available.

I operated 6 fm before 2m fm  became popular and before repeaters became common (e.g. back in 1966).  The mobile rig was a Motorola 80D IIRC.  It had a dynamotor.  When you hit the transmit button, the headlights dimmed!

FWIW, I'm local as well.  PHILMONT is good throughout the area. I can't hit the MtPenn ones you listed with the HT/4watt. Mobile will be installed in a few days and should give me some more power.

It depends on the area

I used to have a lot of fun on 52.525 Simplex

Antenna size.

2m antennas can be small enough to mount on a hand-held and still perform reasonably. 6m or VHF-low (30-50MHz) the antenna is fine on a mobile but just not practical on a handheld.

Hence, VHF hi police/commercial handhelds became widely used, VHF low never did, so in the 60's when hams started converting them and the 70's when the japanese started copying them, 2m was 100x more popular than 6m. The fact that most other countries did not have a 6m allocation meant the volumes weren't there for Japanese manufacturers either (same reason 220 is low usage).

Ham 450 band is right next to the commercial UHF band, which had some advantages in a big city, so those handhelds got converted too, and japanese handhelds soon followed.

I don't have any 6m gear, but its on the wish list, but talking to other club members, I'd say 6m is used more like an HF band and most activity is SSB or CW, It seems like that and 160m are the two difficult extremes of the HF bands and after all the serious DXer type hams get a 5BDXCC and get bored with 20m, they start playing with those two bands.

Poole