Posted: 1/2/2017 6:29:54 PM EDT
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ANybody work other than local on 6 meters ?
I have read about Sporadic E, but never seen it up close. Any recent openings, or long haul 6 meter contacts of note ? Is a horizontal loop for 50 mHz a waste of time ? |
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Just so I can run up my post count..... I've never heard a frick'in thing on 6mtrs. I'm down here close to the gulf and get signals all up and down the bands, but can't seem to find anybody up there. Same here. I'm mostly interesting in meteor scatter (we had a thead not too long about about the SNOTEL system that re-ignited my curiosity) but I left the radio on scanning one weekend and heard nothing. |
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Have had a lot of fun on six but there is a reason it's called "The Magic Band". When there's an opening, you can work thousands of miles on five watts. But when the band is dead, it is stone cold dead. If you have the ability to monitor the beacon frequencies, that will be your best indication if the band is open. There's lots of good information available on the "Six Meter International Radio Klub" website at http://www.smirk.org .
Good hunting! 73 de Radiolax |
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Summer is the best time for 6m contacts.
You need to use something like Joe Taylor's WSJT software for meteor scatter digital work. http://www.pingjockey.net/cgi-bin/pingtalk Is a what you seek to coordinate those 6m scatter contacts. |
| Here is the info you seek for North American 6 meter propagation. |
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It can be a fun band, but usually when it's open, 10meters is open moe-betta
back before the CW code requirement was dropped, no-code-techs were setting up yagi's and working some serious DX, because they couldn't talk on HF. I'd hear those guys on the local 2m repeater, and usually run to 10m 
I've spent very little time on 6 meters, here's my logbook on google earth... 
....and here's my entire HRD logbook . . . 
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The "magic band" sometimes feels like the "voodoo band". I've had tons of fun on it, but the activity is usually around June. There can be openings anytime (check pskreporter or DX maps to spot openings). My Cushcraft R8 actually does pretty well; I've also got a little 2 el yagi that does pretty good too. We have a local 6 meter net each week that I used to check into and could use a wet noodle for (actually made a quick horizontal dipole that was about 5' off the ground that worked fine the first couple of times).
I've got a couple hundred QSOs on 6; probably 10% are SSB and the rest JT65. Yesterday, I started playing with MSK144 for meteor scatter contacts on 6 now that it's in WSJT-X v1.7. Fun - and frustrating - all at once. |
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I've got 38 in the logbook on 6 meters. A good number of those are on JT65. When the band is open its |
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VHF contests are a good time to find activity on the band.
Late spring through mid summer is the best time of the year for E-skip, but there is sometimes a little in the winter, so might give the upcoming contest weekend a shot: http://www.arrl.org/january-vhf A horizontal loop, or simple dipole can do just fine. Height above ground can be important, 25 to 30 feet seems to work well in general. Horizontal polarization is the convention so for local/groundwave contacts you want horizontal, but for E skip you could use a vertical, as ionespherically propagated signals are randomized in polarization. I'm pretty close to VUCC on 6, just getting on the air on VHF contest weekends for a few years. Haven't counted states but more than half. One particularly good contest weekend I got 6 countries as well. If there's nothing happening, leave your radio on the calling frequency with DSP noise reduction on and see what happens. Throw your call out every 15 or 30 minutes. |
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I've been on six meters since 1976 or so and it is the most exciting band there is, in my opinion. If you are going to be successful on six meter an all mode squelchable radio with 5 to 10 watts is all that is really needed. I have had my Worked-All-States for at least 20 years and used a dipole for an antenna. Sometime the antenna was thunbtacked to the overhead floor joints in the basement.
It is said 6 meter will exhibit every type of propagation known to man, so studying propagation types and characteristics is very helpful. The big thing is this: Leave your radio on the calling frequency with the squelch at threshold every minute you are home with the volume loud enough to hear it on the other end of your house. The propagation sometimes is only a few seconds long ... if that. Other times it can last for hours, BUT, you never know when that opening will occur. Keep a watch on the K index, anything 3 or above can mean there is a radio aurora. Watching the DXMAPS for 50 MHz is also a good idea. If you hear short skip signals on 15 or 10 meters there is a good chance six meters is open of will be opening via sporadic E. If you become an expert on modes of propagation you will be very successful on six! Read Read Read DXMAPS |
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Quoted:
I've been on six meters since 1976 or so and it is the most exciting band there is, in my opinion. If you are going to be successful on six meter an all mode squelchable radio with 5 to 10 watts is all that is really needed. I have had my Worked-All-States for at least 20 years and used a dipole for an antenna. Sometime the antenna was thunbtacked to the overhead floor joints in the basement. It is said 6 meter will exhibit every type of propagation known to man, so studying propagation types and characteristics is very helpful. The big thing is this: Leave your radio on the calling frequency with the squelch at threshold every minute you are home with the volume loud enough to hear it on the other end of your house. The propagation sometimes is only a few seconds long ... if that. Other times it can last for hours, BUT, you never know when that opening will occur. Keep a watch on the K index, anything 3 or above can mean there is a radio aurora. Watching the DXMAPS for 50 MHz is also a good idea. If you hear short skip signals on 15 or 10 meters there is a good chance six meters is open of will be opening via sporadic E. If you become an expert on modes of propagation you will be very successful on six! Read Read Read DXMAPS interested in a podcast interview? |