6 meters

[w2amr]

Nice E opening this afternoon. And,the band stayed open for a couple of hours. Anybody else partake?

[WZ7U]

Missed it again. Where were you reaching from your place?

[NQ6U]

Six meters? Here you go:

http://best-b2b.com/userimg/545/578-1/meter-panel-meter-298.jpg

[w2amr]

Missed it again. Where were you reaching from your place? It was open when I turned the rig on, around 2025 utc. Worked a bunch in Florida, Mississippi, & Alabama.

[WZ7U]

OK sounds like my mid day with N/S runs. Ive gotta get on earlier it sounds like. Thanks George! Glad someones having fun with 6.

[w2amr]

OK sounds like my mid day with N/S runs. Ive gotta get on earlier it sounds like. Thanks George! Glad someones having fun with 6.I heard guys all the way up to 50.170. I'm going to put up another 6 meter halo for my backyard station for this summer. The butternut vertical works on 6, but the Saturn 6 halo is much better.:agree:

[kb2vxa]

That's because everything from 10M down (we're talking wavelength here) with the exception of FM for the sake of mobiles is horizontal. Cross polarization loss on 10 is noticeable, on 6 is very noticeable and gets higher as frequency rises like about 20dB on 2. At microwave frequencies they often put two channels on one frequency cross polarized with no interference whatsoever.

Halos, Squalos, delta loops, whatever the omnidirectional horizontal antenna exhibits pattern loss. Picture the figure 8 pattern of a dipole change as the radiator is bent in a circle, the lobe on one side disappears as the other spreads out in a circle. That leaves just a bit more than half the gain of a dipole which is unity to begin with. To return to unity gain stack two 1/2 wavelength apart and feed them in phase, there are coaxial power dividers aka phasing harnesses sold for the purpose. The more you stack the more gain you have, but then height becomes more of a consideration. Look for dealers that sell stacking kits.

If you want the gain of six stacked halos with directivity and have room to swing a cat but not enough to swing a 3el Yagi, a Lazy H 2el beam actually beats the Yagi. Two driven elements beats one with two parasitic elements, you know, that sort of thing.

[w2amr]

That's because everything from 10M down (we're talking wavelength here) with the exception of FM for the sake of mobiles is horizontal. Cross polarization loss on 10 is noticeable, on 6 is very noticeable and gets higher as frequency rises like about 20dB on 2.
.Yeah, I know that.

[WZ7U]

No George, gotta say it like the kids do....

"I already know"

[w2amr]

Last week I worked a station in FM19 Maryland. 105 miles ground wave. I guess there is some tropo enhancement on 6 from time to time.

[N8YX]

I've gotta get a horizontally polarized antenna up for 6M. Last FD the band was wide open, and my triband (6/2/440) vertical wasn't cutting it at all.

A 3-band loop stack is on the to-do list.

[w2amr]

I've gotta get a horizontally polarized antenna up for 6M. Last FD the band was wide open, and my triband (6/2/440) vertical wasn't cutting it at all.

A 3-band loop stack is on the to-do list.Here is the add for the Saturn 6. I just put the other one up for my outside station. The one on the tower is at 30'. The one for the backyard station is only 15'. But, It should work fine when the band opens.
https://groups.google.com/group/pnwvhfs/attach/60f75b2c15e2a653/P101047000.jpg?part=0.1

[w2amr]

I had a lot of fun today on 6 during the June VHF contest with the backyard station. About 8 AM the band opened into Canada, then all hell broke loose. Worked stations into the Midwest and down South. The band was open for about 6 hours. Even made couple of ground wave contacts 75 to 100 miles away. The old Halo is kicking ass.

[KJ3N]

I listened to the 1st hour on Saturday; heard nothing. Listened for an hour this morning, heard much the same.

Found other things to do.

[w2amr]

I listened to the 1st hour on Saturday; heard nothing. Listened for an hour this morning, heard much the same.

Found other things to do.Is the radio hooked up to an antenna?:stickpoke:

[NQ6U]

Is the radio hooked up to an antenna?:stickpoke:

Jim knows nought of this “antenna” thing of which you speak.

[KJ3N]

Is the radio hooked up to an antenna?:stickpoke:

Funny. :roll:

At best, I heard some 6m signals this morning that lasted for about 2 minutes.

2m was pretty much bereft of signals as well. Even the 1 or 2 signals I heard out of FN20 on 2m were, to put it gently, pathetic. I did hear a signal out of FN32, but it lasted less than 30 seconds.

[N8YX]

Location, location.

There was one helluva Sporadic E opening on the upper HF bands yesterday. I didn't get to partake but I did listen...event was still going when I drifted off to sleep around 1 this morning.

[N8YX]

Listening on 50.125 at the moment. Band is up.

Beacon sub-band was fairly full of CW sigs when I dialed across it a few minutes ago.

Unfortunately, I cannot partake...gotta work. :(

[N8YX]

Open to Louisiana from NEOH as I type this.

[wa6mhz]

Here the band was packed solid 50125 to 50225!!
I worked all over the west. Fathest East I worked was South Dakota, though I did hear a MN station, and thought I heard an Ohio station. But worked all over the Pacific Northwest including VE7 and VE6 NO Seattle or Portland though. Very selective E cloud.
Then I went to the Church picnic and then to work. Don't know what I missed in the afternoon

[w2amr]

I heard it was open into Europe this morning when I was working . I did work a bunch of single hop E stuff this afternoon. It's nice to have 6 open again.

[WZ7U]

Can't speak for Seattle Pat, but back in the analog TV days, Portland had a channel 2 (well, they still do) so 6 meters was not a thing so much back then. Maybe a carryover from then?

[N8YX]

While not 6M, I've got the FR-101 parked on 29.600 FM at the moment.

11M is going nuts, so I expect there's propagation into 10 - if anyone is around to take advantage of it.

[w2amr]

While not 6M, I've got the FR-101 parked on 29.600 FM at the moment.

11M is going nuts, so I expect there's propagation into 10 - if anyone is around to take advantage of it.I never could figure that out Fred. It's like the MUF stops at 11 meters.

[w2amr]

Here the band was packed solid 50125 to 50225!!
I worked all over the west. Fathest East I worked was South Dakota, though I did hear a MN station, and thought I heard an Ohio station. But worked all over the Pacific Northwest including VE7 and VE6 NO Seattle or Portland though. Very selective E cloud.
Then I went to the Church picnic and then to work. Don't know what I missed in the afternoonWhat are you running on 6 Pat?

[W2NAP]

I never could figure that out Fred. It's like the MUF stops at 11 meters.

yep sure seems to. scanned 11m had plenty of action, 10m. dead.

[w2amr]

6 was open most of the day today. I talked to a local who said he worked several stations on the left coast on CW. I heard AZ but couldn't get thru the pileup. I did work a few stations in the Midwest and down south.

[kb2vxa]

Once upon a time when I had antennas the Magic Band was indeed magic, I worked every known propagation mode. I only missed one most sought after contact, the dog pile on Africa was impossible.

"Can't speak for Seattle Pat, but back in the analog TV days, Portland had a channel 2..."
Once upon a time I had a BMF TV/FM antenna and rotor, TVDX was another branch of the hobby. One thing's for sure, when there's an untold number of stations piled up on the channel it's damn near impossible to get an ID out of the herringbone pattern on the screen but it happens.

"It's like the MUF stops at 11 meters."
CB makes an excellent beacon band, when it's open so is 10. The trouble is the lights are on but nobody's home, they listen and hear nothing so they think there's no propagation... like you. Next time try throwing out a CQ until somebody answers and don't give up, they're out there lurking but not talking.

[w2amr]

Worked NP2A in PR Friday after lunch ,on the backyard station. grid FK-68.

[w2amr]

Worked VP9NO In Bermuda last week on the backyard station. It's a new grid and country on 6 for me. The opening lasted about 15 minutes.

[N8YX]

I'm a little closer to getting my mobile HF/VHF/UHF station together. Snagged a used Kenwood DNX9980HD GPS/Nav/stereo unit (discontinued) last night. It's going to replace my Legacy's AM/FM radio and has auxiliary video inputs, one of which will be used with the IC-7000 for display functions so I don't have to squint at its control head while driving.

The cool thing about this one, George, is that it can be interfaced to the car's OBD-II port and used as the missing set of gauges...oil pressure, charging voltage, oil/trans temp - you name it. Later model Kenwood Nav units omitted the feature.

All radios, a charge controller and big gel cell, control circuitry, etc. will go on an aluminum plate which will fit in the forward portion of the trunk - and will be removable.

Receiver-style hitch and various antenna mounts will handle the HF (screwdriver) and VHF/UHF horizontally polarized (loop) stuff, while a pair of NMO connectors mounted through the trunk lid will do it for the couple of multiband VHF/UHF and HF/VHF vertical mobile whips I'm planning to use.

That hitch will also come in handy for a carrier for a bicycle when I'm not playing radios.

I wanted to use an independent power source for the gear, which would work without draining the car's battery. Summit Racing has just what I need in the form of the sealed gel cell I mentioned earlier. I should be able to get several hours of constant operation at high power with the setup before needing to run the car to charge it.

As it stands, IC-7000 + Kenwood TM-701/TM-331/TM-531/RC-20/IF-20 + CPI CP-2500 (with my own custom control head) + BC-996XT/RH-96/GPS interface. That's a lot of control heads...designing the mounting fixture to look presentable (yet remain functional) is going to be a bit challenging. But the payoff will be concurrent all-mode, all-band operation plus zone-based trunked PS reception. Should make for a fun rover too.

[w2amr]

I'm a little closer to getting my mobile HF/VHF/UHF station together. Snagged a used Kenwood DNX9980HD GPS/Nav/stereo unit (discontinued) last night. It's going to replace my Legacy's AM/FM radio and has auxiliary video inputs, one of which will be used with the IC-7000 for display functions so I don't have to squint at its control head while driving.

The cool thing about this one, George, is that it can be interfaced to the car's OBD-II port and used as the missing set of gauges...oil pressure, charging voltage, oil/trans temp - you name it. Later model Kenwood Nav units omitted the feature.

All radios, a charge controller and big gel cell, control circuitry, etc. will go on an aluminum plate which will fit in the forward portion of the trunk - and will be removable.

Receiver-style hitch and various antenna mounts will handle the HF (screwdriver) and VHF/UHF horizontally polarized (loop) stuff, while a pair of NMO connectors mounted through the trunk lid will do it for the couple of multiband VHF/UHF and HF/VHF vertical mobile whips I'm planning to use.

That hitch will also come in handy for a carrier for a bicycle when I'm not playing radios.

I wanted to use an independent power source for the gear, which would work without draining the car's battery. Summit Racing has just what I need in the form of the sealed gel cell I mentioned earlier. I should be able to get several hours of constant operation at high power with the setup before needing to run the car to charge it.

As it stands, IC-7000 + Kenwood TM-701/TM-331/TM-531/RC-20/IF-20 + CPI CP-2500 (with my own custom control head) + BC-996XT/RH-96/GPS interface. That's a lot of control heads...designing the mounting fixture to look presentable (yet remain functional) is going to be a bit challenging. But the payoff will be concurrent all-mode, all-band operation plus zone-based trunked PS reception. Should make for a fun rover too.Sounds very cool, and a lot of work. Looking forward to seeing some photos. Are you planning to do some contesting from the mobile?
BTW, A 6 meter friend told me that during the Sprint contest , there was some excellent short hop E into Ohio. This past week I didn't hear much of anything.

[N8YX]

Sounds very cool, and a lot of work. Looking forward to seeing some photos. Are you planning to do some contesting from the mobile?
BTW, A 6 meter friend told me that during the Sprint contest , there was some excellent short hop E into Ohio. This past week I didn't hear much of anything.

Yep - exactly what I'm going to do (mobile)! Either while on the road while traveling, or on the road to activate a sparsely populated grid square. (If I get an FT-817ND I may even do this via bicycle at times.)

I caught the E opening on 11 through 6...but...no joy on VHF, as I have to get some horizontally polarized antennas up in the air. The tri-band vertical I have (resonant around 53MHz, for repeater work) didn't cut it.

[KJ3N]

Worked CY9C on 6m CW a little while ago. They came up just enough for the computer to decode them. ;)

[N8YX]

Worked CY9C on 6m CW a little while ago. They came up just enough for the computer to decode them. ;)

Nice catch!

Upper HF is dead here at the moment. Will check things out in a bit after the morning meetings are finished.

[w2amr]

Worked CY9C on 6m CW a little while ago. They came up just enough for the computer to decode them. ;)Cool. I worked them on sideband a couple of hours ago on 50.130. Big signal. 5-9 both ways. FN-97 is a rare one. http://www.stpaulisland.net/