On this one we started off again without a topic.
w5ydl, Dan, changed all that with a question: He said that he's planning on putting up a 6 meter dipole and working 50.125. He asked "Is there anyone who can tell me a little bit about working 6M?
(NOTE: See kd5njr, Scott's comments on this by scrolling to the bottom of this post and clicking on "comments".)
kb5vdb, Ron, checked in and reminded us of Paul's upcoming deployment to Afganistan. In addition Ron passed on the recent new of a husband, wife, and son who died while installing a ham radio antenna. It fell into a 13,000 volt transmission line. Apparently they were not hams, but putting it up for a friend.
ke5yoo, Mike, mentioned that kd5njr, Scott's loop antenna was at about 50 feet. Orientation was the bigger question, with vertical giving you a possibly lower take-off angle. In addition Mike mentioned that ke5otq, Dennis is going to make some 2M loops.
kk5edd, Ed, said that he has been doing PSK31 on 20 meters lately and has plans on mounting an HF antenna onto his 5th wheel, if he can get a good idea of a good way to do that.
ke5yoo, Mike, mentioned that height-wise, one wavelength off the ground is good, but with 6 meters and greater, the higher you get the antenna, the better.
kd5cny, Tom, suggested to kk5edd, Ed that screwdriver antennas usually work well on motor homes and such. He also said that a long wire, hung from trees works better with a tuner. He mentioned that another option might be a vertical.
kk5edd, Ed asked, "Is the vertical you're speaking of, a multi-band?"
kd5cny, Tom answered, "If you have a tuner, the vertical should be able to take care of working multi-band." He added, regarding antenna height, "It's good to get the load of the antenna over the 1st wavelength." He said that between the 1st and 2nd wavelength, there's not much noticeable difference... abpve the 2nd wavelength, there's a lot of difference. He also mentioned that kd5cuz, Craig, has had a problem working his Garmen GPS with his 10 meter radio. He said that when Craig turns on his 10 Meter radio, the GPS quits working. It wont receive satellite data. Turn the 10M radio off, and the GPS starts working again. The radio does not have to be transmitting, just turned on. No problems when he fires up on 2M or 440mhz.
kb5vdb,Ron says that it sounds like the IF is interfering with the GPS and causing the
signals to the GPS to cancel out.
ae5ln, Paul, said that he (also) has been messing around with PSK31. "Where's a good place to pick up a signal?"
kk5edd, Ed answered, "14.070 on 20 meters".
ae5ln, Paul said that on 20 meters he locks up his computer.
kd5cny, Tom, suggested that Paul check the shields on his coax jumpers.
End of Net
2 comments:
1) When 6m is good, it's good. When it's bad it's bad. I've worked many 6m stations on Field Days with a very modest setup including a simple halo antenna. Those are simple omni-directional antennas. I don't think they need to be up all that high. I think a couple wavelengths are plenty (2 * 6m = 12 m = about 40 ft.)
2) I used that halo with Harlan's little MFJ rig and worked another station in Colorado who was using a 6m SSB HT. I've used the 6m SSB mode in my IC-706MKiiG. Never done much with 6m FM. But that is in my VX-7R.
3) As a general rule, I'd say that 10m has to be open for 6m to be open. If 6m is really open, 2m should be open to some extent. If you hear an opening on 2 and 10, go try 6. It's just not everyday that the MUF is 60 MHz or so.
4) Check the internet
http://www.vhfdx.net/spots/map.php?Lan=E&Frec=50&Map=NA&mycall=&myloc=&freq=&prop=
The above link is called DX Sherlock.
5) Folks used to listen to the TV audio of VHF-LO stations (ex: ch 2, ch 3, ch 4) But since the conversion to digital broadcast television, those "beacons" aren't as readily available.
Oh well, just some food for thought.
73
Scott
KD5NJR
That little loop of mine was mounted horizontally. For use on the SSB portion of the band near 50.125.
Just wanted to point that out.
Regarding 2m loops, Gerry KC5JKU bought my 2m loops and the phasing harness. Get with him to set up a sked. I'd like to see how the antennas work up above his 2nd story shack.
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