[50mhz] 6m anyone?

[Alan L. Waller]

AF4K wrote:

>I often hear a fellow a few mioles form me, NW5E, Gary
>who works stations that I can't even HEAR onm y longwire antenna,
>and he gives them an S-9 signal report!
>
>Of course, Gary uses a huge multi-element directional array
>on 6m and lots of power so he can raise them out of nowhere!!


Brian,

NW5E is one of the top 6 meter DXer's on the East Coast, I hear him in 
Delaware several times a week. As a matter of fact I recently worked him on 
2 meters ( can I say that here?),  1115 km's  EL98 > FM28.

My personal opinion is the starting point for serious 6 meter work is at 
least a 5 element yagi.....9-10 db gain. Anything less will work of course 
but you will continue to not hear and not be heard. For tropo contacts the 
higher the antenna the better, look at the September contest scores for the 
mountain top guys. For F2 and Es 25-30 feet is fine, again look at the June 
Contest scores to see how the guys can now compete with the mountain toppers.

I case you aren't aware EL98 is one of the best areas in the country for 6 
meter propagation,  You are within the TEP window for South America, the 
Caribbean is reasonable tropo distance and the openings to The Northeast 
and Midwest are numerous.

If you are interested in how well you can perform with a modest 6 meter 
station look at this web site. I think N3DB now has 131 countries confirmed.

http://www.qsl.net/n3db

73, Al