[50mhz] Chatter on the calling frequency

[Bill VanAlstyne, W5WVO]

Buck, Welcome to 6 meters!

Six is a band where there are a lot of different styles and modes of operation,
because the propagation modes are so varied and so unpredictable.

50.125 is the national calling frequency. Most 6-meter hams monitor this
frequency as much as possible when the band isn't open, so it doesn't take a
long CQ on 50.125 to get somebody's attention. In this sense, it's almost more
like an FM simplex channel than like most HF work.

Tips: When calling CQ or QRZ on 50.125, give your grid square so stations
hearing you will know where to point their beams. This is more important on 6
meters than on most HF bands, because VHF antennas tend to be much more highly
directive and have high front-to-back ratios. Six meters is also a noisy band in
many urban and suburban locales, so always give your callsign in full standard
phonetics until you've established a solid QSO with another station and your
callsigns are logged.

Once the band opens for real, the calling frequency quickly gets very crowded,
and your QRZ or CQ is likely to suffer severe QRM. (Though nobody is supposed
to, some hams -- and I've been guilty of this myself a few times! -- carry on a
QSO "run" on the calling frequency instead of moving off to a different
frequency. Don't do this.) Once the band is open, you'll usually have better
luck moving to a nearby frequency and calling CQ. Inquire first if the frequency
is in use. A station in your "skip zone" may be transmitting. The station he is
in QSO with will probably hear your inquiry and answer you briefly. Go somewhere
else and repeat.

And don't worry about calling CQ too much. Believe me, you'll hear a lot more
CQs on 6 meters than you will on 20 meters. Calling CQ is still very much in
vogue on 6, ebcause you never know when there's going to be propagation. In can
come and go in the blink of an eye.

During the early stages of openings, most stations tend to start moving up the
band (not down -- that's the DX window) in 5 kHz increments -- 50.130, 50.135,
etc. During especially hot openings, you will hear activity up to and sometimes
even past 50.200, with stations tending to fill in between the unofficial 5 kHz
"channels" as well.

When trying to break a pileup on a popular station, articulate your callsign,
using phonetics only, as clearly and "sharply" as possible. Avoid making lengthy
calls. The more often you can articulate your call clearly in a short amount of
time, the better chance you'll have of being copied through the QRM. A somewhat
higher voice volume helps to increase the proportion of high-frequency
components in your audio -- but don't shout, overdrive your speech amplifier, or
use too much audio processing. Solicit critical commentary on your audio from
numerous stations, especially those whose own audio sounds crisp, intelligible,
and not unpleasant to listen to. Great SSB audio is more important than high RF
power when it comes to breaking pileups on 6 meters. (But it's probably no
different on HF.)

Hope this helps --
Bill / W5WVO



Buck - N4PGW wrote:
> Update: the W5TDN station came up suddenly and I made my first
> out-of-town contact to Texas (em22).
>
> My rig is off frequency by .08 kc.  Well, at least I know.
>
> I can't hear enough to know what the pattern is to make a call.  I
> heard a mobile calling CQ but most of the time I hear QRZ.  Is there
> a common way of calling on 6?
>
> Thanks
> Buck
> N4PGW
> Still listening on .125
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: 50mhz-bounces at mailman.qth.net
>> [mailto:50mhz-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Buck - N4PGW
>> Sent: Friday, June 17, 2005 12:58 PM
>> To: 6meter at yahoogroups.com; 50mhz at mailman.qth.net
>> Subject: [50mhz] Chatter on the calling frequency
>>
>> I am currently listening on 50.125. I hear faint chattering on
>> there. I sometimes hear voices clearly. I haven't heard but one ID,
>> a W4???.  I tried
>> calling QRZ, N4PGW but I don't guess I am being heard.  My rig is
>> putting out about 130 watts.  I just now heard clearly, W5TDN, but
>> he didn't hear me
>> return.  He is now under s-3.
>>
>> Maybe it just isn't open here yet.
>>
>> Buck
>> N4PGW
>> EM83xl
>
>
> Moderator: Ray Brown, KB0STN
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