[50mhz] Need advice on getting on 6M

[Peter Markavage]

Mike said "The reason that most SSB ops use horizontal polarization is
because it lowers the receive 'noise-floor' as most 'man-made'
interference is vertical, and  therefore it's not generally heard using
horizontal polarized receiving antennas."

Horizontal polarization provides higher gain than a vertical,
directability to the locations you're targeting, allows you to follow
changing propagation characteristics, almost a must for aurora.
"Man-made" interference would be the least of my concerns. If you really
want to hunt for DX on 6 meters, a vertical is a waste of time and
effort. Sometimes you luck out with a vertical, 75 meter inverted vee, or
a metal bed spring sitting on your wooden picnic table, but, to be a
player in the 6 meter DX activities, a horizontally polarized beam is the
way to go.

Pete, wa2cwa

On Sat, 22 Apr 2006 07:27:03 +0000 "KC2FTN in N.Y." <kc2ftn at hotmail.com>
writes:
> It's interesting to read what folks have to say about the 6-meter 
> band. 
> Truth be known, when the band is open, it really doesn't matter what 
> kind of 
> antenna you're using as the DX will pretty much be served on your 
> plate. 
> YES, cross-polarization DOES have about a 25-30 dB signal loss, but 
> that's 
> if you're working line-of-site GROUNDWAVE during non-skip 
> conditions. I 
> personally have worked about 8-10 states on SSB with my Diamond FM 
> vertical 
> when the band was open, but generally I use a PAR OA-50 for SSB. 
> Once your 
> signal skips off the ionosphere,  it really doesn't matter what 
> polarity you 
> are using as you still most likely will hear it. The reason that 
> most SSB 
> ops use horizontal polarization is because it lowers the receive 
> 'noise-floor' as most 'man-made' interference is vertical, and 
> therefore 
> it's not generally heard using horizontal polarized receiving 
> antennas. Just 
> my .02
> 
>                   Mike KC2FTN