[50mhz] [PNWVHFS] KH8 6m DXpedition Update

[Lance Collister, W7GJ]

Hi J!

Thanks for your help in spreading the word and also for your consideration regarding 
financial support of the KH8 6m DXpedition!   Any help is greatly appreciated.   The 
only way I can continue to put these rare DXCC on 6m every year is with the help of 
the 6m community.   As you know, we unfortunately have had most of the recent big HF 
DXpeditions decline "wasting time" with 6m :-(  It seems that in most cases, the only 
way to activate rare DXCC via EME is to have dedicated weak signal VHF DXpeditions.

The nice thing, though, about digital modes is that more and more stations are 
becoming equipped to run them.  And with 6m, there is a threshold with JT65A mode, 
that allows a well-equipped station to suddenly be able to complete worldwide 
contacts via EME.   So 6m DXing is not at all out of the question, even though the 
next few solar cycles are not expected to produce any F2 for us up here at the higher 
latitudes.   What is required is a good 14 dBD gain antenna (or larger) and a kw, and 
to wisely choose the best days of the month for EME operation (during optimum EME 
cndx).    14 dBD gain is a 6M7JHV yagi or an 8 element YU7EF homebrew yagi aimed on 
the horizon toward an open field without ground clutter (buildings, rooftops, hills, 
etc.).    So, if a station is in a position to utilize ground gain to help get them 
over the threshold, they can suddenly complete contacts halway around the world!  
Many single yagi stations around the world work EME because they also can utilize 
ground gain when the antenna is aimed on the horizon.   In practically all cases, it 
doesn't make sense to try elevate a single yagi because it does not have enough gain 
on its own (without ground gain) to get up to the "EME threshold".

Make no mistake, though - a 3 element beam on a tower above an HF tribander 
(shielding it from the ground) and 100w will not make it over the EME threshold, even 
with JT65A mode.   Nor will somebody with a 5 element CushCraft beam and 300w 
surrounded by rooftops and buildings covering the ground in front of the antenna.  
You still need a good yagi without anything below it, and clear terrain in front of 
it if you expect to get the extra ground gain (up to 6 dB more, in sharp elevation 
lobes) to reliably work EME on 6m.

If somebody lives in a densely populated area with lots of buildings around, the best 
solution is to forget about ground gain, and get the extra gain by adding more 
antennas.    Either two large 8 or 9 element yagis or four 6M5X (or larger) yagis 
will give station enough gain to work people while aiming up in the sky, without any 
ground gain.   A big advantage of having elevation is that the receive noise drops 
quickly, and then you also have the ability to aim at the moon during the other 
person's moonrise or moonset ;-)   And maybe you can take advantage of the ground 
gain on THEIR end ;-)   It is the combined gain of both stations that really 
determines whether a contact is going to succeed.   And in KH8, I expect to have 
GREAT ground gain on MY end, and I will elevate as high as I can to accommodate 
horizon-only stations who might have good ground gain at their locations.

Having said all that, I seem to work a lot of stations with my 12.2 dBD yagi, a kw,  
under 0.5 dB feedline loss and manual elevation when I go on DXpeditions.   However, 
most of the single yagi stations I work when I am elevated are either on their 
horizon (with ground gain) or they have elevated yagis or arrays with more gain than 
mine.

We are seeing more and more people gearing up for 6m EME now that it is clear that F2 
is not going to be around for a long time.   I will be very interested in seeing how 
many stations I can work from KH8 in July.   Of course, there also is a possibility 
of some Es, but I am not counting on it.   During my 5 other 6m EME DXpeditions, I 
have been able to work around 50 stations via EME.   Because of the increase in 
digital modes and well-equipped stations having EME capability, I think it should be 
possible to hand out a new DXCC to many more stations than that from KH8.

If there are well equipped stations who are new to EME, I hope I get an email from 
them in advance and so I can add their callsigns and grids to my call3.txt file.  
Otherwise, the computer and I might think they are false decodes when they call me, 
in which case I will answer somebody else!

I hope to put you in the log this summer, and wish you good success with your DX 
goals on 6m!   Thanks for all your help in spreading the word about weak signal DXing 
on 6m!

GL and VY 73, Lance

On 2/28/2014 6:31 AM, jason wrote:
> Lance~
> I started talking up the DX'pedition in my Amateur Radio Clubs Newsletter [ North 
> East Washington Amateur Radio Club, or NEWARC ... www.w7ghj.org 
> <http://www.w7ghj.org> ] this month. Also will talk about it at the club meeting 
> Sat. [plus this is the month we do our digital mode demo, and we're doing a JT65 
> demo, so we'll also do EME!]
>
> My disability comes in on the 3rd, I will look at my budget, make sure I have my 
> money for my bills and then make a donation!
> 73
> ~j [ ke7tdy ]
> ps my name is Jason, but most my friends call me j ... so call me  j :)
>

-- 
Lance Collister, W7GJ
(ex WA3GPL, WA1JXN, WA1JXN/C6A, ZF2OC/ZF8, E51SIX, 3D2LR, 5W0GJ, E6M)
P.O. Box 73
Frenchtown, MT   59834-0073
USA
TEL: (406) 626-5728
QTH: DN27ub
URL: http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj
Windows Messenger: W7GJ at hotmail.com
Skype: lanceW7GJ
2m DXCC #11/6m DXCC #815

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