[ADXA] 6-Meter Antennas - HOLD YOUR HORSES ADXA!!

Sun Nov 16 19:13:50 EST 2025

My horses are in the corral! I’m not changing anything till we move, it has been interesting watching 6 meters as I move the antenna from 40 to 100 ft. Yesterday and today I’ve been seeing short openings at the 60 ft level, a few minutes to tx a few to east tn some to ga. And one or 2 true DX but it is a 1 time thing. I raise to 100 ft nothing for hours, back to the 55-60 ft level back to intermittent activity, a couple hung in enough I worked. I’m waiting on a good DX opening to play with heights again. Give up, naaaa this looks like a fun challenge. I’ve got to find a home for a m2 5 ele 20 and a 3 ele 40 before I bring anymore aluminum home unless it’s a Christmas tree. Those of u that are married know exactly what I mean!
73
KF5TL
Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 16, 2025, at 4:20 PM, EJ Jones <k5ej at outlook.com> wrote:

Thanks, Joel for that great explanation on 6  m antennas.  I think your spot on and agree.   I use the 6M9KHW too mounted at 100 feet. My prior 6 m antenna was a four element beam at 140 feet. They both worked quite well so I also agree about not moving an antenna if it’s a bit higher than 50 feet. Some of the members may want to pick up one of those 6 m beams of Joel‘s. They are excellent antennas!

EJ

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From: adxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net <adxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net> on behalf of w5znjoel at gmail.com <w5znjoel at gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2025 1:31:52 PM
To: 'adxa' <adxa at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [ADXA] 6-Meter Antennas - HOLD YOUR HORSES ADXA!!

ADXA Folks – HOLD YOUR HORSES!

Before we all start lowering our 6-meter antenna, raising it, replacing it, or become a quitter and give up on 6-meters altogether let’s come back down to earth and look at some factual data. Too many times, we get wrapped up in theory or what the guy who “claims he knows it all” told you on the local 2-meter repeater.

For the past 25 years the 30 acres at my QTH has become an antenna test range, primarily for 160-meter receive antennas and 6-meters. Over that time, I have recorded actual on-the-air data and compared it to theoretical data and antenna simulation results from a model created in EZNEC. That effort has grown to the point that I don’t have enough time to test all the antennas I receive requests for from companies and individuals who design antennas. Some of the test data confirms why some things are still “theory” rather than proven!

First, Frank W3LPL has been mentioned in some of the recent posts on this topic. I regard Frank as the “Godfather” for antennas and propagation and refer to him often as “E.F. Hutton”. Most of you are old enough to remember those old commercials with the tag line “When E.F. Hutton speaks, people listen!”. For those who do not know Frank, his professional career was spent researching and confirming propagation, antennas, and other related electromagnetic maters. He’s also a very experience radio amateur. I’ve had the honor of collaborating and co-authoring with Frank on a couple of antenna projects.

Second, and most important, you cannot evaluate any antenna without taking into consideration geographical differences of the stations conducting the comparison. Read that last sentence again if you didn’t commit it to memory as a FACT. Stations located on a coast will do better than we generally can on a day-to-day basis so you cannot compare their results to yours here in fly over Arkansas.

Next, you must fully understand the propagation modes involved for the frequency band you are evaluating and you must understand the effect of the sun on propagation. The sun can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Six meters is somewhat unique as you will experience sporadic E, meteor scatter, aurora, and F2 among a few more propagation modes. There is a reason 6-meters has been called “The Magic Band” for decades. With so many different propagation modes possible, the band can open and close instantly, or magically.

With geographic and propagation mode differences understood, let’s talk antennas and real data from right here in Arkansas. For 20 years, covering almost two solar cycles, I had four M2 6M7JHV 7-element antennas at 27, 52, 77, and 102 ft. If your math is working you will note this is the optimum spacing of 25 ft for this antenna. I had these arranged where I could switch to each one individually, an upper pair or lower pair, or all four to phased together. The configuration was one I learned while a team member of the K1WHS contest crew in Maine. Dave, K1WHS, was the founder and original owner of Directive Systems antennas.

The six-meter data I recorded was from stations on SSB or CW when those were the dominant, in fact only, modes on six meters so you could evaluate one signal within a 2.8 KHz or 400 Hz bandwitth and obtain a very accurate comparison of antennas. I was NOT trying to understand why you could, or could not, copy one station with a 50 Hz bandwidth crammed into a 3 KHz wide channel with more than 100 other stations present. In a crowded FT8 bandwidth you simply cannot, repeat NOT, understand the true effectiveness of an antenna. There are way too many other factors in play in that scenario alone without trying to factor in antenna performance. So do not try to base your antennas performance, or your DX prowess, on a crowded FT8 bandwidth. That’s a simple fact, Jack!

So, what did I learn over that 20-year period? The short summary is there was only one time, only one, where I could copy a station very loud on one antenna and just detectable on the others. I also documented that as I progressed to the higher antennas the noise floor increased and if there was line noise present, it increased also. You may be concerned why someone 25 miles away is copying a station and you can’t, and immediately want to move your antenna – HOLD YOUR HORSES! Over the years K5EJ, K5UR, and I have compared real time notes since we are approximately 25 miles from each other in different directions. There have been many, many times when they could hear a station and I couldn’t, or vice versa, even when I selected an antenna at the same height as theirs. Remember – you must understand six-meter propagation!!!!! In a situation such as this, standby as you will most likely begin to hear the station in short time. If your antenna is constructed and functioning properly, it’s not your antenna; it’s the nature of 6-meter propagation.

If you are in the process of erecting a six-meter antenna and want to select the best height, then the approximate 50 ft level is a good height but again, don’t run out there and climb the tower to move the antenna if your buddy down the road is copying a station and you’re not!!! Place your antenna at the best and safest height possible and remember, higher is NOT necessarily better…….a debunked amateur radio myth!

Another factor to consider regarding antenna height is the arrival angle of the incoming wave. During my evaluation period I created a model of the 6M7JHV in EZNEC and ran a simulation at the various heights. The far field plots are attached. The antenna gain at the different heights is relatively the same but as you can see from the plots the higher the antenna the more forward lobes and nulls you have. If the arrival angle of the incoming wave happens to fall within one of the nulls, you can assess from the plots the signal could be significantly attenuated.

Some of you have been very surprised to learn the 6-meter antenna I have used for everything the past year is my 4x7 LFA EME array. The center of the array is at 27 ft. Now, with four antennas I have considerably more gain over a single Yagi but if height were a factor it wouldn’t matter. Before I exclusively started using the EME array I compared it to my M2 6M9KHW big 9-element antennas on a 50 ft boom. These are amazing antennas at the top of the performance list. I have one at 110 ft on a rotor, one below and 85 ft fixed at 45 degrees toward Europe, and another at 60 ft fixed toward JA. The top two can be phased together toward Europe. I assessed the EME array performed as well terrestrially, and on occasion better, as the 6M9KHW’s and therefore stopped using the 6M9’s. In fact, they are coming down and will be sold as soon as time permits. This is a GREAT single yagi EME antenna if you want to purchase one of them!! 😊

So the bottom line in all of this is the antenna is but one factor in a very long list of what affects your ability to receive a station on the 50 MHz band. Your situation may warrant a new or revised antenna system but before you invest the time and money to do so, please consider ALL of the other variables involved in this wonderfully “magic” band.

73 Joel W5ZN / ZF2ZN

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