[AK-VHF] RSVP: 6 Meter Antenna Test on Tuesday Evening

Wed May 6 00:57:22 EDT 2020

Hello group,

Well, the good news is that the antenna works. The bad news is I have a 
severe RFI issue that I'll have to track down. I have a broadband static 
in the background that was reading about an S5-7 on my radio the whole 
time.

Still, I was just able to make out Shannon's transmissions from up on 
the hillside. Tom came back with his 5-element beam and punched past the 
noise. If anyone has any tips for hunting noise on the 6 M band feel 
free to email me off-list. I'm familiar with using a handheld beam and 
attenuator to locate noise on higher bands where yagis can be handheld, 
but I'm going to have to come up with something different for the 6 M band.

On a good note, the CW beacon on 50.067 was coming in loud and clear, 
well above the noise. That bodes well for potentially running digital 
modes, even before the RFI issue is solved. Anyone care to try psk31 
tomorrow evening?

Brandon

On 5/5/20 12:59 PM, Edward R Cole wrote:
> Here's my log: http://www.kl7uw.com/6M-LOG.pdf 
> <http://www.kl7uw.com/6M-LOG.pdf>
> All done with 100w with a FT-847 and the 3-elem yagi at 20-foot in 
> Nikiski (the old house).
>
> E-mail attachments limited to 40kB so I had to approve your large 
> attachments.
>
> Ed
>
> At 10:51 AM 5/5/2020, Brandon Clark wrote:
>> Hi Ed,
>>
>> That's pretty cool about working as far as KY and TX with the 
>> antenna. That was from Nikiski? I used to have a homebrew 3-element 
>> beam for 6 M that I used when hilltop contesting back in California. 
>> It worked really well, and it's surprising how even adding a little 
>> directivity can go a long way.
>>
>> Will the email list allow attachments? I'm not sure if they will go 
>> through, but I attached screenshots of the 4NEC2 modeled performance. 
>> (If they don't go through, anyone who wants can email me off-list and 
>> I'll forward the images.)
>>
>> It has little to no response to vertical polarization, so these 
>> charts are for horizontal gain. I always include "average ground" in 
>> my models (more realistic and useful, in my opinion), so the pattern 
>> shows the expected peaks and nulls at different elevation angles. As 
>> I hoped though, using a V shape for the arms does give it some 
>> response off the side. A straight dipole would usually have an 
>> extremely deep null there, and generally require rotation capability. 
>> It isn't as omni-directional as a halo or squalo, but it has better 
>> SWR bandwidth, is MUCH simpler to build, and can be assembled for 
>> about $15.
>>
>> Initially I am going to mount it with the main lobes (most gain) 
>> oriented north-south. Anchorage will be easily covered no matter 
>> what, but with a roughly north-south orientation I should have some 
>> reach towards both Fairbanks and the peninsula. I'll no doubt make 
>> other refinements later on, but it should make for a decent start.
>>
>> Brandon
>>
>>
>> On 5/5/20 10:29 AM, Edward R Cole wrote:
>>> Brandon,
>>>
>>> Don't get me wrong, a simple horizontal dipole is good start and 
>>> useful for near omni-deirectional antenna in an urban setting.
>>>
>>> I worked many stations on Es as far as KY and TX with my simple 
>>> 3-element yagi.Â  It does not take up much space (mine has elements 
>>> spaced 32 inches so only a little more than 5-foot long.Â  I 
>>> converted a 72-MHz DB Products commercial antenna by just 
>>> lengthening the elements.
>>>
>>> Ed
>>> If I hear you I will transmit 80w (max power with my amp).Â I've 
>>> worked KL6M with it.
>>>
>>> At 09:46 AM 5/5/2020, Brandon Clark wrote:
>>>> Hello grou
>>>>
>>>> Good points about band openings. What I'm envisioning with this 
>>>> antenna is to just get a start on the band, and use it for the 
>>>> digital net coming soon. Later on I'll probably be setting up 
>>>> something more substantial for working band openings. I need to 
>>>> come up with a design that is reasonably compact though. Fun 
>>>> project for another day!
>>>>
>>>> I'm going to go on-air tonight at about 8 PM local time and do some 
>>>> testing. I'll be operating on 50.125 USB. I'll start out with about 
>>>> 20 watts and then adjust up or down as needed.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks everyone,
>>>>
>>>> Brandon
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 5/5/20 8:21 AM, Edward R Cole wrote:
>>>>> HI Guys!
>>>>>
>>>>> At your distance probably not that bad.Ã‚Â  I've noted that 
>>>>> crosspolarity adds about 15-dB loss to signals (not the 20+ dB 
>>>>> theoretical loss).Ã‚Â  On occasion in the past my eme array was 
>>>>> switched to Hpol on the 2m net and some folks noted I was not as 
>>>>> strong.Ã‚Â  Fixed by switching to Vpol with my x-yagiÃ‚ array.
>>>>>
>>>>> IÃ‚Â  might listen in with my 3-element yagi (thought bolted to 
>>>>> side of the tower in SE direction).
>>>>>
>>>>> On 6m CW/SSB (and probably digital modes, too) all activity is 
>>>>> horizontal polarity in the rest of the world.Ã‚Â  Might make a 
>>>>> difference working into the lower-48 and Canada during openings 
>>>>> (May-July) is the sporatic-E season (already openings have 
>>>>> occurred farther south: Montana to South America).
>>>>>
>>>>> One really should think of at least a small yagi using Hpol to 
>>>>> take best advantage of these openings.Ã‚Â  Monitor 50.125 for SSB, 
>>>>> 50.313 for FT8 or 50.193 for WSPR pointing azimuth 125 degrees. On 
>>>>> our long RV trip in summer 2018 I worked 26-states on 6m-SSB from 
>>>>> CO (DN70) on one day during the CQ VHF Contest in July using a 
>>>>> moxon at 14-foot (mast bolted to RV ladder).
>>>>>
>>>>> GL
>>>>>
>>>>> 73, Ed - KL7UW
>>>>>
>>>>> At 07:04 AM 5/5/2020, you wrote:
>>>>>> Hi Craig,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Sure, 8 PM sounds good to me. We might have trouble hearing each 
>>>>>> other
>>>>>> though since yu are running vertical polarization. It never hurts 
>>>>>> to try
>>>>>> though.
>>>>>> Brandon
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Mon, May 4, 2020, 21:56 Ruthann Bledsoe 
>>>>>> <ruthann.bledsoe at alaskaair.com>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> > HI Brandon >>>
>>>>>> >
>>>>>> >Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚Â  Sure - Tomorrow (Tuesday) night is fine.Ã‚Â  No 
>>>>>> online conferences or
>>>>>> > Nets on my agenda (now that the Simplex Net has moved to 
>>>>>> Wednesday) as far
>>>>>> > as I know right now.Ã‚Â  How about 8 PM ADT?Ã‚Â  My Hamfest 
>>>>>> scavenged Arrow 6M
>>>>>> > ground plane is up and running, but not yet permanently hooked 
>>>>>> up to the
>>>>>> > console inside.Ã‚Â  Therefore I can work 6M FM with 5 watts 
>>>>>> from my HT just
>>>>>> > fine, plus I can receive SSB or CW with a different handheld at 
>>>>>> the bottom
>>>>>> > of the band as well.Ã‚Â  Does this work for you?
>>>>>> >
>>>>>> >Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚Â  Hope to hear you soon.
>>>>>> >
>>>>>> >Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ 
>>>>>> Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ 
>>>>>> Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚Â  73,
>>>>>> >
>>>>>> >
>>>>>> > Craig
>>>>>> >
>>>>>> > ________________________________________
>>>>>> > From: ak-vhf-bounces at mailman.qth.net 
>>>>>> <ak-vhf-bounces at mailman.qth.net> on
>>>>>> > behalf of Brandon Clark <kl7bsc at gmail.com>
>>>>>> > Sent: Monday, May 4, 2020 19:11
>>>>>> > To: AK VHF+ Group
>>>>>> > Subject: [AK-VHF] 6 M antenna testing
>>>>>> >
>>>>>> > Hello group,
>>>>>> >
>>>>>> > Is anyone up for a 6 M QSO tomorrow? I have finished building 
>>>>>> the new 6 M
>>>>>> > dipole that I have been talking about, and will be mounting it 
>>>>>> on the roof
>>>>>> > tomorrow morning. If anyone is available for a test or two that 
>>>>>> would be
>>>>>> > great.
>>>>>> >
>>>>>> > The antenna tunes the lower 2 MHz of the 6 M band as-is. The 
>>>>>> SWR curve is
>>>>>> > very gradual, so with a tuner it can be made to cover the upper 
>>>>>> half of the
>>>>>> > band as well.
>>>>>> >
>>>>>> > Brandon, KL7BSC
>>>>>> > ______________________________________________________________
>>>>>> >
>>>>>> >
>>>>>> ______________________________________________________________
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>>>>>
>>>>> 73, Ed - KL7UW
>>>>> Ã‚Â http://www.kl7uw.com <http://www.kl7uw.com/>
>>>>> Dubus-NA Business mail:
>>>>> Ã‚Â dubususa at gmail.com
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>>>
>>> 73, Ed - KL7UW
>>> Â http://www.kl7uw.com <http://www.kl7uw.com/>
>>> Dubus-NA Business mail:
>>> Â  dubususa at gmail.com
>>
>>
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>
> 73, Ed - KL7UW
> http://www.kl7uw.com
> <http://www.kl7uw.com/>Dubus-NA Business mail:
>   dubususa at gmail.com
>