[Elecraft] 6 meters Newbie

[Augie "Gus" Hansen]

On 7/2/2010 7:01 AM, W8JH wrote:
> I have not had ANY luck on 6 meters with K3 # 1713.  I had been listening
> with my 80m horizontal loop, which my Palstar BT-1500 tunes to a flat SWR on
> 6m.

I also have a BT1500A, but do not use it on 6m because it is specified 
for 1.8-29.5 MHz. You're are trying to use it at nearly twice it's 
effective highest frequency. Getting a low loss match will be difficult 
if not impossible.

> Nothing heard over a full year.  Since I still couldn't hear anything I
> built a 6m dipole a couple days ago and still no luck.
>    

You might try turning the dipole into a vertical position and working 
some local 6m ops on 50.125MHz, which is the de facto calling frequency. 
If you're putting out any signal at all a few pleas for assistance with 
a radio check in your area will likely result in some helpful replies.

> Anything I could have screwed up on the rig to make 6m a dead band?  No
> problems noted on any other band.
>    

Have you verified that you have the correct antenna selected? Or is 
there a low-pass filter in line that is putting an 80 dB stopband above 
42 MHz or some other cutoff frequency below the 6m band?

By the way, 6m has been open quite often during this peak season, which 
typically runs May through July. In fact, right now (1527Z) the band is 
well open between Europe and eastern USA.

Regards,
Gus Hansen
KB0YH