[Elecraft] Advice on 6 meters...

[WILLIS COOKE]

Jack, your idea of lots of CW and mine differ quite a bit.  If your CW is concentrated in the top 3 Khz of the CW band and you willingly give up most of the band to beacons and don't even miss the bandwidth you are not my kind of CW affecionado.  I do at least venture down to 50.090 for my CQs and much to my surprise I sometimes get an answer.  I made it my goal to get some activity for the Straight Key Century Club anniversary celebration this January and I was able to make 3 contacts during the month on 6 meters and one non "SKCC contact.  But I  only have a 21 meter high tower and beam and a KW on 6 meters.  If five contacts in a month in only two states, all ground wave is not very little, we have a definition problem.  In comparison I made 452 CW QSOs on all bands and 90 on 160 meters.
 
Willis 'Cookie' Cooke, TDXS DX Chairman
K5EWJ & Trustee N5BPS, USS Cavalla, USS Stewart


________________________________
 From: Jack <vhfplus at gmail.com>
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net 
Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2014 12:58 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Advice on 6 meters...
 

Sorry, Willis, but the beacons are operated in a narrow range of 
frequencies well below the normal CW DX frequencies of 50.080-50.100MHz. 
From Ecuador I heard many beacons from South and Central America, the 
Caribbean and the US, and none of them were anywhere near my operating 
frequency of 50.097MHz. Roughly 2/3 of my QSOs were CW and the remainder 
SSB so the statement "there is very little CW" is absolutely untrue.

Jack, W6NF/VE4SNA

On 2/26/2014 10:45 AM, WILLIS COOKE wrote:
> Phil, 6 meters is vacant most of the time except for locals.  When it is good, it is mostly E skip with occasional F skip.  Some of us who have more than 200 countries on all bands except 160 and 6 like it for the challenge, but figure on a lot of tuning for an occasional opening.  There is very little CW, but there is some around 50.090 to 50.095.  Most of the CW band is clobbered by beacons when the band is open.  A large portion of the stations on 6 meters have Technician operators who do not do code often.  If you find yourself tuning 10 meters during the sun spot nulls, you will find 6 meters much like that during the sun spot peaks.  A four or five element beam will make 6 meters look like 10 with a dipole or a vertical when the band is open.  Most QSOs will not even exchange names, just grid codes and usually don't even bother with 59.  In spite of all this, I still like it and operate it some.  It is much more interesting to me than
>   RTTY or PSK and one of the few CW stations you hear there will be K5EWJ.  So if the lower bands bore you and Digital bores you even more, then maybe 6 meters is your game.
>  
> Willis 'Cookie' Cooke, TDXS DX Chairman
> K5EWJ & Trustee N5BPS, USS Cavalla, USS Stewart
>
>
> ________________________________
>   From: Phil Hystad <phystad at mac.com>
> To: elecraft <Elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2014 12:08 PM
> Subject: [Elecraft] Advice on 6 meters...
>  
>
> I have seen some comments recently about six meters and I have never operated six meters.  I don't really have a descent antenna for six meters, just my 80-meter (ladder line fed) dipole or my hex beam that I can at least tune to six meters.
>
> The band is always dead quiet with the small exception of some noise spikes here and there but very rare.
>
> Question:  is there any activity for six meters that I should invest in a nice multi-element 6 meter bean antenna?
>
> My most dominant operating mode would be CW but maybe some SSB from time to time.  I have no idea what's there as this band has always been blank to me.
>
> 73, phil, K7PEH
>
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