[SixClub] New to Six Meters

[RICHARD BOYD]

I'm jumping in at a late date on this discussion, haven't read all that's 
gone before.  Perhaps this 3-line quote from you is not the whole story.

I think the question is "good enough to use" for what?  Vertical antennas 
work amazingly well, even surprisingly well, some of the time at least, and 
in some situations.

It's a question of how big a signal you want to have, and that's at least in 
part relative to what sort of signals others have.  The larger an antenna 
you go to (more accurately, the more effective, the more gain and other 
factors, but let's say gain as the most obvious one -- and height above 
ground, how high the antenna will be) the greater your ability to get 
through when conditions don't quite favor you, when the band isn't quite 
open, or isn't all the way open, etc., and if you have one of the smaller 
stations or signals, you may have to wait for many, many others to get 
through to a DX station before you get through.  If you just want to talk to 
your buddy a few miles away, it doesn't take much.  If you want to work 
DXCC, get through on the first call to rare stations, etc. you might want to 
upgrade a little at a time, etc., which is what most of us have done.

As to 6M yagis, I have never bought one but have probably half a dozen, all 
from takedowns, giveaways, etc.  If you "have your ear to the ground," and 
over a period of years, you "often" hear, "Anyone want this?  It's free for 
the taking if you'll come get it."  In addition to the half a dozen 6M yagis 
I have, I've had a few others that have passed through my hands to others.

73 - Rich, KE3Q


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Katz" <stevek at jmr.com>
To: "'Mike (KA5CVH) Urich'" <ka5cvh at gmail.com>; "'World Wide Six Meter 
Club'" <sixclub at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 12:30 PM
Subject: RE: [SixClub] New to Six Meters


>
>
> That's where I could use some advice.  I won't be a contester, just a
> casual operater.  Is a vertical antenna of some sort good enough to
> use, or do I need a small beam antenna.
>
>
> ::I'd strongly recommend at least a small beam.  For one thing, most 6m
> contacts are tropo and maintain polarity; if you're vertically polarized,
> you'll be at a huge disadvantage working SSB because everybody uses
> horizontal polarization.  While a pair of stacked loops might provide 0 
> dBd
> gain (no gain over a dipole, but no loss either), even a little 4-5 
> element
> yagi can provide 9-10 dBd gain in its favored direction.  Since 90% of the
> signals worked on VHF SSB are "weak," that's a lot to give up if you don't
> have to.  I know if I put a 10 dB attenuator in my feedline on six meters,
> the quantity of stations I can hear drops by more than 50% -- and that's
> happened everywhere I've ever lived.  You just don't want to give it up,
> unless it's impossible to achieve in the first place.  (WB2WIK/6)
>
>
>
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