[SixClub] New to Six Meters
Steve Katz
stevek at jmr.com
Tue Jan 18 16:22:25 EST 2005
Surely, Richard.
For those just adding 6m as "another band" to their operating arsenal,
starting out small and seeing how it goes might work very well. For those
focusing on 6m as a primary band to operate, starting out with extremely
modest antennas is a good way to get so bored that one begins thinking about
changing hobbies.
Of course, taking a modest station on the road and mountaintopping will
often yield better results than most of us could ever do from home, and
that's another good approach for those having the time and energy to pursue
it.
Case in point: I was very active on six meters for several years from back
in NJ, but up until 1979 had never worked Japan from there. I had a lot of
European countries, Caribbean, South America, KH6, KL7 etc., but no JAs in
13 years on the band. That was frustrating. So, I took a little trip and
flew out to Los Angeles, borrowed a mobile station and drove up to Mt. Pinos
(elevation 8831', overlooking the Pacific Ocean) on afternoon in late
November '79. Fired up, found a JA opening, and proceeded not not only work
Japan, but made over 200 contacts in 3 hours, all JAs. Nobody "down below"
(in the populated valleys of southern and central cA) heard anything except
my end of all those contacts. Although no American station had ever
achieved AJD (worked all Japan districts) on 50 MHz before that date, I
completed the task in one afternoon, and submitted the QSLs to receive the
award a few months later.
I used 1kW output (pair of 3-500Zs) and a Drake TR-6, with a 5L beam on an
18' boom up 40' above ground on the mountaintop. 100% "mobile,"
self-contained (with Honda 4kW generator) station, borrowed at the last
moment from N6NB.
When the cards started rolling in a few weeks later, I noted 90%+ of the JA
stations were running 10 Watts. That's why nobody down below my elevation
in CA heard any of them. It took the mountain, and the beam, in addition to
fine conditions, to make it happen.
Meanwhile, I could hear the snickering amongst the locals (in between my JA
run), that I was talking to myself for three hours and nobody was really
there. Funny how that happens.
To help prevent "I tried the band for a year, and nobody's on, so I sold the
gear and gave up!" blues amongst our brethren hams, I try to encourage
people's success by telling them the antenna is *the* place to invest time,
labor and money. It pays off, and those who follow suit often become
lifelong VHF enthusiasts. Those who don't, usually don't -- and many,
sadly, just give up.
73,
Steve WB2WIK/6
-----Original Message-----
From: RICHARD BOYD [mailto:ke3q at msn.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 11:49 AM
To: World Wide Six Meter Club
Subject: Re: [SixClub] New to Six Meters
Very good, Steve. We understand each other then. I am certainly one who
believes in big antennas and many of them! (I currently have 3,000' of
tower, have another 10,000' of tower coming soon, hope to put up a couple
thousand feet of it, with multiple antennas and stacks on all the HF bands,
and some serious VHF and UHF stuff too!)
The flip side is that this guy is asking what he "needs." To me, "need" is
a very strong word. And there is a tendency for a lot of people to tell a
new guy he needs bigger and better stuff. I appreciate that that's nice to
have, but I hate to discourage beginners by telling them they need bigger
stuff; it's better to get on with whatever you have, the point I tried to
make about my low 6M dipole. I could still work stuff; it worked pretty
well. As good as a yagi? No, except that it was relatively
omnidirectional, which has advantages. So, if the new guy needs a yagi, he
also needs a rotator, most people will tell him that on a vent pipe on a low
roof isn't high enough, etc., so he's going to get the impression he needs a
tower that's at least X height, etc.
A couple engineers I know who are well known hams would typically and
predictably come back to the original poster with, "It totally depends on
what you want to do with it." I tried to touch on that point. It depends.
I could have gotten more detailed. Taking your message as a takeoff point,
for example, I could have said, "If you want to talk to your buddy a few
miles away, if you want to maybe work DX a few days a year when the band is
open, the vertical will be okay. If you want to work stuff out to a few
hundred miles every day of the year (trying to very briefly summarize what
you said I think), then you need more.
Though HF is my main thing and my experience on VHF is more limited, my own
"thing" on 6M, for instance, is not to work New York every day, but to get
on when there's a good opening happening. That is what 6M is for me and I
suspect for many others. It's the openings that are fun, and at those times
even the most basic antennas can work. Not as well as something big, but
they're adequate.
Now, if this guy had asked the question differently, like, "I have $1,000 to
spend for antennas for 6M; what should I get?" that's a different question.
Then I think I would have said a C7I yagi, a reliable rotator, and a 50'
tower, something like that.
Anyway, it sounds like we're in agreement but we've made different points,
we have different emphases.
Mine: Depends on what you want to do. If you have simple wants the
vertical will be fine. Getting on with what you have is better than not
getting on because you can't afford or can't get around to getting something
better.
Yours: The yagi will allow you to do more every day rather than wait for 25
days of openings per year.
73 - Rich KE3Q
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Katz" <stevek at jmr.com>
To: "'World Wide Six Meter Club'" <sixclub at mailman.qth.net>; "'Mike (KA5CVH)
Urich'" <ka5cvh at gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 2:30 PM
Subject: RE: [SixClub] New to Six Meters
> Hi Rich,
>
> My comments weren't aimed at you, they were in response to the original
> post
> about 6m antennas, and for general delivery for list members.
>
> No problem with what you posted, at all -- although I always "encourage"
> people to put all their marbles in the antenna basket, ahead of any other
> investments in six meters or weak signal VHF work in general, as the
> R.O.I.
> with antennas is by far higher than with any other station improvement any
> of us can make. I doubt anyone would disagree!
>
> 73
>
> Steve WB2WIK/6
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: RICHARD BOYD [mailto:ke3q at msn.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 11:20 AM
> To: World Wide Six Meter Club; 'Mike (KA5CVH) Urich'
> Subject: Re: [SixClub] New to Six Meters
>
>
> I stand by what I said. I see no contradiction. 73 - Rich, KE3Q
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steve Katz" <stevek at jmr.com>
> To: "'World Wide Six Meter Club'" <sixclub at mailman.qth.net>; "'Mike
> (KA5CVH)
>
> Urich'" <ka5cvh at gmail.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 1:30 PM
> Subject: RE: [SixClub] New to Six Meters
>
>
> > I've written this many times, but some missed it and for some I think it
> > just doesn't sink in. VHF is very different from HF. If you want to
> > make
> > contacts only when the "band's open" on six, you won't be busy very many
> > days a year. Having good antennas is mostly for the *OTHER* 340 days a
> > year, when the band is *not* open. Since most VHF-UHF contacts are
> > tropo
> > scatter, a mode that can propagate signals very long distances only when
> > larger antennas are used (or operating locations are greatly
> > advantageous,
> > like being on a mountaintop), every small antenna improvement can yield
> > large, noticeable improvements in working radius. Here's why "working
> > radius" is important:
> >
> > Say you have a 6m vertical and a 100W station and can usually work other
> > stations within a 50 mile radius. With 6m activity and population
> > density
> > as it is, that means you can regularly work 20 stations. Now, you
> > improve
> > to a horizontal rotary beam antenna and find you can usually work other
> > stations within a 200 mile radius (not an unusual change). Now, you've
> > just
> > improved your "coverage area" from 7854 square miles (50 mile radius) to
> > a
> > whopping 125,664 square miles (200 mile radius). Assuming population
> > density remains equal, and number of 6m operators per square mile
> > remains
> > equal, you've just increased how many stations you can regularly hear
> > and
> > work, from 20 to 320. Yes, twenty to three-hundred twenty. So, you've
> > multiplied the number of stations you can routinely contact by a factor
> > of
> > 16 to 1, simply by adding a small beam.
> >
> > This is *not* an unusual improvement, by any means. Remember, 90% of
> > all
> > stations you can contact on six meters *will* be "weak," fairly close to
> > the
> > noise level. That's the nature of VHF SSB-CW work, and what makes it
> > interesting and exciting in the first place. It doesn't matter what you
> > run, how big your antenna is, or where you're located, this fact
> > remains:
> > 90% of your contacts will be "weak." As you improve your station, your
> > antennas, your location, the QUANTITY of weak stations you can work will
> > increase dramatically, but 90% will still be weak -- there will just be
> > a
> > lot more of them.
> >
> > And geometry's a powerful thing. When you increase your working radius,
> > you
> > increase the number of stations you can contact by the square of the
> > radius.
> > A two to one increase in radius yields a four to one increase in the
> > population you can contact. A three to one increase in radius yields a
> > *nine* to one increase in the population you can contact. It's simple
> > math,
> > but easy to forget when you're considering antenna changes.
> >
> > I have a 7L 6m horizontal beam on a tower, and also a "Ringo" 6m
> > vertical
> > (1/2-wavelength, works well for FM-repeaters -- far better than the
> > horizontal beam, actually, since it has compatible polarity) on the roof
> > of
> > my home. If I tune around on six, on an average Sunday morning, turning
> > the
> > beam around listening for weak stations, I can usually hear 10-20
> > stations
> > on the band (no openings, no contests!). If I switch to the vertical,
> > that
> > quantity drops to maybe two or three stations. Big difference.
> >
> > 73 & good luck!
> >
> > Steve WB2WIK/6
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > 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.
> >
> >
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