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Six Meters

Riverman

Sr. Member
Nov 12, 2013
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I am considering putting up a 6 meter antenna and have read several articles about the "Magic Band" but am still not sure what to expect.

Will I go weeks at a time without hearing anything? Or is it a little less random than that?
Can anyone share their experiences?

Thanks!

Jim
 
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Will I go weeks at a time without hearing anything? Or is it a little less random than that?
Can anyone share their experiences?
You will go weeks at a time without hearing anything. I ran a decent six-meter setup for a while years ago. When the band opens you can work just about anywhere but it doesn't open up much. This being said I have heard that there have been some decent opening s lately.
 
It depends on the area, too. Some areas have local nets and/or round table sessions.
 
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I have been on 6 meters since 1994 & it is my Favorite Band.It is a great band when the conditions are good but not so much when they are not.It is a lot like 10 meters but opens far less.You get Two e seasons per year when you get some good propagation.I can remember when I worked the same bunch of guys every single day for months & months & working Europe was not difficult but the bottom of the cycle has been rough.I have not worked any stations in Europe in Two years now.I have a great setup here with my ICOM 7600 & the ICOM PW-1 amplifier feeding the M2 6M5X at 55 ft so anything I hear I work.I have worked 49 states & I have never heard anyone in Alaska so I have never worked it or I would have them all.I don't keep up with countries but I have worked New Zealand,Spain,Italy,Ireland,Germany,Canary Islands,New Caledonia,all over South America & Central America,South Pole,Africa,& many other great DX locations but they have been scattered over those many years of operating the band.If you are looking for regular openings year round then it's not the band for you but I just like it & listen there most of the time like right now.It's not for everyone but it's for me.Having an antenna such as the PAR OA-50 mounted at 50 ft or so would give you a good chance at working most anything that you can hear when the band opens up.You can buy those for just over $100 & you would be ready when the band opens.It is rated at 200 watts so not high power with it but 100 watts will get you heard.Hope that helps.

SIX-SHOOTER
 
Nets are for Fish & even JESUS said so. LOL

SIX-SHOOTER

And basketball. And soccer. And hockey. And hair. :)

Think I’ll pass on 6 meters. The driver of the patience truck never was able to find my house. ;)

Think my time will be better spent trying to talk you out of your Browning Mark III. :whistle:
 
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Well, here I go 6-meter Addiction here!:ROFLMAO:
LAST 48 hours... Central Indiana Location...
Ohio/ Tennesse /Missouri /Michigan / Minnesota / Colorada /Texas /Kentucky / Florida /Lousiana / Pennsylvania
I work 6 meters every morning +/- one hour before Sunrise during peak Meteor Scatter time. Not uncommon to work 4-7 states in the 100 -1000 miles range, but it takes effort and patience plus!
Last couple weeks you can add Nebraska / Arkansas / Canada VA2, VE9 and VE3 call areas on Winter E skip. I just received back a card from contacts a couple of weeks ago from Maine another from New Hampshire.
The band is OPEN far more than most op's give it credit for.
Ground wave conditions are pretty good in the range of up to 3-400 miles range at some time every day in the Sunrise to Sunset timeframe.
Ground wave in the 50 to 200-mile range almost constantly.
Yes presently the band is a little FLAT, but that does not mean there are not opportunities to work stations.
I have a modest set-up ... 6 elements on 25 ft boom @40 ft and a KW.
I, however, have worked a Mobile in Arkansas an op in Texas on an Attic 80-meter OCF.
Add several stations running Squalo's from as low as 20 ft.
One must be willing to watch the band, check the clusters and listen for beacons to know when the openings occur.
Rag chew or Voodo audio AIN'T going to cut it.
You need the sharp, crisp highs and midrange and narrowband audio no wider than 2.4 kc wide. Bassey audio is a waste of time for frequencies above 14 Mhz.
Hence I laugh at some trying to achieve this broadcast type, so-called loud audio and running a mile wide. :whistle::ROFLMAO:
That crowd is missing more DX than they are working:LOL:
I like Sixshooter have worked many in Europe, Africa, Every Country in South America and most in Central America. Islands in the Caribbean that you must blow the map 3 or 4x up to even know they exist.
Greenland, Iceland, etc..etc..
When I first got on 6 meters about 6-7 years ago, I had 100 watts and rotatable Dipole at 45 ft. that antenna worked Portugal /Canary Islands /the Azores /Madiera and Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa plus many S. America and Caribbean Islands plus all over the US and Canada during Summer Eskip.
Personally, I think a rotatable Horizontal Dipole is a better antenna than a squalo, but squalo's are easy and don't take much effort to make work.
I always stress to new ops, put in the effort first and the results will be reaped.
The op that wants a throw and go antenna system and never monitors the band, listens for beacons or never watches the cluster. Then Tunes across the band for 5 minutes, and never wants to call CQ more than twice...Yep, the band is dead.
Then 6 meters of radio fun you will miss out on!:(
All the Best
Gary
 

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