50mhz 6m

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MW0SWA
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50mhz 6m

Post by MW0SWA »

i have never transmitted nor heard anyone on this band.
whereabouts on the band do people usually converse with one another?
I am a bit crazy about the Realistic DX-394
2E1IIP

Re: 50mhz 6m

Post by 2E1IIP »

Well as a big 50Mhz fan I can confirm as far as local rag chewing goes there is not a great deal of activity, however outside of the Sporadic E DX season you will find some SSB activity between 50.120 and 50.200 and during the RSGB UKAC Contests it can get very busy.

I used to spend a great deal of time around 50.230 working Meteor Scatter stations all over Europe, this is a propagation mode that works 24/7 however it requires antennas, not white sticks or simple dipoles but beams, my current station is QRT just now but previously I had a homebrew 4 element LFA which bagged me lots of MS contacts, could work up and down the UK in flat band conditions a worked the east and West coast of the USA plus Canada this year during the Sporadic E season.

I still have my Yaesu and transverters, amplifiers antenna etc so will be back on air in the new year, portable this time however there are only two bands I use and focus on and that is 6M and 4M, so if you do want to get in to Six then a you will need at least a 3 element beam and a great deal of patients and willing to learn, plenty of folk on here use Six so don't be shy with the questions. :thumbup:

Cheers

Rob.
Samalex
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Re: 50mhz 6m

Post by Samalex »

What Rob said :)

if you have a antenna up try listening over the next 3 or so weeks usually get some winter E's around this time. I also monitor beacons and also spin the antenna north to catch the Auroral openings Great band and its getting more popular now that many radios have 6m as standard. You will be able to work all over with a yagi i started with a hb9cv then went 3 ele and now a 5 ele i have worked all over the world in the last 10 years. Even when its sounding dead put a call out and you might just work a new one the amount of times i have amazes me :)
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Re: 50mhz 6m

Post by DX-Digger »

I Love 6mtrs it is a DX Band you will not find many local ragchew nets thats for sure if you are looking for a long chat then use HF, Propagation can change very quickly.

Make sure you study the band plan as there are DX windows aimed at long distance transcontinental (i.e from Europe to North/South America)
If you hear a European station calling DX in that window he will NOT be looking for European contacts.
The guys on 6mtrs are big Dx chasers and will not answer you or if they do they will tell you to go away lol

Dont be put off though, obviously a beam and rotator is a big plus. But you can still work all over Europe with just a dipole and further if propagation exists.
The global beacon network is massive on 6mtrs you may think the band is dead then you come across an s9+ beacon.
Its a fun band You have to be willing to put the time in listening dont rely on the DXcluster as a lot of the 6Mtr guys dont post dx spots as it can be counter productive.
I am not one of the Big gun DX stations thats for sure.
I dont have a beam up and I run 5Watts QRP to a Delta loop all CW.
I try to work as many squares i can each year This year I worked 89 squares so far mostly Sp-E
So thats my target to beat in 2017.
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If you put the effort in you will work lots of stations
ʎɐqǝ uo pɹɐoqʎǝʞ ɐ ʎnq ı ǝɯıʇ ʇsɐן ǝɥʇ sı sıɥʇ
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Re: 50mhz 6m

Post by DaveP »

I got into 6m in 2015, rather late in the sperodic E season, using a simple horizontal dipole facing unfortunately North/South I worked 45 stations @ 1 DX into the USA. For the 2016 season I put up a loops&more 6m loop rather expensive but neat and compact, giving me a 360 degree take off. The loop has no gain and no loss so using the best low los coax I could afford - LMR 400 and my 50 watt allowance worked 190 stations during 2016. Ranging from Scotland through most of Europe, china, Israel and a number of Greek islands. 6m requires patience and perseverance and unless you have the room for a beam I can recommend a loop. Ok if your up against the so called big guns you may not get in. The E is also very fast at times, so by the time you have got the call sign and locator noted it has moved on. I have had some instances where a station less than a mile from me cant hear the same stations as me and vice versa, but most time we are both chasing the same station.
Don't give upon 6, give it a go even if on a dipole. The 2017 season should be starting in the next 2 to 3 weeks and I for one cant wait.

73s and good hunting on 6 Dave
Yeasu FT-897 wide banded, MD100 mic, Yeasu FT-857, Yeasu FT-8800r, Diamond X300 2/70, A pair of phased shunt type loops for 2/70. 6 meter shunt type loop, Windom 20m to 10m long wire, Antron 99s for 10 and 12 meters. As you can see Im a Yeasu Man and loopy to boot. :D
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