Hi, everyone,
6m has been my favorite band for the last 21 years or
so. You will do much better with a beam than anything
else. There is 6m activity on a "dead" band but you
will only hear it if you have a good antenna,
horizontally polarized, as high up as you can make it.
Yes, I've worked DX with a wire antenna. I've even
had a few amazing contacts with an old Icom IC-502
sitting on a hotel room table years ago. Those are
the exceptions, not the rule.
A minimal antenna for 6m would be an omni loop (i.e.:
KU4AB, Par OmniAngle, etc...) up as high as you can
manage it. That has no gain over a dipole but it
isn't directional. A dipole has nulls in two
directions. What if the only direction 6m is open in
is one of those? This is the reason many active 6m
ops have both a beam and a loop. The loop lets them
know the band is open and lets them know which way to
point the beam :) It is also good for local ragchews
when the band is dead. "Local" can mean 300+ miles
around.
The top three keys to success on 6m are:
1. antenna
2. antenna
3. antenna
Yes, height matters as does the quality of the
receiver. Power can matter too, but less than any of
the other factors. Es openings in particular are
characterized by strong signals and stations running
QRP suddenly are 59+. Power really helps most under
"dead" band conditions and marginal band conditions.
Again, please note that "dead" is in quote because in
many parts of the country (especially the southeast)
there is always some activity.
Can a 40m loop work? If the band is wide open, sure,
almost anything works. Beyond that you really do need
a dedicated antenna.
73,
Caity
K7VO
Caitlyn M. Martin - K7VO
http://www.mizuhoradio.com/personal/k7vo
Blog: http://k7vo.blogspot.com
ARRL QRP-ARCI #11018 ARS #445 G-QRP #11577 AK QRP #637
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