I have only been on 6M for the last few years. I have one yagi at 195' and
another at 65' (on two different towers), and often notice dramatic
differences between the two, with the relative signal strengths changing
rapidly even over a few minutes. I have been told I should have one antenna
at 25' or so, because both of mine are 'very high' for 6M.
I am not sure 6M DXCC (non EME) is a reasonable goal anymore. I don't think
I have ever experienced F2 propagation on 6M, and may not in this lifetime!
:)
My next project is to set up to do diversity reception with the two 6M
yagis.
73 John N5CQ
-----Original Message-----
From: TowerTalk [mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Jim
Brown
Sent: Sunday, July 31, 2016 3:45 AM
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] 6-meter antenna height
On Sat,7/30/2016 10:50 PM, Roger (K8RI) on TT wrote:
> Keeping in mind that the ideal height for HF is statistically derived,
> where is the point (frequency) where we should typically be switching
> over from the way we figure HF antenna height to the higher the better?
I've worked 6M since I was a kid -- I was in WV for the great 1957-58 solar
cycle when we worked South Africa in the morning, then W6, then KH6, and
then JA. For weeks at a time! It was all AM, and 50W was high power. I also
worked a lot of AU on 6 in those days all CW, of course.
I worked 6M again from Chicago in the '70s the'80s, and the '00s. 100W and a
pair of PAR loops at about 50 ft. I remember working a guy in Long Island
with an antenna in his basement, and he had a pretty good signal.
Before I had a SteppIR at 120 ft, I loaded high 80/40 fan dipoles on 6M and
made at least a couple of dozen double hop QSOs, including at least one KH6.
6M is primarily tropo and Sporadic-E, and sporadic is the key word. We don't
even know the mechanism that establishes a cloud in the E-layer, and I
strongly suspect that we want to hit that cloud at various angles depending
on how far away it is. But I'm only guessing. I've worked no AU from my CA
QTH -- I'm too far S. But I have worked some meteor scatter and tropo. My
guess is that higher is better for these modes, but again, I'm guessing.
Tropo, for example, includes ducting.
My QTH is looking into a ridge to the N, E, and SE that rises 200 - 600 ft
from my ground level, so higher is better. That SteppIR at 120 ft gives me a
horizon between about 12 and 15 degrees to all of NA. And it's looking into
a dense stand of redwoods in all directions. But I've still managed to work
352 grids and confirm 342 in ten seasons. This was a bad season, and it
still yielded 11 new grids.
73, Jim K9YC
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|