tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901205574058136834.post896325239650120234..comments2024-03-26T20:17:30.126-07:00Comments on Every Blade of Grass: 6 Meter SSB and FT8 Reportdrjimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647484115197408897noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901205574058136834.post-52937533066466144352020-06-17T11:51:25.861-07:002020-06-17T11:51:25.861-07:00I worked a few Canadians, several Kailifornians, a...I worked a few Canadians, several Kailifornians, a few Mexican stations, and a bunch in the Midwest. I had around 200 contacts total. Looking at the map, typical distance was 800~1100 miles, so I think it was "single hop", just like the books say. Some of the Super Stations out here were working JA's, and I think a (very) few contacts into Europe. <br /><br />I could see one side of a QSO where the station I could hear was working somebody who was "two hops" away from me, so there was probably more than just one Es cloud out there.<br /><br />There's a "Front Range 6 Meters" group on groups.io, and I've "met" a few people there who's antennas I've seen in the area.drjimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05647484115197408897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901205574058136834.post-73271285042214282572020-06-17T08:28:01.655-07:002020-06-17T08:28:01.655-07:00Your last few hours were like mine. Sunday aftern...Your last few hours were like mine. Sunday afternoon was more dead than Saturday. Saturday I could hear pretty much all of peninsula Florida. Sunday I heard my grid and sometimes the one to the west of us. <br /><br />I left the shack for a couple of hours and went back around 7:30 PM. It was wide open. Originally just the Northeast US grid squares (FN), New England and into Canada. As the evening went on, the opening moved farther west into the EN grids, then the "low number" EN grids, Minnesota then north and south Dakota, finally into DM and DN grids. Not as far as California, but SW Arizona and into Nevada (Western Nevada). I heard like four or five guys in Winnipeg. <br /><br />SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901205574058136834.post-7949367039007028522020-06-15T22:36:05.859-07:002020-06-15T22:36:05.859-07:00Yeah, it got pretty crowded the last 4 hours or so...Yeah, it got pretty crowded the last 4 hours or so. The band was still open after the contest, but activity dropped to about nothing.drjimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05647484115197408897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901205574058136834.post-11012431571094910132020-06-15T22:35:21.353-07:002020-06-15T22:35:21.353-07:00The band was open and shut at least twice that I s...The band was open and shut at least twice that I saw. The waterfall would be full of signals, then they'd <i>all</i> fade out in a 20 minute period.<br /><br />The last screenshot was taken a couple of hours before the contest ended, and the band was wide open.drjimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05647484115197408897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901205574058136834.post-33850640216093577872020-06-14T14:04:35.233-07:002020-06-14T14:04:35.233-07:00Looks like a busy set of channels there! :-)Looks like a busy set of channels there! :-)Old NFOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16404197287935017147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901205574058136834.post-39202000391144093172020-06-14T13:48:26.143-07:002020-06-14T13:48:26.143-07:00After my talking up the VHF contest this weekend, ...After my talking up the VHF contest this weekend, it has been mostly lame around here. In the couple of hours before the contest, I worked six western European countries, and while I usually get reciprocal signal levels out of FT8 that are higher than or equal to the numbers I receive the other guy, this time I got reports quite a bit lower. I suspect some of them had antennas like your local big gun. <br /><br />As the day wore on, it quickly died down to only Florida grids coming in. Today, it wasn't Europe but Canada - especially VE2 and 3. Some New England. A few minutes ago, it was all Florida grids coming in and fewer than yesterday. <br /><br />We still have a few hours to listen. <br /><br />SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901205574058136834.post-31960199946909458542020-06-13T16:57:15.390-07:002020-06-13T16:57:15.390-07:00Mag Loops are used more on HF than 6 Meters, which...Mag Loops are used more on HF than 6 Meters, which is VHF. Their primary advantage is that they pack a big bang for the amount of space they take up. A VHF-sized one would be rather small and might be harder to build, but I've never looked into using one.<br /><br />My dipole also has a null off the ends that I could probably use to "Put A Null On The Noise", but I'm limited in where I can site it in our lot.<br /><br />If I made a "rigid" dipole from tubing it would be easier to rotate, same as a mag loop, but then I'd need another support structure, and some way to be able to rotate it 180*.<br /><br />The guy with the stacked array lives on 7 or 8 acres, and has three other towers. I just grabbed the picture from his QRZ website.<br /><br />I worked him the other day with FT8, but have yet to meet him.drjimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05647484115197408897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901205574058136834.post-24489518989495708822020-06-13T15:57:49.451-07:002020-06-13T15:57:49.451-07:00drjim, have you ever considered using a magnetic ...drjim, have you ever considered using a magnetic loop? from my understanding, the null on either side of the loop would block a lot of the noise and interference from the sides and boost reception without going all “antenna farm(ish)” with that stacked array like your nearby ham person did with his array. Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967355941603195101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901205574058136834.post-6936298910840862082020-06-13T14:55:20.377-07:002020-06-13T14:55:20.377-07:00Yep, you can decode things you can't hear, and...Yep, you can decode things you can't hear, and can barely see on the waterfall.<br /><br />But yow, is it ever <i>DEAD</i> today. Maybe things will pick up later.<br /><br />From my limited experience with this, they signals on the digital waterfall display have to be quite strong before you can make contacts on SSB, so you can make contacts on a fairly "dead" band, and then when the signals are wall-to-wall on the digital frequencies you can switch to SSB and make contacts the Olde Skool way!drjimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05647484115197408897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901205574058136834.post-56345923934811617962020-06-13T14:27:49.560-07:002020-06-13T14:27:49.560-07:00That's pretty amazing with the new digital mod...That's pretty amazing with the new digital modes. I'm with you and am old school, preferring to do it the old weak signal way with SSB and CW. Congrats on getting on six meters again.CapnBobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13179687896011182116noreply@blogger.com