Another dumb one

[Wingkeel]

Hi again everyone,

     The reason I was asking about the 6-meter stuff was that the HF bands
are in about the same shape as my dog...he dies two years ago.  With the
exception of 1-hour in the evening and two hours in the morning, the bands are pretty
useless...and we still have YEARS to go before it improves.  

I overheard some people talking at the Ham Fest here in Colorado and they
were saying that 6-meters is really hopping for CW-DX during the daytime hours.  
One guy said he's averaging over 25 contact in a two hours period...WOW!  If
he's right, I've gotta get me one of these...

                                            73 de Terry   KC0QZX
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[Ron D'Eau Claire-2]

First, I rather enjoy the HF bands during the sunspot minimum. I've been
operating through several of them since the 1950's and I can say from
experience that the HF bands are far from "useless" during the minimums
unless you demand the ability to bust a DX pileup with QRP at any hour of
the day or night. As the sunspots drop in level, the lower frequency bands
(40/80/160) become the more commonly-used bands for skip propagation. That's
because the MUF - the frequency above which you won't get any skip
propagation - often drops below 14 MHz and sometimes even drops below 7 MHz.
Forty meters has something going on at almost any time, day or night,
sunspot high or low. That's why it's so popular. I like 20. Sometimes it's
d-e-a-d, but more often than not I'll find some odd propagation working.
More than once I've tuned across a "dead" 20 meter CW band and called CQ and
gotten a reply from someone half way around the earth who says that my
signal was the only one he could hear! It sometimes leads to an enjoyable
"rag chew" with a DX station.

Messing around near the MUF produces very surprising and interesting
results, although it also means the propagation conditions are anything but
predictable!

During the sunspot maxima six meters can experience the same sort of "skip"
conditions the lower bands do when the solar activity pushes the MUF up
above 50 MHz from time to time. But now that is a rare occasion and six
meter propagation is by other means more like the other VHF bands.

As for your questions about the K2 tuning and transverters, the K2 frequency
display does not indicate the actual frequency the K2 is receiving (or
transmitting). It only displays the frequency the control circuits want the
K2 to use based on data stored in memory when your ran CAL PLL. If you tune
too far you'll exceed the tuning range of the K2 and it won't go any
farther. The dial will continue to increment, however.

A transverter is a contraction for "transmitting converter". When you are
receiving, it converts the VHF band signals down to an HF band for the K2 to
receive. VHF bands require a different "front end" design than the HF bands.
VHF frequencies have lower background QRN levels and so need a "quieter"
first stage in the receiver. The transverter provides that, producing
superior performance compared to simply adjusting an HF rig to tune the
higher frequencies.

The Elecraft units use the 10 meter band. So while you're listening to a VHF
band through the transverter connected to your K2, you're actually hearing
the signals coming out of the transverter on 10 meters. The logic circuits
in the K2 convert the dial reading so you read the VHF frequency directly.

When you transmit, the K2 puts out transmit RF on 10 meters and the
transverter converts it up to the VHF frequency. Only a small amount of RF
is needed from the K2. The final RF power output is produced by an RF
amplifier in the transverter.  The Elecraft transverters are designed to
produce 20 watts output, CW or SSB. That's enough for most general purpose
work, even chasing DX with the proper antenna system. Just keep in mind that
the propagation of radio waves is drastically different at VHF and often
requires different operating techniques than you'd use on HF.

Ron AC7AC

-----Original Message-----



Hi again everyone,

     The reason I was asking about the 6-meter stuff was that the HF bands
are in about the same shape as my dog...he dies two years ago.  With the
exception of 1-hour in the evening and two hours in the morning, the bands
are pretty
useless...and we still have YEARS to go before it improves.  

I overheard some people talking at the Ham Fest here in Colorado and they
were saying that 6-meters is really hopping for CW-DX during the daytime
hours.  
One guy said he's averaging over 25 contact in a two hours period...WOW!  If

he's right, I've gotta get me one of these...

                                            73 de Terry   KC0QZX


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