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OT - 6 meter DX activity in sunspot low

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Gary Smith-2

OT - 6 meter DX activity in sunspot low

I've made exactly five 6M contacts in the last 36 years, all of them
a couple months ago during Field Day with my K3s. It piqued my
interest as I have DXCC from 160 through 10 & this would offer a new
challenge.

I discovered DXEngineering has a 3 element, 6M add on that attaches
to a tribander and gives decent gain. Considering my tribander is
roof mounted on a ranch, I won't have a great antenna for 6 no matter
how I slice it. Still, if there is something worthwhile I can do with
6M, I should.

So my question is for those who have operated 6M for years and know
how the band works during the lows of the sunspot cycle; is it like
17 & up where any DX openings are unobtanium, or does 6M behave
differently at sunspot lows and DX openings are common?

Thanks & 73,

Gary
KA1J
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stengrevics

Re: OT - 6 meter DX activity in sunspot low

I got back into the hobby 2 1/2 months ago. I have been on 6 meters almost exclusively during that time, running my K3S at 95 watts to a 6 element quad at 40 feet. During this time, the band has been open to somewhere practically every day. In this time, I have worked 40 states and 26 countries. The QTH is in fn42.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Aug 22, 2016, at 9:32 AM, Gary Smith <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> I've made exactly five 6M contacts in the last 36 years, all of them
> a couple months ago during Field Day with my K3s. It piqued my
> interest as I have DXCC from 160 through 10 & this would offer a new
> challenge.
>
> I discovered DXEngineering has a 3 element, 6M add on that attaches
> to a tribander and gives decent gain. Considering my tribander is
> roof mounted on a ranch, I won't have a great antenna for 6 no matter
> how I slice it. Still, if there is something worthwhile I can do with
> 6M, I should.
>
> So my question is for those who have operated 6M for years and know
> how the band works during the lows of the sunspot cycle; is it like
> 17 & up where any DX openings are unobtanium, or does 6M behave
> differently at sunspot lows and DX openings are common?
>
> Thanks & 73,
>
> Gary
> KA1J
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to [hidden email]

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Jim Brown-10

Re: OT - 6 meter DX activity in sunspot low

In reply to this post by Gary Smith-2

Hi Gary,

I've worked 6M off and on since 1957 (the off and on part corresponds
mostly with times I wasn't on the air at all). The only time that the
sunspot cycle had much to do with 6M activity was during that monster
sunspot cycle around '57-'58, when from WV we worked ZS in the morning,
then W6, then KH6, then JA. Openings were almost every day and like
clockwork. And our rigs in those days were typically a 2E26 (25W) or
6146 (50W) AM. I was one of the few then who worked CW -- most of the
guys had Tech licenses.

99% of the activity on 6M results from sporadic-E skip, which is most
often present during the summer months. Your part of the country (the
NE) seems to have the greatest activity, with fairly frequent openings
to EU, the Caribbean, and the eastern 2/3 of the US. Each E-skip hop is
good for roughly 400 - 1,000 miles, and the areas we can work are
typically a few hundred miles in diameter, and depend on the size and
location of the ionized section of the E-layer. But on rare occasions,
multiple ionized sections of the E-layer happen that can support
multiple hops, which is how we make transcontinental and
intercontinental QSOs. These multi-hop openings happen perhaps a few
dozen times a year from the west coast to the east coast; they tend to
be fairly brief (a half hour to an hour), and they're almost always
"spotlight" propagation, where I'll work 3-4 guys in the same grid, then
the path either dies or moves.

CW is by far the best way to work these openings, first because of the
advantage of CW over SSB, and a lot better than modes like JT65 because
a good CW op can finish a QSO in 30 seconds, where JT65 takes 5-7
minutes. I've lost a lot of JT65 double-hop QSOs because the band
shifted before we could finish. K1JT has been working on adding
"faster"modes to his WSJT suite to address this issue.

E-skip conditions peak around the summer solstice -- we typically start
to see openings in May and they continue through August, but strength,
frequency, and duration decay either side of that peak. There are also a
few openings around the winter solstice (i.e.,Christmas). With strong
double-hop openings, 6M can sound like 40M or 20M.

My primary 6M antenna is a 3-el SteppIR with the added fixed element
that makes it a 4-el Yagi. With that setup, a K3, P3, and KPA500, I've
worked about 350 grids, 344 confirmed. Before the SteppIR, I loaded high
80/40 fan dipoles with a barefoot IC746 and in the course of two
seasons, made a few dozen double-hop Qs to the east coast and KH6. A
3-el Yagi will do a lot on 6M. In Chicago, I had a lot of fun with a
stacked pair of omni loops at about 40 ft.

There are other propagation modes that can be a lot of fun on 6M. I'd
estimate that 30-40 of those 350 grids were worked via meteor scatter or
tropo openings, and a dozen or so into South America and Oceania via
trans-equatorial propagation. In Canada and the northern parts of the
US, aurora propagation can be good too. I first worked AU from WV, then
from Chicago, and made QSOs as far S as TN. Here in Santa Cruz, about 70
miles S of San Francisco, I'm too far south to hear it. The only way to
work AU is CW.

73, Jim K9YC

On Mon,8/22/2016 9:32 AM, Gary Smith wrote:
> So my question is for those who have operated 6M for years and know
> how the band works during the lows of the sunspot cycle; is it like
> 17 & up where any DX openings are unobtanium, or does 6M behave
> differently at sunspot lows and DX openings are common?

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Jim - N4ST

Re: OT - 6 meter DX activity in sunspot low

In reply to this post by Gary Smith-2

I have only had a 6M capable rig for a few years, so I have not been through
a sunspot low on 6M.
Started out working 6M with my 20M dipole and was so encouraged that I put
up a 3-el Yagi on my deck at about 15 feet with "arm strong" rotator.
I primarily operate during the E Skip season, approximately from May 1st
through Aug 1st, but have also made a couple dozen meteor scatter QSOs.
Anyway, with a fairly low effort and marginal setup (except for the K3S of
course), I have worked 10 countries, 40 states and 125 grid squares.
6M is known as the "magic band" because it can open magically and contacts
across the continent can suddenly appear as 59 and be gone a few minutes
later.
And you can work meteor scatter with 100 watts and 3 elements regardless of
sunspot count. You just have to be willing to get up in the morning when
the meteors are at maximum whiz.
__________
73,
Jim - N4ST

-----Original Message-----
From: Elecraft [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Gary
Smith
Sent: Monday, August 22, 2016 12:33
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [Elecraft] OT - 6 meter DX activity in sunspot low

I've made exactly five 6M contacts in the last 36 years, all of them a
couple months ago during Field Day with my K3s. It piqued my interest as I
have DXCC from 160 through 10 & this would offer a new challenge.

I discovered DXEngineering has a 3 element, 6M add on that attaches to a
tribander and gives decent gain. Considering my tribander is roof mounted on
a ranch, I won't have a great antenna for 6 no matter how I slice it. Still,
if there is something worthwhile I can do with 6M, I should.

So my question is for those who have operated 6M for years and know how the
band works during the lows of the sunspot cycle; is it like
17 & up where any DX openings are unobtanium, or does 6M behave differently
at sunspot lows and DX openings are common?

Thanks & 73,

Gary
KA1J
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Gary Smith-2

Re: OT - 6 meter DX activity in sunspot low

In reply to this post by Jim Brown-10

Hi folks, thanks for the replies, especially Jim with that very
informative (as usual) answer. I guess the answer is I should put up
an antenna for 160 as it does have unique characteristics as does
160, where it doesn't follow the usual HF predictions for low sunspot
#'s.

With that, I'll order the add on kit for a 3 element 6M Yagi. I don't
have any 6M antennae at the moment, I used my trusty 160M sloper for
those 6M contacts during FD. I've looked at the spot log in LOgic9
which shows all my needed spots and every time I switch to it,
there's nothing but noise so I do need to have a decent antenna.

When I relocate I can look for a better antenna, maybe 6 or more
elements, and get an amp that hits 6M (my old Alpha does not have 6M
anywhere in it...) but till then, it looks like the 3 element add on
kit is my best choice.

Thank you for the replies.

73,

Gary
KA1J
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EUGENE GABRY

Re: OT - 6 meter DX activity in sunspot low

In reply to this post by Gary Smith-2

Gary,

Here is a good read on 6 meter and VHF propagation in general. http://www.uksmg.org/content/sporade.htm

Jim, K9YC, has given you some very good info already. I have been active on 6 meters for probably the last 20 years, and have not seen any drastic differences in propagation on 6 between sunspot highs and lows. Although the "prime" sporadic E time frame historically is spring and summer months, I have actually worked western EU in December on a couple of occasions. As I remember, that happened during this sunspot high during the first peak.
My biggest antenna has been a 3 element at about 40'. I will admit, there was propagation in the past, during the first sunspot peak of this cycle, to JA land that guys around me in the Midwest were working that I could not even hear. Long boom antennas up high with power!

As Jim mentioned, you are closer to the action from the east coast to EU. I saw many posts a few weeks ago of EU action on 6 meters from the NE states. Did not hear most of those signals here in the Chicago area.

Put up a 3 element and give it a try!

73 Gene N9TF

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

From: "Gary Smith" <[hidden email]>
To: "elecraft" <[hidden email]>
Sent: Monday, August 22, 2016 11:32:42 AM
Subject: [Elecraft] OT - 6 meter DX activity in sunspot low

I've made exactly five 6M contacts in the last 36 years, all of them
a couple months ago during Field Day with my K3s. It piqued my
interest as I have DXCC from 160 through 10 & this would offer a new
challenge.

I discovered DXEngineering has a 3 element, 6M add on that attaches
to a tribander and gives decent gain. Considering my tribander is
roof mounted on a ranch, I won't have a great antenna for 6 no matter
how I slice it. Still, if there is something worthwhile I can do with
6M, I should.

So my question is for those who have operated 6M for years and know
how the band works during the lows of the sunspot cycle; is it like
17 & up where any DX openings are unobtanium, or does 6M behave
differently at sunspot lows and DX openings are common?

Thanks & 73,

Gary
KA1J
______________________________________________________________
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Josh Fiden

Re: OT - 6 meter DX activity in sunspot low

In reply to this post by Gary Smith-2

This site shows 6m spots on a map in real time:
http://www.dxmaps.com/spots/map.php

Listen/watch for beacons 50.060-50.080.

73,
Josh W6XU
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k1htv

Re: OT - 6 meter DX activity in sunspot low

In reply to this post by Gary Smith-2

Gary,

The solar sunspot cycle, primarily effects F2 and TEP propagation on 6 Meters. A low sunspot number should have no effect on the E-skip (Es) propagation that occurs primarily during the summer months and secondarily during a minor Es peak during winter. I wouldn't worry too much about a 3 element add on 6M yagi mounted on your ranch. If you can get it up around 30 feet you should do very well during the upcoming Es seasons, especially if you live up in New England. After retiring from VOA and moving from our MD QTH to VA, for 3 years I ran a barefoot K3 to a porch mounted yagi. The yagi was 20 ft above the ground. During the years between 2009 and 2012 I worked 65 countries on 6 Meters. Those were very good Es years for summer 50 MHz DXing. Since then the summer Es propagation, while producing plenty of 6M DX, has been poorer for my area than the period I mentioned.

The one thing you can expect as we approach the solar minimum is that each summer there will be plenty of Es openings and DX, at least for the northeastern U.S. where you live. The folks in the Mid-West and left coast won't get anywhere near the amount of DX, but they will have their good days when the MAGIC BAND does its magic. The thing you need to remember about DXing on 6 Meters is that you must be constantly aware of what is happening on the band or you will miss the DX openings. Remember, you snooze, you loose. You can keep in tune as to what is happening on 6 Meters by going to DXMAPS.COM and the ON4KST 50 MHz Region 2 chat page. The later requires that you register (free) before you can use it.

Remember, that there is much more than Es SSB and QSos on the band. Many folks are using the digital modes (JT65A, FSK441, etc.) to make QSOs even when there is no Es propagation. Have fun on the Magic Band.

73,
Rich - K1HTV
www.qrz.com/db/K1HTV

= = =

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