#Jt65 6m full

We are now at the bottom of the current sunspot cycle. On both bands my antennas are nothing special: a low end fed Par 3-band antenna on 28MHz and a V2000 vertical omni on 6m, fed with lossy RG58 coax in both cases. My main bands of interest are 28MHz (10m) and 50MHz (6m).

Determined to still enjoy the hobby, I turned to weak signal digital modes and what a revelation they have proved! SSB, FM and AM are still possible, but much harder nowadays. I called him not expecting a reply only to receive a report of RS55 and a solid contact at a distance of just over 3000kms with 2.5W.As many of you know, I was affected by a stroke in 2013 that left me with a very poor voice.

#Jt65 6m full

The band is full of surprises: on June 20th 2009 I turned on the FT817 and heard a station in The Canary Is on SSB at about RS57. The DX station was K1TOL who gave me 519 on the key. In summer 2007 I managed to work across the Atlantic at last with real QRP from the FT817 via about 2-3dB of cable loss into a small vertical antenna too. As for cycle 24, nothing exciting was heard, here at least. I did hear stations all over North America and Africa though. Unfortunately I did not get on the band seriously during the last sunspot maximum when world-wide contacts were sometimes possible by F2 propagation. Then the first SPORADIC-E season came and I realised that all of Europe was at my disposal as long as I could break the QRM that appeared. In contests, I managed to work further around the UK with some difficulty but managed to push the DX by TROPO out to some 400kms. The opening didn't last long but it proved how exciting the band could be. In the early days the first contacts were locals in East Anglia then one evening I chanced on an AURORAL opening and was amazed to be able to work more distant G stations with just 1W and the wire dipole. There have been periods of months or years when I've not been on the band, concentrating on another band, or on work. Unlike some people who spend hours at the radio my time is limited. Despite this, I've managed to work stations across Europe, North Africa and the USA with just a dipole or simple vertical antenna in casual operating. Since first getting on the band when it was first generally released in 1986 I've never used more than 10W and frequently only 1-2W of SSB and CW. See also my page about 6m MSK144 and the pages on FT8. At all times it is possible to hear distant beacons on meteor pings or aircraft reflections and, if you are suitably equipped, work decent ranges by these modes. On yet another occasion you might hear the raspy sounds of an auroral opening. When the conditions are right you might chance on a good tropo opening allowing DX contacts across the UK and nearer continent. At the peak of the sunspot cycle one might hear an Australian station by F2 propagation.

The next it may be open with Sporadic-E propagation across Europe or even across the Atlantic. Some days you can switch on and hear nothing but noise. Being 2MHz wide (in the UK at least) there is space for all modes. It is also a good band for local working as antennas are small and coverage reasonably good. It is a band that at various times supports most types of enhanced propagation and this is what makes it so interesting. The 6m band is one of my favorites because it is possible to achieve remarkable DX with the simplest of low powered equipment.