Ever wonder what that "50" button was for on that sharp new HF radio of
yours? If you are like me, you might be surprised to find that pushing it
will get you on 6 meters. And you might be even more surprised to know that
a lot of tribanders and wire antennas will load quite nicely on 6 meters
without a tuner.
If you care to see how that works, give it a try. I found the 50 button and
am having a ball discovering the band; all be it one season too late for the
F2 across the pond fun. I have even discovered how much fun working SSB / CW
/ Digimode meteor scatter can be. For the digimodes, I am using the weak
signal free ware WSJT from K1JT - http://www.vhfdx.de/wsjt/ All I needed was
my computer sound card and a cable to key the rig and get the audio to the
rig in USB position and away I went -- even me a major plug and play kinda
guy. I use the same cable I use to get on AFSK for RTTY contesting on the HF
bands.
So, what does this have to do with contesting? Well, obsessive types like me
can find relief even in meteor scatter. For the next week, a bunch of casual
and not so casual ops will be taking part in the "North American HSMS Rally
and Contest" on 6 meters and the higher VHF bands during the Eta Aquarids
meteor shower that is just now firing up until May 12th. See -
http://www.qsl.net/wa5ufh/Rally/NAHSMS.htm
The meteor scatter gang hangs out on the following site -- check it out and
give it a try - http://www.pingjockey.net/cgi-bin/pingtalk And the National
Calling frequency 50.125 is frequently used to make SSB and CW contacts
during the morning ours when the MS conditions are best.
Drop me an email if you need any help. And, yes Klinger, they even have
pileups on meteor scatter !
73, Dennis K7BV/1
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