And any ham who knowingly moves into a location with
CC and Rs deserves a good lashing with a piece of
LMR400.
Now you can do quite a bit with a dipole on 6 meters.
I got a VUCC with a 125 sticker using a dipole hanging
up in my apartment bedroom when in EN51.
73s John NE0P
--- gary <WD5JVU@satx.rr.com> wrote:
> Good points made here. But, this also goes back to
> the anti-antenna
> situation as it exists in most all new subdivisions
> and developments.
> Not only is it easier to put up a vertical or a pair
> of loops, but
> they are less noticeable than a yagi of any decent
> size.
> There has been a recent increase in 2 meter ssb
> activity here in San
> Antonio.
> However, as far as I can tell, only one of the new
> guys on the band has
> a beam of any sort. The others are all using one or
> two loops on a
> pushup mast,
> none of which are higher than 20 feet as I recall.
> Besides that, none
> of them have more than 50 watts out either. ( The
> 706 thing...)
> Lucky me, I have an 18XXX @ 60 feet and 100 watts.
> Thing is,
> they often have to listen to me talking to somebody
> they
> can't even hear. Now and then conditions allow them
> to reach
> some of the stations I talk to on a regular basis.
> However, I wonder
> to myself how long they will hang in there before
> becoming discouraged.
> Also, I note that none of the guys with decent gain
> antennas live in the
> newer parts of town. 20 year old plus areas are
> where you'll find stations
> like mine in the San Antonio area. So, the amount of
> newer radios
> with VHF / UHF in them helps, but that's not going
> to fix the problem
> in and of itself. "You can't work them if you can't
> hear them."
> ----
> 73 All
> Gary | W5GAL | EL09tn | San Antonio | Texas
>
>
> John Geiger wrote:
>
> >I think that the decline in VHF logs is reflective
> of
> >a larger decline, in VHF operation in general.
> >Changing the rules of the VHF contest is only the
> tip
> >of the iceberg, we need to change the attitudes of
> >hams about VHF SSB/CW in general. If we want Joe
> 706
> >to take is rig hilltopping for a contest, we first
> >need to get Joe 706 to use his rig on 6/2/70cm
> SSB/CW
> >in general.
> >
> >The problem is not due to shortage of equipment, as
> it
> >once was. Since the mid 90s, I count 11 different
> >models that added 6 meters to their HF coverage, 4
> >models that added 6 and 2 meters, and 7 models that
> >added 6, 2 and 70cm. That is not including vhf
> single
> >band or dual band radios. These are only HF models
> >that add VHF and/or UHF. Something that the
> average
> >ham would probably buy to use as an HF rig. How
> many
> >706s out there are being used on HF, with the VHF
> side
> >being limited to the local repeater? Far too many!
>
> >In addition, 160 watt 2 meter bricks can be found
> for
> >$150 easily on the used market, with 100 watt 70cm
> >bricks going for $200 or less used.
> >
> >Given that equipment isn't the problem, I propose
> that
> >ignorance is. We have and continue to fall short
> on
> >educating hams on VHF/UHF all mode activities.
> Most
> >new hams get started for their license using "Now
> >You're Talking" published by the ARRL. I have
> helped
> >to teach a couple of ham classes in the past few
> years
> >where this book was used. The book is geared very
> >heavily towards an emphasis on 2 meter FM, with HF
> a
> >distant second. Go to your local ham club, and you
> >will probably find a large percentage of the
> members
> >limit their operating to FM and packet. Of the 5
> >different local ham clubs I have belonged to in my
> 24
> >years of being licensed that is definitely true,
> and
> >getting worse.
> >
> >I looked through 3 recent issues of QST that I
> >happended to have handy (July 2004, June 2004, and
> >Feb. 2004). I counted up 17 articles geared
> towards
> >HF operating, and 3 geared towards VHF operating,
> and
> >one of the VHF ones was the results of the Jan. VHF
> >contest. I would bet that a similar ratio holds
> true
> >in CQ and Worldradio. True, QST and CQ do have VHF
> >columns and QST even has a microwave column every
> >month, but I would wager that the vast majority of
> >people who read those columns are already active on
> >VHF SSB/CW. We need more basic articles, up front
> in
> >the magazines, about getting on VHF SSB/CW. Things
> >discussing how easy it is, the types of antennas to
> >use, operating techniques, why you should do it,
> how
> >much fun it is, and the different challanges these
> >bands afford. The July 2004 QST did have a nice
> >article on 6 meter propagation.
> >
> >This ignorance seems to play itself out in 1 of 2
> ways
> >for many prospective VHF operators:
> >
> >1. The ham who sticks up an omnidirectional loop,
> fed
> >with RG58 coax with press on connectors, or the ham
> >who uses his dual band vertical on SSB. In either
> >case, they probably work 1 or 2 local hams on 2
> meters
> >due to their setup, and give up.
> >
> >2. The ham who believes that to be successful on
> VHF
> >he needs long boom antennas, fed with hardline, on
> a
> >70 foot tower with a mast mounted preamp. Given
> that
> >those things are beyond his current means, he gives
> >the idea of 2 meter SSB up.
> >
> >I have encounted several hams recently who have
> fallen
> >into this "Hardline is a must" trap. They describe
> to
> >me their runs of 50 foot hardline for 2 meters,
> never
> >realizing that they are losing more RF in the
> >connectors required by the jumper cables than they
> are
> >saving by going to hardline over 9913. I have also
> >seen a ham who was using a 5 element 2 meter beam,
> fed
> >with rg8x, mounted 4 feet above his six meter beam
> go
> >out and get a Kenwood TS255 because he was
> convinced
> >that the reason he could hear some of the stations
> >that others were was due to the radio (his other
> one
> >was a FT847), not his antenna setup.
> >
> >We see similar types of problems with the recent
> >articles on amateur satellites. Satellite
> operators
> >are naturals to recruit for VHF contesting because
> >they already have the rigs and equipment. However,
> >almost every satellite article in the past 4 years
> of
> >QST has been aimed at AO40. The LEO sats have
> pretty
> >much been ignored. Thus the prospective satellite
> op
> >becomes convinced that an elevation rotor, cross
> >polarized antennas, preamp, downconverter, and full
> >duplex rig is necessary to get on the satellites.
> >Lacking the means for this, they don't even get
> >started.
> >
> >We need more articles and presentations showing how
> >success can be obtained using much less extensive
> >stations, but at the same time pointing out certain
> >necessities, like decent low loss coax and
> horizontal
> >yagis.
> >
> >In my own case since labor day of 2001 when I put
> the
> >first 2 meter antenna up at the present QTH I have
> >worked 39 states and 135 grids on 2 meters. I have
> >never used more than 160 watts of power to a
> Cushcraft
> >13B2 mounted on a roof tripod. Height of antenna is
> 30
>
=== message truncated ===
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