I'm one of those loop people but my 6 meter loop is a open 3 - 1/2 wave
length loop in a inverted delta configuration. It gives me 4 db in two
directions and is very quit which is great for the digital modes. I
agree the 6 meter dipole cut for the low end of the band has to be a
lot better than any HF tribander maybe even one with a passive 6 meter
director. I have worked the Canary Islands with just a dipole. I have
a moxon on 6 meters too. Its 5 db gain and 20 db front to back. So
two loops or two moxons 90 degrees apart will save you the cost and
bother of a rotor. They also work well at one wave length (20ft) above
ground. A coax switch is quicker than a 180 degree turn of a rotor.
Currently putting up a 6 meter H Doublebay (slot) antenna. If it works
well I will put up a Four bay version on 2 meters. Helps to have some
tall trees in the back yard.
Jerry, W2JCN
-----Original Message-----
From: BEAMAR <BEAMAR@aol.com>
To: vhfcontesting <vhfcontesting@contesting.com>
Sent: Tue, Sep 17, 2013 7:17 am
Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] Yagiphobia, Confusion and Infusion
This is a response to several posts. First off Yagis. There are some
newer
people that seem to lean towards loops. I have tried to steer them
toward
yagis with limited success. It should become obvious to them, after a
while,
that the yagi is a much better deal. The greatest incentive I have
ever
had in ham radio is to hear somebody work a station that I could not
hear.
These people that are getting on with loops, if they are really
interested,
will progress.
As to the people that are using HF antennas. Around here there are
several
stations that are using HF antennas, on 6M. Some of them think, what
they
have is wonderful. There is a 6M SSB net, in a nearby community, that
I
check into, whenever my schedule permits. I am the only participant
that I
would call a weak signal op. All different types of antennas are used
by the
net participants - 500 foot horizontal loops, HF verticals, yagis, you
name
it. Listening to the net, from 20 miles away, a 6M dipole is somewhere
around 20 db above one of the HF antennas. On two occasions I tried to
give one
of these guys a real 6M antenna. He turned me down, because he knew
his
160M loop was a much better antenna. This situation needs some work.
Verticals: You talk to the guy with the multi band, multi mode radio.
He
has never pressed the SSB button above 10M. But, he has a 440/2M ground
plane. I explain about how much further you can talk on SSB. "I tried
it, I
couldn't hear anybody and the SWR was sky high", is what I get back.
He/she is
disgusted with the local repeater denizens. But, he/she is unwilling
to
make the investment in a horizontal antenna, that is resonant on the
low end
of the band. I don't know what to say to these folks.
Two meters is for repeaters only: I have one friend who was licensed in
the
early days of the VEC program. When he got his license, the president
of
the club told him, "Buy a 2M/440 dual band FM radio, that's all you
need".
My friend says he would have missed out on a lot of fun, had he
followed
this person's advice. Many hams whole world revolves around the local
repeaters. There is so much more to ham radio than talking on a
repeater. Weak
signal work is just one of the many, many things you can do with
Amateur Radio.
We should encourage people to get out of the repeater sandbox and try
other bands and modes.
Just about every HF radio, manufactured in the last 15 years has 6M. I
think that is the place to start. Encourage people to put up a simple
horizontal dipole for 6M and push the SSB button on their radio. Some
percentage of
them will get interested in weak signal work.
Above all, when new people show up on, 6M or 2M, we should make them
feel
welcome. Many of the "tinkers", mentioned in earlier posts, when they
do get
on the air, could be a lot more friendly.
A long harangue. But getting more activity is a subject that is dear
to me.
Buddy WB4OMG
EL 98
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