[VHFcontesting] Yagiphobia, Confusion and Infusion

[Rhinosix]

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 at aol.com>
To: vhfcontesting <vhfcontesting at 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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