6 Meters - What Works ?

I was just on the eham site looking at some posts pertaining to this years E-season. We who operate 6 here in the U.S.  get a mixed bag depending on our location. We who live here in the Northwest always feel short changed when we see the guys in the East and S.East working Europe and the Caribbean many days at a time....
I was very active on 6M in the 80's and at that time I spent many hours working JA's and the South Pacific on F2, what a great time that was. I missed out on some years but now have been active for about 7 or 8 years again on 6. In the 80's I ran a 3el beam for a while and a 5el beam later on at about 50 feet and a 20w Yaesu FT 620B and in my opinion then and now it is all about the opening.

Yes big stations with good antenna systems have the edge at times but us little guys can hang in there too with some operating skill and knowledge. My current station is of the smallest with antenna restrictions I am pushing it with a 3el beam at 15 feet that is painted camo green to blend in and not to be seen from the street. My other antenna is a ground mounted 5BTV that works ok on 6....it just does !
Not being the best E season but not the worst I managed to work 160 stations so far this summer and two new DX countries ( both South America)and a few aurora contacts so not all is lost, now if I could get RI and Del to finish my 6m WAS....many years in the making ! My point as always is use what you have, try new things and get on and have fun, still another month of E season so get that 6m antenna up and have at it....73

Our Ham world

There is so much going on in our world today...much I tend to avoid. We can go to hundreds of web pages and see it all so I try to keep it lite here, ham radio, Jeeps and all things non political we can get it else where.
In one of my previous post you saw that my station had to be removed for all new flooring in our house, what a job all rooms had to be moved out then back again. Most of you know what a mess that is but when you have a Ham station it is a real mess. Well we are all done and most is back to normal I thought it would be fun to post some photos of the Ham shack rebuild...

Empty shack with new floor...

Little at a time..

Back on the air and only took a couple of days after the two weeks of floor work....Have a couple of bugs but will work on those when my back stops hurting....get on have fun and build a station...73

JEEP Field Day

Well another FD has come and gone think it is number 37 for me. They have come in all forms, full up big efforts with many operators, QRP, backyard, and Jeep trips. The last time we had a real Jeep FD was in the 1980's in one of my CJ5's in Owyhee Co. in SW Idaho running my trusty FT-301 mounted between the front seats....great time we spent five days jeeping and had a great time.

Due to time constraints this year there was only a plan for pal K7BUY to arrive from Ore. and we would take the Jeep and head to the hills exploring some of our old stomping grounds and stop and radio from several places along the way.
It was a great day wonderful visit with old friend and beautiful Idaho...First radio stop and lunch was on the south fork of the Boise river below Anderson Ranch Dam, great lunch and a few contacts...however the mosquitoes loved us a little to much so off to higher ground with less water.

Next stop Cow Ck. summit with wide open views in all directions we set up the Jackite Pole antenna and went to it, the band conditions were soooo bad but we worked many western stations with a few 8's 2's and 4's thrown in. The setup worked well with the FT-897 LDG tuner Hustler mobile antenna for 40,20, and 15. The Jackite Pole Antenna is a carbon fiber pull up that is in 4ft sections and holds a 32 foot wire fed with a 9 to1 UnUn...it preformed great on 20m.

At the days end we had driven over 100 miles had a great time and proved our portable/mobile setup works just fine...I hope you all had a good FD if you went out and enjoyed good friends and the great outdoors like I did....Everything is more fun in a Jeep.....Get on have fun and 73

Tear Down

Blogs are a funny thing we just set here and talk about things that may or may not be of interest to others. You have seen photos of my station and it is nothing special, no new $10k radios on the desk but many old classics that I use on a regular basis.....It seems to be what ever turns us on so to speak.

My new rigs are now 7 years old a pair of FT 897's one is set up for general use SSB, CW and 6M the other is set up for CW and RTTY...and mobile in the summer in my 2001 Jeep YJ. The rest are old rigs from the 70's and 80's TS 940s my main SSB rig, TS 430 a like new rig I seldom put on the air and a TS 180s that I use for other band RX in contests but is like new also....A FT 301 and all that goes with it that dates back to the 70's and it works great, and a bunch of boxes that switch PTT functions, noise bridge, keyers, meters and tuners....You get the idea.

In about a month this all has to be torn down and removed as the entire house is getting new flooring....what a job, not to mention everything else in the house that has to be moved...I plan to rebuild the station with better wire routing, better cooling for the four power supplies and the computer. A constant problem here is grounding so will work on that too.....

I will set up a 6m station in the garage and that will be about it for the month of July....Wish me luck get on have fun and best 73...

June Contests

Well I have never gone out of my way to work the ARRL VHF contest which will be June 8th this year....but. We always seem to do something for ARRL Field Day and this year it was decided to keep it simple.....Jeep road trip to visit some old stomping grounds and to do some radio along the way.....
Let me start at the beginning, I will soon have to tear down my station for new carpet in the shack so...I decided to remove one of my FT 897 stations and install it in the jeep a bit early...ok now we are caught up.....I am now ready for our rolling FD and the June VHF contest so think I will do both I prefer the CQ VHF in July but have another obligation with Search and Rescue that weekend so why not.....
The Jeep is set up with the 897 one of my LDG auto tuners, a home brew antenna switch, dual headset intercom and the following antennas. an old Hustler mobile setup to use while rolling and a 31 foot collapsible vertical for stationary work, I will add a mast for VHF contest later but for now I have a dual band vertical for 2m and 70cm......
We should have a fun time and a good road trip Idaho is a beautiful place in June....get out, get on and have fun....73

6M DX

It is possible...even with low power and bad antennas, 6M can be magic. My first South America 6M DX was great fun....Get on keep trying and have fun ...73

6M Friday

Wow what a great 6M day, had not been up long when bud K7BUY sent a text ...Hearing double hop E on 6 .....So I turned on the rig and computer WOW....what a morning worked from MT. to NY and all points in between....Wound up with 25 good contacts not to list all but Canada, MT, KS, OH, NJ, NY w.VA, VA, GA. Well you get the idea although I had much to get done today I spent way to much time on 6 this morning....What fun, Thanks Larry for the text message and remember it is E season. Get on have fun and 73....