Julius,
Welcome to 6M! I love this band.
A couple of things you should know in terms of operating that tend to be
diffrent on 6M than HF:
1) Except during times of extraordinary activity (contest weekend during
widespread sporadic-E opening), peole on 6M tend to "channelize" on 5 kHz
increments, starting at 50125 and moving on up the band as high as 50300 or
above. There is plenty of room, no need to squash everybody all together. :-)
2) During weak-signal conditions, SSB and CW are used interchangeably, as
needed, to complete QSOs anywhere in the band. This is seldom done on HF. Most
transceivers today have a menu option to automatically offset the VFO by the
frequency of your CW sidetone when switching from SSB to CW. This allows
continuous CW copy whether in SSB or CW mode without retuning. Turn this
option ON for 6M.
3) On 6M, it's all about GRID SQUARES. You give your QTH as your grid square
(always in standard phonetics) before you give anything else; it's the one
thing that is need to complete a legal QSO. You can go on to other exchanges
(propagation conditions permitting) once this has been validated. The
principle ARRL award here is VUCC for working/confirming 100 grid squares.
This is easy on 6M; endorsements start to get harder once you get up above 400
grids or so. (I personally think VUCC on 6M should be raised to 250 grids or
so.) WAS on 6M is a real accomplishment if done entirely without the aid of F2
propagation, which occurs on 6M only during the year or two at the peak of the
solar cycle. I've worked 49 states without F2 -- still need Alaska.
Bill W5WVO
Registered and certified 6M nut
DM65 / New Mexico
Robie Elms wrote:
Julius,
50.125 mHZ - national calling frequency. Stations monitor this
frequency to facilitate making contacts. Usually I call CQ here and
move off this frequency to complete the contact. This is the
frequency to monitor to determine if the band is "open". Most
activity on this frequency is SSB.
50.100 and below are restriced to CW only. Most activity is
concentrated between 50.090 and 50.100.
You will find beacon stations below about 50.080 mHz. They transmit
continuously and give their call sign and grid locator. This
provides a means to determine if the band is open and if so, in what
direction.
50.100 - 50.110 mHz is the "DX window" . This segment is generally
reserved for dx contacts. Usually I listen in this segment for DX
stations calling cq and answer them. I do not call cq in this
segment. CW and SSB are used here.
The best tool to determine activity, band openings etc. is the dx
cluster. I use it constantly and always provide spots when I work a
station. This will ensure that others know of band openings!
This information is in line with the ARRL band plan for 6 meters. You can
find it on the ARRL website.
I hope this helps!
Robie - AJ4F grid EL29lm
----- Original Message -----
From: "J F" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, July 20, 2007 6:56 AM
Subject: [Elecraft] 6M
Having never ever been on 6 meters, would some kind
soul advise me where the best to look for CW stations
(and SSB I guess) this weekend might be? Thinking I
should get my feet wet before the K3 arrives...
Thanks,
Julius
n2wn
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