There hasn't been much discussion about using the K3 on 6 meters. I suppose
that is mainly due to the fact that 6 meters is pretty much "hibernating"
right now. I have only made a couple of contacts locally on 6 meters with
the K3, so I can't say much about how it performed.
The other day I was chatting with my friend Jim Duffey, KK6MC, who does like
to tinker with 6 meters when it perks up. He knows I don't really have a
good 6 meter antenna, and he gave me the task of building one. He thinks in
a month or so things will liven up on 6, and he wants to try and work me on
that band. His suggestion was to build a Moxen antenna, and he referred me
to N2MH's website for a good design. See www.n2mh.net.
It looked simple enough, so I went down to Home Depot and found some angle
aluminum like N2MH had used. It wasn't exactly cheap--about $35 for what I
needed, but that's not terrible. With hardware, etc. I probably have about
$45 in the thing. I probably could have done better if I knew where to
shop.
Anyway, the antenna goes together pretty easily, and preliminary testing
seems to be positive. I still need to add a good coax connector, but that
won't be difficult. It's a pretty compact antenna, and should be easily
supported on just about any kind of pole or mast. You get some gain, and
some directivity too. It's not fancy, but I thought others might be
interested in giving 6 meters a try with their K3's. If you are like me,
and didn't have an antenna, here is something you can do fairly easily. If
you aren't into building, you might take a look at the "stressed Moxon" sold
by Par Electronics.
Unfortunately, I may be talking to myself on 6 meters for the time being,
but Jim assures me that things should "start happening" on that band pretty
soon. So, now is the time to get ready. In the meantime, I plan to put
this thing up in the air a little bit, and see what I might hear. It may
only be locals, but even that should work out better than with my R8 (which
does cover 6 meters) since the Moxon will be horizontally polarized. That
seems to be the choice among folks around here.
Dave W7AQK
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