Another radio thread: 6m? 10M?

[Martinjmpr]

Does anybody use 6m anymore? Just curious. I know in the military (way, way back in the 80's) we used to use radios in this range (~50mhz or so.)

I know 50mhz is at the very low end of the VHF spectrum, does that mean it's more likely to "skip" than a higher frequency would? I guess it would depend on the time of day, sunspot cycle, etc, right?

I'm just wondering about the viability of 6m for long range communications on an ExPo type vehicle. It's just that I've never seen or heard of anybody running on 6m, even though according to my study guide (I got the Gordon West book) you can run FM, SSB and even repeaters on 6m. But obviously, a radio is no good if you can't find anybody else to talk to you.

Also curious about who is running 10m out there? I would guess that in some of the really remote parts of the world (Australia, Africa, etc) 10m is pretty popular for vehicle-to-base communications?

 

[BorntoVenture]

I don't have a 6m setup but I do have and use 10m occasionally. We've used it for base-to-truck and mainly for testing. Mostly all of the 10m band is dead around my area with the occasional hobbiest like my father using it. It's semi-popular with the big CB crowd because of the ability to convert one band to run 11m and most 10m radios can be de-tuned down to under 1 watt to allow the use of amplifiers.

You mentioned SSB and repeaters on 6m, can you run repeaters on 10m? For some reason I was thinking that it wasn't allowed but I can't remember where I got that information.

 

[1911]

You can talk a long way on 10M when it's propagating, usually during the daytime during a solar cycle with good sunspot activity. Since Solar Cycle 24 is waxing towards its peak in 2013, 10M is starting to open up again.

I have never operated on 6M but especially during sunspot peaks it should go a long long way, vastly farther than 2M. It is known to propagate more like an HF band than VHF. It ought to be a good band for communicating all the way back to home.

 

[xtatik]

I know 50mhz is at the very low end of the VHF spectrum, does that mean it's more likely to "skip" than a higher frequency would? I guess it would depend on the time of day, sunspot cycle, etc, right?

Depends. In general, there is little that can be relied upon with a VHF or UHF signal with regards to "propagation". Occasionally, meaning seldom ever, there are occurrences during the summer months of what is called "tropospheric ducting". It is more a "weather occurrence" rather than an ionized layer or "skip" effect. It usually only occurs in the mid-latitudes.
Here's more on tropo-ducting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropospheric_propagation

To avoid confusion, when discussing 2m, 6m and 10m bands, it's important to make the distinction between operating them on FM or SSB. Both 6 and 10m FM bring no joy IMO. Here in SoCal we've got a decent network (one network) of 6m FM repeaters. But, I don't hear very much traffic on it. I think Techs get some privileges in the nether regions of these bands but I can't remember what and where. When you've got full privileges you tend to forget that stuff:coffeedrink:.
2, 6 and 10m USB can be worthy on occasion. 6m SSB is often referred as the "Magic Band" due to it's sporadic openings. When it's good, it's good. But, most of the time....not so much.
For what we do, and for distance communication, your best bet will always be 20m USB and 40m LSB. 20 during the daylight hours, and 40 at night. Often these two bands will work around the clock and they are the most active around the clock as well.

 

[Mash5]

There are several 6m repeaters around here and all of them that I know of are or can be linked to affiliated 2m systems. They are useful in that 6m does a better job of walking up and over hills and getting down into canyons. I think of it that 6m is to 2m as 2m is to 440. I don't have 6m in my rig but I will soon, and I'm exited about it.
If you are talking about reliable long comms (ducting, sun spots, swamp gas and the like), Randy has your answer. You NEED 20m AND 40m. That and sat phones are your only reliable way to reach from a no "infrastructure zone" to the rest of the world.
I know of several very long range (thousands of miles) QSOs with both 10m and 6m SSB in the last few months and its fun if you are into it, but it's just not a good choice if you need to be able to communicate at a given time.

 

[Martinjmpr]

I think Techs get some privileges in the nether regions of these bands but I can't remember what and where. When you've got full privileges you tend to forget that stuff:coffeedrink:.

I'm pretty sure techs get full privileges on all frequencies above 30MhZ so 6m is wide open (at least when I had my Tech + license before that's how it was.)

For 10m I think we get a small slice of voice and a bigger chunk of CW. All other HF bands are CW only, I'm pretty sure. That, plus the cost of the equipment, is why I don't have any plans to upgrade from Tech after I get my ticket (hopefully next month.) I guess if I ever hit the lottery and take that 3 month trip across Australia, I might upgrade to an HF (assuming AU offers reciporacal privileges) but short of that I don't see it happening.

I'd just asked about 6m because it seems like it might offer some of the advantages of the HF spectrum but in a low VHF frequency that I'd have full privileges on.

 

[taugust]

True statements. The challenge with using 6 and 10M is the equipment. There aren't too many (any?) 6M or 10M rigs out there that aren't part of an HF radio, so the expense is still there. I know there have been 6M in multiband handhelds, but the low power kind of defeats the purpose, plus higher cost as well. I have a Yaesu 857D that is HF, 6M, 2M, and 440, all modes. It can be used mobile, or setup a dipole for longer HF comms. For that I use an off-center fed dipole that is good on most HF bands without a tuner. Works well and I built it for less than $50 in parts.

I'm pretty sure techs get full privileges on all frequencies above 30MhZ so 6m is wide open (at least when I had my Tech + license before that's how it was.)

For 10m I think we get a small slice of voice and a bigger chunk of CW. All other HF bands are CW only, I'm pretty sure. That, plus the cost of the equipment, is why I don't have any plans to upgrade from Tech after I get my ticket (hopefully next month.) I guess if I ever hit the lottery and take that 3 month trip across Australia, I might upgrade to an HF (assuming AU offers reciporacal privileges) but short of that I don't see it happening.

I'd just asked about 6m because it seems like it might offer some of the advantages of the HF spectrum but in a low VHF frequency that I'd have full privileges on.

 

[DarioCarrera]

6m is a very fun Band to work on when its open. However, The last thing I would call it would be reliable. For an Expo Vehicle, as other hams have already mentioned you need to look at other bands. Try to make a set up that will be the most reliable and versatile as possible. However with our initial question, YES, 6m is very much alive and well, a couple of days ago it had good conditions, and from my mobile I could hear French stations calling CQ, sadly they couldn't hear me, they had other much more powerful stations nearby that simply did not allow me to get through.