Fall 2007 Issue

Pounding the Key on 6 Meters
A Summer of 6-meter CW Fun

Does operating CW give one an advantage? Features Editor WB2AMU decided to conduct his own informal test of that theory. Here are the results of his efforts.

By Ken Neubeck,* WB2AMU

Photo A. Here is the simple two-element homemade Yagi used on 6 meters at WB2AMU’s QTH. The antenna consists of a two-inch thick closet pole that has 1/4-inch rod material inserted into it for the elements. (Photos by the author unless otherwise noted)

In an article that I wrote for the Spring 2007 issue of CQ VHF (“CW—An Important Mode on VHF”), I discussed in detail the advantages of operating CW on the VHF bands and why it would continue to be an important mode in the future. I pointed out, among other things, the ability of CW to punch through marginal conditions and its usefulness in working DX on 6 meters. The article focused on the positive merits of CW and the fact that many operators would still use it on the VHF bands even though it was no longer an FCC requirement for an amateur radio license.

With this in mind, I thought that I would conduct my own informal survey by concentrating more on using CW rather than SSB on the VHF bands during the summer of 2007. All too often in the past, it seemed easy to run a string of SSB QSOs on 6 meters when the band was open. This past summer I decided I would specifically work on calling CQ more on CW during some of the better 6-meter sporadic-E openings and see which stations would respond. As a rule, in the past I usually did not call CQ often, except during intense openings. I did this primarily because I was still resolving both antenna and interference issues at my home QTH on Long Island, New York.
However, with recent improvements in my TV and other appliance setups, I am now able to run a moderate amount of power (150 watts) to a two-element Yagi on 6 meters without causing significant interference. Previously, I could only run 10 watts at home, as higher power levels would get me into the phone and the front end of the TV set. By now being able to put out a decent signal for the most part, I could actually call more CQs and expect to get answers to my calls.

Thus, during the summer I entered into a campaign of a significant amount of calling CQ during good 6-meter sporadic-E openings and found some interesting results that not only show the value of CW, but also the value of calling CQ at the right times.

The Setup at My QTH

My home setup includes a classic Kenwood TS-670 transceiver that puts out 10 watts on 6 meters. I hook this up to a Mirage A1015G amplifier that puts out roughly 150 watts, and this goes to a homemade two-element Yagi that is up about 25 feet (Photo A). This is a modest setup on 6 meters that is limited because of the size of my lot on Long Island. There are many strong signals on 6 meters that come from great stations that have bigger antenna arrays and higher power amplifiers. However, a large number of 6-meter operators have moderate setups, usually running a maximum of 100 watts from an HF-plus-VHF transceiver with a multitude of different antennas ranging from 40-meter dipoles to seven-element 6-meter Yagis. However, if we consider a moderate setup such as mine as an average station, the results that were obtained should be reasonably achievable by similar or better stations.
 

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