Does anyone actually use 6 meters?

[jeepsandradios]

I have a 6m mobile setup at home. On the call channel. Never once heard boo on it. I really wanted a LMR mobile for my truck on 6M but have not been able to get one converted for years. Being the 2M repeater I can hit is never used I doubt any 6Mactivity is in my area as well.

 

[mrweather]

I really wanted a LMR mobile for my truck on 6M but have not been able to get one converted for years..

Modified Kenwood TK-690H 40-50 MHz split for the win.

 

[jeepsandradios]

I'd go the 690 route and have a box full of them but really want a CDM1250....Just need to find someone to mod it.

 

[tweiss3]

I'm waiting for the NX-5600H to be figured out with the current firmware for 6 & 10, that would be my 3rd deck.

 

[mmckenna]

I'm waiting for the NX-5600H to be figured out with the current firmware for 6 & 10, that would be my 3rd deck.

Evans had 5600's on 6. I think stretching them all the way down to 10 meters would be a challenge.

 

[tweiss3]

Evans had 5600's on 6. I think stretching them all the way down to 10 meters would be a challenge.

You are probably right on 10, not a huge loss there. The previous hack was an older version of D1N and firmware. The newer versions throw checksum errors, so they are working on finding another way around.

 

[n3obl]

I would like to do a cdm1250 on 6. Just for the fact that the remote setup is pretty slim etc.

 

[alcahuete]

The majority of folks on 6m aren't using FM, so none of those radios really make any sense. There are people here and there on the repeaters, but most are using SSB or FT8.

 

[KA0XR]

This might be stating the obvious but I think 6 meters is really only useful as a base station band due to the near impossibility of achieving an adequate ground plane on mobile installations (let alone portables) on modern cars, assuming a 1/4 wave of metal radiating out from the antenna base. Sort of the same thing with VHF/2m suffering from inadequate ground planes on portable radios. 70cm seems to be the lowest band where operating portable is efficient for both the antenna and ground plane sides of the equation.

I've done numerous tests over the years comparing 6m to 2m (FM) in base and mobile situations and 6m just never seemed to work as well or as reliably as 2m for local work, despite often more power and still decent sized antennas. Perhaps 6m FM can be made to shine in rural areas with a lower noise floor and big elevated base station antennas. As previously mentioned 6m FM is becoming scarcer and scarcer.

 

[merlin]

Is there a decent manufactured 6 meter antenna that is very low profile? A vertical ringo is not going to work for my circumstances.

Look into a halo.

 

[merlin]

A project on a back burner is a transverter for 6 meters. 60 watt TX, RX is a gutted MaCom RX board.
Where I am though, a cople of hams have 6 capability, but rarely used.
Bad location for band openings too. Hope it is worth my time.

 

[K9KLC]

Look into a halo.

I have a Par 6 meter loop mounted on a 16 foot painters pole and it works pretty well for what it is and its height. I've done FM to other horizontal stations locally and FM SSB and a tiny bit of (slower) CW on it working some skip when it happens. I honestly think for something low profile it's pretty good.

Obviously there are other manufacturers, but years ago we tested a few of them and the par seemed to work the best for what I wanted.

 

[AK9R]

Moxon antennas for 6m are fairly easy to build and there are some commercial versions out there. The Par SM-50 is very unobtrusive. Some of the commercial Moxon derivatives are designed to work on both 6m and 10m.

 

[tweiss3]

This talk of 6m has me wanting to get a HT capable of 6 meters. I have a VX-7R, but it doesn't do split tones. HT-1250's are looking nice....

 

[jeepsandradios]

The majority of folks on 6m aren't using FM, so none of those radios really make any sense. There are people here and there on the repeaters, but most are using SSB or FT8.

True. I want it for a base and mobile use. FM is fine for what I want. If I'm driving I dont have time, nor want to deal with knobs and gadgets. Just push button and talk.

 

[kb1fua]

I'd definitely use 6m if there was activity here.
I tried to get the club to get a local net going on 6m FM, and SSB but no one had any 6m gear...
I've been here for 5 years, and made 1 contact on 6m FT8, 2 years ago.
Funny thing tho, when a contest comes around 6m sure does work then...

 

[K9KLC]

Moxon antennas for 6m are fairly easy to build and there are some commercial versions out there. The Par SM-50 is very unobtrusive. Some of the commercial Moxon derivatives are designed to work on both 6m and 10m.

If I had a tower and rotor, that SM-50 would have been ok and definitely on my list, but not having all that, I had go to with the OA-50.

 

[alcahuete]

True. I want it for a base and mobile use. FM is fine for what I want. If I'm driving I dont have time, nor want to deal with knobs and gadgets. Just push button and talk.

I get that. There's just hardly anybody on 6m FM. Shame, because it can actually be a fun band.

 

[K9KLC]

Funny thing tho, when a contest comes around 6m sure does work then...

Yep just like 10 meters.

 

[AK9R]

I get that. There's just hardly anybody on 6m FM. Shame, because it can actually be a fun band.

I used to run 6m FM mobile with a Kenwood TM-742 and a 1/4 wave whip mounted to the top of the bed rail of my pickup truck. I remember a couple "long distance" contacts. One with a ham in New Jersey while I was driving by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and another with a ham in Pahrump NV while I was driving down Shea Boulevard in Scottsdale AZ. Good times.