No luck with 60meter, think it could be my antenna?

[mjz55]

I want to do some nets on 60 meter. I purchased a "Blue Star Antenna" P1 portable, multi-band antenna system 7mhz to 500 mhz with 60 meter coil. This is my first and only antenna for HF. I thought it was cool because of the different meters and how portable it is however, I cannot pick up a net which involves at least one person 10 miles away and the net control approx. 60 miles away. Is it the antenna or am I setting this up wrong or?

If it is the antenna, which would be a good one that I can put up and take down? I'd like it sort of portable.

Thanks

 

[W8RMH]

Isn't 60 meters 5 Mhz. Looks like you have the wrong antenna. Also portable antennas don't do too well either.

 

[prcguy]

It's the antenna, 60m works great otherwise. Try a simple 1/4 wave dipole even low to the ground and you will never look at the P1 again.
prcguy

 

[mjz55]

Do you recommend any specific brand? I'd like it to be portable. This is the link to the antenna I already have. P1 Portable Multi-Band Vertical Antenna System, Blue Star Antennas Ltd. Co

 

[k8krh]

Make your own antenna, just get the length of a 60 meter antenna divide by 468 and presto make your own..cost maybe $5 dollars to $10, use speaker wire coated from Radio Shack and your center insulator, buy or make your own out of plexiglass, Simple and cheap...
I use only home made antennas for 10-160 and set them up as an inv vee with an antenna tuner, they work great for world wide communications..ssb or digital, all are at 25 feet on fiber glass poles ARMY surplus....
DOCTOR/795

 

[mulveyr]

I want to do some nets on 60 meter. I purchased a "Blue Star Antenna" P1 portable, multi-band antenna system 7mhz to 500 mhz with 60 meter coil. This is my first and only antenna for HF. I thought it was cool because of the different meters and how portable it is however, I cannot pick up a net which involves at least one person 10 miles away and the net control approx. 60 miles away. Is it the antenna or am I setting this up wrong or?

If it is the antenna, which would be a good one that I can put up and take down? I'd like it sort of portable.

Thanks

Are you trying during daytime? If so, ground wave propagation can be a very short distance on 60M, and can easily be the problem you're having. Add that into the possibility that you're in the skip zone for skywave propagation, and that would be your problem.

You might want to investigate NVIS antennas as a solution, though that won't necessarily help much unless the other net participants are utilizing them as well.

EDIT: Check out http://www.alconaradio.org/images/NVIS_W8CX.pdf and the "HF Propagation" slides in particular for a very brief overview.

 

[mulveyr]

Make your own antenna, just get the length of a 60 meter antenna divide by 468 and presto make your own..cost maybe $5 dollars to $10, use speaker wire coated from Radio Shack and your center insulator, buy or make your own out of plexiglass, Simple and cheap...
I use only home made antennas for 10-160 and set them up as an inv vee with an antenna tuner, they work great for world wide communications..ssb or digital, all are at 25 feet on fiber glass poles ARMY surplus....
DOCTOR/795

If he's beyond the groundwave zone and in the skip zone, a much lower NVIS antenna is more likely to be useful.

 

[mjz55]

mulveyr, this was from 8pm to 9pm eastern time.

doctor795, maybe it would be cool to make my own but, 25ft. wow. i might look into building. may be fun for my very first project.

 

[LtDoc]

Just off hand, I would have to say that I think your antenna isn't assembled correctly or is miss-tuned if it isn't working at all. That isn't to say that it will work well, just that it would/should work.
I can't say what your specific problem is, only that it's evident that there is a problem. It might help is you think of it in terms of a mobile antenna and the typical problems associated with one. It's very much like a mobile 80 meter antenna, severely shortened, and very 'picky' about things being 'right' for it to work.
- 'Doc

 

[ka3jjz]

Unless you've recently upgraded, a Tech is not allowed on 60m - only Generals and above. You can still listen though, and a simple dipole will do the job...Mike

 

[mulveyr]

mulveyr, this was from 8pm to 9pm eastern time.

doctor795, maybe it would be cool to make my own but, 25ft. wow. i might look into building. may be fun for my very first project.

From 8-9 PM would be just prior to local sunset, so you're going to have high ( but diminishing ) d-layer absorption of 60M signals.

 

[zz0468]

I want to do some nets on 60 meter.

You'll need to upgrade to general first.

...I thought it was cool because of the different meters and how portable it is however, I cannot pick up a net which involves at least one person 10 miles away and the net control approx. 60 miles away. Is it the antenna or am I setting this up wrong or?

It's a mediocre antenna to start with. Any coil loaded short antenna is going to be. Performance will be critically dependent on on radials and proper installation.

At 5 MHz, your ability to get out will be based entirely on antenna efficiency (meaning ERP vs TX power applied), and te P1 antenna gets a D- grade in efficiency.

 

[rfradioconsult]

With such a physically short antenna the most you could explect would be 1-3 Watts ERP even when properly tuned. At 5 MHz a 1/2 wave dipole at 20-25 feet elevation wold be the way to go.

 

[buckent]

when i first upgraded to general.. I put up a hustler 6BTV ground mounted vertical..

it was a pain to tune, and only gave minimal results on 60m... on a brainstorm, I snagged some 14AWG stranded insulated copper, and a 1:1 balun... and some simple math... used a length of top rail from an old chain length fence, to make an inverted Vee and a 50 foot run of RG-8... had no problem tuning it, and was working stations from Belize, and Denmark to England to California, Washington and Texas... Stations were solid and clear copy most of the time, and most OP's were impressed the only thing i had into the antenna was the $20 I paid for the balun... EVerything else I had in my closet from leftovers...

Fancy isnt always the best... try a dipole..

You might want to upgrade to general too...