Yesterday I decided to build another set of 3-element beams for 6-Meter sideband; however, this time I went full-sized, using 8-AWG stranded copper electrical wire for the elements. I finished building them around 19:00Z and was very pleased to discover that the 6-Meter band opened up in a big way around 00:30Z.
With the beams pointed at approximately 31 degrees and only about 9′ off the ground supported temporarily but a tripod and PVC pipe, I worked the following stations within a few moments time running about 70 Watts from the Icom IC-7200:
- K1IED in South Windsor, CT
- WA8UEG in Henryville, PA (received a 20/over signal report)
- K1DQV in Fulton, MD
- N3MK on Chincoteague Island, VA
Also of note regarding the full-sized beams is the fact that if I turn the beams with the rear/reflector end parallel to the power lines in front of my house (approx. 75 feet away from the antenna in its temporary location) the usual S-7 to S-9 electrical static being propagated along those lines totally vanishes.
I plan to use the first 6-M beams I built (the ones using coax in Bazooka fashion) as a receiving antenna and do some front vs. back field strength readings from this new, full-sized set of beams and calculate the F/B ratio. What I’m seeing so far indicates it will be pretty decent.
73 from KK4ICE
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