The AM Forum

Just worked W9IXV and AA4ET on 50.4mhz, from Mercerville NJ. Hearing others in there also.

Worked WA4IAM a little while ago on 50.4
Hopefully band will stay open for VHF contest that starts in a few hours.

Dave
KX9DK

Multi opps on .....  now ....   6m open to west coast from central ny ....

I've got an HE-45B Lafayette that I think still works and a 50.4 xtal... Maybe I'll string up an antenna and see what happens. I understand there is an active AM group in Eire, PA.  ;D

...tim here in toronto...werked a bunch of guys on 50.4,last sat.afternoon...tuned up my 400ft loop,on 6,werked great...lots of gain....sk..

Most of the time I was around during the contest, I spent listening in the DX window or down in the CW portion. Not much in the way of great DX.

Here's a snip from last Friday's ARRL prop forecast and what was happening the week before prior to the contest.

"Jon Jones, N0JK of Wichita, Kansas characterized the 6-meter opening
to Japan on Sunday night, June 4 as "massive sporadic-E." Jon said
the Sunday Japan opening favored Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and
Colorado. On Monday stations as far east as Florida, Ohio and
Alabama worked Japan on 6-meters. On Sunday evening, Jon used 100
watts and a 2 element Yagi atop the parking garage at the hospital
where he works and he contacted JA7QVI around 2345z on 50.101 MHz.
 
Chip Margelli, K7JA of Garden Grove, California wrote to urge
contact with WQ5W, who worked "at least 34 JAs" on 6-meters on
Sunday. Chip worked JH0RNN and JA7QVI on CW.
 
Alan Benoit, WQ5W wrote, "Yes, we had an amazing opening into JA on
Sunday evening from here in EM12 (near Fort Worth). I worked NL7Z at
2218z on SSB and then noticed in the 6M chat room that JH2COZ was
going to call CQ on 50.096 MHz CW. Not expecting anything, I
listened for his CQ and to my amazement, I heard him 559. He came
back immediately to my call and I worked my first JA ever on 6M!"
 
Alan continues, "I then proceeded to call CQ on CW further up the
band and had many JAs call me! Between 2227z and 0151z I made 42
QSOs into JA along with 2 KL7s and a few VE7s (all on CW). It was
the most amazing thing I've ever experienced on 6M. I believe all of
this was via Es which makes it even more amazing."

I didn't any contest reports that said Europe was worked during the contest but there were some New England openings to Europe earlier in the week. I'm trying to find the time to finish up the restoration of the 6N2 Thunderbolt and get that on the air.

Shes open Now  into FN13 --- thats what ya call central new york near sorycuse...  no activity on 50.4, and i'm getting tired talking to no one ....  klc

Pete,

I've never heard Europe on 6M yet. I've been using 6M for only a coupla years, so missed the last solar cycle peak and F2 prop.

So, it sounds like they were hearing Eu on sporadic E.  Since E has nothing to do with sunspots, I guess it can occur anytime.  Where and what did they hear from Eu?

I had planned on putting up a dedicated 6M Eu array later in the cycle, but I might do it sooner if there is increasing action.

T

I don't know about fone contacts, but I heard several east coast stations working (or calling) into Europe on 6 M CW last Saturday morning before the VHF contest. :)

6 Meters has been hopping for the last couple of weeks.  Haven't heard much on 50.4 AM though.  I'm running 150 watts to 5 ele yagi @ 86'.

73,  Jack, W9GT

I'm almost positive most, if not all, EU contacts were made on CW. It was all Sporadic E. June and July are great months for Sporadic E into Europe. Most of the US to JA contacts were made on CW. With all the aluminum you got, whip up something quick and point it Northeast. By August, Europe stuff, based on past years, starts to dry up.

Tom: You're missing out. Look at this snip from this weeks prop. report:
"6 meter reports continue to roll in. Chip Margelli, K7JA passed
along a rumor that ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN worked 123
Japanese stations on 6 meters in one evening recently. I've been
unable to confirm this directly.
 
David Greer, N4KZ of Frankfort, Kentucky writes, "6 meters continues
to dazzle from Frankfort, KY, EM78. I worked 17 stations in
Washington, Oregon and Idaho on SSB between 0025 and 0130z on June
15. Most signals were strong."
 
David continues, "On June 9 at 2208z, I worked CT3FT, Madeira
Islands, for my first Africa QSO on 6 meters. What a thrill that
was. I even managed to catch a very brief European E-skip opening at
1700z on June 3 and worked IK5MEJ and IW5DHN in Italy, a new country
for me."
 On 6 meters Dave runs 100 watts to a 4-element Yagi at 60 feet.

I can't seem to put my hands on any New England station reports."

Hola Pete,

Wow, looks like some parts of the country are doing rather well.  I'm surprised to see they worked Africa on E skip.

Thinking back to last weekend, I operated in the 6M corntest and worked maybe 60 USA stations. One of the guys told me to listen down on 48.xx? mhz to see if I could hear the TV beacon from Europe. I forgot to check it out.

I've been outside the last few days building up 6M harnesses for the new 4el X 8 stacked array, so maybe this one will go up to the NE for Eu instead of west. Who knows?   ;D

Thanks for the heads up, OM.  We must make a direct 6M contact again soon.

T

Yep, that was a lot of fun working a few 6 meter AM stations before the VHF QSO Party started. Setup used here is a Yaesu FT-920 with 25 watts out on AM with a short boom 5 element Cushcraft beam up 14' on the back of the deck behind the house. Dave KX9DK was putting in a 59 plus 10 signal into NC from WI! Maybe one of these days I'll pickup a vintage 6 meter tube rig to get on the air with.  ;D

Actually, the band has been open almost continuously for the last several days. Flipped the rig on early this morning around 3 AM. 6 was open. Worked two different guys down in TX. 6 has been open, according to several reports, all day today. It was open all day yesterday to south and southwest and a few hours into the Caribbean. Same with most of this past Friday, Thursday, Wednesday....., etc.

I heard the 6 meter opening while driving around today around noon, but I had some problems getting the screwdriver tuned up on 6, so I checked 2 meters and it was open as well.  I worked 2 Florida stations on 2 meter sideband and another Florida station on 2 meter FM while mobile in Central Jersey.   Didn't expect to hear 2 meter AM so I didn't spend much time looking for it.



Sam  /  KS2AM

Open now into  OK, TX,MO,IA and ILL.ssb.. from Sorycuse... no one on 50.4    klc

I hung in for another 10 min and then went onto the inet ..tired and have to do the field day thing......   klc